Using Microsoft Dynamics to Globalise Your Business

Starting, managing and growing a business in one country is difficult enough for most entrepreneurs. With that in mind, growing an organisation into a large, global enterprise has even more challenges to contend with. From a logistics point of view, business owners that are expanding their operations globally will have to set up new offices, build and manage global teams of staff and prepare supply chains to meet new global demands. Less tangible challenges include accommodating new cultures, navigating nuances in foreign political landscapes, tackling policy changes and understanding a new set of customers. It’s not just as simple as setting up a new hub on foreign soil and “hey presto!”, you’ve become a global business. Ingratiating your business into a completely new legal, cultural and political framework is, understandably, tricky. That’s where Microsoft Dynamics comes in!

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a product line that consist of enterprise resource planning and client relationship management software. When integrated with the existing IT infrastructure of a business, Microsoft Dynamics 365 can help to smooth out many of the challenges associated with building a global organisation. Here, we take a look at Microsoft Dynamics in greater detail and examine the elements that can help you streamline the globalisation of your business.

The Benefits of Microsoft Dynamics 365 For Global Business

ERP Systems Can Simplify Interdepartmental Communications, Regardless of Language

Effective interdepartmental communication is key for every business. The sales, delivery and warehouse teams all need simple and open lines of communication to streamline operations from the sales pipeline through to the delivery of products and services. This process can be complex enough when only one language is required. However, if a UK-based sales team needs to communicate with a warehouse somewhere in South America or Asia, language barriers pose yet another hurdle to overcome.

Microsoft Dynamics ERP systems can simplify multi-language communications across departments and international borders. With Dynamics 365 for Finance and Supply Chain Management (D365 F&SCM), you can set local language requirements to ensure that each department has access to the same data in a suitable language. This optimises business processes, without the risk of any data or instructions being lost in translation!

Standardise Metrics For Consistency Across Borders

Most businesses will set key performance indicators (KPIs) for their staff to ensure there is a consistent level of performance. Setting different KPIs for different areas of the business helps to set a benchmark for every member of the team to achieve, regardless of their position. When expanding a business globally, keeping KPIs consistent is an essential step to having the same level of performance across borders.

Using Microsoft Dynamics CRM and ERP systems ensures that all KPIs are consistent as you open up new offices, warehouses or delivery systems abroad. By inputting these crucial KPIs, you can ensure that a warehouse in Chile is working with the same productivity and efficiency as a warehouse in Poland or anywhere else in the world. Moreover, you can adjust your KPIs depending on the culture of work in a new country. If workers in a certain region are legally obligated to have longer breaks or shorter days, these KPIs can be adjusted to account for that loss of hours in the working day or week.

Automate For Optimal Efficiency

One of the most popular benefits of using Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&SCM (and its earlier versions) is the ability to automate previously manual processes. This feature of ERP software can shave off valuable time spent on repetitive tasks. Expanded across borders for global companies, this feature saves yet more time than it does for smaller, more streamlined organisations.

Compliance Across All Locations

Depending on the market a business operates in, it must abide by certain regulations. Financial service regulations, for example, will differ from food standard regulations and these may be different depending on the country a business is based in. Keeping on top of these different regulations across borders is essential to remain compliant with the relevant legislation. Not doing so can leave you in hot water legally.

With Microsoft Dynamics ERP software, you can stay abreast of regulations and remain compliant across borders seamlessly. Relevant compliance requirements are inputted into the system to provide a legal framework for all activity. So, a manager based in the UK can understand regulations in the USA or China from their London office. They can also analyse whether these markets are worth entering and what steps must be taken to ensure the business remains compliant regardless of where they’re based.

Track Your Accounting Regardless of Currency

As well as having to deal with multiple languages across departments, global businesses will also have to contend with the challenges associated with conducting businesses using different currencies. For accounting and finance teams, this feature of Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&SCM is particularly useful.

Whether a global business centralises all accounting professionals in one location or has a finance team in each different country, being able to accurately translate currencies is essential. Managers will need to pull financial data from every country where a unit is sold, analyse it and account for it in the bookkeeping process.

Keep On Top Of Different Tax Requirements

Dealing with different currencies comes hand in hand with dealing with different taxing structures. Expanding a business globally requires detailed information on how much tax you need to pay according to a wide range of parameters. Depending on where sales take place, where your company is located and other considerations, the tax will differ from region to region. Using Microsoft Dynamics ERP systems, you can stay on top of different tax structures to ensure you’re always compliant and operating within the law.

Draw on Data From Around The World

For businesses in the modern era, data has become more important than ever. Accurate data – to understand markets, changes in customer needs, the typical customer journey towards a sale and trends which can be capitalised on – is the lifeblood of contemporary commerce. Having full oversight of this information globally has never been easier with the proliferation of data via the internet. Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP systems can help you make sense of this global data through simple interfaces and integration with existing IT infrastructure. This allows you to understand and, most importantly, act upon, the data that is most relevant for you and your organisation. You’ll be able to see data that points to global trends and emerging markets where you can gain a foothold.

Centralise Global Supply Chains, Manufacturing Data and Workflows

As a business expands across borders, it becomes increasingly complex and, therefore, supply chains, workflows and manufacturing processes can stagnate as a result. With more data to handle, regulations to follow, products to shift and customers to sell to, the entire business becomes weighed down in bureaucracy and convoluted processes. ERP systems from Microsoft can help to centralise all of these intertwined threads so that the relevant people at the management level can make sense of actionable information. Centralising everything into one software means that data can be accessed by those who require it and supply chains remain free and efficient to ensure customers remain satisfied and stock remains available.

Choose ICS For Microsoft Dynamics ERP Consultation and Implementation

Here at Industry Consulting Service (ICS), we are an industry-leading specialist in ERP systems and a Microsoft Gold Partner. This means that you can trust us to help you with the implementation and customisation of Microsoft Dynamics CRM and ERP software to help your business grow globally.

All of our certified engineers are experts in the field of Microsoft Dynamics and can guide you through ERP implementation, regardless of the size of the project. We will work with you to understand your specific requirements and ensure that the Microsoft Dynamics package you choose will help you to achieve your goals efficiently and effectively. Whether you need consultation for a specific project or certain application in the Microsoft Dynamics product family, like Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, we have the skills, experience and knowledge required to help.

For a Microsoft-certified partner that can help you globalise your business, look no further. We work with a vast range of clients and can help you improve your business today. Contact the team at ICS to learn more about implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365 for your business.