UChain Streamlines $25M Payment Processing and Enhances Financial Data Management by Migrating from Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central

Quick Summary

UChain, a leading lumping and logistics trucking services company, streamlined its payment processing of $25M in gross revenue per year, seamlessly integrated its proprietary software, and enhanced financial data management by migrating from Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central. TMC’s integration customizations empowered UChain to handle large volumes of data and increase payment automation, improving their operations. .

Uchain’s Challenges on Dynamics GP

For more than two decades, Uchain has depended on their reliable ERP system, Dynamics GP, which was integrated with their proprietary software. This software tracks their trucking operations, workforce, productivity measures, and manages payments and billing transactions, handling up to $1 million in transactions in peak weeks. They needed a system that could seamlessly synchronize their specialized software data with the ERP system, as well as provide ongoing support and updates. Furthermore, with Dynamics GP nearing its end of support and updates, Uchain proactively engaged in a Business Process Review and a software fit evaluation to determine whether to continue with Dynamics GP.

The cost of maintaining the infrastructure for GP was becoming prohibitively expensive. This was particularly due to the significant amount spent on customizations to tailor GP to their specific needs. These customizations required ongoing support and updates, which added to the overall maintenance costs. 

GP was no longer receiving software updates, which meant that the system was becoming increasingly outdated. This lack of support made it difficult to keep up with new features, security patches, and improvements that are essential for efficient operations.

The general ledger (GL) account setups in GP were inefficient, as they needed to bring the GL accounts to a line level. This inefficiency caused complications in financial reporting and analysis, making it harder to get accurate and detailed financial insights.

The process of reconciling bank statements with the company’s financial records was inefficient. This inefficiency led to errors, delays, and increased manual work, which affected the accuracy of financial data and reporting.

The report formatting capabilities in GP were inadequate, resulting in reports that were not user-friendly or visually appealing, making it difficult to interpret data and make informed decisions.

Uchain faced inefficiencies due to the need to switch between their systems. The outdated GP system lacked seamless integration with Microsoft 365, resulting in data silos and workflow inefficiencies.

“We were using Great Plains but it’s being phased out since there’s no longer any support, and as longtime clients of TMC, we realized they couldn’t support a product that doesn’t provide users with updates. This led us to evaluate if we should remain on GP or switch over to Business Central.”  

Brandi R. | Former Controller at Universal Chain 

Microsoft Solutions Partner & ERP Selection 

TMC has been an established and trusted GP partner with UChain for 18 years, which made it a logical choice to extend their partnership into the Business Central implementation project, given their comprehensive understanding of UChain’s business processes. Furthermore, TMC’s long-time support and 25 years of successful ERP system implementations brought a wealth of experience to UChain’s BC deployment.  

TMC’s Customizations and Solutions for Uchain

These customizations and solutions are in addition to the overall picture of benefitting from Cloud features and capabilities.

Implement a pay loan and Paylocity integration, as well as an American Express upload integration, to streamline Uchain’s financial transactions.

Bring in invoice data from their proprietary system at a line level so that payments can be reconciled and applied at an invoice line level to accommodate the types of charges incurred.

Customize integrations to allow Uchain to process large volumes of data and increase payment automation. This includes utilizing existing APIs and customizing integrations to facilitate data transfer from external software systems to Business Central (BC).

Utilize Jet Reports for enhanced reporting capabilities and better formatting and presentation, assisting with quicker and better decisions.

“The driving factors to migrate to Business Central were the unsupported plan for Great Plains and the cost of BC – not including the customizations and the initial cost. Overall, the cost of BC would be less expensive in the long-run.” 

Brandi R., Controller

TMC’s Implementation Process for UChain

After migrating from Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central, UChain achieved several significant improvements. The migration streamlined their payment processing, efficiently handling $23-25 million in gross revenue per year. They seamlessly integrated their proprietary software with Business Central, enhancing financial data management and enabling the handling of large data volumes and increased payment automation. Additionally, TMC’s customizations helped UChain unload over 5000 trucks in a single month, saving significant research time. 

“Uchain was running very efficiently in our accounting department. We had a total of 5 staff members for our accounting department, and if we gross 28 million, that’s a lot to manage. So BC was super user-friendly for us. It cut back on the staff that we needed and allowed us to do a lot fewer manual adjustments.” 

Brandi R., Controller

UChain’s Results with Dynamics 365 Business Central

Initially, UChain planned to use Business Central’s standard Migration Tool for their GP to BC conversion. However, they encountered challenges because the tool was not prepared for large data transfers and they were using an outdated version of GP. As a result, UChain decided to reimplement, allowing them to selectively retain the data they needed. TMC supported this by crafting SQL queries to retrieve only relevant historical customer and vendor information, avoiding wasted storage of obsolete data and contacts they no longer worked with. 

Additionally, the pay loan integration presented a challenge. However, with TMC’s development team’s experience and expertise in Business Central, they leveraged BC’s out-of-the-box flow function to perform a massive upload of AMEX data and reconcile the invoices at a line level. 

Favorite Features of Business Central 

Creating and understanding journal entries is exceptionally easy, streamlining the accounting process for all users.

Users can set up their own preferences, enhancing personalization and efficiency. This feature is particularly useful as it accommodates multiple users working simultaneously. 

The ability to customize screens and dashboards allows users to tailor their workspace. Frequently used pages can be bookmarked for quick access, improving workflow and productivity. 

The bank reconciliation feature integrates seamlessly with your bank, importing all entries directly into the system. This simplifies the reconciliation process, making it straightforward and user-friendly. 

Setting up General Ledger (GL) accounts is a quick and easy process compared to other systems, reducing the time and effort required for initial configuration. 

Since moving to Business Central, UChain experienced several advantages, including: 

  • Time and Research Savings: Significant time and research savings. 
  • Simplified Processes: Automatic matching of payments, saving a lot of time. 
  • Easier Financial Data Management: Simplified management of general ledger accounts and financial data. 
  • Customizations: Seamless integration of proprietary software tracking trucks and productivity metrics.
  • Automatic Payment Matching: Simplified financial management. 
  • Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness: Expected efficiency and cost-effectiveness in 2025. 
  • Automatic Software Upgrades: Regular updates without manual intervention. 
  • Elimination of Hardware Investment: Cost savings due to cloud hosting. 
  • Enhanced Security and Access: Improved security and access through Office 365 licenses. 

About UChain

UChain, a privately owned 3PL supply chain partner, has been a trusted leader in the lumping and logistics industry for over 40 years. They offer unparalleled labor market flexibility, seamless inbound logistics, and both stand-alone and integrated software solutions tailored to meet their clients’ unique needs. 

Their comprehensive services include turnkey startup plans, top-tier talent acquisition, and complete on-site logistics management. Their dedicated analysis team provides custom reporting, advanced systems with cashless policies, and interactive dashboards and scorecards.

Organization Size
Small (1 – 50 employees)

Industry
3PL Logistics

Country
United States

Products and Services
Dynamics 365 Business Central #1 ERP

Dynamics 365 Business Central

Microsoft Solutions Partner
TMC | Contact us

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