FSN: Microsoft Dynamics NAV chosen by distributor of “Green” products

Microsoft Dynamics NAV chosen by distributor of “Green” products

11th February 2008
Seventh Generation Inc., a US provider of household and personal care products, has selected Microsoft Dynamics NAV as its business management solution. Microsoft Dynamics NAV is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) aimed at small and midsize companies.

“We found that Microsoft Dynamics NAV straight out of the box covered 95 percent of our business needs,” said Nancy Stoddard, vice president of Information Technology for Seventh Generation.

Burlington , Vermont.-based Seventh Generation has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years, generated by distribution and consumer demand for its products. Previously the company relied on numerous spreadsheets to track its business, requiring data to be re-entered multiple times; and the system encountered difficulty keeping pace with the expansion of the business. The company also wanted technology that would be responsive to its intent to upgrade its internal business processes.

“We needed a solution that was flexible, easy to tailor, and accommodating to our future growth,” Stoddard said. “ Microsoft Dynamics NAV gives us those features. Seventh Generation will be able to adapt its Microsoft Dynamics NAV system as the company grows and can shape its look and feel.”

Microsoft Gold Certified Partner SCS, in Santa Monica , Calif. , is implementing the solution, integrating it with all of Seventh Generation's existing Microsoft products: Windows XP, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft Office 2003, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. Common interfaces and shared data will allow Seventh Generation to adopt the extensively integrated system easily and will centralise information that previously was being transmitted internally through e-mail.

Critical to the selection process was identifying a like-minded partner with a commitment to environmentally conscious behaviors. In accordance with that requirement, SCS will use “green” techniques for shipping products, reduce travel requirements by meeting with Seventh Generation through Microsoft Office Live Meeting via the Internet, and track the carbon footprint of the implementation to subsequently publish a white paper on the process.

“In order for environmental solutions to be effective and sustainable, they have to be integrated with economic solutions,” said Helen Russell, chief executive officer at SCS. “Seventh Generation has been an exemplary industry leader in the environmental arena for two decades. Microsoft Dynamics NAV's flexibility can allow Seventh Generation to track and instantly report on virtually unlimited data points: profitability by product, customer, vendor, and sales region, as well as environmental qualities by item, carbon footprint and more.”

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