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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central for Aggregates Companies

Stema Case Study

"The system improvement has increased cash flow, improved the user interface, reduced errors and drastically improved the way we work, and the service offered to our clients."

Who are Stema?

Stema Shipping UK Ltd. (Stema) is an aggregates producer and supplier to the construction industry. With quarries in Norway, they ship products to the UK and distribute this via self-discharging vessels on-site or via five terminals on the East Coast of England.

Stema UK operates a small accounts team. The company has a turnover of approximately GBP 50 million per year.

What was the business challenge?

At the terminals, Stema operates weighbridges to manage the weighing of trucks/lorries before and after loading/unloading. The business had several challenges.

It was struggling with the following:

  • The recorded weights had to be manually entered onto the ERP system for invoicing, self-billing was not possible.
  • The CRM part of the system was further not integrated and order numbers could not be printed on the dispatch notice (weighbridge ticket).
  • Changes to the system were required to get better transparency of product margins and haulier cost on each order
  • Proof of delivery taking on average three weeks to file, delayed invoicing significantly impacting cashflow.
  • The manual entering of tickets increased the risk of errors (manual) and was time-consuming.
  • The small team at Stema were stretched as they had to address these challenges manually.

THE BUSINESS BENEFITS

What did Cbiz do to address the business challenges?
WEIGHBRIDGE TO DELIVERY

We integrated the weighbridge software into Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, enabling Cbiz to pull the weights of the lorries (both tare and net) into the system. The number plate assistance system within Business Central reduced the number of times that lorries were weighed and reduced turnaround time.

At the same time as measuring the load weights, it also enabled the business to use Business Central to manage and report on stock levels.

Historically, when an order was delivered, the invoicing could not be done until the tickets arrived at head office from the five terminals. Those delays resulted in invoices being sent out on average two weeks after the customer received the products.

With the integration of the weighbridge system, the head office could invoice daily, as soon as the delivery driver left the terminal. Giving the added benefit of Live stock control, and Live credit control on customers (ensuring no customer can exceed their credit limits).

The main challenge for Stema was the time taken by hauliers to return signed proof of delivery back to Stema. Once received, those proof of delivery were filed manually by depot and by date. If asked for the confirmation of delivery, the signed ticket had to be manually retrieved, scanned and sent to the customer.

BILLING & HAULIER INVOICES

We integrated the weighbridge software into Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, enabling Cbiz to pull the weights of the lorries (both tare and net) into the system. The number plate assistance system within Business Central reduced the number of times that lorries were weighed and reduced turnaround time.

At the same time as measuring the load weights, it also enabled the business to use Business Central to manage and report on stock levels.

Historically, when an order was delivered, the invoicing could not be done until the tickets arrived at head office from the five terminals. Those delays resulted in invoices being sent out on average two weeks after the customer received the products.

With the integration of the weighbridge system, the head office could invoice daily, as soon as the delivery driver left the terminal. Giving the added benefit of Live stock control, and Live credit control on customers (ensuring no customer can exceed their credit limits).

The main challenge for Stema was the time taken by hauliers to return signed proof of delivery back to Stema. Once received, those proof of delivery were filed manually by depot and by date. If asked for the confirmation of delivery, the signed ticket had to be manually retrieved, scanned and sent to the customer.

HOW OUR SOLUTION HELPED

What measurable benefits have you seen?

With the improvements, Stema saved one full-time employee, improved cash flow, reduced financial risk through live credit control, improved stock management, reduced the time taken to answer invoice queries, reduced errors and improved data accuracy.

"We have over the last 4 years undergone a full transformation of our ERP and CRM systems by merging the two. This would not have been possible without Cbiz's understanding of our business and systems.

The system improvement has increased cash flow, improved the user interface, reduced errors and drastically improved the way we work, and the service offered to our clients"

“
Martin Johansen - Stema Shipping UK Ltd.

Find out more by calling us on 03300 882 515 and ask to talk to someone about our customer transformation journeys.

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THE MISSION

We are here to get more done. Daily.

Seeing the time saved once the solution is installed has compelled us to create this tailorable solution as an Extension to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. 

Extending your solution without compromising on getting timely upgrades.

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