Client Success Story
Industrial Welding Manufacturer and Distributor Cuts Complex Systems and Processes with Dynamics 365
Industry:
Manufacturing and Distribution
At-a-Glance
A Solution for Disparate Systems
The Challenge
A global manufacturer and distributor of welding equipment ran its operations on fragmented, homegrown platforms that were unstable and nearing end of life. With six distinct brands operating under the welding division, each with its own processes, the lack of system integration magnified inefficiencies and slowed fulfillment.
Data was difficult to extract, business rules were hard-coded, and customer service teams were burdened with manual reviews on every order. Fulfillment processes required paper-based routing, and warehouse operations were almost entirely manual, driving inefficiencies, labor costs, and safety risks. One central entity managed core fulfillment while routing to multiple separate legal entities, a structure that compounded complexity and slowed every transaction.
At the same time, the company’s sales and service teams faced their own challenges. Adoption of the company’s Salesforce CRM was low, creating silos and limiting visibility into customer interactions and pipeline performance.
To move forward, they needed to:
- Transform warehouse operations to reduce footprint, costs, and risk
- Centralize customer, sales, and service data for better insight and alignment
- Build a stable, unified platform that could support long-term growth
The Solution
MCA Connect was selected due to our end-to-end Dynamics 365 experience and industry expertise. The company kicked off the engagement with our Strategic Services team, empowering the company with:
Modernizing Supply Chain Operations
To execute on the strategic blueprint, the welding equipment company opted to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management with WMS. Key operational benefits included:
- A modern, operational backbone to replace fragmented legacy systems
- Integration with MCA Connect’s proprietary data platform to provide one reliable source of data
- Real-time visibility into supply chain and production data, enabling faster, data-driven decision-making
- Streamlined processes across operations, ensuring the system could scale globally
- Automations in warehousing to reduce footprint, lower labor costs, and drive efficiency
- The modern WMS reduced physical footprint requirements, improved labor utilization, and enhanced safety standards — allowing the company to scale operations without adding headcount.
This was the client’s first true warehouse management system — replacing entirely manual, paper-based processes with a seamless, automated WMS. In addition, transportation planning and execution improvements delivered significant savings and efficiency gains across the fulfillment network.
Strengthening Customer Engagement
The company then requested the replacement of Salesforce CRM with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Experience (CE). MCA Connect implemented the system in 60 days, enabling a unified, scalable CRM platform. Key benefits included:
- Consolidated platforms to reduce redundancy and create long-term scalability
- Centralized customer and sales data for real-time visibility into pipeline and interactions
- Integration with Power Platform, for analytics and dashboards to support data-driven decision-making
- Integration with MCA Connect WarrantyCONNECT™ to streamline the divisions’ process workflows for more than 150 monthly warranty claims
- Automated order entries with integrated Power Apps
Attribute-based pricing strategies, once managed through hard-coded rules and manual review, are now automated in the system, removing the need for customer service teams to intervene on every order.
Results
With MCA Connect’s help, the client achieved:
In fact, in a single month post-implementation, the company successfully saw:
order management and pricing policies automated
(along with the nuanced attribute-based pricing strategies that had never been captured in a system before), eliminating manual review by customer service
purchase orders processed (significantly more than pre-implementation), demonstrating system stability and scalability
Beyond measurable outcomes, the welding company expressed strong satisfaction with both the partnership and the stability of their new platforms. MCA Connect’s Managed Services team continues to provide support, ensuring the client can evolve on a stable foundation.
What’s Next?
With modern platforms, automated processes, and stronger alignment, the company is now positioned for long-term success. Moving forward, the company is poised to continue evolving its operations, scale efficiently, and adapt quickly as business needs change.
About MCA Connect
MCA Connect modernizes supply chains end-to-end through transformative consulting, unified data for business insights, process optimization and automation, AI and advanced decision making, and business application implementation.
As Microsoft’s top manufacturing and distribution partner, we combine global reach, seasoned experts, leading-edge tech, and a focus on business strategy.
