Becoming a Fixture in Home Goods

Overview

While our client, a home and office furniture provider, was only formally established in 2020, its two primary forerunners had been in business since the 1940s and 60s respectively. They brought with them pre-existing production and distribution facilities that needed to be consolidated under one roof—and fast.

Core Drivers

Anyone with an office job knows how swiftly circumstances changed in 2020. With the spread of COVID-19, demand for office furniture exploded as consumers sought to build out home offices to continue working efficiently.

90% of our client’s existing sales took place through third-party marketplaces, including channels like Amazon and Wayfair. As consumers looked to meet their needs quickly, easily, and all at once, our client was well positioned to respond to this surge in demand.

This was all in spite of a legacy AS/400 ERP system with intensive customization. With the employees overseeing it nearing retirement, our client needed a solution, and a partner, who could work with agility to transform their enterprise systems. Fortunately, Talan and Microsoft Dynamics 365 were there to help.

Getting It Done

By the first half of 2021, our client had defined their RFP. Selection took place in May, followed by further analysis in the fall. The first implementation began in January 2022, with go-live taking place in March 2023.

By the time of launch, revenues had already grown tremendously. With the cultural shift toward remote work firmly in place, this accelerated implementation was critical in helping stabilize operations. It also marked the first implementation of Intelligent Order Management (IOM) in North America, helping to lead the way forward.

The Outcomes

Talan’s Dynamics 365 implementation offered a range of benefits, including:

• Accelerated and simplified order management by leveraging IOM and Power Platform, making AI and machine learning advancements usable in optimizing the distribution of orders between various warehouses and facilities

• Comprehensive integration with industry-leading ASRS (Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems), enabling robotic systems to pick, pack, and ship orders with minimal human intervention, enhanced by new capabilities from D365

• Increases in warehouse operational efficiency as high as 80%, supporting as many as 500 high-value orders per day and transforming capacity to meet surges in market demand

“While the demands of our project were many, Talan was able to meet them with tremendous speed,” says the client’s Director of IT. “Talan’s framework and project approach allowed us to achieve urgent goals rapidly while laying the foundation to get even more out of D365 going forward.” 

Client, at a Glance

• Founded in 2020 with private equity backing
• Combination of multiple businesses and facilities in the home and office furniture space
• Over 300 employees with in-house and third-party production, with 90% of sales happening online
• Hundreds of millions in revenue growth through the pandemic, with sustained financial growth thereafter