Dynamics 365 Business Central meets DVA’s local needs and global management framework

Headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, DVA is a multinational company that has developed smart solutions for complex markets since 1968. With more than 500 employees from 25 different countries, the focus in Brazil is on creating innovative and sustainable solutions for farmers – the country represents 50% of the company's fertilizer market globally. 

With operations in different locations and with different focus areas, the company went through the process of streamlining its information management system a few years ago. 

"The first objective was to renovate the old systems in the subsidiaries and the second was to create a global information management system. A system to meet local needs and a global framework for company managers to decide next steps," says Allan Torres, responsible for Business Development and implementation of DVA Group's Global Management Information System (MIS). 

Brazilian branch aligned with headquarters 

In 2017, when setting up its operation in Brazil, the company chose to follow the head office and maintained its reliance on Microsoft products, with the implementation of Dynamics 365 Business Central as its business management system. 

"The tool was chosen for its cost-effective aspect, intuitive usage, as well as economies of scale, by using more than one product in addition to the cloud, which allows information to be taken via web services and consolidated into dashboards," adds Allan. 

Other Microsoft products used and integrated into the solution include Power BI, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Outlook. 

However, the company needed more tools to deal with country-specific regional regulatory issues, and DVA found the answer to its concerns in the support provided by CADIA Consulting, a Microsoft partner. 

Global and regional issues brought together in the same solution

Fernando Fernandes, business manager of DVA Brasil, explains that, despite not being the largest operation of DVA, Brazil represents one of the biggest challenges. "Implementation is difficult by regulation, bureaucracy, our entire accounting and financial routine, taxation, legislation, installation, routines," he explains. 

To meet DVA’s demand, CADIA Consulting implemented the Brazilian Localization application, available on Microsoft AppSource, a software adapted with the appropriate functionalities to meet the legal requirements pertinent to Brazilian tax legislation. "The application has a broad scope in terms of tax obligations. In this case, we cover all their tax scenarios – which are more complex in Brazil – and with Dynamics 365 Business Central we were able to localize and keep the ERP up to date," says Sérgio Fernandes, CADIA project manager. 

The entire solution was implemented in three months, allowing DVA to proceed with its operation in line with international standards, running 100% in the cloud, and the application required no customization.  

"We follow the methodologies recommended by Microsoft, going through analysis, design, development, testing, deployment, training, and post-implementation support," adds Sérgio. 

Internalized and agile operations

DVA internalized some of its operations, such as the accounting operation, and gained agility in essential everyday processes such as fiscal and financial procedures, inventory control, billing, and integration with the warehouse – which is outsourced. "We had no knowledge of how the system worked and quickly learned, internalized the accounting operation, and gained agility in the manufacturing routine," Fernando says. 

Information management has also been improved, with a simplified system that allows DVA to monitor the operation internally with tax, financial, and accounting control. Integration with DVA Global does not require parallel reporting by DVA Brasil either, as headquarters can see the numbers through Dynamics 365 Business Central. 

Fernando states that the implementation was quick and had a very positive impact on the day-to-day of the company, allowing to think about possible customization of the business and expand the use of the platform in Brazil. 

"We are very pleased with the answers given to our demands. We have a good relationship with CADIA, who trained our team very well, and we are very happy with after sales," Fernando concludes.