Tag: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

The evolution of the all-in-one ERP

Just like your business, software evolves over time. It adapts to our ever-changing needs and advances processes by delivering more ground-breaking functionality. In 2018 Microsoft released Dynamics 365 Business Central to the enterprise resource planning market to replace what was Dynamics NAV (formally known as Navision). But how does Dynamics 365 Business Central compare? 

Dynamics 365 Business Central carries all the same features as its older relative (Dynamics NAV) but has the added benefits of a true cloud solution. Benefits such as access to your information from anywhere in the world, real-time updates and easy integration. The transition from Dynamics NAV to Dynamics 365 Business Central is so much more than a face-lift, Microsoft has successfully created a cost-effective all-in-one-solution that can seamlessly grow with your business. 

Here are some of the main reasons our customers have made the switch to Dynamics 365 Business Central. 

1. Familiarity

If you have previously used Dynamics NAV or currently use any of Microsoft’s other products (Office, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, etc) there is a sense of fellowship you feel when using Dynamics 365 Business Central. Your actions become instinctive, which makes product training a smooth and timely process. 

2. Freedom

Thanks to cloud technology, Dynamics 365 Business Central can be accessed from anywhere and any device with an internet connection. This monumental change lets you and your team access data and reports on the go and ensures you always have the most up-to-date information at your fingertips. 

3. Cost

Take away hardware, infrastructure, onsite maintenance, manual upgrades and storage and you are now looking at a solution that is more cost-effective for your business. With Dynamics 365 Business Central, you pay a monthly subscription for storage, hosting, and continuous access to your data. 

4. Security 

Dynamics 365 Business Central can be hosted on Microsoft Azure which is one of the most trusted global cloud providers in the world. Azure boasts over 70 compliance offerings and has first-class embedded security and privacy. 

5. Future-proof

With Business Central you have one platform that allows you to access all the modules and tools you need. From your Outlook to PowerBI, all your company data is connected and readily available and comparable. Furthermore, with Microsoft’s new AL coding the limit to extensions and integration has been removed. This core change means that D365 Business Central users now have flexibility never experienced before in the world of ERPs. Your solution can be individually customised to suit your exacting needs and processes, saving you valuable time and expenditure. 

D365 Business Central and Monpellier

Monpellier are experts in providing custom, integrated solutions and delivering first-class support across a wide range of areas. For further information regarding the Dynamics 365 Business Central and the licences available please give us a call on 01228 550 167 or email info@monpellier.co.uk for a free consultation and demo.

What is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central?

Specifically designed for small to medium-sized businesses, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is an all-in-one management solution with a very desirable price point (from £52.80 per user/ month). Similar to Microsoft’s previous offering, Nav, D365 Business Central is an easy to use cloud (or on-premise) solution that draws all your systems together.

Essentials Licence: What’s included?

Financial Management  – D365 Business Central includes all the basic features you have come to expect from an ERP system including; general ledger functionality, audit trails, bank management, budgets, deferrals, bank reconciliation, fixed assets and currencies.

Business Central can also help manage inventory costs and operational and departmental budgets. The look and feel is similar to that of Office 365 and you can dive deep into your data by integrating applications such as Power BI.

Customer Relational Management – Although it doesn’t contain the complete D365 CRM, Business Central does contain core CRM features that can help your business organise sales efforts. The functionality to record, manage and segment contacts based on a number of criteria is seamless and works with the full Office 365 suite.

NB – if you are looking for a complete CRM solution with all the bells and whistles, Business Central can be easily integrated with Dynamics 365 for Sales.

Supply Chain Management – D365 Business Central really shines when it comes to organising operations. Supply Chain Management gives you the capability to manage orders, oversee inventory, process orders, manage transaction and receivables. Furthermore, no matter where inventory is located, levels can be tracked even if it’s in transit!

Human Resources – From managing detailed employee records to tracking/ group codes and logging absences D365 Business Central’s HR functionality has changed dramatically since the days of NAV. The application now gives a more holistic approach to HR and even allows you to manage employee expenses, which can be reimbursed easily using the same method used to pay a vendor.

Project Management – Business Central has all of your core project management features covered, including; scheduling resources, managing budgets, task monitoring, resource planning and availability. All of the functionality including time sheets can be accessed remotely meaning that your workforce can keep up-to-date on the move.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central has two licencing options, the first of which (Essentials) includes everything we have covered in this article while Premium includes all the above as well as Service Order Management and Manufacturing.

D365 Business Central and Monpellier

Monpellier are experts in providing custom, integrated solutions and delivering first-class support across a wide range of areas. For further information regarding the D365 Business Central and the licences available please give us a call on 01228 550 167 or email info@monpellier.co.uk for a free onsite consultation.

 First published: In Cumbria Magazine’s March Issue.  

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

One of the most talked about trends for the next decade is digital integration. As accessibility to digital manufacturing tools, such as cloud storage, artificial intelligence and IoT sensors grows the concept of a ‘smart factory’ is becoming a reality. Manufacturers of all types can  benefit from digitally integrating their operations. 

Integration has been on Microsoft’s radar for a long time and they now have a vast, robust selection of solutions that all work together in perfect harmony. One such solution, which is priced for the SME market, is Dynamics 365 Business Central. 

This all-in-one solution includes modules for; Financials, Purchasing, Inventory, Operations, Warehousing and Projects. 

Let’s take a look at some of our favourite tools and functionality within Dynamics 365 Business Central…

Material Requirements Planning (MRP) 

To avoid ending up in that all too familiar situation of having too much of one item and not enough of another the MRP functionality within Dynamics 365 Business Central focuses on making tracking bills of materials (BOMs) flawless. It automatically generates order suggestions based on demand and sales, giving you accurate order suggestions at a glance. 

Scheduling

Our manufacturing clients often find the scheduling process the most stressful part of their business. Incorrect data or the slightest supply error and your whole schedule could suffer. Dynamics 365 Business Central slims down and simplifies the scheduling process with automatic production orders and purchase orders, action messages linked to balancing of supply and the option to set-up some items with individual reordering policies.

Capacity Measurement

Many businesses have the goal to grow in 2020 but with growth comes increased capacity. Dynamics 365 Business Central tracking capacity alongside materials and projects to ensure you never overbook or oversell – or lets you know you need to add to your facility, materials and team.

Inventory Items

Keeping track of raw materials, component parts and sub-assemblies can be exhausting. Dynamics 365 Business Central can quickly track these items and ensure you have what you need at all times. Keeping on top of your inventory like this can dramatically increase productivity and reduce time wastage during the production cycle. 

Machine Centers

Machine centers are designed to help you manage the capacity of a single machine or resource. Within Dynamics 365 Business Central, Machine Centers lets you plan and manage capacity on multiple levels and had the capability to allow users to store more default information about manufacturing processes, such as setup time or default scrap percentage.

Dynamics 365 Business Central and Monpellier

Monpellier are experts in providing custom, integrated solutions and delivering first-class support across a wide range of areas. We lead with your business objective and take the time and care needed to plan, customise, implement, train and support the solution that will achieve your goals. Give us a call on 01228 550 167 or email info@monpellier.co.uk for a free onsite consultation.

 First published: In Cumbria Magazine’s February Issue.  

Myth Busting D365 Business Central

Many accountants have relied solely or partially on Microsoft Excel to assist in their role for decades, leading many firms to ask when the next legacy solution will arrive. 

Enter Microsoft Dynamics. 

Over the past couple of years, Microsoft has shifted their focus to collaboration and have invested in new ways of working through Office 365. D365 Business Central is part of a wider product line of enterprise applications that all work together including applications focusing on sales, marketing, service, operations and CRM. D365 Business Central is the successor product for Microsoft NAV.

As D365 Business Central is still a relatively new offering in terms of ERP (enterprise resource planning) solutions Monpellier are here to clear up a few common misconceptions and equip you with the information you need to make an informed decision for your business. 

Microsoft Myth Busting

Myth 1: ‘ERP solutions from Microsoft are far too expensive!’ 

A D365 Business Central licence is £52.80/user/month. A company with a financial director, controller, and management accountant would pay a little over £150/month for its ERP software. 

Myth 2: ‘I will have to do a lot of work outside of D365 Business Central’

There’s a huge amount of connectivity with reporting tools like Power BI, which can be built directly into your ledgers. You can easily create bespoke reporting dashboards and have all of your valuable information at your fingertips. 

Myth 3: ‘Extensive training to learn the new software will be needed’ 

D365 Business Central is a cloud ERP solution, meaning that delivery and installation is seamless giving users the ability to get up and going quickly. Furthermore, all applications are designed to work together and integrate with Office 365 creating a familiar layout for users. 

Myth 4: ‘It won’t communicate with my emails’

If you get an email in Office 365 and use Business Central, there’s a direct interface that will recognise any email address affiliated with a customer or supplier. From there you can raise a sales quote or purchase order or invoice without having to leave your Outlook email inbox

Myth 5: ‘It’s just another accountancy package’ 

Like your Office 365 subscription, D365 Business Central runs on the Microsoft Common Data Service meaning that all your information is securely stored in the same place. This cloud-based storage option gives you the ability to supercharge your data by working seamlessly with Power Apps and Power Automate (previously known as Microsoft Flow). 

D365 Business Central and Monpellier

Monpellier are experts in providing custom, integrated solutions and delivering first-class support across a wide range of areas. Grounded in technical expertise, the team is made up of professional financial accounting advisors and technology experts, who work together to advise, install and support the best business software on the market Give us a call on 01228 550 167 or email info@monpellier.co.uk for a free onsite consultation. 

 First published: In Cumbria Magazine’s January Issue, 2020.  

Business Intelligence Software

Food and drink companies are rapidly embracing new technology in order to optimise their processes and supply chain operations, and Microsoft is leading the pack in terms of supply chain reporting with applications such as Power BI. 

Power BI is fully compatible with Microsoft’s other applications such as Office 365, Dynamics 365 and Business Central as well as being able to integrate with other supply chain systems you may have in place. The application is designed to create intelligent visualisations based on your business data to better support your decision-making processes. These engaging reports can easily be shared with one or more employees to create a business intelligence environment that can empower whole workforces. After all, knowledge is power! 

Resolve your supply issues with Power BI: 

Delivery information 

Food and drink manufacturers often have multiple delivery vehicles but information such as delivery times, mileage, damage reports and down-time if often not recorded or lost entirely due to paper forms that are filled away. Power BI takes all this information crunches it and creates valuable reports that can improve delivery performance and overall operational efficiency. 

Warehouse management 

Manually tracking items available in the warehouse is not only time consuming but also open to all kinds of error. Microsoft Power BI provides a consolidated view of data collected from the warehouse, from multiple sources, and displays it in the form of interactive dashboards. 

Remote working 

Do you have multiple sites or employees that work in the field? The Power BI application can run remotely through a variety of internet-enabled platforms and devices. Desktop reports can be adjusted to fit into reduced screen sizes making them both user-friendly and succinct. 

Connectivity

Sometimes it can feel like there is a device for everything, one to record stock, one to monitor machinery health, one to manage customer data, one for financials, it really can be an endless list. Power BI taps into the Microsoft Azure Cloud and other third-party data sources to bring all your data into one place. This gives your business the freedom to create new compelling datasets with a 360-degree view of your supply chain. 

In conclusion, a business intelligence solution such as Power BI can unlock critical insights into your supply chain operations, therefore minimising the time associated with manual data analysis. Our Power BI customers see real change across their entire business as the added understanding the application brings leads to the more effective management of their operations and the ability to pinpoint and act on disruptions before they become issues. 

Power BI and Monpellier

Monpellier are experts in providing custom, integrated solutions and delivering first-class support across a wide range of areas. Give us a call on 01228 550 167 or email info@monpellier.co.uk for a free onsite consultation and to start your business intelligence project today. 

 First published: In Cumbria Magazine’s December Issue, 2019.  

Inertia is a powerful force. It’s easier to keep doing what you’ve always done than it is to make an improvement. Change can be time consuming, scary, or require significant investment. When it comes to ERP solutions, though, the cost of doing nothing may be higher than you realise.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss some of the ways that an old ERP system might be limiting your potential, or even putting your business at risk.

Flexible working

It can be hard to attract and retain the right talent, especially if you need everyone to be in the office. Enabling your people to work from home helps them to maintain a good balance between work and family responsibilities and gives them a chance to optimize their work environment too. Remote working is also important for those who travel on business or work from customer sites. If your ERP solution does not provide remote access using the cloud, it’s time to upgrade.

Mobility matters

We’re so dependent on our mobile devices now, it’s hard to remember a time before them. Yet, mobile computing is a relatively recent trend. Android came out ten years ago; the first iPhone was in 2007 and the iPad’s launch in 2010 invented the consumer tablet market. If you’re using an old ERP system, it may not have been designed to take advantage of mobile devices.

That really matters: if you can’t access or update information on the move, your team may be forced to use paper workarounds. It’s time consuming and error prone. There might be discrepancies in your data because someone hasn’t had time to do the updates or rekey the paperwork yet, or worse still because they can’t read someone’s wiggly handwriting. If your team don’t have current information, it could affect your sales processes, because they don’t know something is in stock, or because two people sell the exact same item. You could carry extra inventory to cope, but it’s tying up your capital.

Modern ERP solutions such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central enable you to work wherever you are, using a wide range of devices. It enhances productivity and helps you to ensure your team are always up to date.

You need support

Old solutions may no longer be supported by the software vendor, and so won’t be updated for compatibility with new devices and other applications. Your ERP solution might have been running successfully for some time, but software is hugely complex and new bugs are often discovered late in an application’s lifetime. If the software is unsupported, these bugs won’t be squashed, which could put your data or uptime at risk.

What happens if something goes wrong with your ERP solution? You need to know that you can get it fixed, and fast. That’s unlikely to be the case if you’re working with a legacy solution. You might struggle to find IT consultants with the expertise in outdated software, and the willingness to work on it. When you do find someone, it might prove time consuming and expensive for them to find the problem and fix it.

By migrating to a modern ERP solution, you can ensure you’re benefiting from software that is currently supported, continuously updated, and easier to maintain. You not only reduce your risk of downtime (with the huge opportunity costs that entails), but may also be able to cut the cost of a support contract or any ad-hoc maintenance.

You’re under attack

IT systems are constantly under attack today, so it’s important your ERP solution is resilient. Hackers often try to exploit any bugs that become public knowledge to see if they can use them to infiltrate the system. An older ERP solution that is no longer receiving bug fixes and security patches is particularly vulnerable, so it’s important to have a current solution that still benefits from updates.

Changing business processes

Your company doesn’t operate in a vacuum: there are changes in the market and in regulatory requirements. These all need to be reflected in your business processes. We’ve recently seen the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and HMRC is now rolling out Making Tax Digital, an initiative that will require businesses to file financial returns electronically.

If you’re relying on an outdated ERP solution, you might not be meeting all the regulatory requirements that apply to your business. Compliance might involve using multiple applications and manual workarounds. It’s a productivity killer, and puts stress on your team.

Benefit from the latest trends

By using a legacy ERP solution, you’re not benefiting from the latest innovations and productivity improvements. Researchers are working out how to make software easier to use all the time, and customer feedback is often incorporated into later software releases. People use software at home and have expectations about how it will work. Older ERP solutions might be harder for them to navigate, and require more deliberate thinking to switch context from the applications they routinely use to the unfamiliar ERP environment.

The best software enables your people to work seamlessly and intuitively so they can focus on adding value to your business, not spend time puzzling over an interface. With Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, your team can use smooth integrations with the Office applications they know, and a familiar Microsoft Office look and feel throughout.

We’d love to tell you more about Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, an all-in-one business management solution for businesses of any size. Why not give us a call?