In order to use the manufacturing module, you need to a Business Central premium license. The manufacturing module will help shorten the time it takes to create BOMs, routings, work centers, and machine centers. In this new era of digital manufacturing, it forces businesses to work quicker and smarter to beat out the competition. By utilizing this module in Business Central your company gains the competitive advantage of creating more goods in a more efficient manner.

1. Managing Inventory
When using the manufacturing module in Business Central, your company will be able to better manage inventory. Within seconds, a list can be displayed with all the different items that are in stock. It will show whether the item is currently in stock, how many are on hand and how many are on order.

2. Integrate Your Business Processes
One of the biggest benefits of using the manufacturing module is having all the data in one place. Production managers can make updates instantly to keep the system up-to-date with all its inventory. Users working in the front and in the back office will have access to the same information creating a more harmonized work dynamic.

3. Unify Production Data
Another one of the biggest benefits of using the manufacturing module in Business Central is analytics. This goes beyond just knowing what is in stock and what needs to order but analyzing trends within your business. Such trends can be spotted in the supply chain, production process, inventory management, sales, profit margins, and even customer behavior.

4. Improved Product Quality
The customer’s expectations for product quality is higher than it has ever been before. Using the manufacturing module will make it easier for production managers to meet these growing standards. Having a system in place that provides traceability and tracking enables a company to monitor the quality status of all its centers and products. This will provide real-time reports on machines, components, stations, shifts, and even operators that were involved in the production. Production Managers can then ensure only the best quality products are being sent out to customers.

5. Decreased Production Time
Innovative businesses who use the manufacturing module in Business Central can optimize assembly time. The module will make a more efficient process by decreasing the overall creation time and cost of each product. Tools are available to take a customer’s order on-the-spot and list any alterations that need to be made. Once the production manager receives this order it can be finalized and then sent into production. There is no need for days or weeks of back and forth emails which can delay the cycle time of an item. By lessening the time-to-market process, companies can save time and money and allocate these resources elsewhere.

Being able to manage inventory, collect data, improve product quality, and decrease production time creates a stronger competitive advantage. Want to learn more about the manufacturing module for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central? Click Here to register for our Business Central manufacturing courses at WebSan University for free and learn about all the different modules available to create a successful production.

This webinar is a continuation of the Dynamics 365 Business Central Manufacturing Series. In Part 4, we will define the terms Make to Order and Make to Stock and describe the scenarios where it's best to use each function. Topics that will be discussed in this webinar are:

•Define Make to Order and Make to Stock
•Recording Policies in Dynamics
•Present scenarios when it's best to use Make to Order and Make to Stock functions
•Review settings in Dynamics to drive planning for each scenario

Date: Wednesday June 5, 2019
Time: 2:00PM - 3:00PM EST 

Click Here to Sign Up for the Webinar Today!

Over the last few years, Microsoft has been making significant investments in the cloud. Unfortunately, that means that Windows Server 2008 and SQL Service 2008 will reach the end of support. But don’t worry, Microsoft has created a pathway for companies ready to make the switch to the cloud.

Why should I make the switch to the cloud?

Moving to the cloud is no longer an intimidating transition. Companies of all sizes have made the switch to the cloud, and we don’t see that trend slowing down any time soon.

Here are a few trends that are noteworthy:

•          In 2016, 16.1 ZB of data was generated. In 2025, 163 ZBs of data will be generated.
•           More than 80% of organizations now adopt cloud-first strategies as part of an overall digital transformation
•           Investment in AI, top of mind for many companies, increase by an astounding 300% in 2017

Securing your company’s data is essential. Businesses are constantly avoiding cyber threats, security alerts, and maintaining infrastructure. With so many things going on, your IT team can sometimes miss vital security threats.

To combat this issue, Microsoft has introduced Microsoft Azure Sentinel. This SIEM tool is a cloud-native service that provides intelligent security analytics at cloud scale for your company.

Collect data across your enterprise easily

Azure Sentinel allows you to aggregate security data with built-in connectors, integration of Microsoft signals and industry log formats such as comment event format and syslog.

You’re able to import your Office 365 data at no cost to you and combined it with other security data.

