Manufacturing Renaissance Article

This AME-sponsored event, hosted by capital equipment and engineering solutions provider Barry-Wehmiller, brought together manufacturing leaders whose companies represent what is possible when people-centric leadership is coupled with enterprise excellence.

View: Manufacturing Renaissance Article

ERP Modernization with Dynamics AX

A savvy business should stay informed about new or upcoming technologies. The same can be said about your ERP system. A system created in the 1990’s will not be able to cater to the needs of a modern business. If your systems is one or two generations behind the modern iteration then you are missing out on exciting new features and losing ground to more modern competitors. The chart below contains just a sample of the benefits a business can achieve when using Dynamics AX 2012.

Benefits	Features
Manufacturing Flexibly manage resources Perform better with flexible routings Enhance production flow Gain increased production efficiency Easily monitor production costs Gain insight into production	Manufacturing Capacity Scheduling can produce a reliable overview of the manufacturing resources required to meet customer demand Set up different routing versions and network routes to help you avoid bottlenecks Perform scheduling at different levels of detail Minimize lead times by creating cross-group links between resources that handle the same task Job monitoring gives you an overview of individual work center’s activities Record consumption and costs prior to production or record actual consumption during production Use the Gantt chart to easily schedule changes using simple drag and drop functionality
Project Increase productivity More control over projects Gain business insight Increased cash flow management	Project Speed up project creation by using templates from previous projects Break down large and complex projects into sub-projects Project Accounting will help you identify and address delays and cost overruns Get actionable data to help you identify market trends and take on the right projects while avoiding unprofitable Keep your customers updated with accurate and timely progress reports Shorten the billing cycle when you generate invoices immediately and get paid for projects faster
MRP Optimize the flow of production Function across multiple warehouses Increase efficiency with flexible planning Easy outsourcing of production Quick response to changes Reduce costs by minimizing inventory levels Keep delivery promises	MRP Run simulations and scenarios to foresee the effect of plans and strategies Changes to purchase and production orders will be suggested by, Action messages based on changing requirements Run available-to-promise and capable-to-promise calculations Project production and purchasing plans that match your demand with forecast scheduling Automatically generate transfer orders to fulfill inventory requirements
Inventory Easy to create bills of material Efficient management of bills of material Optimized inventory levels Detailed inventory insight	Inventory The graphical BOM designer makes it easy to create BOMs using drag and drop features Manage forty BOM levels effectively Perform price calculations for each level of the BOM Create sales and purchase forecasts based on items and time periods Use serial and batch numbers to track items in the system
Order Management Greater cost control with more visibility Optimized purchasing process Easily trade with subsidiaries Better customer service	Order Management Cost and Price inventory is consistently  updated to reflect the actual price Look into real time available to promise data Compare quotes from suppliers on multiple parameters Make informed purchasing decisions with historical data and analysis tools Apply various intercompany trading policies Gain advanced control over sales orders
Finance Greater insight into your finances Efficient financial operations and planning Effective cash flow management Fewer geographic boundaries	Finance Generate reports financial reports with advanced reporting tools. Register financial data in the ledger in real time Analyze you financials with cash flow forecasts Use electronic payments visible on all accounts Support for multiple languages and currencies Manage local legal and regulatory compliance
Reporting Easy to customize and create Integrates with your general ledger Access reports in various ways Greater financial intelligence	Reporting The report wizard  can create key financial reports in as few as seven steps Quickly create accurate and up-to-date reports Gain a greater understanding business trends with comparative data
HRM Manage talent Centralized employee information Automated recruitment processes Model organizational units	HRM Track and compare professional skills and aptitudes, and personal skills Manage employees, teams and departments throughout your organization Control the entire hiring process from application to employment Make changes in the organizational structure easily

Get ahead of the competition with a modern ERP and prepare your company for the future.

 

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Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Manufacturing Highlights: Inventory Management, Master Planning and Warehouse Management

We hope to highlight the value that Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 brings to manufacturers. This week we will focus on some features that can aid in inventory management, master planning and warehouse management.

Inventory Management and Master Planning:

•       Control inventory with a variety of models and safety stock support.

•       Apply multiple options for inventory valuation, including: first in/first out (FIFO), last in/first out (LIFO), standard cost, and weighted average.

•       Master planning: Create and run multiple plans across multiple sites to meet demand and keep orders synchronized based on changes in internal or external demand. Improve distribution planning and forecast scheduling with an overview of longer-term purchasing, production, and resource requirements.

•       Optimize enterprise-wide planning by providing upstream organizations in your supply chain with visibility into the demand of downstream organizations.

•       Streamline subsidiary trading and apply intercompany trading policies. Create intercompany order chains directly and automatically from sales order to end-customer with and without direct delivery, and update sales orders from purchase orders and vice versa.

•       Multisite: Maintain centralized control of all site parameters from any location, whether site-specific or company-specific, including inventory, performance goal management. BOMs, routing, costing, and profit and loss dimensions. Manage multiple, distributed warehouses; apply different costs, prices, and cost category rates; and route data by dimensions.

•       Support multiple time zones with preferences for date and time fields set at the user level.

•       Improve business processes for quality assurance, quality control, and lot traceability.

Warehouse Management

•       Automatically receive suggestions for received item placement based on preset rules for one or multiple warehouses. Track received orders with pallet identification; generate an optimized picking route. Use bar codes to track items and locations electronically.

