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Migrating from Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central

Migrating from Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central: Your Gateway to a Smarter ERP Future Table of Contents Is your business still running on Microsoft Dynamics GP? If yes, it might be time to ask yourself a bigger question: Is your ERP system preparing you for tomorrow—or holding you back today?   In an era where businesses are scaling faster, operating remotely, and relying on real-time data, sticking with a legacy ERP like Dynamics GP can quietly cost you more than you realize. That’s why hundreds of businesses are making the leap to Dynamics 365 Business Central—Microsoft’s modern, cloud-first ERP that’s built for agility, insight, and future growth.   Let’s explore why this migration isn’t just an upgrade—it’s a strategic evolution. Why Migrate to Business Central? 1. Cloud ERP = No More Servers, Downtime, or IT Overhead Dynamics GP runs on on-prem infrastructure. That means maintenance, upgrades, and surprise IT costs.Business Central is fully cloud-based—secure, always up-to-date, and accessible anywhere.   2. AI Built In, Right Out of the Box Business Central comes with Microsoft Copilot, your AI-powered assistant for faster data entry, smarter forecasting, and simplified processes. Think of it as adding an intelligent teammate to your finance, sales, and operations teams.   3. Unified with Microsoft Ecosystem Seamlessly integrates with Excel, Outlook, Teams, Power BI, and more. No more jumping between systems. Workflows become smarter, faster, and more connected.   4. Real-Time Insights for Faster Decision-Making With Business Central, reporting isn’t a monthly nightmare. It’s instant, customizable, and available anytime—giving your leadership team the tools to make better decisions on the fly.   5. Flexible Licensing & Scalable Architecture Pay only for what you use. Business Central grows with you—perfect for small, mid-size, and growing enterprises. When Should You Migrate? When support costs for GP keep rising When remote work and real-time visibility are no longer optional When reporting is manual and time-consuming When adding new integrations feels like duct-taping your tech stack When you’re ready to scale—but your ERP isn’t   If you checked even one of these, it’s time to explore the move. What Makes Business Central the Right Fit? Responsive Table Feature Dynamics GP Business Central Deployment On-premises Cloud-first (also hybrid) Updates Manual/Periodic Automatic, bi-annual Integration Limited Seamless with Microsoft 365 AI Capabilities Not available Built-in (Copilot, Insights, etc.) Mobile Accessibility Minimal Full mobility Licensing Model Perpetual Subscription-based How Ascent Innovations Ensures a Smooth Migration Migrating an ERP is a big step—but it doesn’t have to be complicated. At Ascent Innovations, we specialize in Dynamics GP to Business Central migrations with a proven, step-by-step process:   1. Discovery & Roadmap We evaluate your existing GP environment, understand your processes, and design a migration plan aligned with your goals.   2. Data Migration Securely move all critical data—customers, vendors, transactions, GLs—with 100% integrity.   3. System Configuration We tailor Business Central to match your operations and set up necessary workflows, reports, and extensions.   4. Training & Go-Live Our experts train your team and offer post-launch support to ensure a seamless transition. Why Partner with Ascent Innovations? Over a decade of Microsoft ERP experience Dedicated experts in GP and Business Central Tailored solutions for manufacturing, distribution, services, and more Personalized support from assessment to go-live   We don’t just migrate your ERP. We modernize your business. Final Thought: Upgrade Your ERP, Unlock Your Future If you’re still running Dynamics GP, the question isn’t if you should move—it’s when. And every day you delay, you lose a little more agility, visibility, and efficiency.   Let’s talk today. Your future ERP is waiting.   Schedule a Free Migration Assessment About the Author John Bruhnke is Managing Director at Ascent. He has 25 years of management consulting experience focused on system implementation and, for the last 7 years, modern analytics in the manufacturing industry. He collaborates with executive and management teams to drive alignment on strategic goals and develop a collective vision for modernization that balances both immediate business needs and long-term strategy. . John Bruhnke Managing Director Icon-linkedin Latest Posts You might also like:

