In today’s aggressive market, it is really tough for the manufacturing companies to compete with the help of complex spreadsheets, messy paper bills and voluminous folders of historical records of business transactions. Being highly dynamic and competitive in nature, manufacturing industry requires a robust business management solution that not only can help in enhancing efficiency, diminishing costs, increasing sales and profitability but also enables manufacturers to make accurate, informed and strategic decisions. Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a comprehensive, cloud-based collection of apps that help manufacturers of all types—from process to discrete, batch to repetitive in streamlining and optimizing their processes to improve efficiency.
As a robust Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP), Dynamics 365 connects all aspects of business (resources, operations, monitoring, reporting, sales, accounting and finance, etc.), bring them to a centralized database, empowering your staff to have access to all the information they need about quotes, production orders, and routing in real-time. By delivering a 360-degree view of operations to manufacturers, Dynamics 365 helps in maximizing productivity. With manufacturing organizations involved in process, repetitive, discrete, lean, project, or combination of these, Dynamics 365 efficiently caters to multiple business models in a single instance.
With real-time visibility into the entire operation, Dynamics 365 enables manufacturers to control the supply chain and other processes throughout the entire business ecosystem – from the shop floor to the top floor. Furthermore, Microsoft Dynamics 365 enables manufacturers to build more collaborative and profitable partnerships with suppliers while empowering employees with actionable business insights that can be used to develop deeper, more responsive relationships with customers. With Dynamics 365, manufacturers can improve production quality; reduce waste while ensuring global compliance.
Key benefits of using Microsoft Dynamics 365
Control Your Inventory
With built-in intelligence, Dynamics 365 enables you to understand when your stock is running low and which items you need to replenish. Furthermore, Dynamics 365 suggest substitutes if any of the items are out of stock. Real-time view of inventory takes you to better position to plan for future orders.
Optimize Your Operations
By centralizing data, Dynamics 365 enables everyone in your company—such as accountants, production managers, and sales people to have real-time visibility of it. With data stored in the single database, manufacturers can easily leverage Business Intelligence & Machine Learning to better adapt to changes and developments, helping cut down on wasted time and resources. Furthermore, the support for mobility in Dynamics 365 enables key decision-makers to have instant access to real-time information to address issues before they significantly impact business.
Streamlining Asset Management
Undoubtedly, assets are very crucial for manufacturing business. With robust business management solution like Dynamics 365, manufacturers can closely monitor their apparatus by processing and gleaning data in real-time. With anytime, anywhere visibility to performance, usage, and machine lifecycle information, issues can be resolved easily to maximize uptime.
Synchronize Your Data
Predicting market demands and analyzing reams of data is a daunting task for manufacturers. Dynamics 365 gathers important data related to supply chain, production, inventory, customer behavior, and in-market product performance to provide actionable insights based on built-in AI capabilities, enabling manufacturers to make predictions based on previous actions and events.
Enhance innovation
Manufacturers face constant pressure to shorten production cycles to market products quickly. With Dynamics 365, they can have real-time visibility into business operations that can help manufacturers to shorten processes and cutting costs. Smarter analysis of costing and resources enables manufacturers to turn around new products faster.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Apps for Manufacturing
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Suite features two comprehensive ERP apps for manufacturing businesses which are discussed below:-
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations is an integrated solution that brings agility and efficiency to your manufacturing company. Dynamics 365 F&O brings Supply chain, financials, sales and purchase orders, inventory, production, and distribution processes in one app to optimize production planning, project management, operations and activity scheduling, and cost management. With real-time visibility across the departments alongside built-in business intelligence, Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations helps in optimizing operational efficiency while delivering outstanding customer experiences. With components like make to stock, make to order, pull to order, configure to order, and engineer to order, etc, D365 F&O optimizes manufacturing principles for each product family. With advanced warehouse and inventory management, Dynamics 365 F&O digitally transforms your supply chain while enabling you to response quickly to customer demand by seamlessly orchestrating order-to-cash processes.
Some of the features available in Finance and Operations manufacturing module:-
- Production control
- Master planning
- Material and capacity planning
- Resource management
- Job scheduling and sequencing
- Product configuration
- Shop floor management
- Master planning
- Inventory management
- Multi-site warehouse management
- Transportation management
- Order promising
- Distribution planning
- Quality management
- Direct and indirect procurement
- Purchase requisitions
- Supplier relationship management
- Vendor self-service portal
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
As an all-in-one, cloud-based ERP app, Dynamics 365 Business Central helps in streamlining business processes in your company, enhancing your customer interactions, while creating development and growth. Based closely on Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Business Central offers users access to features like invoicing, purchasing, opportunity management, budgets, finance, fixed assets, purchasing order management, resource management, workflow, contact management, simple inventory, advanced inventory, and distribution. Dynamics 365 Business Central enables manufacturers to conduct business without data silos. With powerful capabilities across Business Intelligence, D365 Business Central offers useful insights that can be used to make more informed decisions.
Key features available in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
- Production Orders
- Production Bill of Materials
- Version Management
- Machine Centers
- Sales & Inventory Forecasting
- Supply Planning
- Demand Forecasting
- Capacity Planning
- Finite Loading
- Agile Manufacturing