Sleeping Easier: Huge Bedding Maker Adopts Dynamics AX to Integrate Major Functions

Microsoft reports that Spring Air Company, the world's fourth-largest innerspring bedding producer, selected Dynamics AX to integrate its manufacturing, distribution, financial, budgeting and procurement activities across the entire organization. Spring Air made the decision "after a comprehensive review of enterprise resource planning (ERP)
systems," Microsoft said.

Spring Air, which manufactures premium-value bedding products sold to consumers through leading retailers, recently merged with Consolidated Bedding Inc. to create a national organization committed to bringing consistent quality, service and value to its customers. The company has 13 facilities throughout the United States and currently employs more than 1,000 people. Spring Air also has licensees in North and South Carolina, Michigan, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Ireland, Australia and the Middle East.

Following the merger, the new company found itself managing six different ERP applications, none of which met the needs of a growing enterprise. Some applications did not incorporate manufacturing or
financial reporting functions and did not integrate with the Microsoft Office system tools that the executive team needed. Moreover, the systems were difficult to use and the company did not own the source code, so its IT department was unable to design and implement its own changes. Most of the software had been developed for the company's needs before the merger and now was outdated. As a result, the older systems held back the new company's growth because they were not scalable.

"We have to be sure we can receive orders, manufacture the product, and get it to our customers on time, and Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 was the best ERP manufacturing application available to us," said
Paul Davis, vice president of Information Technology at Spring Air. "Overall, it matched what we needed and we liked the technology behind it. We knew Microsoft would support it long ...