Dynamics 365 ERP Technologies contributing to designing a Resilient, Intelligent, and Adaptable Supply Chain against the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic - PART 1

This article is about Dynamics 365 ERP Technologies contributing to designing a Resilient, Intelligent, and Adaptable Supply Chain against the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and has been planned into 4 posts:

PART 1: Introduction, Using technology against the impact of the coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic on supply chains, Cloud ERP

PART 2: Cloud ERP components

PART 3: Dynamics 365 ERP Technologies contributing to designing a Resilient, Intelligent, and Adaptable Supply Chain against the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic

PART 4: Conclusion and recommendations

Let's get started with PART 1

CONTENT Introduction Using technology against the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on supply chains Cloud ERP

INTRODUCTION

The series describes the technological concepts and functions that should be in ERP in order to have the features that can respond to the needs by stretching quickly and easily in order to adapt to today's rapidly changing conditions of the strong connection between the concepts of supply chain and ERP.

The way businesses and supply chains work is changing due to COVID-19. The imbalance between supply and demand during the pandemic has revealed the weaknesses of supply chains. In this environment where there are rapidly changing business needs and customer demands, it is necessary to ensure business continuity and meet the demand for businesses to continue to make profits. In other words, a supply chain system that can respond to ever-changing conditions must be designed and effectively managed in order to meet expectations and achieve targeted success criteria.

The subject of this study is Dynamics 365 ERP technologies that contribute to design a Resilient, Intelligent, and Adaptive Supply Chain against the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to reduce the risk of supply chain disruptions. The importance of the high value-added supply chain created by the correct use of the specified technology components is its contribution to meeting the rapidly changing business and customer needs.

The aim of this study is to bring the best and common applications of technology components necessary to create a flexible supply chain to the literature.

As a method, in the first part of this study, the impact of COVID-19 on supply chains is discussed. In the second part, the concept of Cloud ERP is detailed. In the third section, cloud ERP components are detailed. In the fourth chapter, Dynamics 365 ERP technologies that contribute to designing a Resilient, Intelligent and Adaptive Supply Chain against the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are detailed. In the fifth chapter, conclusions and recommendations are detailed.

 

CHAPTER 1: USING TECHNOLOGY AGAINST THE IMPACT OF THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC ON SUPPLY CHAINS

COVID-19 has changed the way businesses and supply chains work. Supply chain processes that were running smoothly and effectively just a few months ago now require re-engineering. Major shocks to “supply and demand” during the pandemic have exposed the weaknesses of supply chains on resilience versus efficiency. Meeting customer needs without interruption and delay by bringing together people, data, and processes, ensuring business continuity, and of course, making profit is the main goal to be achieved.

In this world of increasing complexity and rapidly changing business needs, creating more flexible and stronger supply chains is essential to survive in an uncertain business environment, to rapidly transition to new business reality, to grow, and to compete.

Dynamics 365 ERP, Microsoft's cloud ERP for enterprises, is an adaptable Software as a Service (SaaS – Software as a Service) platform that can quickly adapt to changing business needs and processes by optimizing digital solutions in times of uncertainty. functions and process components on a single system. In this study, the technology components of Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP that contribute to designing a Durable, Intelligent, and Adaptive supply chain are examined.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an example of how supporting remote work and building online collaboration channels has become a top priority for most customers in 2020. Companies like Facebook and Twitter are also planning to make working from home the new normal. This has required organizations to make coordinated changes at the IT level down to the infrastructure, network, device, and application layers. These changes offer different values ​​for the system itself and for the customers of the system.

Business: A cloud ERP system that can be changed easily with configurations offers a more flexible design. Cloud ERP is a uniquely flexible system with easy to add and remove features and constant platform updates.

Customers: It helps to achieve the targeted customer satisfaction in meeting the ever-changing customer needs with the help of functional and technical innovations that can be added or removed.

Dynamics 365 helps business processes adapt to change. By optimizing digital solutions in times of uncertainty, companies can keep their business resilient, up-to-date, and flexible. This study clearly highlights the strength of Dynamics 365 ERP as an adaptive SaaS (Software as a Service) cloud platform that not only offers flexible solutions but can quickly adapt to changing business needs.

