Belgotex unifies sales and manufacturing operations with Dynamics 365

Belgotex, a South African carpet manufacturer with global operations, faced inefficiencies due to outdated and disparate systems. Critical data was scattered and departments were disconnected, hindering informed decision-making.

Belgotex decided to implement Dynamics 365 along with Power Apps, Power Pages, Power BI, and Microsoft Fabric. This comprehensive rollout unified operations and empowered staff to overcome previous system limitations.

Belgotex gained visibility into its operations, improved collaboration between departments, and became a truly data-driven organization. Automation reduced manual tasks, a new portal enhanced customer engagement, and teams coalesced around common goals, boosting efficiency and confidence in decision-making.

Belgotex is a family-owned business celebrating 40 years of manufacturing in South Africa. It designs, manufactures, and distributes high-quality broadloom and modular carpets, offering solutions to the commercial market. With offerings extending to Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, India, Europe, and Brazil, the company takes pride in bringing Africa to the world. “Our aspiration is to continue delivering high-quality products while innovating in our approach to sustainability, transport, and technology,” shares Evan Lockhart-Barker, Chief Executive Officer at Belgotex. “We invest heavily in our people and how they function within the company.” In terms of sustainability, Belgotex is one of the first factories in the southern hemisphere to achieve a six-star Green Star manufacturing rating. It has also signed up for the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Science-Based Targets initiative. In contrast to its competitors, Belgotex produces a wide range of products. This diversity adds complexity to its operations. “Our innovation cycle also has to be much more rigorous and frequent than a factory that only produces one type of product,” adds Lockhart-Barker.

Disparate data and disconnected departments

Managing this level of intricacy was not without its challenges, as Belgotex’s manufacturing and accounting systems operated in silos. "With our disparate, old-school systems and manual processes, departments couldn’t collaborate effectively, and our teams couldn’t make sense of our data," recalls Lockhart-Barker. "There were numerous features typically expected in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that we were missing.”

A big bang approach to digital transformation

Belgotex decided to implement the entire suite of Dynamics 365 applications and integrate it with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Power Platform. "We took the big bang approach and implemented Dynamics 365 Finance, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management all at once," recalls Ricardo Springolo, Chief Information Officer at Belgotex. "We got the whole platform ready, turned the old system off over the weekend, and Dynamics 365 came online at the start of the new week." Later, the company complemented these solutions with Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Dynamics 365 Sales, Power Apps, Power Pages, Power BI, and Microsoft Fabric.

We got the whole platform ready, turned the old system off over the weekend, and Dynamics 365 came online at the start of the new week.

Ricardo Springolo, Chief Information Officer, Belgotex

Belgotex made a strategic decision to avoid excessive customization. "With our legacy system, we’ve learned that more customization led to more problems down the road. Instead, we followed best practices and adapted our processes to Microsoft products, which came really well-equipped out of the box," explains Lockhart-Barker.

To ensure successful adoption, Belgotex focused on empowering its staff. The company selected champions—technical, system-oriented employees—to lead the way. Belgotex conducted multiple iterations of user acceptance testing, held town hall events, and provided extensive training.

The initial rollout was challenging, lasting around three months. However, the team rallied together. "Such challenges are typical for a project of this magnitude. What was phenomenal was that, with the support of DAC Systems, people came together to solve problems on a daily and weekly basis," reflects Lockhart-Barker.

Integrated operations fed by improved insights

With Dynamics 365 in place, Belgotex gained unprecedented visibility across its complex manufacturing processes. "The reports and visibility we now have for each individual step in the carpet manufacturing process are phenomenal. We can accurately track the production in kilograms or square meters," explains Lockhart-Barker. "This visibility also helps steer high-level decisions. With Dynamics 365, Belgotex has its finger firmly on the market’s pulse, ready to respond in real-time. “For the first time, I can see a true connection between the order book, the sales team, and the factory. In my experience running other factories, this relationship between what’s going on in the market and what the factory needs to produce never existed," remarks Lockhart-Barker. In the past, Belgotex’s Planning team didn’t have a clear idea of which products to produce or in what quantities, often leading to inefficiencies. "We could be producing many things but they were the wrong ones—wrong products, wrong colors," explains Lockhart-Barker. “With Dynamics 365, we can understand where the demand is and make decisions based on what’s happening in real-time.”

