Knowledge Hub  |  Industry Guide

Food & Process Industry

Work processes, system support, and an overview of listed partners — written from the buyer's perspective.

The reality of the industry

The Nordic food and process industry operates in one of the most regulated and competitive sectors. Margins are squeezed by volatile raw material prices and international competition, while consumer demands for transparency, locally produced goods, and sustainability are constantly increasing. Managing all of this requires system support built for the industry's reality — not a generic ERP system with retrofitted customisations.

What distinguishes process flows from discrete manufacturing is fundamental: recipes rather than bills of materials (BOMs), batch management rather than serial numbers, shelf-life dates governing warehouse logic, and production planning that accounts for sanitisation and allergen management. A recall must be manageable within hours — with full traceability from raw material to end customer.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is used by Nordic food and process companies looking to consolidate ERP, quality, supply chain, and customer relationships into a unified platform. The Finance & Supply Chain Management and Business Central modules cover different levels of complexity within the industry, and can be complemented with CRM and service applications for an end-to-end solution.

Core work processes and system support

Finance & Supply Chain Management: Process manufacturing, traceability, and quality

F&SCM is the core for larger food and process companies with advanced requirements. The system handles the entire production flow with the precision required by the industry and mandated by authorities and certification standards.

  • Recipe and formula management with version control, scaling, and support for raw material variations
  • Full batch traceability from raw material receipt, through all production stages, to dispatch and end customer
  • Quality controls with mandatory checkpoints upon arrival, during production, and on finished goods
  • Warehouse management with shelf-life dates and FEFO picking strategy (First-Expired, First-Out)
  • Production planning considering capacity, material availability, and sanitisation or cleaning intervals
  • Costing with support for weight loss, yield, and process variation — the foundation for accurate margin analysis
  • Integration with shop floor equipment (MES/SCADA) via standardised APIs for real-time data

Business Central: ERP for small and medium-sized businesses

Business Central suits food and process companies in the SMB segment. The system covers finance, manufacturing, warehousing, and sales in one solution and can be augmented with industry-specific add-ons from partners for deeper process support.

  • Production orders with recipe management and essential batch traceability
  • Warehouse management with shelf-life dates and FEFO support
  • Purchasing, vendor management, and finance in a cohesive system
  • Option to build out with industry-specific extensions for deeper food functionality

Sales: B2B relationships with retail chains and wholesalers

Food companies with complex sales to grocery chains, restaurants, or wholesalers require system support for contract management, pricing, and campaign tracking. Dynamics 365 Sales handles these relationships and provides the sales organisation with a unified tool for pipeline management and customer follow-up.

  • Contract and price management for major retail accounts
  • Pipeline management for new product launches and market penetration
  • Campaign planning and trade activity tracking

Field Service & Customer Service: Maintenance and customer relations

For food companies that manufacture and service process equipment at customer sites, or those needing structured case management for customer service, Field Service and Customer Service are relevant additions. Field Service manages service technician scheduling and preventive maintenance; Customer Service consolidates customer enquiries into a unified flow.

Listed partners in Food & Process Industry

Eight partners are listed for the industry on d365 Guide. Below, they are presented in the order they appear on the industry page.

BE-terna
Finance, Supply Chain Management, Commerce

BE-terna has F&SCM as its core competency and is one of the clearest options for food and process companies with complex production flows and advanced supply chain requirements. Their experience in process manufacturing and distribution makes them highly relevant for mid-sized to large players in the sector. Commerce expertise is an added benefit for companies with direct sales channels.

Sirocco Group
Sales, Customer Insights, Customer Service, Field Service, Contact Center, Project Operations

Sirocco Group is a dedicated CRM and service specialist. For food companies with complex B2B sales to retail chains, distributors, or restaurants — seeking a partner with deep CRM expertise rather than ERP — Sirocco is a relevant option. They handle customer relationships, field service, and contact centres on the Dynamics 365 platform.

InBiz
Business Central

InBiz is an Uppsala-based BC specialist with extensive experience in the Dynamics platform, certified as a Microsoft partner since 2005. They deliver comprehensive BC solutions where the entire flow from purchasing and production to warehouse management and invoicing is managed in one system. For food and process companies in the SMB segment looking for a hands-on partner with clear delivery ownership, InBiz is a strong option.

Choosing the right partner for your organisation

The food and process industry is a sector where partner industry expertise carries more weight than in most other segments. Requirements for traceability, FEFO management, quality documentation, and certification support (BRC, IFS) are not out-of-the-box standard features in every system — they require either deeper configuration or industry-specific add-ons that the partner must master.

With eight listed partners, the selection is more focused compared to general manufacturing. The distinctions between them are clear: some have process manufacturing as their core competency, while others are broad platform partners with food industry experience as one of several verticals. A relevant question to ask every partner is how many food and beverage implementations they have completed — and whether they can demonstrate reference clients with similar production types and complexity.

Read more and compare partners: d365guide.com/branscher/livsmedel-processindustri