Great chemistry charges higher performance
KPMG helped Dixie Chemical increase net income with better insight into true customer pricing and profit margin.
Client
Dixie Chemical
Sector
Chemicals
Project
Microsoft Dynamics 365 cloud ERP implementation with KPMG Powered Enterprise
Client challenge
Dixie Chemical is a U.S.-based market leader in the development and manufacturing of high-performance specialty chemicals such as thermoset composites and coatings materials, fuel and lube additives, and alkaline paper sizing.
As this global supplier of specialty chemicals evaluated its financial and business operational growth goals, an investment to become more agile and data transparent was quite imperative. The employees at Dixie Chemical were manually processing many transactions using an outdated and unsupported software solution that did not provide timely visibility into data needed to support effective business decisions. Additionally, employees spent numerous unproductive hours completing activities to maintain the company’s manufacturing, inventory, customer services, and financial transactions—all of which caused unnecessary costs as well as difficulties in reporting and providing answers to key business-related questions.
The leadership at Dixie Chemical sought to expediently implement a powerful technology solution to improve operating productivity, data accuracy, and insight into actual business performance; thus, they turned to KPMG for thorough guidance to implement the right cloud-enabled system to achieve their goals.
Dixie’s successful D365 implementation is a demonstration of KPMG’s professional bench depth and commitment to their customer. KPMG took over the project midstream due to unsatisfactory performance by a previous partner. They were able to come in on budget and on time even with COVID 19 restrictions and not being able to be physically onsite. Their PM was one of the best I have ever worked with, and the entire team were more a part of our company than a service partner.
Maggie Dominguez
Director of Information Technology, Dixie Chemical
Key KPMG initiatives
KPMG brought our insights and solutions to expediently design and implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 cloud ERP (D365) technology to replace Dixie Chemical’s current software. Utilizing the KPMG Powered Enterprise tools, best practices, and methodologies, the team focused on process improvement and supporting the company’s business growth plans with a long-term scalability and sustainability view. Throughout the D365 implementation journey, the KPMG team completely immersed with Dixie Chemical by painstakingly understanding their family of products and ultimately “speaking the language” of the company and its stakeholders. This highly specialized approach allowed KPMG to successfully:
1
develop advanced technologies to proactively monitor project metrics and operations
2
implement Microsoft D365 relatively quickly and remotely during COVID-19, without negative disruption to customer shipments or company operations
3
incorporate effective project communications and simplified user trainings to ensure an understanding of D365’s capabilities and how to properly apply to daily tasks
4
establish business transactional systems in a professionally operated enterprise cloud-based platform to reduce the probability of business interruption through enhanced computing
5
improve visibility into customer and product profitability
6
provide real-time access to more accurate financial information to enable better business decision-making capability.
Business impact
As a result of the KPMG detailed business Microsoft-enabled Powered Enterprise implementation approach to transformation and extensive stakeholder training sessions, Dixie Chemical has achieved:
1
an increase in net income by approximately two million dollars
2
improved visibility of production costs leading to insight into true customer pricing and profit margin
3
greater understanding of accurate operating costs and 25% improvement in operating results with identification of hidden manufacturing costs
4
creating monthly management reports in half of the time it was taking pre-implementation and allowing for maturity in end-user analysis requests
5
enhanced work and collaborative efforts, through a holistic understanding of the company’s operating situation and options; increased focus on daily activities critical to achieving Dixie’s business mission
6
business continuity and customer communication improved during critical operational setbacks.
Why KPMG?
The power of the right approach
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The KPMG Powered Enterprise approach distills our cumulative experience and leading practices into prebuilt and tested components that help clients leapfrog generic issues, save time,and accelerate the implementation of their objectives.
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KPMG has an extensive range of fresh perspectives, insights, and proven approaches to organizational strategy as well as customer centricity that can be applied across industries and business types.
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We build strong business cases to power major technologyor process change. Our approach helps clients prioritize investments, sequence initiatives, and secure stakeholder buy-in, keeping all parties focused on ROI-driven project scopes and tangible impact.
Meet our team
Rohit Ravindran
Principal, Advisory Platforms, KPMG US
Rohit Ravindran
Principal, Advisory Platforms, KPMG US