Watch The Senator Group’s D365 story
Hear how The Senator Group and Columbus worked together to manage a complex D365 implementation, deliver a successful first desking go-live and build a stronger foundation for future growth.
Moving to a more consistent platform
The Senator Group is the UK’s largest manufacturer of workplace furniture. With four UK manufacturing sites and manufacturing and sales hubs worldwide, the business distributes to 165 countries.
As the company grew, so did its operational complexity. The Senator Group had previously relied on an in-house developed platform that played a key part in the company’s success, but it had reached its limits. “The central challenge for us was that it had run out of development,” explains Dave Windsor, Head of Business Systems at The Senator Group.
“We wanted a new platform that could keep the good functionality from the previous system but deliver it more consistently and support the next phase of growth for The Senator Group. We were looking for a partner that could help us deliver this, that was stable and would be a good fit for us as a business.”
Tackling complexity in desking
With the D365 rollout reaching the desking side of the business, The Senator Group had two main requirements it had to manage. The first related to desking orders, where customers order a desk but the business often delivers the individual parts needed to assemble it on site. This means each parcel must be picked, managed and tracked to ensure customers receive every component needed for a complete desk. The Senator Group refers to this process as “pack separately”.
“We need to know exactly how many components each customer has received, even though they’ve ordered desks rather than individual parts. From an invoicing point of view, that can be really complicated,” says Dave.
The other main requirement related to the wooden panels The Senator Group makes for desks and storage units. These are produced in an automated factory using a third-party manufacturing execution system (MES), which interfaces directly with the legacy system. “We wanted to do more than replicate the interface in the new system. This was a chance for us to improve the monitoring and communication between the two systems,” adds Dave.
Reducing risk through a phased delivery
The Senator Group and Columbus worked together on a phased approach designed to reduce risk. The first desking phase focused on delivering “pack separately” is now live, putting the key elements in place for the next phase which will move into MES integration and further manufacturing automation.
“Both teams worked closely to address issues early, test thoroughly and maintain control. That meant we were able to deliver a much smoother, more stable go-live for the first desking phase,” says Lesley Bale, Programme Manager at The Senator Group.
The business had planned for four weeks of hypercare, with provision for longer if needed. Instead, hypercare was stood down after two weeks. “We stabilised very quickly and came out of hypercare ahead of schedule because we had the right team around us and the support we needed from Columbus,” adds Lesley.
Building towards better data, automation and customer value
With the next desking phase still to come, The Senator Group has started to see progress in areas such as data and reporting. However, the main benefits are expected once desking is fully live and more processes are brought into Dynamics 365. These include:
- A stronger basis for automation and customer system interfaces: More consistent processes and data will make it easier to support future automation and customer-facing connections
- Improved data structures to support AI-driven management information: Better structured data will create stronger foundations for future reporting, insight and AI use cases
- More stable and controlled workflows and departmental processes: Teams will have clearer, more consistent ways of working that are easier to manage and improve over time
- More consistent customer documentation: Customers will receive clearer documentation from one source rather than paperwork produced across different systems
- More consistent management data: Data will be easier to bring together and report on
- Fewer inter-system processes: Double entry and transactions between systems will be reduced
“We now have a platform we can build on. Longer term, it opens the door to new technologies such as AI agents, which simply wouldn’t have been possible on our legacy system,” says Dave.
Working together towards a common goal
The strength of the relationship meant both teams were able to work through challenges openly and constructively. “There are always challenges in a project like this, whether they relate to resources or the technical solution, but the key is how they’re resolved. Both teams have been able to talk frankly and directly when challenges have arisen and brought them to conclusion,” says Dave.
For The Senator Group, consistency and stability were also key to how the partnership worked. “We know what to expect from Columbus, and Columbus understands our business. That consistency has made it easier to work together,” says Dave.
That open way of working gave the project a strong sense of one team working towards a common goal. “When we have an issue or complex problem to solve, it feels like a real partnership. It’s not ‘you and us’. It’s very much ‘we’re in this together’,” adds Dave. “For these reasons, we would recommend Columbus to businesses facing similar challenges and looking for support with their digital solutions.”
