Team Lotus Accelerates on the ERP Track with Dynamics AX

Team Lotus is using Microsoft Dynamics AX to manage over 720 suppliers. The Redmond company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution deals with more than 100 processed drawings per day, and helps the Formula One team keep track of in excess of 5,000 disparate components which go into the racing car.

Used by companies in a range of industries from manufacturing to finance, Dynamics AX proves that it can also rise to the challenge of helping Team Lotus accelerate on the ERP track.

According to the Redmond company, it was a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, eBECS that dealt with integrating Dynamics AX across Team Lotus’ organization, which is now made up by over 200 people, up from just a little over 20 in 2009.

“It was imperative to us that the ERP system strictly control and manage our stock,” said Richard St Clair-Quentin, commercial manager at Team Lotus.

“Our cars are highly engineered, and we use expensive materials, such as carbon fibre and titanium, so we have to be sure that we have full control and visibility over purchasing, manufacturing, stock holding and material consumption, all of which is underpinned by Microsoft Dynamics AX.”

St Clair-Quentin praised Dynamics AX as the best solution for Team Lotus’ ERP needs, noting that the familiar user interface has really made it easy to embrace by workers. The commercial manager at Team Lotus also applauded Dynamics AX’s scalability and financial governance capabilities.

The software giant revealed that just four weeks after eBECS was done implementing Dynamics AX, Team Lotus entirely took over running the solution.

“Every part of the process has to be right,” St Clair-Quentin added. “There is no room for error, so timing is crucial. We have relied heavily on the expertise of the eBECS team to implement Microsoft Dynamics AX to monitor and manage this process. When the Grand Prix season starts, we drop everything to go racing, and on occasion this has meant leaving eBECS in charge of the wheel until we are back. It hasn’t let us down.”