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House Doctor

House Doctor performs a digital changeover with competent sparring on the sideline

A well-oiled and healthy business may be its own worst enemy, and when the plan is to triple turnover within a few years, innovative thinking is required. House Doctor made a bold, but also wise and necessary move through an extensive changeover of their digital platform.

Facts about the House Doctor Group

House Doctor is a Danish design firm that, via a network of more than 7,000 retailers, provides accessories for the modern home. Hours Doctor employs a staff of more than 100 at the Ikast head office and at an increasing number of international sales offices.
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    It takes time to pause and perform a self-examination.

    It takes time to implement new IT and, likewise, it takes time to gather headway again after the implementation of new systems. Nonetheless, this was precisely what House Doctor decided to do when, in 2018, they planned and initiated comprehensive innovative thinking pertaining to the entire firm’s IT application and operation.

    ”As an element in internal analysis work, we investigated every possibility. Hardware, software, support, service agreements, internet… EVERY possibility. The goal was to obtain a razor-sharp picture of our current situation in order to reach a qualified assessment as to what would be our wisest move.” says Claus Hyldgaard, who is House Doctor’s Digital Operations Manager.

    Claus Hyldegaard

    - Digital Operations Manager

Prioritisation of cloud and knowledge

It soon became clear that even though many elements were operating as intended within the existing set-up , it would be necessary with enhanced synergy within the interfaces between the individual solutions. At the same time, a certain flexibility would be required which existing solutions no longer accommodated. For instance, the maintenance of the otherwise well-functioning ERP solution with its many adaptations would be quite demanding.

 

A search of potentials in the market resulted in the decision to take the cloud road and prioritise solutions, with the greatest degree of knowledge, in order that, forward looking, it would for example be easy to find employees who were already conversant with the firm’s software portfolio. Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations (D365FO) was chosen for the ERP element.

Opting for experience rather than package solutions

Considering such a comprehensive change-over and the prospect of a 360-degree IT replacement, the choice of both hardware and software is essential, however, the choice of the right partner to accompany one along the way is at least as important. What House Doctor was opting for was a player who would not take over the process and who, at the same time, would have sufficient authority and knowledge to challenge and provide sparring for the internal team of competent people.

”The personal chemistry must be in place, and there must also be a good match in the perception of the task. To us, it would not do with a provider who would already have the solution, before they even met us,” says Claus Hyldgaard, concerning their efforts to find the right partner for the ERP part.

Daxiomatic as a partner on implementation

The choice was Daxiomatic, and this came to be a close partnership which, throughout the entire process, has been characterised by open dialogue and a continuous matching of expectations.

”Daxiomatic proved to be the perfect match for us. They are absolutely competent and proficient within their field and, also, they have a pragmatic approach. In our collaboration with Daxiomatic, I experience precisely the flexibility we need. Both parties are important in the collaboration, but the primary ownership and responsibility still remains with us – internally at House Doctor,” Claus Hyldgaard explains.

Standard Dynamics 365 focused on processes

Previously, House Doctor worked with a completely tailormade ERP solution, but this time, they have chosen to apply a standard solution. The consequence is that 80% of the work with the implementation of the solution has been about processes. With respect to finance & economy, sales, warehousing and logistics, respectively, dedicated teams comprising a super user from the department, a track-owner from the ERP team and linked resources from Daxiomatic have analysed and adapted the firm’s processes.

”Taking the standard road was a strategic decision, which has been backed up all the way round. It takes time to get up-to-speed with the new processes, but this is an element in our investment, and in the long-term perspective this is time well invested,” says Claus Hyldgaard.

Collaboration, operations and the future

Today, House Doctor is airborne on the basis of a completely new cloud-based platform. Not only the ERP part but the complete array of applications has been replaced. To users, this represents a radical change, but it is part of the journey. Change-over takes time, but is at the same time, a prerequisite for continued growth and development. And the collaboration with Daxiomatic will continue.

”It will be forward looking that we will in earnest profit from the project we have launched, and I consider our collaboration with Daxiomatic to be a partnership. It is important to be accompanied by experts on our journey. People who will keep us on track and make sure that our daily operations will be executed as intended, people who will provide guidance when, for instance, new D365FO opportunities appear,” Claus Hyldgaard concludes.

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Challenge
An ambitious growth and internationalisation plan, with IT constituting a central part of the strategy, gave rise to a comprehensive analysis of House Doctor’s complete IT portfolio, and the answer was unequivocal: There was a need for a digital upgrade across the board.
stopwatch
Solution
House Doctor opted for a comprehensive change-over across their digital platform and established a strong team comprising internal as external experts within the various sub-components. With respect to the ERP part, they chose to implement a standard D365FO in collaboration with Daxiomatic.
success
Result
Today, House Doctor is airborne, with D365FO and other applications constituting the flexible support of their ambitious growth plan. They have established a permanent collaborative relationship with Daxiomatic for the purpose of the further development, continued optimisation and operation of the solution.