With Dynamics 365, we can understand where the demand is and make decisions based on what’s happening in real-time.

Evan Lockhart-Barker, Chief Executive Officer, Belgotex

This visibility has also streamlined sales. “Before, the sales team couldn’t give customers accurate information about when their orders would be ready. Now, production can see what sales needs, and sales can see what production is doing—whether they’re on track or falling behind,” shares Springolo. “In the old days, factories made what they had materials for, and salespeople dealt with varied market demands. These two worlds never met. But with Dynamics 365, we have true integration, understanding what needs to be sold, and what needs to be produced.”

Overall, Belgotex has become a much more data-driven organization, and its people can trust the information they receive. "Before, in meetings, we would debate whether a number was right or not," shares Springolo. "Now, we trust the data we see in Dynamics 365 and Power BI—we know we can verify the information if we need to." The newfound trust in data has streamlined operations and inspired confidence in process improvements. "The data is much more granular now, and we can build reports from the bottom up. Since the system is so integrated, there’s always a way to link things together. We’ve been able to improve processes that we didn’t even realize had issues," Springolo explains.

Streamlining operations with data and automation

Belgotex also took advantage of the many automation opportunities within Dynamics 365, extending it with the Power Platform. The time needed for financial reporting and month-end procedures has been reduced by five days. “We automated the generation of delivery notes which saves staff about an hour every day. This way, we can deliver our financial reporting pack with a click of a button. With a bank integration, we automatically get live exchange rates. Previously, someone had to manually enter exchange rates into the system daily. That’s 15 full days of work per year saved thanks to Dynamics 365,” highlights Springolo. “Finally, we have automated customer billing, saving us around three to four hours a day in processing time. This frees up the debtors' team to do high-value work.”

Finally, we have automated customer billing, saving us around three to four hours a day in processing time. This frees up the debtors' team to do high-value work.

Ricardo Springolo, Chief Information Officer, Belgotex

Enhanced customer relationships with data transparency

Using Dynamics 365, Belgotex not only transformed internal operations, but also significantly enhanced customer experience. It combined Dynamics 365, Power BI, and Power Pages to create a customer portal that empowers clients with self-service capabilities. "They can look at open sales orders, invoices, rebates, and track the resolution of any complaints or issues," shares Springolo. Customers can also compare yearly data and better understand their own business. Lockhart-Barker adds, “Most of our clients were amazed. They hadn’t imagined having access to this level of information.“ The portal also alleviates pressure on Belgotex’s Customer Service team by empowering customers to track orders and resolve issues independently. "We have a very small Customer Service team. The customer portal allows our team to focus on order execution and management by reducing routine inquiries by about 20%," explains Lockhart-Barker.

Belgotex’ field sales representatives have also benefited from access to live data on the customer portal, facilitating informed discussions with trade customers about revenue targets, service levels, and product offerings. "Instead of pulling out data from a report printed two days ago, sales representatives are sitting there looking at live data with the customer. That’s definitely impressed people," Lockhart-Barker adds.

Cohesive growth with shared goals

Belgotex has reached its ultimate goal: Empowering its team to act in concert. “With Dynamics 365, it’s no longer about what’s good for a single department, but about what’s good for the business as a whole. For the first time in my career, I see the entire team working toward the same goal. The focus is now on monthly contribution and customer satisfaction, and everyone understands how we’ll achieve it. There’s constant dialogue, communication, and decision-making happening throughout the business without needing executive intervention,” shares Lockhart-Barker. “It feels good to see the business working like this.”