Coca-Cola Bottling Shqipëria unifies operations with Microsoft Dynamics 365

Headquartered in Kashar, Albania, Coca-Cola Bottling Shqipëria (CCBS) is responsible for producing a vast range of consumer-favorite beverages—and ensuring they reach customers in a timely and efficient way. General Manager of CCBS Fabio Colliva confirms, “At CCBS, we have thousands of points of sale and delivery. It’s a complicated, growing operation that demands flexibility.”

A drive for connectivity

Over the years, the company’s on-premises enterprise resource planning (ERP) system had not kept pace with its changing needs. “Users of the system were mainly from the accounting and finance team and there weren’t any users from the sales or production area,” explains Ervina Prifti Kuta, Finance and Administration Director at CCBS. “But with the business growing, we needed to have all work processes and people connected in one place.”

Not wanting to be burdened with updates or infrastructure management, the company found on-prem ERP solutions unsuitable. “With local ERP solutions, the goal of having a flexible, inclusive system had its limitations. There was no option of having everything in one system,” explains Kuta.

In response, CCBS recognized the need for a full SaaS (Software as a Service) cloud solution. Ultimately, the company chose Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management as the way forward.

Well-supported transition

Technology partner Intelligent Systems and the Microsoft FastTrack team were both involved in helping CCBS accelerate its transition to a new way of working.

“We were supported during all implementation phases,” says Kuta. “Thanks to Intelligent Systems, we had the guidance we needed from a legal and customization perspective, as well as what we needed to fulfill in terms of broader Coca-Cola system standards. The Microsoft team also provided online workshops and activities that made the transition easy to manage, even remotely. We were on time for go-live and everything happened according to plan.”

Better efficiency at work

After deployment, CCBS avoids cumbersome paper-based approval processes. Plus, it greatly improved its ability to track compliance, authorizations, and audit trails. “Now, we can immediately trace approvals for invoices and purchase orders or other operations. That saves staff considerable time,” says Kuta.

CCBS’s partners are also able to run their businesses more effectively. “Because our invoicing is now fully automated, we can provide our partners with far more detailed information to trace their goods. This has helped them better manage their logistics, warehouse transactions, and financial reporting as they have full, clear data.”

A third key element of the solution has been acceleration of CCBS’s profitability reporting per product. “Before, with Excel-based reporting, we could only view our profitability reports three weeks after month-end,” explains Kuta. Now, thanks to Power BI, CCBS is able to generate the year-to-date reports in three days.

“Today, we have all our processes unified in one system, including finance and the supply chain. As we now handle company-wide master data, everyone has access to the same real-time information, which helps with key decision making on a daily basis,” Kuta sums up.

More effective, people-focused operations

Looking forward, CCBS hopes to deepen its use of Dynamics 365 with a sales solution. “We are finalizing the integration of the Dynamics 365 with the customized Sales solution,” says Kuta. “This is a key focus area as we manage the full sales and distribution process, from our factory doors until the final point of sale. Optimization will help us streamline our sales process and let us focus more deeply on the commercial side of business.”

Apart from the business benefits, Dynamics 365 is helping CCBS’s staff feel involved and connected. “Dynamics is a place for all to join in and to do their part,” Kuta emphasizes. “Now that everything is connected, our people feel more like they are a part of the team,” echoes Colliva.