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Migrating from Dynamics GP to Business Central

Migrating from Dynamics GP to Business Central: Is Your Business Ready for the Leap? Table of Contents Still running on Microsoft Dynamics GP? You’re not alone—but you might be holding your business back.   As technology evolves, staying competitive means more than just “keeping up.” It means transforming—and migrating to Dynamics 365 Business Central is your first step in that direction. This isn’t just an upgrade. It’s a shift from maintenance mode to momentum mode. Why Move from Dynamics GP to Business Central? Here’s the truth: Dynamics GP has been a reliable workhorse for decades. But today’s business landscape is driven by agility, automation, and real-time insights—capabilities GP just wasn’t built for.   Here’s what you get when you switch:   Cloud Power, No Infrastructure Hassles Business Central runs natively in the cloud, offering 24/7 accessibility, automatic updates, and zero server headaches. Say goodbye to expensive hardware and hello to flexibility.   Built-in Intelligence with Microsoft Copilot AI is baked right into Business Central. With Copilot, your teams get smarter recommendations, faster data entry, and even predictive insights—something GP users only dream of.   Seamless Integrations Business Central connects easily with your Microsoft 365 apps, Power BI, Teams, and Power Platform, breaking down silos and supercharging productivity across departments.   Real-Time Financials & Reporting Move beyond batch processes. Get live data, faster closes, and customizable dashboards that make decision-making effortless.   Better Security, Compliance & Scalability Microsoft handles security, backups, and compliance updates—so you can scale without stress. Signs It’s Time to Migrate If any of the following sound familiar, your business is ready for Business Central: Your team is wasting time with manual processes or duplicate entries Upgrades and support for GP are getting costlier Remote access and collaboration are limited Reporting takes longer than decision windows allow You’re relying on too many disconnected systems The Migration Journey: How Ascent Innovations Makes It Seamless At Ascent Innovations, we specialize in Dynamics GP to Business Central migrations—and we know that every business has a unique journey.   Here’s what to expect:   Step 1: Assessment & Roadmap We evaluate your existing GP setup, including customizations, ISVs, and workflows. Then we build a migration plan tailored to your goals.   Step 2: Data Migration We migrate your masters, open transactions, and historical data safely—ensuring accuracy, integrity, and compliance.   Step 3: Setup & Optimization We configure Business Central to match (and improve on) your GP processes. Customizations? Integrations? Covered.   Step 4: Training & Go-Live Your team gets hands-on training. We stay with you through go-live and beyond with hypercare and support. The Cost of Waiting Every month you delay migration, you’re: Losing productivity Missing out on AI-driven insights Increasing the risk of unsupported systems Spending more on outdated infrastructure   Migration doesn’t have to be disruptive—it just needs to be strategic. Ready to Modernize? Let’s Talk At Ascent Innovations, we’ve helped countless GP users embrace the future with Business Central—and we’re ready to help you too.   Let’s move your business from legacy to legendary.Schedule a free migration consultation today!   Still on GP? Your competition isn’t.Don’t let your ERP hold you back—upgrade to Business Central and unlock the speed, scalability, and smarts your business deserves. About the Author John Bruhnke is Managing Director at Ascent. He has 25 years of management consulting experience focused on system implementation and, for the last 7 years, modern analytics in the manufacturing industry. He collaborates with executive and management teams to drive alignment on strategic goals and develop a collective vision for modernization that balances both immediate business needs and long-term strategy. . John Bruhnke Managing Director Icon-linkedin Latest Posts You might also like:

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Beyond Go-Live: Empowering Teams to Unlock D365’s Full Value

