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AccSoft

supply chain

The Distributor’s Edge: Why Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Leads the ERP Market
18
May

The Distributor’s Edge: Why Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Leads the ERP Market 

In the competitive environment that is wholesale distribution, the line between making profits and losses is a very thin one indeed. Today’s wholesaler operates under a business climate where margins are slim, the supply chain is unpredictable, and customer demands are always on the increase.  Wholesalers, therefore, have no choice but to adopt a more sophisticated ERP system. There may be many systems available in the marketplace, but the best is without doubt Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Here is how it is surpassing all competitors.  1. Effective Stock Control and Warehousing  In distribution, stock is money in the shelves. Poor stock control will lead to the death of the company. Business Central allows for extensive and detailed control over the stock, which is much more than mere counting.  It has sophisticated warehousing functions, such as bin control, pick/put-away operations, and guided pick/ship. Also it allows for various unit-of-measure conversions, and this means that no matter whether you purchase at pallets or sell at units, everything will tally up. It also uses smart forecasting to predict future demand from past sales. This helps minimize dead stock and avoid stockouts, which may lead to strained client relations.  2. The Strength of the Microsoft Ecosystem  The second very convincing advantage that makes BC the market leader is its easy integration with familiar applications used by company employees. There are many ERP systems out there, which seem to be alien to employees who need a lot of time to learn how to use it.  Business Central resembles familiar Office applications like Outlook and Excel. Users can see business information right in their email or manipulate financial information in Excel and automatically publish the data back into the ERP system. Integration with Power BI provides opportunities for creating impressive, up-to-date dashboards showing sales performance.  3. Flexibility and Scalability in the Cloud  Traditional legacy ERP applications tend to be both costly to own and tough to upgrade. Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) application. What this means is that the distributor will have the luxury to access all the information regardless of his location whether it be in the warehouse, meeting clients on-site, or even working remotely.  Another important characteristic of a good software is scalability. When an organization is growing, either through additional warehouse facilities or geographical expansions, the software must have the capacity to grow with the business, without incurring any hardware upgrades or costs.  4. Smooth Integration into the Supply Chain  A contemporary distributor is one link among many in a complex chain. One of the key advantages of Business Central is its seamless integration. It comes with powerful APIs, which make the system seamlessly connect with eCommerce platforms (such as Shopify or Magento), CRM tools, and leading carriers (like UPS and FedEx).  Such automation helps cut out any manual entry. As soon as an order is placed by a customer, it goes straight into the ERP system, inventory allocation happens, the shipping label is printed out, and the customer is notified without any involvement of a person who enters all this manually.  Conclusion  Wholesale distribution is all about efficiency, and Business Central is on top of the pack due to its ability to offer specific functions in an easy-to-use Microsoft cloud environment.  If distributors want to improve their business by enhancing efficiency and empowering their employees, then Business Central will be more than an ERP; it will be the way forward.
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Supercharge Your ERP: How Power Platform Extends the Capabilities of Business Central
13
Apr

Supercharge Your ERP: How Power Platform Extends the Capabilities of Business Central 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a powerhouse. It handles your finances, your supply chain, your operations, and your sales all within one application. However, every application has its limits. Every business has its own unique processes a certain approval flow, a certain reporting requirement, or a certain requirement to be able to access the application on a mobile device that is not met by the out-of-the-box application. This is where Microsoft Power Platform plays its role.  If you think about your car analogy again, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is your car engine, it does all the hard work. The Microsoft Power Platform is your car’s turbocharger, your dashboard, and your Bluetooth connectivity, things that make your car experience better, faster, and more integrated.  This is how the four pillars of Microsoft Power Platform: Power Apps, Power Automate (formerly Microsoft Flow), Power BI, help extend Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central’s capabilities past its native limits.  1. Power Apps: Tailoring the User Experience  The web interface of Business Central works well in a typical organization; however, it may not work well in all situations. For instance, the warehouse staff may need a simple scan and go interface on a tablet, whereas the sales staff may need a quick view of the credit limits of customers on a phone.  How it extends BC:  Embedded Apps: You can use Power Apps to build custom apps and embed them inside the interface of Business Central. Hence, users do not have to navigate through multiple screens.  Mobile First Solutions: You can build an interface using mobile first solutions for the warehouse staff to pick, pack, and ship products without using a laptop.  Simplicity: You can replace a complex interface with a simple form-based interface for data entry.  2. Power Automate: Eliminating the “Copy-Paste” Grind  One of the most time-wasting activities is the “copy-paste” grind. For example, an email comes in with a new sales lead. You copy and paste the lead into BC. A package ships out. You copy and paste the tracking number into the courier company’s email system.  How it extends BC:  Workflow Automation: With Power Automate, “flows” can be set up. For example, if a new sales order comes into BC, Power Automate can automatically email the customer an invoice as a PDF.  Approval Chains: While BC has some approval features built-in, Power Automate allows for complex approval scenarios that involve multiple steps and users (such as vendors or clients) using Microsoft Teams or Outlook.  Data Synchronization: Power Automate allows for the synchronization of data between BC and other third-party applications (such as Salesforce, Shopify, or SharePoint) without the need to write complex code.  3. Power BI: Turning Data into Decisions  You get standard reports out of the box with Business Central; however, most of those reports are static lists of numbers. To fully understand your business’s health, you need visualization.  How it extends BC:  Deep Visualization: Power BI plugs directly into your Business Central data to give you interactive visualization. Instead of flipping through screens of your sales data, you can see a heat map of your top-selling areas or a line chart of your cash flow.  Real-Time Analytics: You can pin your reports to your Business Central home page. What this means is that as soon as you log into Business Central, you see your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) updated in real-time.  Unified Reporting: You can use your Business Central financial data along with your HR data from Excel or your marketing data from a CRM system to get a 360-degree view of your business.  4. Co-pilot: AI-Powered Self-Service  Co-pilot Integration:  You can use the new technology of AI and integrate it with Business Central for tasks like sending emails, analysing data trends, and document creation, all through the Power Platform.  The “Citizen Developer” Advantage:  In the past, if you wanted Business Central to do something new, you would need a developer who would write AL code for you. This was a very expensive and time-consuming exercise.  The Power Platform gives the power of innovation to “Citizen Developers,” who are power users in your organization, like your finance, operations, or sales teams.  Conclusion  While Business Central gives you the solid foundation that you need to run your business, the Power Platform gives you the flexibility to run it your way. By using these low-code tools, you will be able to minimize your workload, increase your insight, and deliver a better experience to your employees and customers.  
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