About the company
Sika Ukraine is part of the Sika Group, one of the world’s leading suppliers of chemicals for construction. The company specializes in the development and production of innovative solutions for construction, industry, transport and other fields. Sika offers a wide range of products including adhesives, sealants, waterproof materials, as well as specialty mortars and additives.
With its high quality and innovative approach, Sika Ukraine has become a trusted partner for construction professionals, architects and property owners across the country. Its products are used in a wide range of infrastructure projects and critical infrastructure facilities, as well as in the construction of residential and commercial buildings, in the automotive industry, etc.
About the need to replace 1C
Since Sika Ukraine is part of an international concern, the need to keep the company’s management records in a transparent and reliable system was a top priority. The presence of the audit trail principle in Microsoft Dymamics NAV was the key to choosing it. After all, this ensured that all financial transactions were reflected in chronological order and that all changes occurring in these transactions were saved in the form of a separate record. Thus, detailing and transparency were ensured.
In 1C type systems, the absence of the audit trail principle makes it possible to correct and delete previously entered data without reflecting these changes. This not only complicates the routine financial processes, but also negatively affects passing of an external audit and the level of trust of international colleagues.
About the choice of system, the transition process and challenges
Choosing an alternative to 1C, the company settled with Microsoft Dynamics NAV, which provided flexibility in customization to the needs of the company and full compliance with the local tax system.
The implementation process was quite lengthy, as it involved not only migration but also customization of the system’s operational functionality. Thus, during the replacement process, it was found that the old system reflected the incomplete cost of the produced product when it was sold or moved to the warehouse, since it did not take into account the full amount of expenses. The actual cost could only be seen at the end of the month. With the implementation of Dynamics NAV, this issue was resolved, because the cost was immediately reflected correctly in the system.
Given the different architecture of the systems, at the beginning of the migration process, the customer decided to migrate gradually and duplicate business transactions in Microsoft Dynamics NAV for the first year. Thus, fears of data loss were minimized and the process of employee adaptation was facilitated. As a result, this allowed the company to evaluate the reliability and efficiency of Dynamics NAV live and successfully migrate all processes to the new platform.
As a member of the team that participated in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV migration project in Sika Ukraine, I can proudly say that the project was successful despite all the difficulties. It was very interesting to watch the transformation of user attitudes towards the new system from a certain distrust to a confident understanding and interest in learning the capabilities of NAV. It was also nice to see satisfied users who didn’t have to spend a lot of time searching for information somewhere to perform their daily tasks – everything was in front of their eyes in the system.
About the flexibility and adaptability of the system
Another key advantage in favor of Microsoft Dynamics NAV was its high customer focus. For Sika Ukraine, as part of a large concern, this was indispensable. All corporate standards, in particular, management reporting and other processes common with the head office, were easily configured in the system.
Users have also repeatedly pointed out that a significant advantage is that any information can be imported in Excel. Equally important is the ability to generate ad hoc analytical reports that allow you to get the right information in real time and customize analytics to suit your needs without the need to involve analytical experts or develop new reports.
Also, the purchase module was radically changed to meet the needs of the company, once again indicating the high adaptability of the system.
From my own experience, I can say that Microsoft Dynamics NAV is very customizable and the most customer-oriented system. It is also quite flexible in terms of future improvements that may be needed as the company grows or in case of any other changes.
About our cooperation
During the implementation of the project, Sika Ukraine fully automated management accounting, in particular, accounting, accounting for purchases, sales, production and operations with banks.
Custom interfaces have been developed for purchasing managers through which orders are made, stocks are replenished and work with clients is carried out.
Integration with external warehouse has been implemented to speed up order processing and shipment.
For us, a special value during implementation is the customer’s readiness for close cooperation in order to achieve the best result. We include the most interesting and useful wishes in our solutions in order to scale the system to the needs of the industry, specifics and processes.
Sika Ukraine offered a lot of useful improvements for our localization, so during the project the customer received the necessary functionality, and SMART Accounting received additional features that are used by other customers.
It is a great pleasure for us to be agents of change in the development of our customers’ business.
Firstly, it is seeing how Microsoft products develop, exploring new opportunities, adapting our solutions to changes, taking into account all the innovations that the huge Microsoft team is constantly working on.
Secondly, talking to the customer, hearing their needs, finding the best way to implement the changing objectives of a business that is evolving, moving forward.
Thirdly, using the knowledge of the business needs of many customers, tapping into the experience of our team, enhancing the solution development processes with the expertise of our employees – both the ones with ten or more years of experience in the company and the new people who have just joined us from the labor market, creating new products and returning to customers with new opportunities for them.
This is an ongoing process. We are very grateful to Sika Ukraine for the fact that we have been following this path for so many years!
Currently, we continue our cooperation with the customer, and the next stage will be the transition of Sika Ukraine to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