Beyond Go-Live: Empowering Teams to Unlock D365’s Full Value Table of Contents Beyond Go-Live: Empowering Teams to Unlock D365’s Full Value You’ve invested in Microsoft Dynamics 365. You’ve gone live. Your teams use it daily.But here’s the real question—are they using it to its full potential? Imagine moving into a beautiful, modern home. It has everything: space, structure, smart technology, great lighting. But from day one, you only know how to use the front door. No one gives you the keys to the garage or the door to the backyard. So every time you take out the trash or want to enjoy your yard, you walk the long way around. Sounds ridiculous, right? Yet this happens in D365 all the time. Teams are doing things the hard way—not because the system lacks features, but because they don’t know what’s possible. The Hidden Cost of Unawareness and Undertraining The real issue isn’t just that features are unused, it’s that people don’t even know they exist.   Awareness means knowing best practices in the first place. Without it, users fall back on what they’ve always done. They create workarounds. They assume, “this is just how it works.” They don’t question inefficiencies because they don’t know there’s a better way.   Training goes further. It’s not just about learning where features live—it’s about changing behaviors and mindsets. Users need to believe they can work differently: faster, smarter, and more confidently. Training gives them tools, but more importantly, it builds the confidence to drive change. Without awareness, people don’t seek solutions. Without training, they can’t apply them. And without both, organizations miss out on the full business impact of D365. Empowered users are bold. Curious. That’s the kind of team D365 was built for. Why It Matters to the Business When users aren’t fully trained, or aware of what’s possible, it shows up in the numbers. Or more accurately, the numbers don’t move. You invested in D365 to modernize the enterprise, drive profitability, and fuel growth. And you’ve laid the right foundation. But if the business hasn’t truly transformed, the next step isn’t more technical consulting, it’s empowering your people to use the system as it was meant to be used.   Without the right training, teams can’t improve cross-functional execution or use analytics to optimize planning. And without trained people, even the best technology can’t deliver ROI. People drive results—not technology, because when users know what’s possible, and how to leverage D365 to increase organizational agility, the EBITDA needle moves. 10 Questions to Ask Yourself About D365 Do our users know how to personalize views and dashboards to match their daily work? Are we using Power Automate to eliminate manual steps or approval bottlenecks? Can team members access role-specific reports without relying on IT or spreadsheets? Is Master Planning/Planning Optimization configured to match real lead times and demand patterns? Are time fences and capacity planning being used to prevent production delays? Are subledger reports being used to drill down into cost and margin performance? Is your team tracking forecast accuracy and budget variance by department? Are we using portals (Power Pages) to reduce repetitive back-and-forth with customers or vendors? Do our power users feel confident supporting their teams with questions or new features? Are we continuously improving how we use D365—or just getting by with what we learned at go-live? You’ve Laid the Foundation—Now Unlock the Full Potential of D365 You’ve made D365 part of your business. The hard work is done. Now it’s time to go further. The tools are in place. The best practices are defined.   Let Ascent help your team unlock what’s next—empowering your people to deliver the full business impact of D365. About the Author John Bruhnke is Managing Director at Ascent. He has 25 years of management consulting experience focused on system implementation and, for the last 7 years, modern analytics in the manufacturing industry. He collaborates with executive and management teams to drive alignment on strategic goals and develop a collective vision for modernization that balances both immediate business needs and long-term strategy. . John Bruhnke Managing Director Icon-linkedin Latest Posts You might also like:

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7 Steps to Unlocking Millions in Gross Profit

