Kaba

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Kaba

Founded in 1862 in Switzerland, the Kaba Group can look back on more than 145 years of history, during which time it has developed to become a leading global player in the security industry. Today, Kaba is an internationally active, listed company with around 8,000 staff in more than 60 countries, offering its customers innovative comprehensive and reliable security solutions.

The challenge

Kaba is a technology leader and expert provider of integrated access and workforce management solutions for buildings, facilities and sites in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Harry Anoyrkatis, Finance Controller at Kaba Ltd describes the business, “Our own line-up of systems is such that we offer a solution for virtually every security requirement and access and workforce management application. Our continuing mission is to provide high levels of customer satisfaction and so the business recognised the need for a management system that fully supported and facilitated that approach.”

Choosing the right partners

Prior to 2009, Kaba was using an ERP system that was simply not fulfilling the needs of the business and the senior management recognised the need for change. In 2009, Kaba researched the market and took the decision that Microsoft Dynamics would provide them with the solution they needed. It was a decision that subsequently proved to be the right one; however, Kaba did initially have a challenge in fully exploiting and optimising its performance.

Anoyrkatis explains, “We were very satisfied with Microsoft Dynamics. However, we realised we had a problem to address in that the Microsoft partner that implemented the system for us struggled to deliver against our high demands.  We therefore sought a replacement Microsoft Dynamics partner with high levels of expertise, relevant industry experience and also a business understanding that could match our own – and we found this in eBECS.”

Kaba therefore recognised that it had two immediate challenges to resolve: it needed to fully exploit the business potential of Microsoft Dynamics; and it needed eBECS to respond quickly to understand its business requirements and meet its high expectations.

“We therefore sought a replacement Microsoft Dynamics partner with high levels of expertise, relevant industry experience and also a business understanding that could match our own – and we found this in eBECS Ltd.”

The solution

In Microsoft Dynamics, Kaba was confident it had acquired a management system that was more dynamic, innovative and tailorable than its previous system. However, Kaba also knew that it could not exploit the full potential of Microsoft Dynamics without assistance from a company of true technical specialists.

Finding the right partner

Kaba turned to Microsoft for advice. Microsoft listened carefully and immediately suggested eBECS as one of the most likely partners that could assist. Kaba and eBECS soon met and began working together to address the existing challenges and also to discuss the potential of Microsoft Dynamics.

Harry Anoyrkatis, Finance Controller at Kaba Ltd explains, “Straight away we saw eye-to-eye with eBECs and could see it was going to be a good match between our two companies.  Quite clearly, they had experience of picking up the reigns from an incumbent Microsoft partner. The processes they put in place quickly gave us confidence that they knew just what to do. In the first instance, the eBECS team immersed itself into our finance team and undertook a health-check on what Microsoft Dynamics could – and should – be doing for our business.”

Putting the business back in control

eBECS was also keen to ensure that the Kaba team was trained properly and could handle most of the routine work themselves, which Kaba saw as a refreshing approach as they were used to paying significant contractor fees.

Anoyrkatis concludes, “Kaba now has much quicker access to business-critical information, which means we can manage the business much more effectively.  Historically, we were restricted to basic enquiry screens with fixed views and reports, but all that has now changed and we are able to slice and dice our data according to business requirements. Working with eBECS has made life much easier for the finance team because we have so much more flexibility in producing the analytical reports that the business demands.”

Strong project management

KABA has opted for the service module that allows it to keep track of its most important asset: its clients. By using the service module, Kaba has rearranged its project hierarchy to track its clients’ movements from initial installation through to securing annual maintenance contracts (AMC).

Carly Skidmore, Company Accountant explains further, “The service module automates a lot of manual process that were previously time-consuming and prone to human error. For example, we can maintain cash flow by automatically sending out contract renewal notices and we can ensure high quality client communications through pre-written standardised templates. We can also improve customer service by automatically booking in regular servicing.”

“The service module automates a lot of manual process that were previously time-consuming and prone to human error. For example, we can maintain cash flow by automatically sending out contract renewal notices and we can ensure high quality client communications through pre-written standardised templates.”

The business benefits

Kaba had never doubted that Microsoft Dynamics was the right solution for their business and now they have eBECS to help them exploit Microsoft Dynamics and support the wider objectives of the business.

A less frantic month-end

One of the best examples of the improvements that eBECS has provided occurs at each month-end period. In the past, Kaba had been forced to shut-down the entire UK business for one whole day per month in order to fix all the month-end stock reports. Since Kaba introduced Microsoft Dynamics this has become a thing of the past, which saves the company many working days per year.  The flexibility and adaptability of the reporting mechanisms means the business can keep running as normal during month-end accounting.

A long list of business benefits

Anoyrkatis summarises “I can tell the system is so much better because many of the frustrations I felt prior to eBECS becoming our implementation partner have simply gone away.  It is difficult to provide clear business metrics, but I do know that everything is going very well because my daily working life seems so much easier than before. We rely on eBECS for changes and upgrades to Microsoft Dynamics and we see incremental changes happening automatically in order to make things flow smoothly.

He continues, “We have complete peace of mind that the business has access to the information it needs, and whenever it wants it. I can also say that operationally we are far more interactive over commercial matters, for example, the senior management team now has complete clarity of our pricing model and profitability.”

Why we chose eBECS

Anoyrkatis concludes, “eBECS has the technical ability to do all that we need.  We knew immediately that we were dealing with a bigger and more capable partner with a great deal of knowledge and experience.  They were able to answer questions to many of our problems straight away because they had been there and done it before. We really wanted a Microsoft partner to help us get the best out of Microsoft Dynamics and, with eBECS, they are not just preferred supplier, we truly see them as a business partner to whom we can turn to for business advice and support.”

“eBECS has the technical ability to do all that we need.  We knew immediately that we were dealing with a bigger and more capable partner with a great deal of knowledge and experience.”

Solution overview

8000 Staff
Kaba Ltd is a technology leader and expert provider of integrated access and workforce management solutions for buildings, facilities and sites in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
eBECS
Microsoft Dynamics AX
Security Systems
UK

Testimonial

"We were very satisfied with Microsoft Dynamics. However, we realised we had a problem to address in that the Microsoft partner that implemented the system for us struggled to deliver against our high demands. We therefore sought a replacement Microsoft Dynamics partner with high levels of expertise, relevant industry experience and also a business understanding that could match our own - and we found this in eBECS."
Harry Anoyrkatis
Finance Controller

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