Blåkläder gears up for expansion with a modern Microsoft IT platform

The international clothing manufacturer is replacing its ERP system to gain a deeper understanding of the company and make the right decisions on the path to global success.

Challenge

The need for a new, modern, and global IT platform to keep up with international growth.

Solution

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, Microsoft Power BI and Cepheo Managed Services.

Result

The Dynamics 365 platform improves operational reliability, streamlines workflows and enables expansion.

Blåkläder, one of Europe's largest producers and retailers of workwear, with an annual production of approximately 4.5 million garments, has been using innovative methods since 1959 to meet its customers' high-quality workwear needs. As a result, Blåkläder is now one of the leading and most recognizable brands in its industry, with stores, factories and offices in 20 countries, including Denmark, Norway, the USA, Japan and its home country, Sweden.

The company's ERP system has played a central role in securing Blåkläder's leading position in the market, but the need for a new system has arisen due to international growth.

"Our business system has served us well, but we clearly see the need to implement a solution that can handle larger volumes of data, integrate financial functions and provide built-in support for specific national requirements on a global scale," says Blåkläder's IT Manager, Fredrik Rubne.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is Blåkläder's new end-to-end platform

In the latter half of 2020, Blåkläder embarked on a quest to find a modern, end-to-end IT platform based on standard solutions. The objective was to help the clothing manufacturing and retail company gain deeper insight and a better understanding of its business and to enable more informed decisions on the path to expanding the company.

The new platform needed to address requirements in finance, supply chain, retail and customer service, as well as to enable data analysis and visualization. They also aimed to find an IT provider capable of managing and maintaining the entire platform.

After thorough research, Blåkläder opted for Microsoft Dynamics 365 as their modern IT platform. The comprehensive platform includes Dynamics 365 Finance, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and Microsoft Power BI.

"Our strategy is to use standard solutions with continuous updates to deliver new capabilities. Here, we believe Microsoft is the best option, so we aim to use as much Microsoft software as possible. We see significant advantages in using their solutions in our business," explains IT Manager Fredrik Rubne.

When selecting an IT provider for their modern IT platform, Blåkläder chose Cepheo because of their collaboration on previous IT projects.

"We have encountered only motivated and professional consultants. The organization comprises individuals with a broad range of skills. Our partnership with Cepheo has been very positive and constructive," adds the IT Manager.

The implementation itself took place throughout 2021 and 2022.

”Our new Dynamics 365 platform makes our ERP operations much more reliable. It also allows us to expand without experiencing performance issues.”

Fredrik Rubne
IT Manager, Blåkläder

Multiple Dynamics 365 Solutions create synergies

As a vertically integrated company, handling the entire process from product development to the distribution of workwear, Blåkläder's choice of solutions from the Microsoft Dynamics 365 ecosystem makes perfect sense. While each application addresses specific tasks independently, business value is maximized when individual solutions are combined into a single integrated IT platform.

Although Blåkläder has not yet implemented these solutions, they have high expectations for the new opportunities Dynamics 365 Finance and Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management will deliver.

"Dynamics 365 Finance & Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management work well together. These solutions will provide us with a high-level of functionality in the interaction between finance, supply chains, inventory and logistics. We also hope that our logistics processes will be enhanced due to the capabilities in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, streamlining our internal transactions within the group," explains the IT Manager.

Dynamics 365 Finance allows real-time monitoring of global financial operations, prediction of future results and data-driven decision-making. Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management empowers companies to optimize planning, production, inventory and transportation to maximize operational efficiency and productivity.

Synergies also arise with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, which addresses retail challenges by creating better customer experiences across channels to exceed customer expectations through personalized product selections and relevant recommendations.

"With Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, we can integrate customers and contacts with corresponding data tables in Dynamics 365 Finance using dual-entry. This saves us a lot of double work, where we would otherwise have to navigate back and forth between two systems," says Fredrik Rubne.

Microsoft Power BI simplifies data exploration and visualization for employees, allowing them to share insights by converting data from various sources into dashboards and Business Intelligence reports.

"Power BI is a standalone solution, but it is also embedded in our Dynamics 365 solutions with a consistent user interface across all platforms. This will make it easier for our employees to dive into data, gain deeper insights and follow up on sales, procurement, finance and more," Rubne explains.

The synergy between these four Microsoft solutions will be perfected as Blåkläder's employees can access all applications regardless of time and place, according to the IT Manager.

"It is also valuable for our company that employees can use the applications via a web browser on mobile phones, tablets and computers. This gives us a whole new level of flexibility in our daily work.”

”Our processes are also being improved because we are acquiring modern work tools that help streamline our workflows.”

Fredrik Rubne

IT Manager, Blåkläder

Cepheo Managed Services creates time for more success

Time is of the essence when a company like Blåkläder aspires to achieve greater success in the future. That's why the Swedish-born company has signed a Managed Services agreement with Cepheo, who will be responsible for the daily operation and maintenance of the IT platform.

"We have our own support service, but we use Managed Services to get help with updates and support issues that we cannot resolve ourselves," says Fredrik Rubne.

He explains that the Managed Services agreement has enabled Blåkläder's IT staff to have more time for other value-added tasks that help the company progress towards achieving their future goals.

"With Managed Services, we don't need to spend as much time monitoring and planning new updates. The agreement also includes Cepheo informing us of relevant new opportunities related to each new update.

The expected value of Blåkläder's modern platform

The implementation of the company's new platform is in full swing, and there is no doubt about the expected value it will bring.

"Our new Dynamics 365 platform makes our ERP operations much more reliable. It also allows us to expand without experiencing performance issues," says the IT chief, adding:

"We are also able to handle our master data better and improve the quality of the information we extract from it. Our processes are also enhanced because we have modern tools that help streamline our workflows."

The next step in Blåkläder's digital journey is to further optimize their work processes to create more value for the company, its employees and customers.