Wanted: Best-in-Class WMS for Microsoft Dynamics AX/365FO

The World’s Largest Breeder and Wholesaler of Broccoli Seed

Sakata Seed America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sakata Seed Corporation of Yokohama, Japan. Sakata Seed America, Inc. is headquartered in Morgan Hill, CA and breeds, produces and sells hybrid and OP wholesale vegetable and ornamental genetics through seeds and cuttings. Sakata Seed Corporation has been in business for more than 100 years, and Sakata Seed America more than 40 years. In vegetables, Sakata is the largest global breeder, producer, and wholesaler of broccoli seeds, and breeds, produces and sells tomato, pepper, carrot, beet, melon, watermelon, spinach seeds and more. On the ornamental side, Sakata is noted for its Sunpatiens® impatiens and Supercal® petunia as well as notable pansy, celosia, begonia, gerbera, zinnia, and many more ornamental products.

Warehouse Operations a Major Key to Success

Sakata’s production is broken into two phases: The first is growing and harvesting the crops out in fields, and the second is processing the harvested seed in the warehouse. Within the warehouse, the seed goes through many steps to obtain a clean- and high-quality output. Further, since the product is produced by lot, is lot-tracked throughout, and is live and has a shelf life, control of the product throughout processing is vitally important. For instance, great care is being taken to prevent unintentionally cross-mixing different lots of seed during the process. “It is certainly safe to say that our warehouse operations are a major key to the overall business success of Sakata”, says Doug Kenyon, IT Manager of Sakata Seed America.

Manual Processes Were Too Error-Prone

“Quality of product is-, and has always been, a key priority for Sakata”, Doug highlights, “and as we grew, and got more product to control, manual procedures became problematic. We therefore decided to digitalize our processes and to begin searching for a modern WMS solution that would enable us to grow our business, and still maintain our high standards for quality”.

Wanted: Best-in-Class WMS for Microsoft Dynamics AX/365FO

Making the decision to search for a WMS platform was step one. Finding the right platform was step two. The mission, however, was straight-forward. “First and foremost, we wanted a best-in-class WMS platform with a seamless integration to our Microsoft Dynamics AX”, Doug says. He continues: “Furthermore, we wanted a platform that could be modified to fit our unique business requirements, such as adding customized validation steps and extending the solution to be integrated with existing warehouse machinery. Finally, we wanted a solution that could work in multiple locations and that could be upgraded along with us upgrading our ERP”.

Tasklet Factory Mobile WMS Stood Out from the Competition

Sakata’s past experience with a competing WMS platform called for a particularly thorough selection process to identify their future solution. Doug explains: “We previously attempted to use a different WMS system, and found it cumbersome, not easily customizable, costly, and very slow – especially at remote facilities. As soon as we saw Tasklet Factory Mobile WMS we immediately spotted the differences. It matched all of our requirements and stood out from the rest of the competition! Really, it was an easy choice”.

The Results

Modernizing the warehouse procedures with Tasklet Factory Mobile WMS has brought along a variety of advantages to Sakata. Quicker processing times, more functionality for warehouse staff, and better machine control are a few of the examples. However, the biggest value to Sakata lies within the significant reduction of errors: “Since the implementation of Tasklet Factory Mobile WMS, we have experienced far less data entry errors, and have not had a single unwanted mixture of seeds. It would honestly be unfair to put a dollar-amount to what this means for us – it is priceless for our business”, Doug emphasizes. “Plus, our warehouse workers love it. “Don’t ever take this solution away from us”, they say. I think that tells it all”, he continues.

The Value of an Experienced Solution Partner

Real Dynamics is a Microsoft partner with expertise in Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations and Dynamics AX. Real Dynamics specializes in implementation-, advisory-, and business transformation services.

From a technology point of view, Real Dynamics have been major contributors in getting Sakata Seed to where they are today. Doug elaborates: “Upon defining our requirements for the project, Real Dynamics have been forerunners in turning our thoughts and plans into actual and practical solutions, including all the custom programming and integrations to other systems. We could not have done it without them”.

The project has also been rewarding for Real Dynamics. Sandeep Shukla (Principal) explains: “Since day one, we had so much fun working on this project. Sakata Seed approached the cooperation with an open mind and were generally a fantastic client to work with. Tasklet Factory as well has been a great partner throughout and has provided all the support we needed to end up with a successful implementation and a happy customer”.