Manuchar Gains Real-Time Financial Control, Saves Hours Daily, and Improves Decision-Making with Business Central Insights
Manuchar, a global distributor of chemicals and provider of fully financed supply chain solutions, adopted Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central but quickly outgrew the limitations of standard reporting. By implementing Business Central Insights, Manuchar established a trusted reporting foundation across finance, sales, operations, and leadership. The platform delivered real-time analysis, faster issue resolution, and significant daily time savings across multiple entities.
Key Outcomes
Company Background
Manuchar is a global chemical distributor and provider of fully financed supply chain solutions. Following its move to Business Central, the business needed a reporting solution that could support accurate, timely, and scalable decision-making across multiple entities.
As reporting demand increased across finance, sales, and leadership, Manuchar needed a way to move beyond fragile reporting models and create a single source of truth for the business.
Business and Technical Challenges
After implementing Business Central, Manuchar quickly ran into the limitations of standard reporting. Reports lacked the flexibility and interactivity the team needed, while Power BI models became difficult to maintain whenever Business Central updates affected the underlying data structure.
Although the team had the capability and ambition to build reports internally, custom development required too much time, maintenance, and planning. The result was a fragile reporting foundation that created delays, increased manual workload, and limited time for analysis.
I had the passion to build it myself but not the time. And I needed something I could trust as a single source of truth.
Why They Chose Business Central Insights
Manuchar explored building its own reporting solution but quickly recognized the challenges of custom development. Building from scratch would require extensive planning, ongoing data modelling, and continuous maintenance after Business Central updates.
Business Central Insights provided a proven, ready-to-use reporting framework designed for Business Central reporting needs. It gave Manuchar instant access to structured, reliable data without the burden of maintaining custom reports internally.
It’s either I build something from scratch which takes time I don’t have, or I use something proven. Within an hour of testing, I knew this was the one.
Benefits
Since implementing Business Central Insights, Manuchar has transformed how it manages reporting, decision-making, and operational control.
Time Savings
BCI saves hours every day across reporting and analysis. Manual data extraction and Excel-based reporting have been largely eliminated, with 25 users across Manuchar’s South African group saving around three hours per day per user.“It saves me hours every day. Instead of building reports, I can focus on insights and decision-making.”
Improved Accuracy and Control
Manuchar now has greater confidence in its financial data, with faster identification and correction of errors. BCI provides real-time visibility across five entities and has avoided the need to rebuild reports after system updates.Better Decision-Making
Real-time insights across sales, finance, and operations allow Manuchar to analyse performance drivers such as EBITDA and margins more effectively. Leaders can move from high-level reporting into detailed transaction data to understand the numbers behind performance.“You can drill from the top-level report right down to the actual entry, see the supplier, the document, even who posted it. That changes everything.”
Operational Visibility
BCI is now used daily across sales, finance, and customer performance reporting. Teams can analyze trends, margins, and performance drivers with greater speed and confidence.Faster Issue Resolution
Users can immediately identify incorrect postings or anomalies and trace issues directly back to source transactions and users.Stronger Governance and Compliance
BCI supports accurate, timely month-end reporting and gives Manuchar confidence when reporting to auditors and stakeholders.“We use these reports daily. It’s critical: everything from detailed sales analysis to financial reporting depends on it.”
Partnership and Continuous Improvement
A key differentiator for Manuchar has been the ongoing relationship with eKnowtion. Rather than being a static product, BCI continues to evolve with regular updates, customer-led enhancements, and direct access to experts for support and ideas.
It’s not just a product, it’s a relationship. If I have an idea, they listen and help me find a solution.
Future Use
With a strong reporting foundation in place, Manuchar is focused on expanding BCI across the organization. Future areas include deeper CRM and pre-sales insights, enhanced conversion and sales performance tracking, and broader adoption across teams and entities.
We’ve built a foundation we can trust. Now it’s about using it to drive even more value across the business.