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Ascent Innovations
Ascent Innovations is a global consulting firm and top rated Dynamics 365, certified partner that empowers organizations around the world
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Ascent Innovations 2020-10-12

Such stock outs are caused usually by:Changes in the demand for the itemInaccuracies in the forecasts of the itemUnforeseen disruption to the supply line of the itemMaintaining safety stock for an item comes with its own challenges.

Some of the major factors are:External Factors:Fluctuation in demand:A spike in consumer demand often results in stock outs.

Spikes in consumer demand can be attributed to many reasons including festivals, seasonal and any act of nature (epidemic).Variation in supply line:Any disruption to the supply line by the vendor leads to stock outs.

Such inaccuracies might be due to the nature of the product itself, or lack of accurate data and lack of proper tools and techniques.Production delays:Any unexpected delays in the production and transportation in the internal value chain lead to stock outs.

It might be due to unexpected breakdowns in the production line and industrial unrest.Variation in consumer demand is the single major reason for the maintenance of safety stocks.Stock outs are undesirable as they adversely affect the business.

Some of the major impacts to business are:Loss of Sale:In the highly competitive marketplace, it is quite tough to regain a lost sale, and often declared as the ‘lost opportunity’.Erosion of Market Share: Poor service delivery due to stock out starts with the erosion of customer base and ends with the erosion of market share.Strained Supply chain: Stock out puts additional burden on the supply chain, and it strains the relationship between partners of supply chain.The advantages of maintaining safety stock levelsHolding sufficient levels of safety stock reduces the risk to stock out and there by provides the business the following insurance cover:Prevents stock out due to sudden spikes in consumer demandsPrevents stock out due to uncertain lead times of vendors and internal production linePrevents stock out due to disruption to the supply line from vendorsPrevents stock out due to inaccurate forecastEnsures customer service and satisfaction levelsEnsures continued sales and market shareHelps to maintain healthy relationship with supply chain partnersHelps to automate the reorder pointsHow to employ Safety stock in the supply chain?Though the purpose of maintaining safety stock is to avoid stock outs, it is not intended for all stock outs but for majority of them.

collect
0
Ascent Innovations 2020-09-12
img

A former coworker and good buddy of mine is a Purchasing Manager for a mid-size manufacturing company.

He always had a lot on his plate and more often than not, he would greet fellow colleagues to his office with “I can’t take it no mo’!”, “Please.

Fortunately, there are numerous modules and features in Microsoft Dynamics 365 which can help handle all the ______.

Request for QuotationGood, Fast or Cheap.

D365’s RFQ functionality allows purchasing to send out requests to multiple vendors, track progress, record the responses and then compare all the results to pick the best option.

The requirements and details are automatically populated into the order.

collect
0
Ascent Innovations 2019-06-25
img

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations has entered the so-called One Version era, in which customers will say goodbye to traditional ERP upgrades and apply an ongoing and mandatory series of smaller updates to their systems on a monthly to quarterly basis.

This is in line with Microsoft Office 365 Upgrade philosophy.

Functional usage in D365FO production environments

Supply chain management: 82 percent SCM

Human capital management: 81 percent

Another reason is due to improved upgrade and migration tools and the approaching end of life of various versions of AX.

collect
0
Ascent Innovations 2019-03-11
img

Microsoft is ending the mainstream support for Dynamics AX 2009, AX 2012 FP and R2 on October 9th, 2018.

Dynamics AX products are normally supported for 10 years from the release.

Mainstream support includes the following:

Ability to purchase a paid support agreement

Design Changes and Feature Requests

Self Service Support (Microsoft Knowledge Base, Microsoft Help & Support Site)

What are my options?

  • Purchase an extended support agreement
  • Pay for a custom support contract
  • Consider upgrading now to D365
  • Do nothing and hope for the best

Extended Support

Extended support options available for $100,000+ a year, which would extend your coverage by a couple of years. Once a product transitions from Mainstream to Extended support, the support is limited to self-service and paid options. Extended Support includes:

  • Ability to purchase a paid support agreement
  • Security update support
  • Non-security hotfix support (extended within 90 days)
  • Self Service Support (Microsoft Knowledge Base & Microsoft Help & Support Site)

Extended Support will expire as well, and the end dates are:

Dynamics AX 200910/12/21
Dynamics AX 201210/12/21
Dynamics AX 2012 R210/12/21
Dynamics AX 2012 R301/10/23

Upgrade to Dynamics 365

It is a common organizational discussion for choosing between an upgrade or face the fact of not being able to count on your software provider for fixing issues. So what next?

