Microsoft Dynamics NAV Global Installations: How Nissin Foods Expanded into Colombia

Handling a domestic software implementation is demanding enough, but what about rolling out a new solution in a foreign country? What new challenges, hurdles, and requirements have to be addressed before the software can actually become a functioning part of a company's operations?

Nissin Foods - makers of the venerable Cup Noodles product - found out the answers to those questions recently when it rolled out Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 at its Colombia location in April 2013. The 6-month process found Jesus Carbajal, IT manager, and his team seeking out the best ways to approach an international project without losing too much sleep in the process.

Carbajal detailed the procedure in the NAVUG Forum session entitled Global Installations:  How Nissin Foods Expanded into Colombia. Currently operating in nine different countries, Nissin selected the hosted NAV delivery method in Colombia, due to the company's lack of an IT department. Already successfully using NAV in Mexico with a number of customizations, the company decided to roll out the same solution (and an existing Citrix connection) in Colombia. "That way," said Carbajal, "we didn't have to spend too much more on customizations."

Despite the fact that Nissin was able to "borrow" resources from its existing locations, the Colombia implementation was anything but standard. The country's special accounting requirements were particularly onerous, according to Carbajal, whose team conferred with all company departments (accounting, distribution, sales, etc.) to ferret out the special considerations that each was dealing with.

Government withholding taxes and reports, for example, had to use a specific chart of accounts. "We couldn't just create ...