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TechFabric
AmTab

B2B ecommerce

Pandemic-era growth triggers digital modernization

AmTab grew fast enough to outrun the systems underneath it, and modernised the estate to match the demand rather than throttle it.

Client
AmTab
Website
amtab.com
Sector
B2B ecommerce
Stack
nopCommerceDynamics 365Power AutomateAzure SQL

Challenge

From Legacy To Efficiency

Embracing change is a complex journey, especially when implementing ERP systems like AmTab manufacturing did during the pandemic. Rapid growth led to thriving profits, but the strain on back-office operations exposed inefficiencies in legacy systems. Rapid growth is the common trigger prompting organizations to adopt ERP solutions for streamlined processes and improved decision-making.

  • Key Areas To Remedy:

  • Lack of ERP solutions

  • Architecture Not Slated For Growth

  • Automation For Organizational Processes

  • In-efficient Operations Due to Dated Systems

Strategy

ERP To The Rescue

ERP systems hold the promise of increased productivity, reduced costs, and improved customer satisfaction and can be an absolute game changer to an organization's ability to scale and successfully meet demand.

Not many digital transformation shops can handle various ERP solutions, but they all revolve around one thing: lots of data. TechFabric typically leans towards Microsoft technologies for their flexibility and scalability. However, In AmTab's case, they went with Business Central for its flexibility, customization options, and clean integration, qualities that made it the perfect fit for AmTab.

Solution

Building the plumbing

AmTab wanted to revamp everything. This included getting a new ERP system for the backend, a fancy Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, and a sleek online store (front end). We went with NOP Commerce for the AmTab website and store because it's super customizable. Customers can pick colors and seating options and tweak all sorts of design elements, and because NOP Commerce is user-friendly, works in the cloud and lets us make it uniquely ours, none of that took a bespoke build. With TechFabric's quick adjustments, we integrated specific AmTab business functions into the website. This boosted productivity and increased customer satisfaction.

  • Solution - Operations
  • Faster Workflows

Another necessity was shifting the office productivity suite to the cloud. Microsoft technologies are powerful, and a noteworthy feature is the "cool factor" that comes with enabling any Microsoft cloud product, like Office 365. Once activated, you get a single sign-on across everything you're building, which sounds small until you count the minutes it saves every person every day. TechFabric was building plumbing where none existed before, matching AmTab's goal of reducing order turnaround time. Every decision had to serve that.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 improves workflow, automates inter-departmental processes, minimizes errors, and streamlines operations. It consolidates all customer data, project registrations, customer information, discounts, and marketing/sales-related data, providing the insights behind effective strategies. For instance, customer data lets you show businesses within a state that have previously purchased solutions from AmTab as a compelling sales tactic.

  • Solution - automation
  • Keeping The Sales Team And Data Synched

The old system had no automation. Paper and spreadsheets. Implementing digital transformation is a significant roadmap spanning 12-24 months. The first step is building a new mindset to prepare processes for integration and automation without disrupting operations.

Microsoft Business Central plays a central role as the central system for code submissions through the website, cleanly connecting CRM and ERP. The AmTab sales team uses Business Central to update codes, adjust prices, and convert quotes to orders upon customer approval, followed by invoice creation.

Data flows from NOP to CRM to ERP, facilitated bidirectionally through Microsoft Power Automate flows just below the system's layer. Power Automate ensures data synchronization between databases, offering a simple, low-code solution. Customer actions can trigger workflows, such as emails or promo codes, with the data cleanly moving to another system for the next process step.

Results

Data Versatility

Microsoft Azure offered the flexibility to migrate to various storage options, a feature TechFabric used with Azure's blob storage for its versatility and user-friendliness. This functionality matters, because it allows direct serving of images/documents to the browser. Within Business Central, the AmTab solution oversees and synchronizes three separate databases continuously.

The upgrade will make the system faster but will also boost AmTab teams' productivity by providing a deeper understanding of customer needs and preferences, making it easier to identify trends. A significant advantage of Power BI is that it lets organizations of any size build a data-driven culture. Decisions end up grounded in tangible, trusted, auditable information instead of intuition or guesswork.

  • Blob Storage

  • Provided a versatile database improving maintenance

  • Power BI

  • Created a data-driven culture with better sales insights

  • key takeaway

  • Modern Tech Helps Extract Value From Data

TechFabric has collaborated with a wide range of clients, focusing extensively on operational aspects. This diverse experience in streamlining processes provides the team with a distinctive perspective, enabling them to tackle implementation, customization, and optimization simultaneously. The staff adopts a deeply collaborative approach when working with clients. This extensive experience has laid a reliable foundation and produced a rare understanding of AmTab's business operations, process optimization, and the effective integration and use of modern technology to improve processes and extract value from data.