  • Start talking to your partner or a partner who has experience in similar upgrades.
  • Make sure to be current on your Microsoft Enhancement plan to take advantage of any benefits in transitioning to D365, and realizing your investments.
  • This is a good time to evaluate Cloud-based hosting and compare the ROI.
  • Take advantage of Ascent’s free Assessment.

Enable your business to move forward

  • Reduce infrastructure costs by moving to the cloud.
  • The cloud model offers monthly subscription fees vs the large up-front cost.
  • Stability and Security of Azure, including disaster recovery.
  • New features and functionality, including embedded BI and availability on mobile devices
  • Moving to the cloud allows for scalability and growth at your own rate
  • Reduce code customizations around BI, Reports, Data integrations, etc. and reduce your system maintenance costs.
  • User interface that will boost productivity now and for new generation of users to come.
  • Never budget for an upgrade or implementation again.
  • Real-time integration between your Front Office (Sales & Support) and Back-Office (Operations & Accounting), reflecting one version of truth across the organization.
  • Leverage the capabilities of Power Apps and Microsoft Flow to enable business workflows.
  • On Prem version of D365 is available. Compare before making your path forward.

Do Nothing and Hope for the Best

Just be sure to understand what that means to your business.

  • Educate yourself on exactly what Microsoft will and won’t do to once Mainstream Support ends
  • Pay attention to how many customizations you’re making to keep up with industry demands
  • Your partner will still be there to help you with Dynamics AX
  • Yes, you can still add user licenses to both Dynamics AX 2009 and Dynamics AX 2012

You can count on our experience.

Ascent Innovations can help your organization by supporting your current process, help you understand your options and when the time is right, will help you Upgrade.

For more information on Microsoft Support and Product Lifecycles, please see this FAQ page:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17140/lifecycle-faq-general-policy-questions

 

collect
0
Ascent Innovations 2020-10-01

Every organization has custom data that is specific to their operations/process.Most organizations see tremendous value in bringing over that data to work with your enterprise software system either interactively for transactions or use for reports/dashboards.Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations has provided a Data Management Framework (DMF), that allows for the D365 system to be that one fully-integrated & all-encompassing system.We will walk through Data Management Framework of Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations.

collect
0
Ascent Innovations 2020-09-02

Consignment inventory is an element of supply chain management in which the vendor inventory is held at the customer warehouse.

The customer doesn’t pay for the goods until the goods are consumed, and in most cases, pays only the amount consumed.When receiving the inventory, the physical receipts and on-hand inventory transactions are posted in the system, without any general ledger postings.At the time of actual consumption, the ownership changes and the financial (GL) transactions are posted.The vendor can monitor the consumption of inventory at the customer site (usually through a Vendor Portal or system integration or EDI).This concept has a lot of advantages for both customer and vendor and continues to gain popularity in recent years.Beneficial for long-term business between supplier and the consumer.Reduced transportation and inventory costs.Higher quality assurance as goods typically come from a focused production run and manufactured dateLess risk in the form of purchasing and management approvals.Better cash flow for the consumer.Fewer variables in production planning.Reduced turnaround time leading to better end-customer experience.Supplier retains full ownership and visibility.More predictable demand forecasting and replenishment planning.Supplier gets to push any new products through its supply chain while still testing the demand.

For non-durables, there are additional factors to be considered.How To Make Consignment Inventory Work For EveryoneCultivate mutually beneficial relationshipsSuppliers and consumers can reap the biggest rewards from Consignment Inventory by developing an honest partnership, working together to improve their processes, sharing inventory details and strengthen their supply chain management.Both parties can benefit immensely by using a good inventory management software that automates the processing of consignment orders based on current inventory levels and keeps all parties informed.

The detailed/thorough contract helps transparency in your business partnership and helps mitigate possible disputes in future.Use an Inventory Management Software with Consignment Inventory featureAn optimal solution would be to invest in an inventory management software that is designed to handle consignment inventory.The software should track the goods shipped & ordered, utilization and replenishment levels, and additional information regarding the inventory in both physical and financial terms.The information should be transparent, and the information flow automated.

