How Multivac Implemented New Business Software in Four Countries in Seven Months

Source: Äri-IT Spring 2024

Author: Ann-Kristin Kruuk

Multivac, a major player in the packaging solutions industry, recently reached a commendable milestone by implementing the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP system in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

The project, which lasted only seven months, is a good example of efficient project management, collaboration, and dedication. Saara Julin, Multivac’s Financial Director and the project lead, spoke about the background, implementation, and lessons learned. On behalf of BCS Itera, Maarika Helstin, the Head of the Finnish branch, closely oversaw the Multivac project.

The main focus of Multivac’s business is the supply of packaging lines and materials to industrial companies. The Finnish and Baltic branch, part of a German group, primarily concentrates on project sales and machine maintenance services. Multivac also has warehouses in all four countries.

An Urgent Need for New Software

The project began in May 2022 when the decision to find and implement new business software was made in the Finnish office. Saara Julin took the lead, tasked with selecting a new system, defining processes, and finding a solution that met Multivac’s needs.

According to Saara, the need for new software was immediate: “We had many problems with the old software, and a replacement was urgently needed. It was too limited and couldn’t support our current needs and growth.”

The implementation of the new ERP system in Finland was scheduled to begin in November 2022. Saara, who had not undertaken a similar project before, started her research with colleagues. Multivac operates in four countries: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The goal was to find a single ERP solution that could be supported in every country. Additionally, there was a requirement from the group that the software had to be cloud-based.

Although the Finnish office is almost three times larger than the others, the core business activities are very similar in all countries. In the Baltic countries, there are office and country managers, with Saara at the top, responsible for reporting on all four markets to the German headquarters.

Searching for New Software

The research led to the Business Central business software, which met all the specified criteria. The next step was to find a suitable supplier to partner with, one that had a presence in each country. This was not easy, as while there are many companies with branches in Estonia and Finland, finding one that could provide support in all four countries was rarer. Fortunately, a Google search in Estonian eventually led to BCS Itera, with whom initial discussions began in August of the same year. BCS Itera supports projects in Latvia and Lithuania through local partners, Elva Baltics and Softera.

“This is how our collaboration with Maarika Helstin from BCS Itera began. Maarika was a great support to us – she was very flexible and always available when needed. This has been the most difficult and demanding project of my career so far, but thanks to good cooperation, everything went quite smoothly,” Saara emphasized Maarika’s role in the project’s success.

Finland as a Pilot Country

The plan was to first implement Business Central in Finland as a pilot project. This experience would then be replicated in the Baltics, with local adjustments added.

Saara was busy with preparations in early autumn and recalls the timeline: “Due to some obstacles, we couldn’t start the project until November, but I had already begun working on processes and definitions. We got the test environment up and running at the beginning of November, started working, and the first working day with the new software was February 1, 2023.”

Of course, not everything was perfect from day one, but Saara’s goal was to get the software running, and they succeeded. Data import was done independently the day after the test environment was deployed. Maarika showed the team how Business Central works, and a suitable template was found for extracting data from the old system.

All regional office managers were involved in the implementation of Business Central in Finland. The Baltic processes were reviewed together and compared with Finland’s, as adjustments had to be made due to the larger business volume of the Finnish branch.

Latvia Surprises

Not all the functionalities used by Multivac in Finland were needed in the Baltics, which simplified the implementation. BCS Itera and their local localization partners provided assistance with setup and localization, although the local partners ultimately played a minor role.

However, external help had to be sought in Latvia. “Most of the challenges arose from differences in legislation, especially in VAT laws. The most complicated country for us was Latvia due to its VAT law, which was so different that our initial settings were unsuitable,” Saara said.

It was decided early on that changes to the system would be kept in-house and only made by BCS Itera. Otherwise, significant confusion could arise if localization partners made changes independently. In Estonia, Business Central was implemented in early April 2023, followed by Latvia and Lithuania in early June.

“Don’t Do It Like This”

When asked how many people would be needed to carry out such a project within official working hours (in an ideal world), Saara replied that five assistants might be enough. However, she repeatedly emphasized: “Our case is not really comparable to typical projects because we did it in record time. I don’t recommend doing it like this! I would take a year, plan thoroughly, and work calmly during office hours.”

It should be remembered that Saara’s team continued to prepare monthly reports, attend board meetings, etc., alongside the implementation – all these tasks ran in parallel. Despite this, not a single report was late!

There was some additional help: “Usually, I have one person assisting me in accounting, but for this project, a colleague returned from maternity leave and focused entirely on the Business Central implementation. I am very proud of my team and our achievement because we managed in such a short time.”

There were also some hiccups because there wasn’t enough time to train everyone. But considering how quickly the new business software was implemented, Saara believes it couldn’t have gone better: “I really didn’t know how everything would go. And it’s good I didn’t, because there were some difficult moments at the beginning, but I decided to see it through. My next step is to find time to make the processes even more efficient.”

Saara’s advice for companies considering a similar journey boils down to four points:

• Allocate time
• Find a good partner
• Have a dedicated team
• Plan thoroughly

And finally, she adds a piece of invaluable wisdom: “Know your business. I didn’t have experience with Business Central, but I knew how our processes work and how they could work even better.”

BCS Itera’s Comment:

In collaboration with BCS Itera, Multivac implemented the Dynamics 365 Business Central business software in Finland and the Baltic countries. In addition to the basic modules, project management and maintenance service functionality were also implemented. The implementation project started in Finland, which has the largest number of users and the most complex processes. The Estonian branch was later integrated, followed by parallel implementation in Latvia and Lithuania. The main factors in the project’s success were Multivac’s dedicated key users and effective cooperation between all parties involved.