DXC Eclipse gives Thorn Group the best in Microsoft Dynamics consultative collaboration

When Thorn Group went to market looking for a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, it was operating a 16-year old system that was nearing its end of life.

“At the time, the system we were using wasn’t in line with what today’s workers would expect. In fact, the company found that new employees would sometimes leave because it was too hard to use,” said Simon Revelman, chief information officer, Thorn Group.

Thorn Group needed a solution that would integrate with its other systems, that could expand over time, and that would let new staff onboard quicker and easier.

Thorn Group, one of Australia’s leading financial service providers, offers a broad range of financial solutions to meet a growing demand from niche consumer and commercial markets. The group includes two business units: Business Finance, which provides financial products and services to small and midsize businesses, and Radio Rentals (RR), a household name that provides a range of consumer lease products and retail sales across more than 90 retail stores.

“Thorn Group is a complex organization with retail outlets as well as the consumer leasing system,” said Revelman. “We therefore needed to find a solution that could be customized to meet our requirements, as well as a partner that knew how to do this.”

Another issue was that in the warehouse, weekly stocktaking was completed manually. This was unproductive and often resulted in product identification errors, keying errors and potentially incorrect stock counts.

Solution

Thorn Group went to market and chose Microsoft Dynamics NAV as its solution. It then looked for a partner to implement it, and selected DXC Eclipse, a practice within DXC Technology.

Thorn Group uses NAV for financial management, inventory and warehousing. DXC Eclipse’s SupplyPoint, an integrated ERP solution for smart distributors and multiwarehouse environments, extends warehousing functionality with industry-specific inclusions. SupplyPoint is used in the warehouse for overnight routines and scanning for stocktakes.

The organization’s rental contracts are also managed in NAV, using DXC Eclipsedeveloped customizations.

Outcome and benefits

NAV as an ERP solution delivers exactly as promised for Thorn Group. The customizations mean that Thorn Group can use ERP just like any other business despite its complex business model. “Because there was no other solution that met our specific needs, this was an important outcome,” said Revelman.

The new solution has reduced the onboarding process from a few weeks to a couple of days, which means that new employees are brought up to speed quicker. They are also more responsive to the updated system.

SupplyPoint gave Thorn Group an interface between the scanner guns and NAV, which means the store person can walk through the warehouse and scan each product bar code. This has made the stocktaking process much quicker and more accurate and reduces the potential for error. In turn, procurement and audit receive much quicker and more accurate information to act on, according to Revelman.

DXC Eclipse is currently upgrading Thorn Group’s version of NAV and will support the organization through the upgrade and user acceptance process.

Thorn Group’s solution highlights the strength of Microsoft solutions to help run complex, integrated, multisite businesses that include inventory, financials and points of sale.

Working with DXC Eclipse

Thanks to DXC Eclipse’s broad expertise in delivering customized Microsoft ERP solutions, Thorn Group was able to have a system that met the needs of its business.

Revelman said, “I can’t speak highly enough of the DXC Eclipse team that works on NAV for us. They are smart, responsive and consultative in their approach. They don’t just take orders, but discuss requirements with us and suggest better ways of working.

“The work DXC Eclipse does is of the highest caliber. We rarely have issues or require redevelopment of the customizations provided. This is a massive positive, as it means we can go to market quicker.

“The core team has not changed in the years we have been working with DXC Eclipse, which is important for us, as we benefit from their knowledge of our business and don’t need to bring new people up to speed. It’s a unique industry that not many people have experience in, so we value the expertise that DXC Eclipse brings.”