Being a 100-year company with strong trusted relationships with its business partners, made the execution go smooth.Scenario B:In the steel and metal fabrication industry the trucking costs and material handling costs directly have an impact the company’s tight profit margin.To be globally competitive, this concept is taking root.

EDI-enablement makes the workflow highly automated, information flow instantaneous and decision process based on real-time data.When executing this concept, this metal processing company took a step by step approach.

collect
0
Ascent Innovations 2019-06-25
img

Create parallel approval workflows with Microsoft Flow

In today’s, matrix management structure of the global workforce especially in newer industries, there is a need to inform and get approval of your absence (eg.

vacation) so that your project managers are part of your scheduling decisions.

Find, and then select the Office 365 Users – Get manager (V2) action.

Note: The Title and Assigned To fields are required.

 

Learn More

collect
0
Ascent Innovations 2020-09-22

)Class C:Is not critical for company’s operations.Comparatively low value so management will not lose sleep on the accuracy of inventory.Large (80+) % of items account for a relatively small (<15) % of the inventory value/consumption.Class B:Essentially in between classes A and C.Value at par with quantity.There is no fixed or globally followed percentage or factor.

So, the leadership can prioritize resourcesfor optimizing Class A items compared to doing the same for Classes B or C. For example, cycle counting.Enable informed stock replenishmentdecisions, on changing the safety levels, etc.Introduction to Inventory ControlEvery business has a need to optimize their inventory and supply chain, and many times than not, it is a constant challenge.

When applied to inventory, the same is interpreted as 20% of the items may account for 80% of total cost in the given period.A sample diagram represents the classification of items based on inventory investment.

C-class items can be managed through the simple rule of thumb.

The sample used here is 70-20-10, and this ratio varies by organization.Benefits of ABC AnalysisThe classification of items into A, B& C yields many tangible and intangible benefits to the practicing organization.Smarter management of working capital:ABC analysis leads to a smarter management of working capital to manage optimal on-hand inventory and safety stocks, based on the consumption pattern and lead-times.

While high value ‘vital few’ items could be checked more frequently, the low value ‘insignificant many’ can be checked seldom.There is a flip side to ABC classification that skips the cost of shortage or the effect of an item going out of stock, which is managed through the VED (Vital, Essential, Desirable) analysis.

collect
0
Ascent Innovations 2019-10-30

Find few of the benefits of upgrading to Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations Cloud.

There are many more additional functionalities available through App Source, from Microsoft and third-party providers.

Of course, the framework exists to build your own in future.

With Dynamics 365, you can now easily realize the benefits of latest technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Business Intelligence and Forecasting.

Office 365 – Active Directory & Authentication

Cybersecurity Monitoring & Threat Management

collect
0
Ascent Innovations 2019-05-14
img

I couldn’t wait to jump behind the wheel of the family’s 1998 Saturn SL2 and get the Led out via my Discman-to-tape-deck converter.

Best of all, the state of Illinois and my parents knew I was prepared and let me skip the entire driver’s education requirement.

Well, that was the dream anyway.

Everything was working fine before, why does it need to change?

Course Correction : Intensive, hands-on training gives the decision-makers access to the people who use the system.

This is a great follow-up to the surveys, interviews and process documentation that was TOTALLY done before the project began.

collect
0
Ascent Innovations 2020-09-16
Replaceable Attributes in D365 Operations We will take a scenario and help walk through the process of when and how to use Replaceable Attribute feature in Dynamics 365. Standard business scenario We were working for an extension modelling in Dynamics 365 for Operations in standard Bank module.
collect
0
Ascent Innovations 2019-06-25
img

You can now deploy Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations in the cloud or on-premises.

Cloud deployments offer a software system that is fully managed by Microsoft, while on-premises deployments as name suggests, are deployed locally within a customer’s data center.Important: On-premises deployments of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations are NOT supported on any public cloud infrastructure, including Azure.The following table provides a comparison of the capabilities provided by the two deployment options.Why cloudCloud deployments provide a cloud service that is easy to scale up or down as needed, as well as data centers that are fully managed by Microsoft.