7 Steps to Unlocking Millions in Gross Profit Table of Contents The 2025 Action Plan: Eliminate Recurring Problems Companies lose gross margin when inefficiencies in planning, execution, and cross-functional workflows create blind spots that result in problems that no one understands how they start or how to eliminate them. Companies that identify and resolve the root causes of recurring operational challenges see significant gross margin improvement. For companies generating $100 million in gross profit, even a 1% improvement can unlock $1 million in additional profit. If you had better planning and execution, how far do you think could you move the gross margin needle? What’s Your Gross Margin Opportunity? The potential impact is real and measurable—the only questions are how much gross profit you are leaving on the table and how much of it can be captured and at what cost. At Ascent Innovations, we help companies initiate low-cost, high-value Agile ROI strategies—delivering measurable improvements within a month. This rapid business impact model helps build executive support for additional efforts. 7 Steps to Unlocking Millions in Gross Margin Step 1: Identify the Problems Costing You Money What Are the Indicators of Opportunity? What kind of problems are we talking about? It varies for every client—but to get your wheels turning, here are some common issues I’ve been helping organizations resolve: High Working Capital – Often a sign of inefficiencies in forecasting, demand planning, inventory management, receivables, or procurement. Margin Compression Despite Strong Sales – May indicate poor pricing governance, uncontrolled discounting, or breakdowns in cost pass-through processes. Frequent Budget Variances and Forecast Misses – Suggest weaknesses in forecast accuracy and cost management, leading to misaligned operational planning. Long Order-to-Delivery Lead Times – A signal of potential workflow misalignment or blind spots between sales, production, and fulfillment. Rising Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) – Points to opportunities in labor, material, and supplier management to better control variable costs. High Labor Costs and Excessive Overtime – Typically reflect upstream planning gaps, such as raw material availability or poor scheduling, limiting production efficiency and capacity. Each of these challenges represents a high-impact opportunity. With focused discovery, we can uncover the root causes behind recurring issues. And here’s the key insight: a single root cause often manifests in different ways across multiple departments. When we address the source, we not only eliminate recurring problems—we unlock broad, measurable performance gains across the organization. Step 2: Quantify the Opportunity Cost of Your Problems How much are recurring problems costing you? Many organizations underestimate the financial impact of daily firefighting—leaving significant value on the table. Through a few focused discovery sessions, we help quantify that opportunity by identifying the business impact of fixing root causes that often manifest as repeated challenges across departments.   Start with strategic goals – Align leadership around core priorities to ensure the focus stays on what drives the most value. Engage at the executive level – Review what’s working, what’s not, and where improvements are most needed. Discuss how these challenges are affecting performance today—and what the organization could achieve if they were resolved. Explore at the departmental level – Assess both functional and cross-functional workflows to identify execution and reporting gaps that hinder strategic goals. Capture how these issues impact daily operations and decision-making. Develop a comprehensive issue list – Document pain points across the organization to uncover root causes and prioritize high-impact opportunities. Identify quick wins with high value – Identify low-cost, high-impact improvements that can be implemented in 3–5 weeks to deliver immediate business results and build momentum.   By structuring discovery this way, we create a clear connection between strategic objectives and operational improvements—with a focus on quick wins that deliver measurable results. These early successes not only improve performance but also build executive and board-level support for further modernization and long-term transformation. Step 3: Fix the Process Gaps Are Cross-functional Hand-offs a Challenge? Businesses are structured vertically—in departments—but value is delivered horizontally, across functions. Customers don’t care about departmental boundaries; they’re impacted by how well the organization executes end-to-end. Functional silos persist within companies when systems and workflows are fragmented, making it difficult to coordinate planning and execution across the value chain. It’s like a relay race—no matter how fast each runner is, if the baton is dropped between exchanges, the race is lost. What type of problems are rooted in a siloed organization? Here are a few common symptoms of cross-functional challenges: Demand & Order Management: Misalignment Creates Delays Inaccurate demand forecasting leads to stockouts or excess inventory, tying up working capital. Manual order processing increases errors, rework, and fulfillment delays. Approval bottlenecks slow down order confirmations, delaying production start times. Impact: Orders take longer to process, increasing lead times, frustrating customers, and reducing sales velocity. Production & Inventory: Inefficiencies Drive Higher Costs Siloed production planning leads to last-minute scheduling changes, increasing labor overtime and machine downtime. Disconnected inventory management causes materials shortages, stalling production and missing customer deadlines. Rigid capacity planning prevents flexibility, making it harder to respond to demand fluctuations. Impact: Production bottlenecks increase operating costs, reduce order fill rates, and weaken gross margin. Logistics & Fulfillment: Shipping Disruptions and Customer Dissatisfaction Poor warehouse coordination leads to delays in picking, packing, and staging shipments. Lack of real-time tracking prevents proactive issue resolution, increasing OTIF failures. Inefficient routing and carrier selection result in higher freight costs and slower deliveries. Impact: Late shipments increase customer penalties, lost contracts, and damaged brand reputation.   Inefficiencies in the order-to-delivery process erode profitability, strain cash flow, and damage customer satisfaction. Ascent helps our clients understand what can be fixed in the current environment and what would be best addressed in a future ERP upgrade.   Step 4: Make Smart, Targeted System Enhancements Leverage your existing ERP for quick, high-impact wins. Rather than waiting a year or longer for the payoff of an ERP upgrade, companies can drive immediate ROI by optimizing what they already have: Fix broken or incomplete ERP processes that complicate daily execution. Improve integration between … Read more

