This article offers practical tips and tricks for increased efficiently in using Microsoft Dynamics GP Manufacturing.
Originally published in H2 2018 GPUG Magazine
How do you plan your manufacturing? How do you build your product? Why do you check that box? What does phantom mean? Should I build to order or stock? What is a route? Do I have enough inventory?
These questions and more are the same ones we asked ourselves more than five years ago when we switched to Microsoft Dynamics GP. We looked to many different platforms before finding that Microsoft Dynamics GP had all the basic functionality plus custom options for us to utilize as we continued to grow. Today, we make to order more than 10,000 different SKUs and ship all over the world using Microsoft Dynamics GP Manufacturing.
Whether you’re looking to Dynamics GP as a new solution for running manufacturing, or your company has been utilizing (or underutilizing) it for years, there’s always something to dig deeper into for more efficiencies or changes in a process. From a basic setup, it’s important to understand how much detail and automation are required for your day-to-day operations.
As a GPUG community leader, and now trainer, I love being able to help fellow Users improve their experience within the solution. Here are a few of my favorite tips and tricks on how to work your way through item setup, BOM creation, routes, and more!
- When creating a new item, use the copy feature! It will default in many options (including those required for manufacturing) from another item; huge timesaver!
- Understand the manufacturing setup options for your items. How much automation, accountability, and data entry do you want or need? Fulfillment methods drive this! Choose Make to Order – Manual for no automation (but driving from sales demand–not to stock), choose Make to Order – Silent for automation (let the system create your MOs for you), or Make to Stock.
- Windows must match! If you choose “make” in Item Resource Planning, your BOM should be treated the same in Item Engineering Data. Dynamics GP isn’t happy if you set one window to make and the other to buy.
- Use the copy feature anywhere you can! Just like inventory, you can use BOM copy and route duplicate in manufacturing. Perhaps like us, you make an item that is available in multiple colors. The process is the same to make the item, and 99 percent of your materials is the same. Why type ALL that out? Use the duplicate feature!
- Like selecting your fulfillment method, you have an option between phantom and regular BOMs. The best explanation I can share is this: If you want to report your inventory in levels (especially sub-assemblies), use REGULAR. If you want to reduce the number of MOs needed and run through inventory quickly, use PHANTOM. Recently we switched from using phantoms as we want to be able to cycle count our sub-assemblies, consume our raw materials quicker for better inventory tracking, and give credit to our employees for producing hundreds of components each day.
- Keep your routes as simple as possible. Utilize work centers and operation codes! We generalized our route names to be the type of product; since Dynamics GP routes are color-blind, it doesn’t need a different route for blue versus red. Also, by creating generalized op codes, we can easily make updates to our labor times and roll changes quickly!
- Know from where your inventory is coming and going. In the BOM, the “Issue From” is where the material in that level is being used from. The “Issue To” is the work center (not necessarily an inventory site) where the work will be done to that material.
- Let the sales/customer service team release manufacturing. By setting up items to “Make to Order – Silent”, when a sales order is created, it can automatically generate a manufacturing order, AND it will link to that sales order. Through the entire process you have a one-to-one relationship for this item. Best of all, when the MO is received as complete, it will push the item from backorder to invoice on the sales order! You’re ready to ship and invoice!
- Where’s my inventory now that I built it? Dynamics GP has TONS of reports and many options for you to build your own reports using SmartList, SSRS, and other reporting tools. But, if you need a quick snapshot of your inventory, I recommend simply running a Stock Status Report. Go To: Inventory > Reports > Activity > Stock Status. Select an option and print! We typically sort by site and then enter a range. This is also great for checking that you aren’t negative on hand or in allocations.
- Manufacturing isn’t hard, I promise! It can be as simple or complex as your company requires. Building product can be automated (using silent MO generation), driven by MRP (best for replenishment inventory,) or simple entries like Quick MOs. Whatever size your company, whatever your widget, Dynamics GP Manufacturing is here to stay and can do it all!
With all this flexibility and more, you’re sure to achieve huge success. Our community of Users, Partners and ISVs is here to support you along the way. Always be looking for a way to improve your efficiencies, save time with data entry, and have increased accuracy. We continue to be a growing company, producing tens of thousands of items each year. Just like you, we started at square one, wondering, “where do we start?”
We contemplated over phantoms versus regular BOMs, we set up various inventory sites and coordinating work centers, we continuously update our routing times and steps as we improve processes, and we even add or take away automation with our MOs. Why do we do this? Because we can. Dynamics GP Manufacturing can handle everything we throw at it, and our Partner is there to back us up and help guide our choices and implement them. Our success is only getting more prevalent in the versions to come.
Are you on board?