VMI Group

VMI Group was looking for a CRM system for their sales and purchasing department. Microsoft Dynamics CRM was chosen because of its flexibility and accessibility for the users. More than a hundred employees now use the system daily to improve customer satisfaction and streamline operations with suppliers.

VMI Group develop and build machines that produce car tyres, rubber products and beverage cans. The division that build the machines to produce passenger car and truck tyres is the largest, and VMI is the global market leader in this area. VMI Group employs approximately 1,400 people worldwide, 800 of whom work at its main site in Holland.

Danny Severijns is Project Department Manager at VMI Group and leads the team of project managers responsible for the technical side of the sales process. In this role, he works with Microsoft Dynamics CRM daily. Danny: “The reason for purchasing a CRM system was the rapid growth of our organisation. With increasing numbers of customers and projects, we could no longer cope without a good, up-to-date customer database. We now have constant insights into the status of all our accounts and an up-to-date overview of contacts, appointments made, the status of quotations and so on. Previously, much of this knowledge was in the heads of the commercial team and project managers. That, of course, became an ever-increasing risk to the business.”

In addition, VMI Group introduced SRM, Supplier Relationship Management, based upon CRM, for the purchasing department. The sourcing team is the link between the R&D engineers who design the machines and develop new functionality, and the suppliers of all the necessary parts and technology. Wilko Vaandrager, Global Sourcing Buyer: “We were looking for a relationship management system that could replace the functionality of the Excel spreadsheets we had been using up until then. These spreadsheets were stored locally, did not always contain uniform information and could not be shared during supplier visits.

Better forecasting and planning thanks to Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Danny: “Microsoft Dynamics CRM enables us to serve our customers better, if only because we have all the latest information in one place and everyone works with the same information. In short, we have a good understanding of all active customers and the teams involved at VMI. But CRM also gives us deep insights into all of our current opportunities and quotation processes. This allows us to make more accurate sales forecasts. I use the dashboards in Microsoft Dynamics CRM every day. The reports provide direct insights into requests, work distribution and availability of employees. We also share these forecasts with the engineering and production teams. The ERP system never provided us with these insights as quickly and as up-to-date.”

Wilko and his colleagues use SRM intensively in their daily interactions with suppliers. Certain workflows have also been set up in the system, for example when registering new suppliers and storing specific contract documents. When entering bank and payment details, VMI Group uses a four-eye principle. The approval process for this has been automated in SRM.

When selecting an implementation partner, HSO stood out for its CRM expertise and integration capabilities with other business applications. Danny: “HSO is building another link between Microsoft Dynamics CRM and our Infor system. Once an order is complete, it is checked and then forwarded to Infor.” Wilko: “The supplier data from our SRM system, such as contact person and contract number, is directly synchronised with Infor ERP, ensuring that we work with the right data in both systems.”