Movacolor, a global specialist in high-precision dosing and blending solutions for the plastics manufacturing industry, was running two product configurators: one in its legacy ERP system and one on its dealer portal. The two had to become one. At the same time, the company was migrating to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, implemented by 9Altitudes NL. The existing custom configurator could not move to the new platform, so Movacolor chose a new CPQ solution: Elfsquad.
That created a new requirement: a reliable connection between Elfsquad and Business Central. Without it, every configured item and bill of materials would have to be created by hand in Business Central, slow and error-prone work.
“We had two configurators, one in our old ERP and one on our dealer portal, and they had to become one. When we moved to Business Central, we couldn’t bring the old configurator with us.”
Bouwe Behnen, Continuous Improvement Engineer at Movacolor
Why Movacolor chose Dynavision
Movacolor faced a familiar choice: build everything from scratch, or start from a base that largely already existed. The Dynavision Elfsquad Connector covered roughly 80% of the requirement out of the box. Long-term maintenance weighed in too: both Business Central and Elfsquad keep evolving, and a maintained connector keeps that base working through platform updates.
“You had already built a really solid base, around 80% of what we needed. We had a plug-and-play connector instead of building everything from the ground up. And then you also look at maintenance: when the platforms change, you want that base to keep working.”
Bouwe Behnen, Continuous Improvement Engineer at Movacolor
The solution
The Dynavision Elfsquad Connector feeds the configurations from Elfsquad directly into Business Central. On top of the standard connector, Dynavision and Movacolor built tailored logic to fully automate the configure-to-order process: production bills of materials are certified automatically, routing plans are linked along with them, and cost and sales prices are calculated automatically. As a result, a configured product that has never existed before flows from a quote in Elfsquad straight into Business Central as a ready-to-sell item.
“We can turn a fully configured sales quote into a sales order without anyone stepping in between. That’s process automation at a very high level.”
Bouwe Behnen, Continuous Improvement Engineer at Movacolor
The collaboration was fast-moving and ran largely over Teams. Small adjustments were picked up immediately so the main track could keep moving, something Movacolor found unusually positive.
“I’m not used to working this way, in the positive sense. It made me think: oh, it can be done like this too.”
Bouwe Behnen, Continuous Improvement Engineer at Movacolor
On the Dynavision side, the collaboration was experienced as exceptionally smooth as well.
“For us this felt like a genuine partnership, not a supplier-client relationship. Bouwe knew exactly what he wanted and spelled everything out clearly, which made it easy for us to move quickly.”
Jens Decolvenaer, Business Line Manager at Dynavision
The results
Working together, Elfsquad and Dynavision halved the time Movacolor spends processing orders. Elfsquad makes configuring products dramatically faster, and the Dynavision Elfsquad Connector carries every configuration straight into Business Central, so the two effectively work as a single system.
One nuance belongs with this story, and it makes it all the more credible. Movacolor came from a configurator that already did much of this. The connector’s main job was to carry that capability over to the new platform without any step backwards, and it did. In an ERP migration, where teams often lose ground in certain areas, that in itself is a result. On top of that, the connector made the move to Elfsquad possible, and that is exactly where Movacolor gains the most in configuration speed.
“This is what made it possible to work with Elfsquad, and that has delivered an enormous efficiency gain for us.”
Bouwe Behnen, Continuous Improvement Engineer at Movacolor
Recommendation
Movacolor views the relationship as a true partnership and has since recommended both Elfsquad and Dynavision to others.
“I would definitely recommend the product, and the collaboration just as much.”
Bouwe Behnen, Continuous Improvement Engineer at Movacolor
Want to learn more about the Dynavision Elfsquad Connector for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central? Get in touch with Dynavision.