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Consignment Inventory or Vendor-owned Inventory

Consignment Inventory Table of Contents Consignment Inventory or Vendor-owned Inventory 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 date Less 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. At the same time, the consumer (retailer) will be able to launch new product lines with minimal risk. As with anything, consignment does have some downsides. From the customers, there are risks associated with damaged inventory and stock counting errors. The disadvantages to suppliers are cash flow uncertainty and cost of unsold inventory. For non-durables, there are additional factors to be considered. How To Make Consignment Inventory Work For Everyone Cultivate mutually beneficial relationships Suppliers 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 Use an Inventory Management Software with Consignment Inventory feature An 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. The brief overviews below are real world application of this concept, and we will keep this discussion at a conceptual level to maintain client confidentiality. Scenario A: Due to the freight costs associated with moving large industrial equipment parts and the tremendous benefits of co-marketing, we helped one of our clients through this process of Consignment Inventory for a select few of their suppliers/vendors, also referred as Partners (as they truly are).   This process helped maintain a smooth production flow, meet the end-customer demand effectively and reduced freight costs. 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. Few companies have implemented inventory management software systems to build that ecosystem with their business partners both on the supply side as well as on the demand side. 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. Certain products were ear-marked on specific production lines and those specific raw materials (goods) could be stored by the vendors in the warehouse. Vendors were informed in advance on the warehouse capacity. Suppliers have configured their inventory systems accordingly to make their plans, safety stock levels for the smooth production runs. Company and the suppliers were excited to partake in helping execute such a process and take the trust to a new level.   Vendors were notified of the consumption which initiated two activities at the vendor’s side. The first is to issue an invoice for the material consumed and the second is to replace the consumed stock when the levels go below threshold. Additionally, suppliers got an insight on consumption in order to do their own Production and Material Planning.   A consignment replenishment order is a document that is used to request and keep track of inventory quantities of products that a vendor intends to deliver within a certain date interval by creating ordered inventory transactions.   Typically, this will be based on the forecast and actual demand of the specific products. The inventory that’s going to be received against the consignment replenishment order remains in the ownership of the vendor.   This topic includes information about how to physically receive vendor-owned inventory on-hand without creating general ledger transactions, how to start a production process where the vendor-owned inventory can be physically reserved. and how to change the ownership of the raw material in order to be able to process the consumption as part of the production order processing. There’s also some information about how vendors can monitor consumption of their inventory using the vendor collaboration interface. The Dynamics 365 Supply Chain: It is always delighting to the company when a major ERP solution like Microsoft Dynamics has got it right and most of the requirements were part of the standard feature set.   The consignment (replenishment) order effectively manages vendor owned inventory by marking the ownership of the received inventory to the vendor. Such receipts of inventory are updated only in the inventory register without any financial (GL) effect. The best part of consignment inventory is that the on-hand quantities are available for reservation and other planning processes. Of course, before consumption of vendor-owned inventories, the ownership should be changed to … Read more

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Net customer and vendor balances

