By 2009, ASSA ABLOY’s ERP system was no longer sufficient to keep track of production, inventory, transactions,and communication between divisions and business units. Moreover, the many databases within the enterprise were not integrated, making it difficult – and in some cases impossible – to generate the kinds of reports needed by a modern global business. After an extensive selection process, ASSA ABLOY global selected Microsoft Dynamics AX as the new Enterprise Resource Planning software in the Asia Pacific region. After challenges with their initial partner, ASSA ABLOY selected Intergen to complete the New Zealand and Australian implementations. More details: http://www.intergen.co.nz/Our-Work/ASSA-ABLOY/

1. MANUFACTURING/RETAIL
case study
Looking for the
single point of truth
ASSA ABLOY
Locked and loaded
for growth
“Three months after
‘go live’ we’re in
way better shape,
and morale and
confidence in the
business is growing –
and all this happened
during the busiest
three months in the
company’s history.”
Ken Dick
Chief Executive
ASSA ABLOY NZ
THE SITUATION
The pain
ASSA ABLOY is the global leader in
door and window security hardware
with global turnover in the billions
of dollars. With 30,000 employees
and around 15,000 products,
ranging from traditional padlocks to
locks operated by smart phones, and
with clients in the public, commercial
and domestic sectors, the company’s
systems and processes are many
and complex.
By 2009, ASSA ABLOY’s ERP system
was no longer sufficient to keep track
of production, inventory, transactions,
and communication between divisions
and business units. Moreover, the
many databases within the enterprise
were not integrated, making it difficult
– and in some cases impossible – to
generate the kinds of reports needed
by a modern global business.
By 2009 ASSA ABLOY’s ERP software,
which had been in place for 20 years
and had been through numerous
upgrades, was no longer fit for
purpose and would soon no longer
be supported. The time had come for
a completely fresh look at what
was needed.
After an extensive selection process,
ASSA ABLOY global selected Microsoft
Dynamics AX as the new Enterprise
Resource Planning software in the Asia
Pacific region. After challenges with
their initial partner, ASSA ABLOY
selected Intergen to complete the
New Zealand and Australian
implementations.

2. The technology
The delivery
The Business Case
Microsoft Dynamics AX offers Enterprise
Resource Planning solutions for a
world-wide, real-time view of production,
order processing, and inventory
management, sales tracking and much
more; supported by other ERP
applications software and a common
database maintained by a database
management system.
While Intergen had the technical skills
required, “they also understood our
business and added value in ways that
we hadn’t anticipated at the start,” says
Ken. “We also acknowledge that it took
us 20 years to get our previous system
working. I see another six months of
fine-tuning the new system and
allowing people time to adjust to it.
ASSA ABLOY decided to take a
phased deployment approach,
implementing Dynamics AX
across its whole business, with an
expectation that their deployment
of 10,000 users would be one of
the largest in the world.
Intergen’s involvement in the first
Dynamics AX 2012 deployments
(New Zealand and Australia) and
the development of the APAC
template was a key building block
for the future.
The gain
Ken Dick, ASSA ABLOY NZ CEO, sums
up the resulting system as, at last,
providing the company with a “single
point of truth”.
“As businesses mature – and we’re part
of a large global organisation –
information comes from several fronts,”
he says. “We’re chasing seamless flow.
That calls for a system that allows
transactions to flow between customers,
suppliers and regional reporting.
“We saw immediate improvements from
day one. It started in the manufacturing
side of the business where Microsoft
Dynamics AX provides a more precise
and clear real-time view of what’s
required, when and where all the
necessary components are – and the
state of the whole transaction.”
ASSA ABLOY also has the benefit of an
APAC ERP template, jointly developed
with Intergen. This template defines the
processes, policies and methods by
which all APAC deployments will be
completed.
“This project was unbelievably huge for
us and represents a significant change
to many of the ways we do business.
Three months after go-live, we’re in way
better shape than we were before, and
morale and confidence in the business
are growing – all at a time that,
coincidentally, was the busiest period in
the company’s history.”
Robyn Walker, ASSA ABLOY New
Zealand’s ERP Project Manager, says:
“Intergen provided a very high standard
of AX consultants which contributed
significantly to the success of the
project. The quality of their development
was very good.”
The Business Value
»» The ability to integrate and
manipulate information from
multiple databases
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
»» The ability to generate and share
new report templates among
ASSA ABLOY offices
»» Consistent, accurate and
reliable reports
»» Better strategic decision making
»» Better customer service
CHRISTCHURCH
The Engine Room
»» Expandable report lists as new
areas of need are identified
»» Swifter operational decisions – daily,
weekly, monthly – as trends emerge
AUCKLAND
As with any large global
organisation, information comes
from many sources. Unless it’s
integrated it’s difficult to provide
the accurate reports needed in
the modern business world or to
co-ordinate between divisions.
ASSA ABLOY sought enterprisewide, seamless transaction flow
– between customers, suppliers
and regions. And that’s what
Intergen and Microsoft Dynamics
AX delivered.
DUNEDIN
MELBOURNE
PERTH
With Intergen staff working
across organisations of all
sizes and types, our offerings
include portals, content
and collaboration solutions,
Microsoft Dynamics financial
and relationship management,
custom software development,
management consulting
and hosting services.
REDMOND
SYDNEY
WELLINGTON