Inventory planning isn't just about tracking what's in stock. It's about aligning product availability with customer demand, supplier lead times, and financial goals. With Microsoft Copilot now integrated into Dynamics 365 Business Central, businesses have a powerful tool for generating real-time insights from their data. But there's a catch: AI can only analyze what it understands. If your item data lacks structure, Copilot won't have the context it needs to deliver meaningful results.
The Challenge: Missing Context in Item Data
Imagine you're trying to identify slow-moving outdoor gear ahead of the winter season. You ask Copilot:
"Which items in the Outdoor Gear category have the slowest turnover rate?"
Instead of a clear answer, you get incomplete results or irrelevant information. Why? Because your items aren't consistently categorized by product type, season, or customer segment. This is a common roadblock. Copilot relies on structured metadata to understand what your items represent. If your data is flat or inconsistent, your AI outputs will reflect that.
A Better Approach: Use the Item Attributes App to Add Structure
WebSan's Item Attributes app extends the capabilities of Business Central by giving you more ways to organize and define your items. You can:
- Create custom attributes like Season, Material, Target Market, Style, or Product Line
- Assign multiple attributes to each item, including numeric or text values
- Use filters to group items in lists, reports, or dashboards based on any attribute combination
- Feed structured metadata into Copilot, improving the accuracy and relevance of responses
Instead of using only categories and descriptions to sort your items, the app gives you a much more flexible framework. This is especially useful if you manage diverse product lines, seasonal goods, or region-specific inventory.
Real Results: Smarter Answers from Copilot
Once your items are enriched with attribute data, Copilot can respond to more specific and useful queries, such as:
- "Which summer apparel items had the largest drop in sales compared to last year?"
- "List all items made with recycled materials that are currently low on stock."
- "What are the top 5 bestsellers in the Outdoor Equipment – Youth segment this quarter?"
These types of questions go beyond basic reporting. They help your purchasing, merchandising, and sales teams make targeted decisions backed by data.
Build Dynamic Dashboards with Power BI
The benefits don't stop with Copilot. When used with Power BI, enriched item data lets you create inventory visuals that are truly actionable. For example, you can:
- Chart inventory performance by material type, color, or brand
- Monitor at-risk inventory, like items with short shelf lives or limited supplier availability
- Compare forecasted versus actual sales by season or region
With clean attribute data, both Copilot and Power BI become far more powerful tools—capable of supporting planning decisions at every level of your supply chain.
Why Structured Data Matters
Many businesses adopt AI hoping for instant insights, only to find the results vague or confusing. The missing ingredient is often data quality. By giving your items the structure they need, you're enabling your AI tools to work the way they were designed to. WebSan's Item Attributes app helps you fix this gap without custom development. It's easy to implement and delivers immediate value. Try the Item Attributes app on Microsoft AppSource and give your team the structured data foundation needed to make faster, better inventory decisions.