CHAPTER 2: CLOUD ERP

2.1. Cloud computing

Simply put, cloud computing is the delivery of computing services over the Internet ("the cloud"), including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence, to deliver faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale. Cloud computing is the provision of on-demand computing services, from applications to storage to processing power, typically over the Internet and on a pay-as-you-go basis. Because typically only the cloud services used are paid for, it allows for lower operating costs, more efficient operation of business infrastructure, and scaling of the system as business needs change.

2.2. Major Benefits of Cloud Computing

Cost

Cloud computing eliminates the capital cost of purchasing hardware and software and setting up and running on-site data centers – server racks, electricity for power and cooling around the clock, and IT professionals to manage infrastructure.

Speed

Most cloud computing services are self-service and on-demand, so even massive amounts of computing resources are available in minutes, often with just a few mouse clicks, giving businesses a lot of flexibility and reducing the pressure on capacity planning.

Global scale

The benefits of cloud computing services include the ability to scale flexibly. In the cloud, this means providing the right amount of IT resources – more or less computing power, storage, bandwidth, for example – when they are needed and in the right geographic location.

Productivity

On-premises data centers often require a lot of configuration and maintenance, such as hardware installation, software patches, and other time-consuming IT management tasks. Cloud computing removes the need for many of these tasks so IT teams can spend time achieving more important business goals.

Performance

Cloud computing services run on networks of secure data centers around the world that are regularly upgraded to the latest generation of computing hardware. This offers several advantages over a single enterprise data center, including reduced network latency and greater economies of scale for applications.

Reliability

Cloud computing makes data backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity easier and cheaper. Because data can be mirrored across multiple redundant sites in the cloud provider's network.

Security

Many cloud providers offer a broad set of policies, technologies, and controls that help protect data, applications, and infrastructure from potential threats, with overall strengthened security.

2.3. Cloud ERP

Most companies are familiar with ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software, from paper notebooks to computerized accounting programs, from manual planning to computerized optimization programs, the evolution of it all. ERP systems are used to help aggregate and organize data spread across each of its independent departments. Traditional ERP solutions often reside on a company's own server infrastructure and require updates and service to stay functional. The emergence of cloud ERP systems from the evolution of ERP systems was a result of recent technological developments. Unlike traditional ERP software, cloud-based ERP runs on the cloud as it is a software as a service rather than a dedicated server infrastructure for companies to share information between departments. Cloud ERP software integrates some or all of the core functions to run a business, transforming external systems such as accounting, inventory and order management, human resources, customer relationship management (CRM), into a single, holistic ERP system.

In the light of technological developments in recent years, organizations are moving their information systems to the cloud. In the cloud computing model, technology vendors often offer data and systems as web-based services. The most common example of this is Cloud ERP. Another definition of cloud ERP is as follows: Cloud ERP is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that runs on a vendor's cloud platform as opposed to an on-premises network and allows organizations to access it over the internet. For this reason, cloud ERP can also be called digital ERP.

According to Forbes' US study (The Most Popular ERP Systems of 2020 Based on Customer Insights), 74% of ERP users had a positive impression of ERP suppliers' contributions in this area when asked whether ERP vendors are a barrier or a catalyst for greater innovation. They say they have it. The top-performing ERPs for helping customers innovate are:

• Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP

• Oracle ERP Cloud

• Unit 4 ERP

In the next section, Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP, which is Microsoft's Cloud ERP for enterprises, and its system components will be discussed.

... to be continued with Cloud ERP Components.

Dynamics 365 & Manufacturing Strategies - PART 2 - Make-To-Stock (MTS)

This article is about manufacturing strategies and their Dynamics 365 ERP applications. Knowledge transfer has been planned in 2 posts:

PART 1: Dynamics 365 & Manufacturing Strategies - PART 1 - General Concept

PART 2: Dynamics 365 & Manufacturing Strategies - PART 2 - Make-To-Stock (MTS)

Let's start PART 2

CONTENT Introduction Demand Forecasting Stocking/Ordering Policies Master Planning Some User Experience Enhancements for Planning View

INTRODUCTION

"Demand forecasting - Predicting the future sales" is the key point of make-to-stock strategy. Because the nature of make-to-stock is producing a great many parts which often have a low value.

