For over a century, De Heus, a global animal feed producer, has been at the forefront of sustainable and healthy animal nutrition. Operating more than 90 factories worldwide came with its own set of challenges: fragmented enterprise resource planning systems and a lack of standardization. The solution? A shift to Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365 Finance, and Dynamic 365 Operations, which allowed the company to collect and analyze data in real time. The move drove informed decisions and better operational control to truly revamp customer experience. With Power BI, the company can even share data and collaborate with external stakeholders like universities and genetics providers to improve the efficiency of main meat production processes.
Founded in 1911, De Heus is a global family-owned business specializing in the production of sustainable, healthy animal feed. The company was founded in the Netherlands and expanded internationally since the early 2000s with a strong presence in Asia, Africa, and South America. With 12,000 employees worldwide, it strives to contribute to the sustainable production of safe and healthy food.
Yet, ensuring consistent feed quality across its 90 plus factories is no small feat. To maintain quality standards, De Heus used various enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems over the years and developed in-house applications using Microsoft’s .NET framework. “Each country has its own unique requirements, so, initially, we tried to connect the local solutions to our global applications. But the lack of standardization became an issue,” recalls Jeroen Roomer, Global Chief Information Officer at De Heus. “To achieve uniformity and gain more operational control, we decided to mostly transition from local systems to the cloud.”
Higher standardization, better experience
In 2014, De Heus commenced its journey with Microsoft, introducing Microsoft Teams for collaboration as well as Microsoft 365. Given the positive experience, it chose to implement a technology stack revolving around the Microsoft ecosystem, starting with Microsoft Azure. Plus, with the availability of Microsoft’s local partners—Votiva and Kreatif—who could offer local support and understand local needs, De Heus knew it was on the right track. “Microsoft Azure cloud offers us a range of options, including new technologies like Azure Data Bricks and Data Factory for working with data, and Kubernetes Service for containerization, i.e. packaging applications,” shares Roomer. “Migrating our apps and data to Azure has enabled us to keep standard solutions simple while maintaining flexibility, which is crucial with constantly changing business requirements. It’s a fallacy to think that once an IT implementation is complete, we can rest. Businesses continuously evolve, and that’s the challenge every organization faces.”
Microsoft Azure has enabled us to keep standard solutions simple while maintaining flexibility, which is crucial with constantly changing business requirements.
Jeroen Roomer: Global Chief Information OfficerDe Heus
To ensure further standardization, more operational control, and customer-centricity, De Heus transitioned its factories from local systems to Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations. Starting from its operation in Vietnam in just less than a year, De Heus became well-equipped to replace the system and run its operations on Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, allowing quicker interactions with the customers. “Our customers expect faster information and efficient services—we need to be prepared for that. They want to know the status of their sales orders, the inventory levels, and whether we still have stock available. If we don’t meet customers’ expectations, they will go to our competitors,” shares Roomer.
Part of maintaining that efficiency is accommodating to customers’ choice of communication channels. “Customers use various communication tools like WhatsApp and phone and that’s why it’s crucial for us to be able to integrate several platforms to allow functionality and speed,” says Roomer.
Using data to drive innovation together
Having real-time data has also provided De Heus with the flexibility and knowledge to make informed decisions. “Using Power BI for management and operational reporting, our directors and team members can have productive discussions and decide how best to run daily operations,” says Ma Van Poc, IT Director of De Heus Asia. The data collected also serve to spur innovation at De Heus and in the meat industry, as the company collaborates with the wider community. Roomer shares, “We are part of a value chain—we work with commodity providers, genetics providers, abattoirs, and retailers. Through sharing data between different stakeholders in the value chain we can make meat production more efficient. Partnering with universities and external stakeholders allows us to innovate. The key is not just data collection but deriving value from that data through cooperation.”
With a holistic platform, De Heus has brought its factories and partners together. “Microsoft’s solutions offer scalability because they are available globally,” shares Roomer. “We work with local partners, and it’s beneficial to see them collaborate. Implementing a global template allows various partners to understand their roles and responsibilities to ensure customer success,” says Poc. “Operating on one platform makes standardizing and optimizing processes a lot easier, which consequently helps us better focus on our objectives.”
Microsoft’s solutions offer scalability because they are available globally. Implementing a global template allows various partners to understand their roles and responsibilities to ensure customer success.
Jeroen Roomer: Global Chief Information OfficerDe Heus
Attaining operational excellence
Thanks to better overview and control over operations, De Heus’ employees are able to spread their efforts from operations to working on project boards as well. “We can invest more in developing our team vertically or horizontally, and still observe an increase in their productivity. That leads to a higher motivation on their part to innovate with us,” says Poc.
De Heus has also seen significant time savings in its ERP implementation projects. “It used to take us between half a year and a year to accomplish those projects. With the new system now, we’re able to get that done in about a few months,” shares Poc.
By leveraging Microsoft training materials and support, the team at De Heus was able to quickly adapt to the new system. “We gained a lot of technical expertise from Microsoft that helped us push forward. For example, we found that cost-price calculations could vary. In this, Microsoft helped us figure out if their system could support the calculation methods we needed,” says Poc. “And whenever we encountered technical issues during our global implementations, we received prompt support from the Microsoft technical team.”
More security, less effort
Looking ahead, De Heus aims to concentrate on refining its technology architecture. Since it operates factories in remote areas that are closer to farmers, De Heus looks to overcome challenges like internet latency and connectivity. “We aim to integrate all aspects—security solutions like Microsoft Sentinel and Azure Defender, data governance, and Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations—into a cohesive architecture,” Roomer points out. De Heus also plans to consolidate its master data. “With a single source of truth, we will be able to collaborate with different vendors on one platform,” shares Poc.
Additionally, the company intends to explore what Microsoft 365 Copilot can offer to increase overall operational efficiency. “Artificial intelligence (AI) will be increasingly important. However, we understand that it’s not a magic bullet—garbage in, garbage out—as they say. That’s why we put our architecture and master data first,” adds Roomer.
Reflecting on the journey, he sums up, “The key is collaboration. It’s not just about implementing a system. The process, people, and change management are equally important. Microsoft’s global presence has been a significant advantage for us. Each country had its unique requirements, and through the global Microsoft Partner network, we had the support to achieve our goals.”
