The aquaculture industry is in constant flux. Innovative production methods, traceability, and client demand for both sustainable packaging and minimal environmental impact are driving the aquaculture industry to review and re-think their approach to how they raise, harvest and package their product. These client demands help to formulate a new approach to how aquaculture companies are running their operations and how to better utilize technology, specifically Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, to meet these challenges.
The increasing demand for seafood requires that farmers and producers better understand the new pulse of their business to control production and increase profitability. Utilizing legacy and inferior finance and manufacturing systems and software to manage and perform fish-farming operations puts a stress on long term growth by increasing operational costs while failing to bring full visibility across the organization.
Recently we partnered with Atlantic Sapphire, who was in need of a robust finance, accounting, and operations solution to help manage their expected growth while accurately reporting to their stakeholders. In this blog, I want to share the knowledge we acquired working with them to display three effective ways a robust system such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations offers to help you optimize and innovate while setting the foundation for future growth.
1. Quickly and easily access all your financial and accounting information
Expansion and growth may sometimes lead to an increase in staff. Dynamics 365 is designed to help you manage that growth while helping to maintain staff levels low. By allowing organizations to take advantage of AP automation, AR Automation, Travel and expense integrations, and full intercompany functionality you are able to manage your operations across legal entities with speed and minimal increase in overhead costs while obtaining full visibility of your complete finance dimension.
2. Efficiently manage warehouse, inventory, and asset maintenance
The primary goal of your business is to produce quality seafood; to accomplish that, you use various types of equipment that need constant maintenance, from tanks to RAS to warehouses and spare parts, all must be organized and tracked to manage the biomass lifecycle from hatchery to harvest correctly.
Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations helps you generate accurate costs of your product by tracking inputs (feed, oxygen, etc) throughout the product life-cycle allowing your company to understand your true costs and help you make pricing, purchasing and operational decisions to maximize profit.
It is challenging to evolve the way you work. Migrating from your legacy aquaculture software and start using a cloud-based ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) might seem overwhelming but the benefits far out-weigh the negatives. A modern, cloud-based solution like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations may help you reduce costs and increase profitability by providing an overall view of production phases, inventory, warehouse management, and more. Dynamics 365 provides the advantage and the benefit of focusing on the essential tasks that will ensure your future growth.
3. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, the single, end-to-end solution
The core value of Microsoft Dynamics 365 is as an end-to-end solution. Every process can be controlled, manage, performed, and viewed in a single platform. We aim for the simplicity of operations, the facilitation of procedures, and, more importantly, the chance of taking strategic decisions based on the powerful insights provided by Dynamics 365.
We understand that, historically, aquaculture operations have used multiple aquaculture systems to manage production, accounting, human resources, and more. Microsoft Dynamics 365 minimizes the number of software your company needs allowing you to focus on the seafood. Besides, if you have legacy systems that are critical to your operations, Microsoft Dynamics 365 API’s and web services can easily and quickly connect to your existing systems. This hybrid approach allows you to capture valuable data within Dynamics 365 and minimizing double entry.
A tremendous robust ERP can seem challenging. Yes, it benefits all areas, generates productivity and efficiency, while laying a foundation for continued growth, but it is not always that easy. It requires a process of analysis, implementation, integration, and support. The most crucial step in choosing an ERP is to choose the right partner. You want a partner with industry experience that understands your challenges, goals, and helps guide you through the implementation.
Thank you for reading this blog. I hope it was useful and helped you to shed some light on the ways that Microsoft Dynamics 365 optimizes and innovates the industry of aquaculture to successfully set the bases of future growth and meet the increasing seafood demand.