 

Followings are Dynamics 365 make-to-stock components:

MTS Component	Input	Dynamics 365 Function
Demand Forecasting	Customer Forecast Statistical Forecast	Demand forecast entry Demand forecasting
Stocking/Ordering Policies	Min/Max/Standard Order Quantities Min/Max Stock Levels	Default order settings Min/Max stock level/keys Safety stock calculation
Master Planning	Demand Forecast	Forecast scheduling Coverage plans Master planning Available-to-promise (ATP)
	Supply capacity	Resource capacity

Let's take a look at all those Dynamics 365 functions.

DEMAND FORECASTING

Demand Forecast Entry

You can import your forecast by using excel or enter manually. Demand forecasting can be by product, by product group, by customer or by customer group.

Demand Forecasting

It's also called Statistical Forecast. Since it is statistical, there must be minimum 6 months of data in order to project from the past.

Demand forecasting consists of following steps:

1 - Generate statistical baseline forecast

• Specify what the historical horizon is on master plan parameters.
• Specify what transaction types are going to be used on demand forecasting parameters. (Sales order, quotation, production line, transfers, etc.)
• Select what products you are going to include in forecast. Define item allocation keys in order to do that.
• Run statistical forecast

2 - Review and Adjust baseline forecast
Adjusting Data On ERP: Planner has information about incoming promotions/campaigns or other things and can adjust the forecast accordingly.

Adjusting Data On Excel by Exporting and Importing: If planner works more comfortable in excel then exporting plan itself is also possible.

Planner publishes the adjusted forecast back to the system.

 

 

3 - Authorize the forecast. Once you complete the forecast adjustment, authorize adjusted demand forecast in order to let planning (MRP/Master planning) to use forecast.

Terminology Authorized forecast = Historical forecast = Current forecast Microsoft is using these 3 terms interchangeably through the D365O

ORDERING POLICIES

Default Order Settings

System does the planning by using actual demand and considering inventory policies, as result system determines how much to order items.

 

Define Inventory policies --> Get the actual demand --> Combine demand and policies --> Determine how much to order it.

 

 

Min/Max Stock Levels

For the seasonal products, safety stock varies. That's why there must be a configuration to fulfill seasonal trend changings/fluctuates. Use the seasonal min/max settings for that purpose.

 

For instance, see the below seasonally adjusted safety stock quantities. After having a minimum stock and you can create safety stock for various periods as a factor of minimum stock level.

 

  

Safety Stock Calculations

Calculating proposal for minimum inventory based on historic consumption (Inventory Issues) is done automatically by the system.

 

 

System creates or updates item coverage records in item coverage form for per item that are going to be considered in planning.

 

MASTER PLANNING

Forecast Scheduling

Dynamics 365 has multiple planning horizons for  different purposes.

 

 

• Forecast plan time fence: How much should system consider for forecast? The longer the better.
• BOM explosion time fence: Should system create requirements for dependent BOM items within planning horizon?

 

Once you complete the forecast adjustment, authorize adjusted demand forecast in order to let planning (MRP/Master planning) to use forecast. Use static master plan not dynamic one. Static plan will be updated based on demand forecast.

 

As you see below, system creates planned orders against forecasts.

 

Terminology Change There are very important terminology changes as you can also see in above screen shot Futures/Futures messages --> Delays Futures date --> Delayed to Futures days --> Delay

Available-To-Promise (ATP)

It's one of delivery date control methods in the system and shows amount of product that you can promise a customer based on a time fence.

 

Once you try to enter a delivery date, system suggest you possible dates via delivery date control function.

Resource Capacity

Capacity planning involves calculating the capacity needed to achieve the priority plan and finding ways of making that capacity available. If the capacity required cannot be met, the priority plans have to be changed.

 

Some User Experience Enhancements for Planning View

Most of the functions that are demonstrated in that article are same with previous AX versions but there are some improvements providing a better user view.

Master planning workspace gives users quick insights as below:

• Outcome of last run - You can directly see that from planned orders tile.
• Urgent planned orders need to be firmed.
• Planned orders causing delays to sales and other demand types.
• Easy of access to pegging information - Hover over the planned order and system gives you pegging info as pop-up.
• Regular planned orders form in master planning also has a pegging portion on its factbox.
• Easily make changes to planned orders.

