Orthodontics Manufacturer Promotes Growth and Productivity with Powerful ERP System
American Orthodontics designs, manufactures, and distributes a large portfolio of orthodontic products.Employing its own team of automation engineers who design manufacturing machinery, American Orthodontics brings remarkable innovation to the manufacturing process and the design of its products. These products often consist of multiple components and materials, resulting in remarkable complexity in the company’s processes for materials planning and sourcing.
For many years, American Orthodontics had used the same business software tools to manage its complex processes and support its high standards for customer service. Deb Schmidt, Administrative Manager at American Orthodontics, explains, “Because the finance and manufacturing systems were not integrated, information from one did not always agree with information from the other system. We could only make updates in batch files, so information was not always current. Also, after every month-end close, we had current year-to-date numbers but lost the financial details of the month that had just passed.”
During its search for an ERP system, American Orthodontics closely considered different products and eventually decided to implement a certain solution. However, the vendor was unable to implement the solution to fit American Orthodontics’s business. After 15 months, American Orthodontics chose to start over with Microsoft Dynamics NAV, engaging with SPSI-ADNM, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, for the implementation. Today, American Orthodontics thrives with a new ERP system that fits the company’s vision and business model. Says Schmidt, “We made a radical change in how we run the business. By using Microsoft Dynamics NAV, we can continue to grow with the level of service quality we aim for and introduce new efficiencies as we move forward.” Will Weyandt, IT Manager at American Orthodontics, confirms, “We’re in a different world than we were before. With Microsoft Dynamics NAV, we can review all information about the business and have much better control over our direction.”
With Microsoft Dynamics NAV, American Orthodontics can continue to grow the business without incurring proportionate increases in overhead. “With revenue growth up consistently year over year, we can rely on Microsoft Dynamics NAV to scale with the business,” explains Schmidt. “Our employees can now be extremely effective, even with increased workloads. We found this out immediately after the implementation when our order volume skyrocketed and we still got products out the door very quickly.” Automating discounts and streamlining pricing structures with the new ERP system have also made the business far less complex and more agile. Says Weyandt, “Without Microsoft Dynamics NAV, we would’ve been unable to introduce this level of automation. We managed to remove a large number of needless manual steps from our processes, which saves a huge amount of time and gives much better control in ensuring that we optimally serve our customers.”