Net customer and vendor balances Table of Contents Net customer and vendor balances Customer and vendor balance netting is when the balances for a vendor and a customer are netted against each other, because the vendor and customer are the same party. This approach minimizes the exchange of money between an organization and the customer or vendor party. It can also help a company avoid making unnecessary payments or receipts, and save on transaction fees, by consolidating the company’s customer and vendor balances. Learn about Microsoft D365 Netting. https://youtu.be/JZ73m5VoANQ Author: Sohena Hafiz President Icon-linkedin Latest Posts You might also like:

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Power Platform: The Toolbox That Maximizes Your D365 Investment

Power Platform: The Toolbox That Maximizes Your D365 Investment Table of Contents Power Platform: The Toolbox That Maximizes Your D365 Investment Microsoft Power Platform isn’t just an add-on to Dynamics 365—it’s the toolbox that enables your business teams to continuously expand the return on investment of D365. While D365 provides the structure, automation, and data integrity needed for enterprise operations, Power Platform equips your people with the ability to extend, refine, and optimize processes over time.    By leveraging Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power Pages, organizations can move beyond standard ERP functionality and unlock new ways to drive efficiency, improve decision-making, and enhance customer and supplier engagement.    But the challenge isn’t just having the right tools—it’s knowing where to apply them to drive the most business impact.  The Transformation Journey Has Just Begun Going live on D365 was a major milestone, but it’s not the finish line—it’s the starting point for continuous improvement and innovation. The best-run organizations don’t just operate their ERP as-is; they use it as a foundation for continued business transformation.    At Ascent Innovations, we help organizations identify the most valuable opportunities for process improvement, automation, and analytics—ensuring that Power Platform is used strategically to maximize business impact.  Our approach ensures that: Every investment in Power Platform delivers measurable business value  Your business teams are equipped with the tools and knowledge to optimize execution  The transformation journey remains active, uncovering more opportunities for efficiency and growth  Your D365 ROI is just the beginning—there’s much more opportunity yet to be realized.  Agile ROI: Small, High-Impact Improvements That Drive Continuous Modernization Our Agile ROI methodology focuses on delivering high-value, incremental improvements that create a self-funding cycle for broader transformation.  Phase 1: Identify Opportunities for Improvement Every modernization journey starts by asking the right questions. We work closely with your business teams to uncover areas where manual or non-integrated processes slow things down, customer interactions could be improved, or timely and trust reporting is not available for critical decisions. The goal is to identify high-impact opportunities where Power Platform can deliver immediate value. By linking each opportunity to a tangible business outcome, we ensure that every enhancement has a clear purpose and measurable ROI.    Where can automation replace manual work and accelerate workflows?  What customer or vendor interactions would benefit from a self-service portal?  Which business processes could improve with heightened visibility into performance?  What business impact would these capabilities produce?  Phase 2: Implement Targeted Power Platform Enhancements to Deliver Immediate ROI Once opportunities are identified, we deploy focused Power Platform solutions that deliver results fast. Whether it’s a Power BI dashboard that transforms visibility, a Power App that simplifies approvals, or Power Automate flows that eliminate repetitive tasks—each enhancement is designed to solve a specific pain point. The result is faster workflows, better insights, and real business value in weeks—not months.    Power BI creates real-time dashboards and analytics to enhance process monitoring and management.  Power Automate eliminates manual workflows, ensuring seamless data flow across teams.  Power Apps empowers teams to build custom applications that accelerate execution and streamline approvals.  Power Pages & Portals improve external collaboration, enabling secure self-service access for customers and suppliers.  Phase 3: Train and Develop Your People While Measuring Business Impact Technology alone doesn’t transform a business—people do. That’s why we embed training and hands-on learning into every phase of the journey. As teams engage directly with Power Platform tools, they build confidence and capability, gaining a deeper understanding of how to optimize their processes. This not only supports adoption but also lays the foundation for a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.    Power Platform not only enhances processes—it develops your team’s ability to work and collaborate in new ways.  Employees gain hands-on experience in how modern applications and automation improve workflows, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.  By actively participating in Power Platform enhancements, teams build an informed perspective on how to drive further innovation, preparing them for future transformation initiatives.  Phase 4: Build the Case for Ongoing Digital Modernization With real results in hand—faster processes, fewer errors, better decisions—you now have the proof needed to expand the transformation. We help you measure and communicate the business impact in terms that resonate with leadership and stakeholders. The cycle repeats—with every phase delivering value and unlocking new potential for growth.    Increased operational efficiency, reduced errors, and faster decision-making.  Higher employee productivity and reduced IT burden.  Real-world proof points that captivate executive and equity owner support for further investment—demonstrating that small, strategic improvements lead to larger transformation success.  Unlock the Full Potential of Your D365 System With Power Platform, you can take your D365 environment to the next level, ensuring your investment keeps delivering measurable business impact. At Ascent Innovations, we specialize in helping organizations extend the value of D365 with Power Platform, enabling business-driven improvements that generate immediate ROI while laying the foundation for long-term success.    Want to accelerate the business impact of your D365 investment? Let’s talk about how Power Platform can take your operations from efficient to exceptional.  About the Author John Bruhnke is Managing Director at Ascent. He has 25 years of management consulting experience focused on system implementation and, for the last 7 years, modern analytics in the manufacturing industry. He collaborates with executive and management teams to drive alignment on strategic goals and develop a collective vision for modernization that balances both immediate business needs and long-term strategy.    Author: John Bruhnke Managing Director Icon-linkedin Latest Posts You might also like:

