SOLSOL switches to cloud ERP Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

SOLSOL s.r.o. has been operating on the Czech market since 2012. It is a leader in B2B distribution of photovoltaic technologies with exclusive representation of AWG, Growat brands for Eastern and Central Europe. SOLSOL s.r.o. has so far delivered over 600,000 photovoltaic panels (250 MWp) to the Central European region, mainly for rooftop installations of houses and factory halls. Today the information system is used by 50 users.

With the existing Pohoda solution, the support for SOLSOL was no longer sufficient, sustainable in the long term and was hindering the company's development goals. The existing solution had slow response times, was not comprehensive, did not cover all company processes and did not allow for company development. It was fragmented and covered by different applications and thus too complicated for its users. Some operational data was stored in excel files and some warehouse processes were even kept in paper form. Furthermore, the existing system did not allow roll-outs to foreign countries where the company planned to set up branches. Accounting according to IFRS international standards was not possible.

One of SOLSOL's main objectives was to find a strong IT partner that would be able to fully outsource the entire IT department, including the operation of the ERP system. They wanted to find a stable and promising system and a user-friendly solution. Other ERP-related needs included the digitization of processes, especially warehouse processes from purchasing to invoicing, including interfacing with the company's Microsoft 365 environment and customer B2B portal. Also important was the ability to roll out the ERP solution to foreign branches, digitization of approval processes, and accounting using IFRS standards. It was also a prerequisite to be able to easily expand the ERP solution in any direction in the future and adapt to rapidly changing market requirements.

Implementation
The implementation was very intensive for us and the customer and was carried out using the Agile Implementation Methodology, which ensured that the ambitious duration of just 3 months was met. It covered the areas of purchasing, sales, warehouse management using WMS, logistics and finance. The implementation also included integrations to third party systems (B2B portal).

Due to the short implementation time of the solution, we focused on securing all core processes of the company in order to get as close to a standard solution as possible. We are currently working on streamlining and automating selected processes to achieve maximum efficiency in SOLSOL's operations.  

Finance
Issues in the area of finance were related to the implementation of standard processes (general ledger, balance sheet management, communication with banks, VAT, Intrastat), including taking into account the company's VAT registration in the Netherlands. In the future, SOLSOL expects to use IFRS standards, which makes the ERP ready to roll-out the solution to the company's foreign branches.

Warehouse area
As the company manages inventory in high volumes - hundreds of millions of crowns - in many locations, including abroad, it was necessary to find a suitable solution to support the realization of a smooth and timely delivery of goods to the customer. The chosen solution takes advantage of a managed warehouse system using barcode scanners that are integrated into the ERP itself.

This has enabled SOLSOL to streamline and simplify warehouse processes with the help of serial number records and to provide unambiguous records of goods delivered to customers, including tracking of warranty periods.Thanks to the direct connection to the Balíkobot application using our own Parcels solution, we have streamlined the warehouse dispatch process. We ended the time-consuming export of delivery data from ERP to individual carriers.

Sales
A specific feature of the company's sales process is the long and sophisticated procurement process, with follow-up sales being possible both from the Czech Republic and directly from foreign warehouses. It is not known until the last moment from which warehouse the goods will be shipped to the customer. To simplify this process, we have incorporated into the system the functions of availability calculation, automatic creation of transfers, reservations and warehouse changes on sales documents with different language mutations.

Today, SOLSOL is able to implement invoicing with a direct link to stock records with a link to customer requirements either electronically or via a B2B portal. The implementation has enabled the overall streamlining and automation of the sales process with online sales reports for individual vendors.

Third Party Integration
Part of the first phase of the implementation was the connection to the company's B2B portal. The prepared interface will then be used by the company in communication with other business platforms. In the area of Business Intelligence, we cover some parts already within the system. For planning and forecasting, we are implementing a data warehouse and dynamic planning and forecasting project in cooperation with INEKON SYSTEMS.