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Microsoft Business Solutions and KiMs Unveil Pilot Project Demonstrating Supply Chain Management of the Future
Trail-blazing pilot project at KiMs, the leading Danish snack manufacturer, to set new standards for effective supply chain management in small and mid-sized businesses.
Working in partnership with KiMs, Microsoft Business Solutions today unveiled a project leading to a greater degree of automation and efficiency in company supply chain management. One element incorporates the most recent Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology into Microsoft Business Solutions - Axapta.

"KiMs is taking part in this exciting international pilot project with Microsoft Business Solutions because it opens interesting possibilities now and in the future for our customers and our business," said Jørn Tolstrup Rohde, CEO of KiMs.

The pilot project is divided into four separate projects:
One project concerns the next generation of electronic document transmissions among manufacturers and retailers, cutting the cost to all parties of sending and receiving documents. The second project aims to create even higher efficiency in our management of production and inventory, allowing for further improvements in the high standard of delivery enjoyed by our customers.The third project is about data monitoring for even more efficient management of the business. The fourth project (RFID) involves a simpler and more reliable recording of inventory into and out of warehouses and shops. This project is a peek a bit further into the future, as the necessary microchips are prohibitively costly, at present.
KiMs implemented Microsoft Business Solutions - Axapta in June, 2003, in part to achieve increased efficiency in all areas of the company supply chain management, from raw material delivery, manufacturing, and inventory to monitoring of ordering and shipping.

The aim is to enable the Axapta based system with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to track in detail the products from KiMs every step of the way through the distribution chain, from the loading of the products until their arrival at the retailer. This is accomplished by marking all pallets with small microchip tags, transmitting into the IT system their position on their way to the retailer for near real-time tracking.

"In the prototype, we have focused on the marking with RFID-tags and automatic internal unloading at various storage locations to see if the RFID technology has reached the practical stage for use in a food processing business. This will require a new additional collaboration with our distributors and customers to monitor RFID tags outside of KiMs manufacturing facilities," said Jørn Tolstrup Rohde.

The pilot project passed a trial run in December, 2003, just three months after the idea was conceived, and is, thus, operational while not yet fully implemented and integrated into the KiMs business operations. Microsoft Axapta was implemented at KiMs in June, 2003, by Microsoft partner Aston Business Solutions, which played a major part in the efforts to develop the pilot project. Aston ensured that a number of advanced SCM functions were adapted and integrated into the Microsoft Axapta platform and KiMs business operations.

"We are constantly growing and are acutely aware of the wishes of our customers and new trends in how retailers purchase their inventory. If internationally we may experience supermarkets without human cashiers - where technology alone records the transactions of goods - it becomes of great importance for us to be able to study and test new technology. Only by embracing the future may we become a good sparring partner for retailers, and judge the advantages and disadvantages of the technology. For the new way of recording transactions to become feasible in the supermarket of the future, the microchips at the heart of the process must be standardized and become considerably less expensive," said Jørn Tolstrup Rohde.

"This pilot project demonstrates how Microsoft Business Solutions continues to aggressively innovate in support of emerging needs and scenarios of our small and midmarket customers as they face new challenges in managing their supply chain," said Satya Nadella, corporate vice president of development, Microsoft Business Solutions.

"We are the undisputed market leaders in chips and snacks in the Danish market and are enjoying strong growth in our exports (private label). Our strong position was achieved through our ability to read and anticipate the wishes and needs of our customers in a wide variety of areas. In this context, keeping up with and putting the technologies of the future to the test is important, and we are pleased to have been selected for a worldwide pilot project with Microsoft,"said Jørn Tolstrup Rohde.

KiMs has been in operation for almost 40 years, currently employs 270 people, and has an annual output of 100.000 pallets of snacks. The product line includes nine of the 10 best-selling crisps in Denmark. The company won Denmark Brand of the Year in 2002.

For further information, please contact:
Jørn Tolstrup Rohde, CEO, KiMs, telephone: (++45) 20 20 21 70, email: jorn.tolstrup@kims.dk Sara Helweg-Larsen, PR Manager, Microsoft Danmark, telephone: (++45) 22 10 45 81, email: sarahl@microsoft.com
Microsoft Business Solutions offers a wide range of business applications designed to help small and midmarket companies become more connected with customers, employees, partners and suppliers. More information about Microsoft Business Solutions can be found at www.microsoft.com/businesssolutions