A cloud deployment also provides data aggregation, financial reporting, and intelligence.The cloud service provides customers with the greatest value, the broadest range of functionality, the best application lifecycle experience, the easiest and broadest integration with Microsoft Azure services, the best option for business insights and intelligence, and the most value for customers’ technology investments.Why on-premisesWith an on-premises deployment, existing data center investments can be leveraged.

Customers can also configure their enterprise preferences to meet their needs.The regulatory and compliance requirements of their business,Comply with data sovereignty rules in regions where there are no Azure Data Centers, orEnsure business continuity in areas with limited public infrastructure.A customer’s business data and processes are disconnected from the cloud and are stored and run locally in the customer’s or their partner’s data center.

Unlike the cloud deployment option, Advanced Analytics and Azure Machine Learning services are not included in the on-premises deployment option.

If these features are critical to your on-premises deployment, please let Microsoft know to help in prioritizing on the Dynamics 365 Application Ideas site.FeatureDescriptionTask recorderTask recorder libraries in Lifecycle Services (LCS) are not supported.

collect
0
Ascent Innovations 2019-04-02
img

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations will have a major version 10.0 released during the next two (2) weeks.

Based on the D365 F procedures rolled out during 2018 Q3, the D365 on-cloud customers are to be on the latest three versions, and that would be versions 10.0, 8.1.3 and 8.1.2.

Customers on the prior versions like 8.0 & 7.3 will need to update to one of the supported versions.

Microsoft has streamlined the release management to two major releases per year, in April and October of each year.

This has made the update needs predictable and the customers are able to plan better.

Please find the release notes of version 10.0 (April 2019) for Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations.

 

Some timesaving features include

Continual enhancements to Common Data Model


Microsoft’s Open Data Initiative is consistently expanding and enhancing. The Common Data Model(CDS) enables multiple (& growing list of) applications interact with Dynamics 365, extending your business process, expanding your dataflow and workflow across applications, and your reports and dashboards spanning to data sources with no boundaries, literally (networks, applications, technologies, platforms, …)

Preview of planned features & updates for Common Data Model and Data Integration.

If you are new to Common Data Model, this 5-minute read will give you a good overview.

Case study on how Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service helps service technicians see the data from the buildings and enables a proactive organization.

 

 

collect
0
Ascent Innovations 2020-10-12

Such stock outs are caused usually by:Changes in the demand for the itemInaccuracies in the forecasts of the itemUnforeseen disruption to the supply line of the itemMaintaining safety stock for an item comes with its own challenges.

Some of the major factors are:External Factors:Fluctuation in demand:A spike in consumer demand often results in stock outs.

Spikes in consumer demand can be attributed to many reasons including festivals, seasonal and any act of nature (epidemic).Variation in supply line:Any disruption to the supply line by the vendor leads to stock outs.

Such inaccuracies might be due to the nature of the product itself, or lack of accurate data and lack of proper tools and techniques.Production delays:Any unexpected delays in the production and transportation in the internal value chain lead to stock outs.

It might be due to unexpected breakdowns in the production line and industrial unrest.Variation in consumer demand is the single major reason for the maintenance of safety stocks.Stock outs are undesirable as they adversely affect the business.

Some of the major impacts to business are:Loss of Sale:In the highly competitive marketplace, it is quite tough to regain a lost sale, and often declared as the ‘lost opportunity’.Erosion of Market Share: Poor service delivery due to stock out starts with the erosion of customer base and ends with the erosion of market share.Strained Supply chain: Stock out puts additional burden on the supply chain, and it strains the relationship between partners of supply chain.The advantages of maintaining safety stock levelsHolding sufficient levels of safety stock reduces the risk to stock out and there by provides the business the following insurance cover:Prevents stock out due to sudden spikes in consumer demandsPrevents stock out due to uncertain lead times of vendors and internal production linePrevents stock out due to disruption to the supply line from vendorsPrevents stock out due to inaccurate forecastEnsures customer service and satisfaction levelsEnsures continued sales and market shareHelps to maintain healthy relationship with supply chain partnersHelps to automate the reorder pointsHow to employ Safety stock in the supply chain?Though the purpose of maintaining safety stock is to avoid stock outs, it is not intended for all stock outs but for majority of them.

