Client Success Story
Andis Elevates Order Management, Distribution, and Customer Engagement with a Unified Dynamics 365 Platform
Industry: Consumer goods
At-a-Glance
Andis Company, a fourth-generation, family-led business and a global leader in barbering, styling, and animal grooming.
Challenge: Outdated technology, siloed systems, inventory blind spots, disconnected customer service, and inefficient warehouse operations
Solution: Integrated Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, Supply Chain, Sales, and Customer Service, EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), WMS (Warehouse Management System), TMS (Transportation Management System), Fast Pick Conveyor, and Warehouse Advisor AI-powered agents — enabling a unified customer experience and full order-to-cash distribution process from sales order creation to post-shipment invoicing.
Results: Increased order accuracy, improved visibility, inventory efficiency, proactive customer engagement, increased customer satisfaction, and scalable, data-driven operations
Operational Wins at a Glance:
- Automated end-to-end workflow: from sales order to invoice
- Enhanced logistics compliance with big-box retailer requirements
- Real-time visibility from picking to post-shipment tracking
- Significant increase in shipment accuracy and order processing speed
The Business Challenge
Andis faced the challenge of scaling in a high-demand, multi-channel environment. Legacy systems made it difficult to plan production, manage pricing models, or provide customer service beyond reactive support. Inventory visibility was limited, warehouse picking was manual, and multiple ISVs made technology upkeep costly and complex.
Specifically, Andis needed to:
- Capture orders across wholesale, retail, and direct channels
- Tailor pricing, promotions, and bundling to market conditions
- Coordinate efficient warehouse fulfillment and distribution
- Manage RMAs and returns from within the CRM
- Improve visibility into inventory, customer history, and team performance
- Simplify IT by reducing third-party systems and on-prem hardware
The Integrated Solution
End-to-End Order Capture and Customer Engagement
Andis unified its customer operations with a connected D365 platform:
- EDI Integration: Validated wholesale orders against pricing and compliance rules
- DTC Website Sync: Online orders routed directly into D365 with personalized pricing
- D365 Customer Experience (CE): Serves as the single hub for sales, service, and marketing (with omnichannel chat, voice, email, and full case history)
- Omnichannel Support: Agents access customer records, order status, and communication logs instantly
- Power Platform + Copilot: Enables AI-generated call summaries and automated data quality improvements
By harnessing the robust pricing capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics 365, we enabled Andis to streamline and manage complex pricing across multiple customer channels, enhancing their Go-To-Market strategy with greater speed, precision, and control. These connected systems not only streamlined internal workflows but also allowed Andis to meet strict compliance standards, issue ASN documentation automatically, and support both small parcel and LTL shipment types with confidence.
Smart Pricing, Promotions, and Fulfillment
With Dynamics 365 Customer Experience (CE), Andis gained powerful tools to manage sales across multiple tiers:
- Tiered pricing and customer segmentation
- Bundled discounts and threshold-based campaigns
- Buy-One-Get-One promotions for product movement
- Order orchestration logic to meet customer-specific service windows
These tools provided the Andis team with more flexibility in their Go-To-Market approach, allowing them to be competitive in the channels where they had stronger competitors.
Warehouse and Distribution Modernization
Andis revamped its physical operations with tools that drive speed, accuracy, and end-to-end shipment control. Using Dynamics 365 WMS, we implemented sophisticated order management rules for Andis, including customer and channel prioritization, reservation logic, EDI order validation, and upfront transportation rating and routing. In addition, we are deploying an AI-powered Warehouse Advisor with multiple Agents to enable a more efficient slotting process and free up warehouse space. This transformation enabled seamless downstream warehouse execution and improved fulfillment efficiency. By implementing a fully integrated order-to-cash distribution workflow, they achieved:
- A significant reduction in order processing time, driven by automation from sales order to invoice
- An impactful improvement in shipment accuracy, through real-time inventory reservation and system-directed picking
- Enhanced compliance with customer-specific logistics rules, including Walmart’s consolidated shipment requirements
Core improvements included:
- Warehouse Management System (WMS): Real-time reservation and replenishment triggers
- Fast Pick Conveyor: Enabled same-day service and reduced delays
- Transportation Management System (TMS): Automated carrier selection and rate shopping, improved transportation spend, and reduced human intervention with orders to make those selections
- Integrated documentation and tracking: Manifest number generation, SPS label printing, ASN issuance, and EDI-enabled visibility for parcel shipments, resulting in enhanced customer service, improved customer satisfaction, and increased shipment visibility
- Warehouse Advisor Agents: Enabled faster picking, improved replenishment efficiency, optimized load building, and freed warehouse space
“We used to wait for customers to contact us. Now we’re proactive. Dynamics 365 gives our team full visibility and the tools to personalize every interaction.”
– Megan Salinas, Senior Manager of Customer Enablement
Results
With Microsoft Dynamics 365 and MCA Connect as a strategic partner, Andis achieved measurable gains:
“When it comes to technology, the advancements I’ve seen during my seven years at Andis have been incredible. We came from archaic or nonexistent data sources to AI-generated summaries at the end of a customer call. Integrating Microsoft products into our daily activities allows us to work more efficiently and provides invaluable amounts of data for Andis to act on.“
– Megan Salinas,
Senior Manager of Customer Enablement
What’s Next
Andis isn’t slowing down. With Microsoft Copilot and Agentic AI capabilities on the horizon, they’re exploring new ways to automate inventory accuracy, reduce returns, and enable smarter decision-making across the supply chain.
“MCA Connect has a lot of experience with manufacturing and distribution. When we talk to them about problems we’re solving for, they’ve likely solved the same issues before. They’re able to come to the table with best practices and solutions that have worked for similar companies.“
– Marc Rohde,
VP of Business Enablement, Data and Technology
Video Success Story
Watch this short video to see how Andis improved visibility, reduced inventory, and established an integrated modern platform with MCA Connect and the Microsoft Cloud.
About MCA Connect
Through passion and deep industry expertise, MCA Connect® helps manufacturers and distributors succeed by unlocking innovation with actionable business insights. Our strategic solutions and industry intelligence helps companies gain end-to-end visibility, improve profitability, and achieve a competitive edge. Contact us today to learn how we can help solve your biggest industry challenges.
