Visual Comfort & Co. gains critical supply chain visibility with Dynamics 365

A series of mergers and acquisitions left Visual Comfort & Co. with fragmented product and customer data. A complex supply chain featuring overseas manufacturing and shipping made it hard for sales staff to know when products would be available.

So Visual Comfort & Co. consolidated data with Microsoft Fabric and connected Dynamics 365 to its wholesale enterprise resource planning software to deliver real-time inventory visibility in the showroom and online.

Since implementing Dynamics 365, Visual Comfort & Co. has improved order accuracy and delivery forecasting. It has also been able to optimize inventory management, reduce excess stock, and improve warehouse efficiency.

Visual Comfort & Co., a high-end lighting designer and manufacturer, is known for its commitment to quality and collaboration with top designers. The company offers a wide range of signature lighting products, most commonly sourced through interior designers.

As Visual Comfort & Co. expanded rapidly through mergers and acquisitions over the last few years, it faced significant IT complexity. Diverse data systems led to fragmented data silos, inaccuracies, and inefficiencies, making checkout a cumbersome and manual process, as well as non-compliant with privacy standards. This clunky process also threatened the level of customer service expected in the luxury market.

With 56 showrooms and a robust online store, getting a handle on the data complexity was paramount. “With disparate systems, we struggled to give our showroom employees real-time inventory data. This has a big impact on sales, if an interior designer can’t specify a fixture because we can’t tell them when it will be available,” says Bhavya Desai, Chief Technology Officer at Visual Comfort & Co.

Dynamics 365 offers tremendous capability for interoperability with other systems, which is just one reason we chose Microsoft.

Bhavya Desai, Chief Technology Officer, Visual Comfort & Co.

Visual Comfort & Co. chandelier

Building a unified view

To tackle these issues, Visual Comfort enlisted Sunrise Technologies, a member of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, to help modernize and unify its operations. The first step was to set up Microsoft Fabric to consolidate product and customer data in one place. Visual Comfort & Co. brought Microsoft Dynamics 365 online for its direct-to-consumer business, plugged into SAP and Oracle’s JD Edwards enterprise resource planning software, which manages the manufacturing and wholesale side of the business. This solution created a unified platform across stores, online, manufacturing, and shipping to streamline operations and improve visibility across the complex supply chain. “Dynamics 365 offers tremendous capability for interoperability with other systems, which is just one reason we chose Microsoft,” notes Desai. “We also chose Microsoft because the aesthetics and the sophistication of Dynamics 365 aligns with our own brand.”

Mitigating disruptions with real-time visibility

One of the key benefits of Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management for Visual Comfort & Co. is real-time inventory management. All the company’s lighting fixtures are manufactured overseas and shipped to the United States for customization before final delivery to the customer. Overseas shipping often includes unexpected delays, such as weather events. In addition, during peak times or promotional events, sales staff had no visibility into product availability or projected delivery times.

With Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, inventory updates are in real time, ensuring that showroom staff have up-to-date information. This visibility is crucial for managing the expectations of its luxury market, where customers often place orders months in advance for homes and offices that are still under construction. “Our customers are a little bit unusual in that they’ll wait months for delivery, but when it’s time to deliver, it’s very important we’re on time,” Desai explains.

We also chose Microsoft because the aesthetics and the sophistication of Dynamics 365 aligns with our own brand.

Bhavya Desai, Chief Technology Officer, Visual Comfort & Co.

Visual Comfort & Co. Antigua Chandelier

Improving the checkout experience

Implementing Dynamics 365 also improved the showroom experience. Before, checkout was cumbersome, requiring staff to use a remote desktop to access a client’s information. Now, with a seamless web-based interface, showroom staff can process orders quickly and accurately. The system’s automation and workflow efficiency features further streamline operations, from purchase order generation to credit checks and inventory allocation.

Planning for growth

Since implementing Dynamics 365, Visual Comfort & Co. has seen improvements in order accuracy and the ability to forecast product deliveries. The enhanced visibility into the supply chain has also optimized inventory management, reducing excess stock and improving warehouse efficiency. The seamless interoperability and real-time data capabilities of Dynamics 365 have not only addressed the immediate challenges but also positioned Visual Comfort & Co. for continued growth and success in the competitive luxury lighting market.

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