Ascent Innovations 2020-09-22

)Class C:Is not critical for company’s operations.Comparatively low value so management will not lose sleep on the accuracy of inventory.Large (80+) % of items account for a relatively small (<15) % of the inventory value/consumption.Class B:Essentially in between classes A and C.Value at par with quantity.There is no fixed or globally followed percentage or factor.

So, the leadership can prioritize resourcesfor optimizing Class A items compared to doing the same for Classes B or C. For example, cycle counting.Enable informed stock replenishmentdecisions, on changing the safety levels, etc.Introduction to Inventory ControlEvery business has a need to optimize their inventory and supply chain, and many times than not, it is a constant challenge.

When applied to inventory, the same is interpreted as 20% of the items may account for 80% of total cost in the given period.A sample diagram represents the classification of items based on inventory investment.

C-class items can be managed through the simple rule of thumb.

The sample used here is 70-20-10, and this ratio varies by organization.Benefits of ABC AnalysisThe classification of items into A, B& C yields many tangible and intangible benefits to the practicing organization.Smarter management of working capital:ABC analysis leads to a smarter management of working capital to manage optimal on-hand inventory and safety stocks, based on the consumption pattern and lead-times.

While high value ‘vital few’ items could be checked more frequently, the low value ‘insignificant many’ can be checked seldom.There is a flip side to ABC classification that skips the cost of shortage or the effect of an item going out of stock, which is managed through the VED (Vital, Essential, Desirable) analysis.

Ascent Innovations 2020-09-12
img

A former coworker and good buddy of mine is a Purchasing Manager for a mid-size manufacturing company.

He always had a lot on his plate and more often than not, he would greet fellow colleagues to his office with “I can’t take it no mo’!”, “Please.

Fortunately, there are numerous modules and features in Microsoft Dynamics 365 which can help handle all the ______.

Request for QuotationGood, Fast or Cheap.

D365’s RFQ functionality allows purchasing to send out requests to multiple vendors, track progress, record the responses and then compare all the results to pick the best option.

The requirements and details are automatically populated into the order.

Ascent Innovations 2019-10-30

Find few of the benefits of upgrading to Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations Cloud.

There are many more additional functionalities available through App Source, from Microsoft and third-party providers.

Of course, the framework exists to build your own in future.

With Dynamics 365, you can now easily realize the benefits of latest technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Business Intelligence and Forecasting.

Office 365 – Active Directory & Authentication

Cybersecurity Monitoring & Threat Management

Ascent Innovations 2019-06-25
img

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations has entered the so-called One Version era, in which customers will say goodbye to traditional ERP upgrades and apply an ongoing and mandatory series of smaller updates to their systems on a monthly to quarterly basis.

This is in line with Microsoft Office 365 Upgrade philosophy.

Functional usage in D365FO production environments

Supply chain management: 82 percent SCM

Human capital management: 81 percent

Another reason is due to improved upgrade and migration tools and the approaching end of life of various versions of AX.

Ascent Innovations 2019-05-14
img

I couldn’t wait to jump behind the wheel of the family’s 1998 Saturn SL2 and get the Led out via my Discman-to-tape-deck converter.

Best of all, the state of Illinois and my parents knew I was prepared and let me skip the entire driver’s education requirement.

Well, that was the dream anyway.

Everything was working fine before, why does it need to change?

Course Correction : Intensive, hands-on training gives the decision-makers access to the people who use the system.

This is a great follow-up to the surveys, interviews and process documentation that was TOTALLY done before the project began.

Ascent Innovations 2019-03-11
img

Microsoft is ending the mainstream support for Dynamics AX 2009, AX 2012 FP and R2 on October 9th, 2018.

Dynamics AX products are normally supported for 10 years from the release.

Mainstream support includes the following:

Ability to purchase a paid support agreement

Design Changes and Feature Requests

Self Service Support (Microsoft Knowledge Base, Microsoft Help & Support Site)

What are my options?