•       Streamline outbound processes by configuring rules for sending and printing shipment documents.

If you have a question about Dynamics AX that you would like answered, please email us. Or visit the BWIR website for more information about the company.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Manufacturing Highlights: Process and Lean Manufacturing

We hope to highlight the value that Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 brings to manufacturers. This week we will focus on some features that can aid process and lean manufacturing companies.

Process Manufacturing

·         Define multiple inventory dimensions: dual units of measure, catch-weight calculations, packaging codes, variations to the main item, and lots.

·         Manage multilevel formulas or recipes, co-products and by-products, electronic signatures, and packaging options.

·         Let customers request multiple quality specifications per product while combining similar products in production to improve machine utilization.

·         Analyze and monitor production costs and requirements for each sales order component using graphical representations of multilevel formulas and recipes.

·         Reduce inventory costs and eliminate waste by pulling inventory in optimal sequence using “best-before” management and first expired/first out (FEFO) or first in/first out (FIFO) picking guidance.

·         Facilitate regulatory compliance with agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by validating manufacturing processes.

Lean Manufacturing

·         Model manufacturing and logistics processes as production flows.

·         Use kanbans to signal demand requirements.

·         Monitor and manage kanban jobs using kanban boards.

If you have a question about Dynamics AX that you would like answered, please email us. Or visit the BWIR website for more information about the company.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Manufacturing Highlights: Discrete Manufacturing

We hope to highlight the value that Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 brings to manufacturers, starting with some features that can aid discrete manufacturing companies.

 

• Execute multiple production strategies, including configure-to-order, assemble-to-order, make-to-stock, and make-to-order. Use both push and pull production control mechanisms.

• Optimize production and materials planning, forecasting, and scheduling. Simultaneously schedule materials and capacity. Calculate available-to-promise (ATP) and capable-to-promise (CTP) deliveries.

• Create, schedule, view, track, split, roll back, or categorize production orders.

• Understand WIP and actual cost through production tracking and reporting. Track detailed resource and throughput costs, including work center costs. Report production variances to standard costs.

• Manage routing: Plan simple, sequential, and complex networks; use simultaneous routes in the same network. Use rough-cut capacity and detailed scheduling capabilities. Organize the shop floor into logical production units at individual sites.

• Quickly schedule/reschedule jobs and simulate alternatives by dragging Gantt chart items. Resolve scheduling overloads by reassigning operations to alternate work centers. Optimize scheduling across the organization with a unified resource model and scheduling engine.

 

If you have a question about Dynamics AX that you would like answered, please email us. Or visit the BWIR website for more information about the company.

What's New in AX 2012 R2: Project Accounting and Sales and Marketing

We hope to share some of the changes coming to AX 2012 R2. We will cover accounting to sales and everywhere in between. It is our job to put the value in AX.

Take time to discover the new changes in-store for AX 2012 R2 and stay ahead of the curve.

Project accounting

• Choose a value model for estimate eliminations


• Consumption of project items on product receipt without an item requirement


• Enabling intercompany resource scheduling and UX improvements


• Enhancements to project invoice proposals and printing project documents


• Expanded support for project budget checks when document lines are saved


• Improved support for project estimates and revenue recognition


• Option to designate a project cost price as an effective labor rate


• Reservation of funds in a project contract

Sales and marketing      

 
• Cases are secured by case category


• Generate a lead or opportunity record from a campaign or call list target record


• Update the name of a party from the party record


• Update, in bulk, the list of party records assigned to an address book


• Updates to Sales and marketing Role Centers and the reporting information provided

If you have a question about Dynamics AX that you would like answered, please email us. Or visit the BWIR website for more information about the company.

AX 2012 Comprehensive List of Upgrade Options

Upgrade Options


Considering business drivers and existing AX environment, several upgrade options exist for an organization to evaluate:

 
1. ERP and related software upgrade only


2. Hardware and software upgrade


3. Relocating hardware to a third-party hosting


4. Re-implementation instead of convention ‘upgrade’

Before choosing an upgrade strategy for AX 2012 upgrade, it is important to establish a context.  The context consists of business drivers as well as an assessment of the existing AX environment.


Business Drivers (Why Upgrade?)


ERP vendors, like Microsoft, release several major and minor versions over time.  Many organizations choose not to upgrade for a multitude of business reasons.  The ones who choose to upgrade often have one or many of the following Business Drivers:

 
• Save on infrastructure costs


• Sunset the version at its ‘end-of-support’


• Leverage new functionality to improve operations / decision-making

 Existing AX Environment


Having established the business drivers, organizations ask the next set of questions centered on the following:

• Stability of the current environment


• Need for a 24 / 7 support level


• Cost of additional hardware to sustain newer, resource intensive software


• Plans for adding more users due to business growth / acquisitions


• Seasonal spikes in the user counts

Upgrades are critical and significant initiatives for any business.  Exploring available options, and evaluating them against parameters, such as:  TCO, maintainability, architectural strength, variable user load, 24 / 7 support requirements, extent of customization, among others, are key factors in decision making.


If you have a question about Dynamics AX that you would like answered, please email us. Or visit the BWIR website for more information about the company.

How Top Performing Manufacturers Use ERP to Drive Continuous Improvement and Innovation

Nick Castellina, Senior Research Analyst in Aberdeen's Business Planning and Execution practice recent video reveals how Best-in-Class organizations utilize Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software as a hub for continuous improvement and innovation.

See more at the Aberdeen Group