The Customer is a leading confectionery manufacturer, operating three state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Uttarakhand, Haryana and Tamil Nadu, the company produces popular brands including Chupa Chups, Mentos, Center Fresh, Center Fruit, Alpenliebe, and Chlormint for both domestic and international markets.
With their corporate headquarters in Gurugram and production capacity of approximately 48,000 tons annually at their largest Rudrapur facility alone, it maintains the highest quality standards. As a global manufacturer with complex supply chain operations, they are focused on modernizing their material management processes to improve operational efficiency, ensure compliance, and enhance visibility across their multiple manufacturing and warehouse facilities.
Challenges faced by the customer
- Fragmented Manual Tracking Systems: The company relied heavily on spreadsheets and paper-based documentation for tracking material movements, both intra-location and vendor-related transfers.
- Hierarchical Approval Inefficiencies: Material dispatch processes were delayed due to complex approval workflows that required manual coordination between multiple stakeholders including initiators, reviewers, approvers, receivers, gatekeepers, and finance heads.
- Compliance and Visibility Gaps: The customer faced inadequate compliance tracking and lacked real-time visibility into gate pass status across their 10+ locations. This created challenges for audit readiness and made it difficult to maintain centralized reporting standards required for their various quality certifications.
- Returnable Goods Management Issues: The absence of timely reminders for returnable goods led to frequent delays, losses, and disputes with vendors. Without automated tracking systems, materials sent for repair, inspection, or services often exceed return deadlines, impacting inventory management and cost control.
Solution offered by Embee Software
To address these operational challenges, the customer partnered with Embee, a trusted Microsoft Cloud Partner, to implement a comprehensive Digital Gate Pass Management System built on Microsoft Power Platform. The solution was designed and deployed to support four types of gate passes (Internal/External RGP and NRGP) with advanced automation and compliance features.
Microsoft Products & Services Used
- Microsoft Power Apps: Front-end user interface for web and mobile access across all locations
- Microsoft Power Automate: Automated workflows for approvals, email alerts, and notifications
- SharePoint Online: Backend database and storage for structured data and access control
- Microsoft Outlook: Integrated email system for sending approval/rejection/return reminders
- Microsoft 365: Seamless integration with existing infrastructure and Active Directory
Key Solution Features
- Role-Based Access Control: The system provides intuitive role-based access for seven distinct user types: Initiator, Reviewer, Approver, Receiver, Gate Keeper, Admin, and Finance Head. Each role has specific permissions and workflows tailored to their responsibilities in the material movement process.
- Multi-Level Approval Workflows: Advanced approval flows with the ability to handle multiple approvers at the same level, ensuring proper authorization while maintaining process efficiency. The system automatically routes requests based on material type, value, and destination.
- Automated Gate Pass Generation: Gate passes are generated with auto-filled metadata including PAN, GST, location details, and vendor addresses, reducing manual data entry errors and ensuring consistency across all locations.
- Real-Time Dashboards: Comprehensive dashboards showcase request status by type, location, and approver, providing stakeholders with instant visibility into the entire material movement pipeline.
- Smart Reminder System: Automated material returns reminders with overdue tracking and complete audit logs to ensure returnable items are tracked and returned on schedule, reducing losses and improving vendor relationships.
- Digital Authentication: Auto-signature enabled print versions for final gate passes with authentication features to ensure document integrity and compliance with audit requirements.
Technical Architecture
The solution leverages Microsoft Power Platform’s low-code capabilities while integrating seamlessly with their existing Microsoft 365 and Active Directory infrastructure. SharePoint Online serves as the backend database, ensuring secure data storage and access control, while Power Automate workflows handle complex business logic and notifications. The mobile-friendly design enables field workers and managers to access the system from any device, ensuring operational continuity across all manufacturing and warehouse locations.
Implementation Journey
Planning and Discovery Phase
A detailed discovery session was conducted to understand the specific requirements across all manufacturing locations, involving key stakeholders. The assessment revealed the complexity of material movement scenarios and the need for a flexible, scalable solution.
Development and Deployment
Following the discovery phase, Embee Software built a prototype using Power Apps that demonstrated the solution’s capabilities and convinced the client of the approach’s viability. The agile development model enabled rapid iteration and stakeholder feedback incorporation.
The solution was developed and deployed within 8 weeks of requirement finalization, showcasing the efficiency of Microsoft Power Platform’s low-code development capabilities. The implementation included:
- Configuration of role-based access controls integrated with Active Directory
- Development of automated workflows for all four gate pass types
- Creation of real-time dashboards and reporting capabilities
- Integration with existing email systems for notifications
- Mobile optimization for field access
- Admin-configurable master data setup for locations, vendors, and departments
- User Training and Change Management
Comprehensive training programs were conducted for users across all locations, ensuring smooth adoption of the new digital processes. The intuitive Power Apps interface minimized the learning curve, while the automated workflows reduced the complexity of manual coordination.
Impact of the Solution
Since implementing the Microsoft Power Platform-based Digital Gate Pass Management System, the customer has achieved remarkable improvements across all key operational metrics.
- 35% Reduction in Approval Turnaround Time: The automated multi-level approval workflows have significantly accelerated the material dispatch process, improved operational efficiency and reduced delays that previously impacted production schedules.
- 100% Transparency Across 10+ Locations: The solution provides complete visibility into material dispatch and return processes across all manufacturing and warehouse facilities, enabling better coordination and decision-making.
- 200+ Monthly Gate Pass Requests Digitally Managed: The system successfully processes over 200 gate pass requests per month, all managed digitally with automated workflows, eliminating the previous paper-based bottlenecks.
- 80-85% Reduction in Manual Errors: The automated data entry and validation features have virtually eliminated gate pass-related manual errors, improved accuracy and reduced rework.
- 90% Return Tracking Success Rate: Daily email reminders and automated tracking ensure over 90% of returnable items are tracked and returned on schedule, significantly reducing material losses and vendor disputes.
Additional Automation Initiatives
The success of the Gate Pass Management System has opened doors for additional low-code/no-code automation projects across the organization, including quality control processes, maintenance scheduling, and compliance reporting.