... to be continued with Pick-To-Order (PTO)

 

Dynamics 365 & Master Data Migration Series - Items

CONTENTS Introduction Export released item sample data Released item importation

INTRODUCTION

This article explains how to import items using entities. Entities help us for managing master data. 

Once released items are created with that method, item masters also will be created automatically by the system.

EXPORT RELEASED ITEM SAMPLE DATA

"Guide item" approach helps users to understand what is going to be filled in excel template. Create your own guide items accordingly business needs and export them.

Click on data management workspace

Select export tile

Fill in project fields

Use "released product creation" entity

Select project and click on export button

Export job has been scheduled

Note that symbols show that export is still in progress

Once scheduled job is completed, refresh the page and see results

Check the staging table

Go back and download the staging file

D1065 and D1066 will be guide items for that exercise

Find guide items in excel and delete other lines

Then fill in items that is going to be imported and delete guide item lines

Save this file as. This is the final document to be uploaded. It is time to import.

RELEASED ITEM IMPORTATION

Click on data management workspace.

Select import tile

Fill in project fields

Select the template that is going to be uploaded

Once you select the template, mapping is done automatically

Select the project and click on the import button

Import job has been scheduled

Once the scheduled job is completed, check the released items

All items are ready to be used!

Dynamics 365 & Manufacturing Strategies - PART 1 - General Concept

This article is about manufacturing strategies and their Dynamics 365 ERP applications. Knowledge transfer has been planned in 2 posts:

PART 1: Dynamics 365 & Manufacturing Strategies - PART 1 - General Concept

PART 2: Dynamics 365 & Manufacturing Strategies - PART 2 - Make-To-Stock (MTS)

Let's get started with PART 1

CONTENTS   Introduction Manufacturing strategies with APICS explanations

INTRODUCTION

Those series of articles aim to provide advanced knowledge of different manufacturing approaches. You will find:
 • Conceptual background of various manufacturing scenarios from the business point of view and expectations from ERP to support those scenarios.
 • How AX 365 for Operations supports various Manufacturing Strategies.

 

Let's take a look at APICS(American Production and Inventory Control Society) definitions to understand manufacturing strategies.

 

MANUFACTURING/SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES

COMPARISON OF MANUFACTURING/SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGY APPROACHES OF APICS AND MICROSOFT

APICS Approach says that there are four basic manufacturing strategies in terms of delivery lead time.

Dynamics AX Approaches with 2 dominant strategies. Make-to-stock (MTS) and make-to-order (MTO). MTO includes PTO, ATO, CTO and ETO, in other saying they are all varieties of make-to-order.

According to Oracle, pick-to-order is a type of assemble-to-order. On the other side, SAP uses Pick to Order strategy as a part of order fulfillment process as Supply Chain Strategy, not a manufacturing strategy.

 

All these strategies aim to minimize delivery lead time. To minimize lead time, all operations must be optimized. One of the best way of optimizing operations is lean manufacturing. You can support your MTO manufacturing with lean manufacturing strategy. It is a support execution strategy within overall MTO manufacturing strategies.

 

So table becomes as follows

What is lean manufacturing then?
Lean Manufacturing is a supporting execution philosophy within MTO Manufacturing strategy and endeavors to optimize MTO Supply Chain by "eliminating waste" in the entire value stream by using a set of tools and techniques (Microsoft).

Lean production is a concept that has evolved from JIT concepts over the years. The development of highly integrated production systems was rapidly evolving. MRP was recognized to be an effective engine to drive an integrated enterprise-wide information system that is today called ERP. Purchasing and logistics activities were similarly being integrated with fundamental internal materials management principles into an enterprise-wide approach, today called supply chain management.  Similarly, the fundamental concepts of JIT evolved to an enterprise-wide perspective called lean production. Lean production implies understanding and correctly implementing the major enterprise-wide changes required to truly eliminate or significantly reduce waste in the system. It is the system-wide philosophical approach used to integrate the system toward an ultimate goal of maximized customer service with minimal system waste. Lean production is a philosophy that relates to the way a manufacturing company organizes and operates its business. It includes both the approach to organizing the business and the practice of just-in-time production (JIT) (APICS).

Let's go through all manufacturing strategies in Dynamics 365 one by one.

Sit tight!

The rest of the article will be quite striking!

To be continued...