Dynamics GP continues to thrive, both for on-premise and cloud customers. Microsoft Dynamics GP is a mature solution with over 45,000 customers around the world, so it isn’t going away anytime soon. However, Dynamics GP isn’t immune from Microsoft’s consistent push towards the cloud.

So why move GP to the cloud?

Here are some reasons why GP customers move to the cloud:

•           They need to invest in new hardware to support new versions of GP
•           They are concerned about backups, recovery, security and 24/7 remote access
•           They are not current with Microsoft on your maintenance and want to add users/capabilities to the system
•           They are looking for better access to information/reporting (GP2018 required for Power BI)

So what can we expect in future releases of Dynamics GP?

First, Dynamics GP releases and development will continue from Microsoft. The current roadmap is projecting two additional version releases. This clearly indicates a commitment by Microsoft considering these are typically released every two years. Customers should expect various user community requested enhancements and fixes.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Manufacturing Part III: Forecasting and Planning Webinar!

This new Manufacturing Webinar Series will provide you with an in-depth view of the extensive functionality contained within the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Manufacturing Module. Besides learning the functionality, you will also learn tips and techniques that will help make your implementation successful.

Topics of focus include:
• Features of the production forecast functionality
• Integration between production forecasting and planning
• Forecasting by location, order tracking and forecasting setup

Date: Wednesday April 24, 2019
Time: 2:00 – 3:00 PM EST

Click Here to Sign Up for the Webinar Today!

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Dynamics 365 Business Central Manufacturing Series Part II: Manufacturing Orders.

This new Manufacturing Webinar Series will provide you with an in-depth view of the extensive functionality contained within the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Manufacturing Module. Besides learning the functionality, you will also learn tips and techniques that will help make your implementation successful.
Topics of focus include:

•Routings and BOMs
•Production Orders and Statuses
•Produce Finished Products
•Reporting for Variance Analysis 
•Consume Components and Charge Labour to Production (Data Collection) 

Date: Wednesday March 27, 2019
Time: 2:00PM EST – 3:00PM EST 

Click Here to Sign Up for the Webinar Today!

Dynamics 365 Mobile apps are handy tools which allow D365 users to access and update their Dynamics 365 environment from anywhere and at any time. Beyond that, customizing what is available on the mobile app is key to ensure that the experience is efficient for both the user and the organization.

A user’s security role must include the necessary permissions in order for them to successfully use the mobile app. If you have used (or copied) an out of the box role chances are high that most of these are already set, but it never hurts to check. And if you have created a custom security role, it is particularly important to confirm that the following privileges and access combinations have been configured.

1. The Dynamics 365 for mobile privilege is the first one to confirm. This privilege is in the Business Management tab of a security role within the Privacy Related Privileges section. Verify that Dynamics 365 for mobile is set to Organization.

2. Validate that the following entities have a minimum of Read access at the Organization level, by navigating to the Customization tab of a security role.

• Custom Control
• Custom Control Default Config
• Custom Control Resource
• System Application Metadata
• System Form
• User Application Metadata
• View

3. Next go to the Business Management Tab. Verify that User Settings is set at the Organization level for Read permission, and the remainder of the privileges have a minimum of User access.

Dynamics 365 is a great tool for storing your business data, but if that is all you are using D365 for, then do we have news for you! One of the biggest values of D365 is the ability to create reports gaining valuable insight from your data. These reports can be setup in a variety of ways depending on your environment and organizational needs.

Do any of the above diagrams look familiar to you? If your response is “WHAT ARE THOSE!?” then you, my friend, are missing out! All the above are reports based on D365 data. These D365 reports can be run directly from D365 which gives users ease of access to analysis of business data. There are several types of reporting options available for D365, some are out of the box, while others require a bit more work to setup. With that in mind, many organizations opt to export their data to Excel and then use Excel to create reports, when they could be using these much richer options instead.

D365 out of the box comes with report building functionality, in the form of Charts and Views. Users can setup Dashboards incorporating these components, which can help them take their first step into the world of reporting. The CRM Report Wizard allows users to build reports using filters and conditions, like Views, with a touch more functionality and flexibility over the latter options.

While these out of box options are great, they do have their limitations which is why we also provide external reporting options. SQL and XML Reports are great for generating more complex reports and documents. However, if you are looking for an option that is more robust, and intensely eye-catching, then Power BI is the way to go. Power BI is one the most powerful BI and reporting tools on the market and integrates seamlessly with D365. Power BI allows for powerful drill down capability and smart slicers to filter your data however you like.

Reports are a great way for organizations to better understand performance, and with the various report options available, you are not limited to a specific visualization type. Data can be displayed through bar graphs, pie charts, map representations, grids…just to name a few! Maximizing the reporting options is great for upper management, who want a quick, high-level representation of how the business is doing. But wait there’s more! Automated reports can be generated with a click of a button and often require no additional maintenance once they are setup, reducing time and effort and improving efficiencies.

Microsoft Power BI can help company owners take a closer look into their business using stunning dashboards and visuals. They can also be optimized to locate and display only the most critical data. This data can then be used by company owners to review and streamline their business processes wherever it may be needed.

There are a large variety of data sources that connect to Power BI, and the list is continuously being updated. This data can then be altered and placed as a visual, measured or calculated column and then is added to a dashboard. It’s possible to share this information with colleagues at work by granting them access right from within Power BI.

These are six main components that make Power BI into such a strong and powerful tool.

Power Query: Importing and formatting the Data
The Power Query allows you to import data from sources such as SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, DB2, and the list goes on. It can also extract data from multiple file formats such as CSV, Text, and Excel. The imported data can be formatted by adding columns, charts or any other visuals onto the dashboard.

Power Pivot: Relationship Creating Tool
Relationships can be created using the Power Pivot function inside Power BI. Power Pivot is a powerful tool used to review data and create visual data models. To link tables together, Power Pivot can analyze the databases and see if the tables have any matching data inside. This function also allows the user to create calculations using the data, such as a calculated column or a measurement.

Power View: Data Visualization Tool
Power View is used to transform the data into interactive charts, graphs, maps, and other visuals. These visuals will only display the most important data since the data can be filtered using Filter Panes, slicers, and cross-filters.

Power Map: 3D Geospatial tool
The Power Map feature is used to create charts for Geospatial data into a 3D visual. Using the Geospatial users can display a metric visually on a map using visuals or even a heatmap. The maps are connected to Bing and are constantly refreshing to display real-time data.

Power Q&A: Answering and Question search engine
Users can ask the Q&A any questions regarding the data and get the quickest answers. Make sure to use natural language that the system would understand such as “Number of Products by Location.” Click Here for a list of words and terminology that Power BI Q&A recognizes.

Microsoft Power BI has six main components that make it such a powerful tool. It has become one of the most popular programs amongst small business owners to analyze their data. Watch this “Power BI 101 Webinar” video that goes beyond just the fundamentals of Power BI. This video will demonstrate how to create a dashboard using Power BI.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central: Manufacturing Series Part I Manufacturing Concepts

In this webinar we'll be providing an introduction to the Manufacturing Module in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. The manufacturing process is done in multiple steps and requires some initial set up. This webinar will provide all the groundwork needed in order to start converting materials into produced end items. Some of the items covered in this webinar are;

•Items and Master Data
•BOM/Routing
•Production Orders

Date: February 26, 2019
Time: 2:00PM - 3:00PM EST

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE WEBINAR TODAY!

Build better relationships with Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement

Our Build better relationships with Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement webinar will give you the foundation needed in order to learn more about Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement. See how easy it is to build relationships with CRM data located in an easy to use platform. This data can then be displayed using the Embedded Insights Navigator and then used to improve the current sales process. Attend our webinar and learn about this and other functionality for Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement such as:

•Customer Service Hub
•LinkedIn Sales Navigator
•Outlook Integration

Date: February 27, 2019
Time: 2:00PM - 3:00PM EST

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE WEBINAR TODAY!

If a business wants to be successful in this modern digital world, it must remain innovative. Operating as a fully digital firm goes beyond just having an electronic communication system installed. It’s about running the company using ERP software to streamline the business and create B2B integration. In this new digital era, the demand for B2B integration is on the rise and is turning into a requirement in order to work with most companies.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the computer-to-computer exchange of business documents. It allows businesses to send documents to one another using an electronic format. This standard template can then be read by different systems to locate information. The most common documents that are sent using the EDI template are purchase orders, purchase invoices, advance ship notices, bills of lading, inventory documents, shipping documents, payment documents, and even some custom ones.

The Benefits of EDI

Reduced Costs
By sending a document using EDI, a company can reduce its costs on printing, reproduction, storage, filing, and document retrieval. This also frees up the individual to focus on more important tasks.

Improved Data Quality
One of the most common areas for human error is data entry. By using EDI to import the data from the document into the system, there is less room for error resulting in better data quality.

Shorter Business Cycle
Companies using EDI will have a shorter business cycle because they receive the documents quicker. A transaction that use to take up to five days to complete can now be completed within an hour. Orders and payments will be processed a lot quicker which will increase the cash flow of the company.

Improved Data Security
EDI is a secure way to transmit data from one computer to another. Encryption and decryption programs along with passwords are used to ensure that the data is safe while being transmitted.

Ease of Auditing
Since EDI is transmitting all the data into the system, there is less room for any errors so therefore auditing will become much easier. Reports can be created for all the EDI transactions and then presented to the auditor, making the whole auditing process quicker and easier.

Strategic Business Benefits
Adding EDI into your current Dynamics GP environment will strengthen businesses and create strategic business benefits. Using digital transactions, businesses can always be up-to-date with all the transactions statuses. This knowledge will help the business to make better and faster business decisions going forward.

Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to get started today

Goal management in Dynamics 365 is a tool which provides the ability to manage KPIs in just a few clicks. You can use goals to compare targets and actuals for a defined period. And given the fact that Goals is an out of the box feature with Dynamics 365, you can set them up in no time at all. Additionally, since Goals are native to the system, they work seamlessly with workflows, business rules and other various Dynamics 365 functions.

To help you understand how goals work, consider the following scenario:

Your company sells drywall, you, as the sales manager, want to set a revenue target for the overall sales team and then targets for each individual sales team rep who will contribute to the sales team target. With the given targets you want the ability to monitor progress throughout the fiscal period.

To get the results you desire you will need to utilize a couple entities in Dynamics 365 and create a handful of records:

1. Goal Metric: this allows you to set the detailed measurement (amount or count) for the defined goals. You can create multiple goal metric records to measure different elements, revenue and number of panels sold for example.

Setting up the native SharePoint integration in Dynamics 365 can greatly benefit your organization. SharePoint allows users to store files, organize them, and provide ease of access to their colleagues. One of the biggest upsides of enabling this integration is that SharePoint offers much more storage space then D365 Sales, so you do not need to worry about your D365 instance running out of storage, thereby incurring steep costs to increase storage limits.

D365 SharePoint integration allows records in D365 Sales to have their own folders in SharePoint, this ensures all files have their own place in the system. This blog will walk you through the step-by -step process on how to setup your D365 SharePoint integration.

Before you get started, ensure you meet the following criteria so the process runs smoothly.

Requirements:

• Dynamics 365 Sales License with System Admin Access
• Office 365 Global Admin Access

Once you have verified the requirements, log into your Dynamics 365 for Sales web client and go to the Settings tab, in the drop-down menu select Document Management.

Power BI 101 Series: Jobs Dashboard with Power BI

Let us guide you through the end-to-end process of building a Jobs Dashboard using Power BI in our upcoming webinar. Follow along as we walk you step-by-step, through connecting and importing your data into the dashboard. Some of the things you’ll learn from this webinar are:

Job profitability
Deferred revenue and work in process by job
Outstanding purchase order commitments by job

Date: Thursday January 24, 2019
Time: 2:00PM - 3:00PM EST
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE WEBINAR TODAY!

One of the newer modules in the Dynamics 365 family, Field Service, leverages the latest technology offered by Microsoft and combines it into one powerful solution. D365 Field Service is an integrated solution with your current D365 environment, enabling you to be field ready with your already configured environment, filled with customer data.

D365 Fields Service has tools to help organizations optimize their resources, effectively manage team members and automate work order creation to save you time and money. Field Service can even be used with IoT devices to alert you of an issue even before your customers are aware there is one.

In D365 Field Service, Work Order Management, Service Scheduling and Resource monitoring are 3 key capabilities provided by D365 Field Service.

Work Orders in D365 Field Service are records that track service jobs. Work orders can be created automatically based on set criteria from your opportunity or case records or created manually. Within a work order you can track specific incidents types, estimated time required to complete a job and create the bookings for the work orders With Work Orders stored in D365 you also can create rich reports to identify which phases of your services can be improved upon.

Scheduling Service has never been easier with D365 Field Service. With the Field Service Schedule Assistant, all you must do is specify your criteria and the system will find the best resource to get the job done. Field Service considers factors such as skill set, availability and even current location of your resources to help make the best decision possible. If you want to get even more efficient, you can setup up resource scheduling optimization to let the system handle all the scheduling for you.

As a current customer of Skype for Business, Microsoft is inviting you to make the switch to Microsoft Teams. The upgrading phase might take some time, but Microsoft is here to help and provide the right level of support and guidance every step of the way. There is never a one-size-fits-all-solution so Microsoft has created two pathways that customers can take. Continue reading to learn more about both pathways and which one would be better for your company.



Upgrade Basic: Is designed for smaller organizations that use Skype for Business for the IM (instant messaging) only or IM + basic meeting functionality. A company who requires a simple deployment can expect a timeframe of 30-45 days for the process to be completed. Microsoft has provided 10 steps for a successful upgrade of moving the entire organization from Skype for Business to Teams.

Step One: Notify your Key Stakeholders
Step Two: Prepare your organization for Teams
Step Three: Know your Skype for Business Users
Step Four: Notify your users that they’ll be upgrading from Skype for Business to Teams
Step Five: Activate the user upgrade notification
Step Six: Remind your users that they’ll be upgrading from Skype for Business to Teams
Step Seven: Upgrade users to Teams
Step Eight: Monitor Teams usage against your baseline
Step Nine: Measure user satisfaction
Step Ten: Maximize your ROI with Teams

Click Here for more information
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/MicrosoftTeams/upgrade-basic

Upgrade Pro: Is designed for larger corporations that require a more complex deployment such as with hybrid or voice. This route is divided into three different phases and will require a longer duration to complete the upgrade process. It allows the company to run Microsoft Teams alongside Skype for Business until Microsoft Teams is ready for the business. In order to ensure this is successful, Microsoft will also provide resources to prepare both technical and everyday users.

Click Here for more information
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/MicrosoftTeams/upgrade-pro

Pre-Upgrade: The Pre-Upgrade phase will prepare your company for Microsoft Teams. This phase will introduce Teams into your organizations' workflow by using Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams together. Allowing employees to begin learning how to use the Teams application. Employees will have a lot of time to test out Teams at their own pace and slowly start to migrate all their activities, contacts, and calendars. You’ll get to experience the value of Microsoft Teams and help your corporation speed up the process of Teams becoming ready for your company. Read the pre-upgrade checklist below to see if your organization is ready for the upgrade phrase:

Days 1-7: Create your upgrade plan to help ensure your organization is set-up for long term success
Days 8-15: Evaluate your organization’s readiness for Teams
Days 16-60: Run a pilot to confirm that your organization is read and inform your optimal journey to Teams
Day 60 until upgrade: Deploy Teams in coexistence with Skype for Business

Learn more about Microsoft Teams by downloading our whitepaper Microsoft Teams Cheat Sheet: Meet the Hub for Teamwork in Office 365. This whitepaper contains all the benefits of Teams and why you should make the switch. Find out why Microsoft has made Teams the primary focus for its intelligent communication platform.

There is a standard site map for all Dynamics 365 instances, but chances are the default site map does not scream ease of navigation for your organization. It is important that Users can easily find the entities they need without hunting column by column, and more importantly they see what they need to see, and ONLY what they need to see.

Dynamics 365 provides the ability to modify the standard site map without coding, allowing everyday users to easily modify the layout, making it a better fit for your business. You will need either the System Administrator or System Customizer role to perform the following actions.

To customize the site map, simply go to Settings > Customizations > Customize the System.

You will find multiple site maps under Client Extensions, there is typically one which contains all apps, and then others which are each tied to a specific app.

In this case, we are using the default one which is labeled “Site Map”.