ICECO Holding – Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

ICECO Holding group companies focus on production and distribution of finished products (ice cream and fish products) in Lithuania and export markets.

We spoke with Renata Butėnė, IT Manager.

What led you to change your existing system?

Data on inventory operations—such as shipped goods or raw materials issued to production—was reflected in the system with delays of several days and was not always recorded accurately. This led to misalignment between warehouse, production, and sales departments. Inventory counts could take up to a week, and accounting teams had to deal with a high number of discrepancies. As a result, it was not possible to effectively plan raw materials or finished goods. The company relied heavily on verbal communication rather than structured processes.

What criteria did you use when selecting a new system?

The decision to invest in a new business management system was driven by the need to control and integrate all supply chain processes and ensure smooth and accurate data flow across departments. It was important that:

• All business processes across the group are managed within a single system
• Financial, project, service, and supply chain data are aligned, ensuring consistent decision-making
• The system integrates with production line automation equipment
• Accounting data is captured as close as possible to the physical process
• Business analytics can be performed in near real time

We wanted real-time operational metrics, the ability to model forecasts based on detailed sales analytics, accurate inventory data for procurement planning, and quick access to information without relying on individual employee knowledge.

After evaluating alternatives, we decided to continue working with Microsoft Dynamics NAV by upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and implementing an additional warehouse management solution.

How did operations change after implementing Business Central?

After implementing a warehouse management solution within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, inventory counting was reduced to one day, and accounting processes became significantly faster—often requiring just a single action. Within a few weeks, products could be located based on scanner data, and employees were able to select items with the correct expiration dates more efficiently, ensuring proper stock rotation. Warehouse picking processes are now approximately 30% faster.

The procurement team is automatically notified when critical stock levels are reached. Raw material demand is planned with weekly accuracy, reducing warehouse load and saving around 20% of storage space. The system evaluates stock levels, planned sales, and procurement parameters to generate replenishment plans. Over the past six months, expired inventory levels have been reduced to around 10%, with further improvements planned.

Production downtime due to raw material shortages has been minimized. Materials are issued to production based on system-recorded requests, with the ability to specify exact batches if needed. Raw materials are written off upon completion of production batches, eliminating delays and reducing cost calculation time from several days to a few hours during off-peak periods.

A fully automated ice cream production line was successfully integrated with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, as well as labeling and production accounting systems. All produced goods are recorded in real time. For production analytics, Microsoft Power BI is used to identify deviations from production standards and their root causes.

In sales, both direct and partner-based order processing and invoicing have been automated through EDI solutions. These improvements in automation and supply chain optimization have significantly enhanced service levels, creating a strong competitive advantage in both local and export markets.

The achieved results encourage further investment. The company plans to continue aligning accounting data capture and analytics more closely with physical processes, including the implementation of automated data capture for raw material and semi-finished product weighing.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central enables companies to plan and manage resources, supply chain, inventory, sales, customer communication, financials, accounting, and other core business processes within a single system.