Project Overview
Wasabi Sushi & Bento partnered with Transparity to upgrade their outdated, heavily customised ERP system and replace it with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, giving them a faster, more reliable platform that connects everything from sales and finance to inventory and production. With real‑time visibility, better control, and far more automation, Wasabi now runs more efficiently across its 40+ UK locations and is set up to scale confidently, whether that’s opening new restaurants or expanding franchise opportunities. The modern platform also boosts traceability and operational insight, helping the team make smarter decisions as they push towards ambitious growth goals.
The challenge
While Wasabi’s high-quality customer experience gained a large and loyal customer base, back-office employees have enormous amounts of information to manage to ensure continued customer satisfaction. As Wasabi has grown, managing day-to-day sales order information, inventory and financial ledger details on its highly customised, legacy system had become increasingly frustrating, error[1]prone and slow, often blocking users for up to an hour.
With its new POS and data warehouse system successfully rolled out to all its stores, Wasabi turned towards modernising its end-to-end business processes to provide more control, automation and traceability across its manufacturing and retail operations.
The Solution
Looking to connect all sides of the business and gain better visibility into operations, Wasabi turned to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, choosing Microsoft Inner Circle partner Xpedition to manage the implementation.
With Business Central, Wasabi now has more insight and control over its end-to-end processes, from sales, finance and purchasing to inventory and stock control. Using the new system, it can operate more efficiency and has an enhanced day-to-day view of the business.
Israel highlights, “Business Central is saving us a significant amount of time and effort, with hours gained back by using simplified custom workflows based on live data feeds.”
Integration production planning capabilities
Integral to the business is Wasabi’s dedicated production facility. Now optimised in Business Central, outputs including production orders, sales forecasts and inventory updates are all managed seamlessly within the system.
Further, more advanced capabilities to enhance controls and traceability across Wasabi’s manufacturing process are being introduced within the year. Goods in and out will be handled with barcode readers and EDI will remove the reliance on human interfacing. MRP (Materials Requirements Planning) will enhance production planning and automating QA will eliminate existing Excel manual-based processes around food related checks and balances, such as quality, temperature and cleanliness.
“With Business Central, we have eliminated the need for customisation, replacing it with standard ‘out-of-the-box’ processes. We have much more flexibility to add the functionality we need in the future and run the technology the way we want to support our business,” adds Israel.
Transparity’s expertise and support were outstanding, guiding us seamlessly to a successful outcome. With Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, we now have a modern, intuitive system that empowers our team and strengthens our competitive edge, driving our business forward. – Israel Mello, Systems Manager Wasabie
The Impact
Accelerating business growth
Wasabi has shifted its focus from IT troubleshooting to growth and innovation, with IT issues nearly eliminated. Resources are now directed to large-scale automation projects aimed at enhancing long term efficiency and scalability across the production facility and the business.
Optimised production planning
Wasabi is eliminating the need to rely on Excel for factory operations in favour of automated system-driven processes. This is reducing labour costs, human error and over- or under-production and purchasing issues.
Streamlined operational control
By standardising operations and moving away from heavy customisation, Wasabi is less dependent on IT suppliers and individual employees for continuity. The business has greater control over its own processes, reducing reliance on external and internal dependencies.
Enhanced system efficiency
The new user-friendly system streamlines daily tasks, with Vita Mojo replacing the POS and Business Central replacing the legacy ERP. With improved processing speeds, transactions now post instantly, eliminating frustrating wait times and boosting accuracy.
Futureproofing and scalability
Wasabi has a flexible foundation for future growth, with the ability to add advanced functionalities such as MRP, production planning, AI-driven forecasting and barcode scanning for inventory tracking. The system is designed to adapt to new technologies, ensuring long-term scalability and operational efficiency.