  • Purchase an extended support agreement
  • Pay for a custom support contract
  • Consider upgrading now to D365
  • Do nothing and hope for the best

Extended Support

Extended support options available for $100,000+ a year, which would extend your coverage by a couple of years. Once a product transitions from Mainstream to Extended support, the support is limited to self-service and paid options. Extended Support includes:

  • Ability to purchase a paid support agreement
  • Security update support
  • Non-security hotfix support (extended within 90 days)
  • Self Service Support (Microsoft Knowledge Base & Microsoft Help & Support Site)

Extended Support will expire as well, and the end dates are:

Dynamics AX 200910/12/21
Dynamics AX 201210/12/21
Dynamics AX 2012 R210/12/21
Dynamics AX 2012 R301/10/23

Upgrade to Dynamics 365

It is a common organizational discussion for choosing between an upgrade or face the fact of not being able to count on your software provider for fixing issues. So what next?

  • Start talking to your partner or a partner who has experience in similar upgrades.
  • Make sure to be current on your Microsoft Enhancement plan to take advantage of any benefits in transitioning to D365, and realizing your investments.
  • This is a good time to evaluate Cloud-based hosting and compare the ROI.
  • Take advantage of Ascent’s free Assessment.

Enable your business to move forward

  • Reduce infrastructure costs by moving to the cloud.
  • The cloud model offers monthly subscription fees vs the large up-front cost.
  • Stability and Security of Azure, including disaster recovery.
  • New features and functionality, including embedded BI and availability on mobile devices
  • Moving to the cloud allows for scalability and growth at your own rate
  • Reduce code customizations around BI, Reports, Data integrations, etc. and reduce your system maintenance costs.
  • User interface that will boost productivity now and for new generation of users to come.
  • Never budget for an upgrade or implementation again.
  • Real-time integration between your Front Office (Sales & Support) and Back-Office (Operations & Accounting), reflecting one version of truth across the organization.
  • Leverage the capabilities of Power Apps and Microsoft Flow to enable business workflows.
  • On Prem version of D365 is available. Compare before making your path forward.

Do Nothing and Hope for the Best

Just be sure to understand what that means to your business.

  • Educate yourself on exactly what Microsoft will and won’t do to once Mainstream Support ends
  • Pay attention to how many customizations you’re making to keep up with industry demands
  • Your partner will still be there to help you with Dynamics AX
  • Yes, you can still add user licenses to both Dynamics AX 2009 and Dynamics AX 2012

You can count on our experience.

Ascent Innovations can help your organization by supporting your current process, help you understand your options and when the time is right, will help you Upgrade.

For more information on Microsoft Support and Product Lifecycles, please see this FAQ page:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17140/lifecycle-faq-general-policy-questions

 

Ascent Innovations 2020-10-01

Every organization has custom data that is specific to their operations/process.Most organizations see tremendous value in bringing over that data to work with your enterprise software system either interactively for transactions or use for reports/dashboards.Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations has provided a Data Management Framework (DMF), that allows for the D365 system to be that one fully-integrated & all-encompassing system.We will walk through Data Management Framework of Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations.

Ascent Innovations 2020-09-16
Replaceable Attributes in D365 Operations We will take a scenario and help walk through the process of when and how to use Replaceable Attribute feature in Dynamics 365. Standard business scenario We were working for an extension modelling in Dynamics 365 for Operations in standard Bank module.
Ascent Innovations 2020-09-02

Consignment inventory is an element of supply chain management in which the vendor inventory is held at the customer warehouse.

The customer doesn’t pay for the goods until the goods are consumed, and in most cases, pays only the amount consumed.When receiving the inventory, the physical receipts and on-hand inventory transactions are posted in the system, without any general ledger postings.At the time of actual consumption, the ownership changes and the financial (GL) transactions are posted.The vendor can monitor the consumption of inventory at the customer site (usually through a Vendor Portal or system integration or EDI).This concept has a lot of advantages for both customer and vendor and continues to gain popularity in recent years.Beneficial for long-term business between supplier and the consumer.Reduced transportation and inventory costs.Higher quality assurance as goods typically come from a focused production run and manufactured dateLess risk in the form of purchasing and management approvals.Better cash flow for the consumer.Fewer variables in production planning.Reduced turnaround time leading to better end-customer experience.Supplier retains full ownership and visibility.More predictable demand forecasting and replenishment planning.Supplier gets to push any new products through its supply chain while still testing the demand.

