Distribution Central banks on NetSuite

New ERP system supports Asian expansion.

Distribution Central has signed a major deal with NetSuite OneWorld to roll out a cloud-based business application and ERP solution to support the company’s rapid expansion in south east Asia.

The company said its decision to deploy NetSuite was driven by the need to replace its existing, outmoded ERP systems which were unsuitable for managing issues related to multiple jurisdictions such as currency conversion and regulatory compliance.

DC founder and director Scott Frew said the company assessed ERP solutions from Oracle and SAP before settling on NetSuite.

“It provides a powerful, complete business tool that can expand as we do, without draining our resources like traditional, non-cloud ERP systems can do through their sheer cost and complexity,” DC said in a statement.

DC had been using an ERP solution provided by Australian software company JIWA. The distributor said it would continue to use Microsoft Dynamics as its CRM platform.

For the 2011 financial year DC reported annual revenues of $178 million, a significant increase following reported revenues of $22 million for FY2007.

Frew declined to reveal the size of DC’s Asian business. He said the company had seen impressive growth 12 months after establishing operations in Singapore and had picked up customers in a number of other south east Asian countries including Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong.