Software Answers

Dynamics NAV via a Browser & Sharepoint

Last year Microsoft announced that the next version of NAV (codenamed NAV 7 but likely to be called NAV 2012) would allow you to access NAV not only via the full RTC windows client but also via a standard web browser and also through SharePoint. Now we have the first screenshot examples of how it will look that are not covered under the non disclosure agreements that we normally see previews under. As you can see it is completely recognisable and pretty cool.

And the SharePoint alternative looks good to, web parts from NAV can be mixed on pages with any other SharePoint web parts such as document library's.

Scheduled release seems to be September/October of 2012. You could be using this before the year is out!

QR Codes now available in Microsoft Dynamics NAV

Quick Reason Codes are barcodes for the 21^st Century (well ok they were devised in 1994).  Because they work in 2D where data is stored horizontally and vertically like a crossword, they contain a lot more information than a standard barcode and as a result have a greater range of application.

Because QR codes can be read with a camera this makes them more accessible than the standard barcode.  Many people now have phones and tablets with a built-in camera and web connection.  All you need on top of that is a barcode reader app.  These are free, can read both QR codes and standard barcodes, and are easy to use.  Simply placing the QR code in the frame will activate the QR code’s function. This can be anything from opening a website to picking an item out of stock.

So why all this talk of QR codes?  The clue is in the title.  Microsoft have released an add-in for Dynamics NAV that allows it to create and use QR codes.  A quick update to your NAV implementation will enable QR codes to be placed almost anywhere in the NAV environment – pages, forms, reports, you name it.  So once you’ve got the ability to show and print QR codes, how are you going to use them in a way that improves your business?  Here are four ideas we’ve come up with:

 

1. Warehouse Stock Tracking

- Items can be scanned in and out of locations around the warehouse as usual.  The twist is QR codes carry more information enabling additional traceability.

2. Point of Sale

- Customers with a loyalty card printed with their own QR code, can wave the card under a webcam at the point of sale.  From this action a discount could be applied to their purchase, trading details brought up on the screen, loyalty points added to their account etc.

3. Track and Measure Trends

- By allowing your customers to vote for products you can track and measure what they’re thinking and plan for the future.  This can also work internally to see which systems your colleagues are using the most.

 

4. Promotion

- So you send out an invoice to a customer.  Payment is made.  End of transaction.  Well what if you put a QR code on the invoice that will take your customer to your company website?  As an example, scan the QR code at the top of this blog post and see where it takes you.

- Notice that the code has our company logo on it?  Another exciting feature of QR codes is that they can be customised.  As long as 70% of the black/white pattern remains visible the code will scan accurately.

 

If you have Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 SP1 or R2, or Microsoft Dynamics NAV 5.0 SP1, then this is a simple update that opens up all sorts of opportunities for improving efficiency in your business.  If you’ve been holding back from upgrading then this may just be a good enough reason for you to make the jump.  The ideas above aren’t the only way to use QR codes.  Take a little time and think how QR Codes can improve your business.

DynamicsFood Events

With the latest release of our DynamicsFood software (combining Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Certified for Dynamics add on, SI Foodware) due at the end of February, we have been busy updating our website and arranging some events to coincide with this.

We will be demonstrating the total food journey right through from the initial entry of the sales order using various different methods,via purchasing,production and quality control and ending with the final delivery of the goods to the end customer showing you where your business can save time as well as improve accuracy and traceability.

 

Events will be held at our offices in Wolverhampton, Microsoft’s offices in Reading and the home of Yorkshire County Cricket, Headingley during February and we look forward to welcoming everyone to these. To book a place, please register at www.tecman.co.uk/events or spend some time browsing our new website at www.dynamicsfood.co.uk and register from there!

If you can’t make these dates but would like to know more, please contact Claire Evans at claire.evans@tecman.co.uk

New Schedule of Free NAV workshops at TecMan announced

The popular free monthly workshops that have run for several years, are now scheduled for the 1st quarter of 2012.

We are covering VAT settlement returns and reconciliation, Jet Reports and Fixed Assets.  These run at our offices in Wolverhampton and hosted by our support team which means its a guaranteed sales person free event! 

If you have a support contract or are interested in moving your support across to Technology Management, book on, meet the team and maximise your investment in Dynamics NAV by finding out what's possible with the software.

Book on at www.tecman.co.uk/events

Liam

Microsoft Certification Gold in CRM and ERP for 2012

Pleased to confirm that we continue to hold Gold Certification with Microsoft for Dynamics ERP and CRM for the next 12 months.

This certification is the highest available from Microsoft, and requires a minimum of 6 certified employees in each competency. A number of case studies plus the completion of a customer satisfaction survey was also required to be successful.

The CRM team now stands at 10 dedicated people while our Dynamics ERP teams number 16. The investment in quality people all trained and certified to the highest level in implementation, consultancy, development. training and dedicated support is recognised by this certification.

What do we still manufacture in the UK?

Pop stars? Possibly. But Technology Management’s long list of Manufacturing customers is testament to the fact that Manufacturing in the UK is still big business. In fact Manufacturing output accounted for nearly 12% of GDP according to the office for national statistics in 2010, making it the third largest sector in the UK economy.

Manufacturing is of course a global enterprise but Technology Management’s home, the West Midlands was once known as “the Workshop of the World.” In the late 18^th century the industrial revolution began in the UK and subsequently spread through Western Europe, North America, Japan and eventually the globe.

But just because we were there first doesn’t mean we’re the most successful. In 2011, the UN ranked the UK’s manufacturing output at number six, behind the US, China, Japan, Germany and Italy. As new economies grow, this position will slip and the UK won’t hold back the tide forever.

To compete on a global scale we have to do more with less, using finite resources intelligently and economically. Technology Management share this goal with our customers throughout the project lifecycle. The product I work with, Dynamics AX, has expanded its industry focus in recent years, but it has always had a deserved solid reputation in Manufacturing. Manufacturing capability was woven into the DNA of Dynamics AX from the beginning, but customers (and indeed consultants!) are often daunted by the breadth and depth of functionality on offer.

Over the coming weeks and months I will help the readers of this blog understand Dynamics AX manufacturing from end to end, covering the various approaches- Discrete, Process and LEAN and, the depth of functionality that is available with Dynamics AX2012. We’ll start with the basics, but I’ll move on to advanced setup pretty quickly- as that’s where Dynamics AX can help you manage your finite resources most effectively.

The aim of this series of posts is to show our customers the power and agility of AX and stimulate an informed conversation on applying AX to your business. Every manufacturing customer shares a few common processes, but all customers (and Dynamics implementations) are unique.  With this in mind you can always discuss specific applications by contacting us directly- where we can help you do more with less, using Dynamics AX.

Next week we’ll start with the fundamental building blocks (literally) of manufacturing- Bills of Materials, or BoMs.

Microsoft launch Give Me 5 with 80% off NAV

Microsoft have announced a new promotion called ‘Give Me 5’ to make Dynamics NAV even more affordable for businesses. Under the terms of this offer new customers will be able to license an initial Foundation Pack, including the first user, plus four (4) additional users, for the suggested retail price of  just £1800. Valid for either Business Essentials or Advanced Management options it enables smaller companies to get the power and sophistication of NAV at a price below the competition.

This is a great way for customers to get on premise NAV for a remarkably low price, saving a cool £8000 or 80% off the £9000 a five user advanced management licence would normally cost. In that they get advanced features such as production order control and multi-site inventory planning for instance. This will allow them to use the system to fully management their business without the compromises that other systems impose.

The offer is valid from now until next June 22nd 2012 so they still have time to make a considered decision that NAV is right for their business.

Dynamics NAV 7 ERP in the browser

In just over 12 months time NAV 7 will be available, and it marks a fundamental change in the way companies and end users can access the software.

We have been talking about cloud or hosted system for sometime now, in fact Technology Management can run NAV 2009 in the cloud for you already. However NAV 7 has been written from the ground up to run in the cloud. In fact NAV 7 will be available to run in a web browser, with the back end database being stored in the cloud.

This will be the first Microsoft Dynamics ERP product available to run this way, showing the innovation and commitment to NAV. It also shows the emphasis that Microsoft have for it to be the product of choice for many organisations in the SMB sector. The cloud option will lower the cost of entry to the product in terms of software, pay per user per month, and no longer requiring a powerful server for it to run on. It also removes many of the risks of managing your own ERP system, by losing the responsibility of the hardware and the ability for users to access the system from any PC with an internet connection will again save cost and add great functionality . I have included a screenshot (apologies for the poor quality) of NAV 7 being run in the browser.  Notice it looks identical to the NAV 2009 role tailored client even though its running in Internet Explorer. 

As always feel free to contact us if you wish to discuss this further.

liam.walton@tecman.co.uk

NAV 7 running in the browser

Our AX2012 top ten features #4: Case Management

Now we’re down to the last four in our Dynamics AX top 10 and although AX2012 is now available, our countdown will coincide the AX2012 virtual launch on the 8th September.

With AX2012, Microsoft are unveiling a new feature known as Case Management.

A “Case” can be thought of as an issue that requires a resolution and almost all businesses can benefit from using Case Management in one way or another. Off the top of my head, here’s a few ideas:

• Customer product inquiries
• An internal IT support desk, where employees log issues with IT admin.
• Customer’s reporting issues with your website
• Expense audits
• HRM processes such as onboarding, grievances and discipline
• Health and Safety- accident reporting
• Product quality control

Cases can be linked to customers, vendors and employees and are therefore located in the Home ‘module’ although they can also be created in the Enterprise portal. Once a case is created, a service level agreement (SLA) can be assigned. The case creator can then search through a list of existing knowledge articles to see if a similar case has already occurred. Each of the similar knowledge articles can be marked as helpful in resolving a problem.

Cases can be elevated to other employees and activities can be automatically created to follow up on the case until the case is resolved and closed. Before doing this however, a new knowledge article can be created to help with the resolution of future cases.

Using case management strategically in your business will help drive down costs through faster, simpler processes and will help you manage compliance and you may have notice that these are becoming central themes with Dynamics AX2012.

To see Case management in action, or to discuss how Case management can be used in your business please contact us via www.tecman.co.uk

 

Our AX2012 top ten features: #5 - Workflow

 
 

As part of Microsoft's continued push to integrate Dynamics AX with their other products, AX2012 now includes a fully integrated, graphical workflow tool based on  Microsoft's .NET Windows Workflow foundation.  

At first glance, the main improvement users will notice is the incorporation of the workflow Designer.

 
 
  
This Visio- style workflow designer provides the user with a canvas onto which the workflow elements from a pre-defined template can be dragged and dropped. The properties of these elements can then be modified by business users to reflect the requirements of your real-world business process. For example, automatic actions, conditional and manual decisions, escalations, delegations, sub-workflows and much more can be defined in this simple, user-friendly interface.

Each user modification creates a new workflow version that can be activated and deactivated as required. These workflows can be copied, imported, exported and applied with different rules to different parts of the organisation.

 

So what's the business benefit?

Business processes evolve and change over time, and users can now make changes to workflows without requiring a developer. Workflow enables your users to prioritise their work and follow more consistent business processes.

The ability to model and apply consistent processes while prioritising work with lower development costs enables your business do more- with less. 

To learn more about AX2012 workflow, its technical capabilities and how we can help you build these for your business, click here to contact us.