For non-durables, there are additional factors to be considered.How To Make Consignment Inventory Work For EveryoneCultivate mutually beneficial relationshipsSuppliers and consumers can reap the biggest rewards from Consignment Inventory by developing an honest partnership, working together to improve their processes, sharing inventory details and strengthen their supply chain management.Both parties can benefit immensely by using a good inventory management software that automates the processing of consignment orders based on current inventory levels and keeps all parties informed.

The detailed/thorough contract helps transparency in your business partnership and helps mitigate possible disputes in future.Use an Inventory Management Software with Consignment Inventory featureAn optimal solution would be to invest in an inventory management software that is designed to handle consignment inventory.The software should track the goods shipped & ordered, utilization and replenishment levels, and additional information regarding the inventory in both physical and financial terms.The information should be transparent, and the information flow automated.

Being a 100-year company with strong trusted relationships with its business partners, made the execution go smooth.Scenario B:In the steel and metal fabrication industry the trucking costs and material handling costs directly have an impact the company’s tight profit margin.To be globally competitive, this concept is taking root.

EDI-enablement makes the workflow highly automated, information flow instantaneous and decision process based on real-time data.When executing this concept, this metal processing company took a step by step approach.

Ascent Innovations 2019-06-25
img

You can now deploy Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations in the cloud or on-premises.

Cloud deployments offer a software system that is fully managed by Microsoft, while on-premises deployments as name suggests, are deployed locally within a customer’s data center.Important: On-premises deployments of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations are NOT supported on any public cloud infrastructure, including Azure.The following table provides a comparison of the capabilities provided by the two deployment options.Why cloudCloud deployments provide a cloud service that is easy to scale up or down as needed, as well as data centers that are fully managed by Microsoft.

A cloud deployment also provides data aggregation, financial reporting, and intelligence.The cloud service provides customers with the greatest value, the broadest range of functionality, the best application lifecycle experience, the easiest and broadest integration with Microsoft Azure services, the best option for business insights and intelligence, and the most value for customers’ technology investments.Why on-premisesWith an on-premises deployment, existing data center investments can be leveraged.

Customers can also configure their enterprise preferences to meet their needs.The regulatory and compliance requirements of their business,Comply with data sovereignty rules in regions where there are no Azure Data Centers, orEnsure business continuity in areas with limited public infrastructure.A customer’s business data and processes are disconnected from the cloud and are stored and run locally in the customer’s or their partner’s data center.

Unlike the cloud deployment option, Advanced Analytics and Azure Machine Learning services are not included in the on-premises deployment option.

If these features are critical to your on-premises deployment, please let Microsoft know to help in prioritizing on the Dynamics 365 Application Ideas site.FeatureDescriptionTask recorderTask recorder libraries in Lifecycle Services (LCS) are not supported.

Ascent Innovations 2019-06-25
img

Create parallel approval workflows with Microsoft Flow

In today’s, matrix management structure of the global workforce especially in newer industries, there is a need to inform and get approval of your absence (eg.

vacation) so that your project managers are part of your scheduling decisions.

Find, and then select the Office 365 Users – Get manager (V2) action.

Note: The Title and Assigned To fields are required.

 

Learn More

Ascent Innovations 2019-04-02
img

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations will have a major version 10.0 released during the next two (2) weeks.

Based on the D365 F procedures rolled out during 2018 Q3, the D365 on-cloud customers are to be on the latest three versions, and that would be versions 10.0, 8.1.3 and 8.1.2.

Customers on the prior versions like 8.0 & 7.3 will need to update to one of the supported versions.

Microsoft has streamlined the release management to two major releases per year, in April and October of each year.

This has made the update needs predictable and the customers are able to plan better.

Please find the release notes of version 10.0 (April 2019) for Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations.

 

Some timesaving features include

Continual enhancements to Common Data Model


Microsoft’s Open Data Initiative is consistently expanding and enhancing. The Common Data Model(CDS) enables multiple (& growing list of) applications interact with Dynamics 365, extending your business process, expanding your dataflow and workflow across applications, and your reports and dashboards spanning to data sources with no boundaries, literally (networks, applications, technologies, platforms, …)

Preview of planned features & updates for Common Data Model and Data Integration.

If you are new to Common Data Model, this 5-minute read will give you a good overview.

Case study on how Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service helps service technicians see the data from the buildings and enables a proactive organization.