Manufacturing with Microsoft Dynamics 365 SCM
Planning and control in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management
The heart of a manufacturing company is undoubtedly the place where the action happens: the production floor. Here, too, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management offers a wide range of planning, management, and control capabilities. Whether for customised production, efficient resource planning in discrete and process manufacturing, or lean manufacturing, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management supports you with intuitive interfaces. It accommodates various production strategies—such as make-to-stock and make-to-order—as well as push and pull mechanisms. Track production progress using real-time data, calculate reliable delivery dates, and ultimately reduce costs—Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management is your partner in production.
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Microsoft's ERP solution offers the following functions for production planning and control, among others:
MATERIAL AND CAPACITY PLANNING
Optimise your material planning while simultaneously planning capacities that are always aligned with your specific strategy. Sales forecasts and production plans can be analysed with just a few clicks, providing up-to-date planning data at all times. This enables the calculation of availability and delivery commitments—such as Available-to-Promise (ATP) and Capable-to-Promise (CTP)—based on the current production situation. Subsequently, you can schedule the required routings and individual operations directly within the system for execution.
Your benefits
- Preparation and analysis of sales forecasts and production planning
- Availability and delivery commitments are always based on the current production situation
PRODUCTION PLANNING AND SEQUENCING
If operations need to be rescheduled, Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations supports you with rapid workflows and clear simulations of alternatives using simple drag-and-drop functionality within Gantt charts. This allows you to identify bottlenecks early on and resolve them by reassigning tasks to alternative resource groups. The result is an optimised schedule for the entire organisation, driven by a unified resource model and scheduling engine. Furthermore, you can identify opportunities to optimise machine utilisation by combining similar products, all while allowing customers to apply multiple quality criteria to each product.
Your benefits
- Comprehensive planning and management of all production process resources
- Optimisation of machine utilisation without compromising quality for your customers
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Managing your resources involves planning and tracking materials, production areas, and the associated personnel. You plan based on production activities and resource profiles, utilising resource types such as tools, machines, suppliers, locations, and personnel. Resource allocation is determined by requirement types—for example, resource and resource group, type, capability, skill, course, certificate, and title.
Your benefits
- Encryption of all resources used in the production process
- Resource management based on current production capacities
- Identification of underutilised resource groups
CONTRACT MANUFACTURING
If production takes place not only at your own facilities but also at those of suppliers and partners, Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations supports you with various collaboration models for subcontractors. This includes the outsourcing of specific operations, the procurement of external items, and the provision of materials to contractors. You can then link your purchase orders to production orders, ensuring you never lose track of your various production streams.
Your benefits
- Integrated cooperation models for working with subcontractors
- Outsourcing of individual processes within your production chain to suppliers and partners
MANUFACTURING BILL OF MATERIALS AND RECIPES
The graphical bill of materials designer in Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations is the tool for creating your bills of materials, including phantom bills of materials. Here, you can edit and track individual lines, manage multi-level formulas and recipes, and handle your main products and by-products. Changes can be clearly tracked through version control—which governs the release process for the correct bill of materials—and the use of electronic signatures.
Your benefits
- Integrated creation and management of bills of materials
- Modelling of multi-level formulas and recipes, as well as main products and by-products
- Traceable version control for clear approval processes
PRODUCT CONFIGURATION
If your products consist of a wide variety of different—and usually customer-specific—bills of materials and operations, Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations provides the ideal configuration tool: the product configurator. Product configurator models can be used directly for sales orders, quotations, purchase orders, or production orders.
Your benefits
- Representation of your product structure with uniquely identifiable products, each featuring a unique bill of materials and a unique routing
- Availability in processes both upstream and downstream of production
WORK PLAN CONTROL
Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations enables you to plan simple, sequential, and complex networks. Routing operations within the same network can be utilised simultaneously. Group work centres at your locations into logical production units, employing both rough-cut and detailed capacity planning.
Your benefits
- Simultaneous use of routing plans within the same network
- Structured manufacturing units utilising rough-cut and detailed resource planning in production
PRODUCTION ORDERS
Create, plan, visualise, track, split, cancel, or categorise production orders to boost efficiency—capabilities offered exclusively by Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, featuring its signature clear and intuitive interface. Generate production orders directly from sales orders and track their current status: Has the order been created, pre-costed, scheduled, released, started, reported as finished, or post-costed? Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations provides the necessary information in real time. Furthermore, if scrap occurs, the system tracks it at the bill-of-materials, resource, and operation levels—enabling, for instance, its potential reuse.
Your benefits
- Creation of production orders directly from sales orders, with a complete information base
- Real-time tracking of production status
- Recording of scrap for further use
TIME RECORDING
Time recording enables you to manage your production steps along a timeline. Log products, resources, and items for individual tasks and operations using mobile devices and touchscreens, significantly simplifying the process for your employees.
Your benefits
- Control of your production steps via a clear timeline
- Capture of operational data via mobile devices and touch-enabled displays
WAREHOUSE DIMENSIONS FOR PROCESS MANUFACTURING
Define multiple inventory dimensions: different units, catch-weight calculations, picking codes, variants of main items, and batches. Everything is just a mouse click away with Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations.
LEAN MANUFACTURING
Many manufacturers rely on lean manufacturing to achieve lean, highly efficient production. Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations facilitates this implementation by allowing manufacturing and logistics processes to be modelled as production flows. In addition, kanban boards are available to trigger demand requirements.
Your benefits
- Integrated lean manufacturing logic is available
- Modelling of manufacturing and logistics flows in production
PRODUCTION COST ACCOUNTING
Thanks to the intelligent production tracking and reporting capabilities built into Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, you can increase transparency regarding your manufacturing resources and gain an overview of actual costs incurred. Track resource and product costs—including work centre costs—in detail. Additionally, production variances can be analysed based on standard costs.
Your benefits
- Transparency regarding your manufacturing process and available resources
- Calculation and analysis of actual costs incurred, including production variances
PRODUCTION REPORTING
For you, production reporting in Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations means gaining an overview and transparency across the entire production process. With predefined key performance indicators (KPIs) in the SQL Server Analysis data cube for your production, meaningful reports can be generated at any time.
Your benefits
- Transparency and analysis of your production KPIs
- Standardised reports already included in Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations