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What is ABC Analysis?

What is ABC Analysis? Table of Contents What is ABC Analysis? ABC analysis is the process of classifying the inventory into A, B and C classes based on their relative significance to business, either by their monetary value, utilization, carrying cost or any other factor. This allows leaders to allocate the company’s resources to maximize the efficiency. https://www.ascent365.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/bf463f6f-eb9f-4259-bf9e-f80048d3_3400.mp4 Class A: Very important for an organization. High value, so tighter control, accurate records and frequent valuation required. Small (5-15) % of items account for Large (65-80) % of the value (consumption, costs, activity, etc. 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. Every business can do it differently, and in fact with sophisticated ERP systems, can do the classification on multiple factors and report/track simultaneously. How is ABC Analysis applied? Inventory planners can forecast the demand and manage the appropriate stock levels, in order to minimize carrying costs and avoid obsolete / low-demand (dead) stock. Companies can prioritize having quality trade agreements with suppliers on Class A items, at the best possible combined costs (item costs, shipping costs, services, quality, RMA, etc.). Optimize inventory by stocking up on popular/high-demand items and reducing stock of slow-moving items. Reducing the risk of running out of stock or plant slowdowns. Effective utilization of working capital. ABC classification can be applied to better understand the impact of price updates on margins. Continuous process improvements using periodic tracking and refinement of classification is important. The leadership can then prioritize resources for optimizing Class A items compared to doing the same for Classes B or C. For example, cycle counting. Enable informed stock replenishment decisions on changing the safety levels, etc. Introduction to Inventory Control Every business has a need to optimize their inventory and supply chain, and many times than not, it is a constant challenge. A proper inventory control helps organizations to manage the business uncertainties and fluctuations. Furthermore, as the cost of inventory is a sizable portion of working capital, organizations employ various inventory controlling techniques for effective utilization of available resources with minimal risk to business. In the advent of modern inventory control techniques, organizations can control the inventory better. Applying such control techniques require vigor and most often being smart with classification of items, especially when dealing with hundreds to sometimes few thousands* of items. The inventory control techniques are applied selectively/discriminately to items. The inventory is classified based on its importance and specific inventory control is applied to each class, thus, optimizing the effort to manage large number of items.   If you have few thousands of items, there is usually a better option to use item variants or dimensions, to optimize your item list.   The most common and very widely used classification is the ABC classification, to classify items based on its relative importance to business, i.e. based on monitory value, availability of resources and carrying cost. The Law of Vital Few ABC classification uses the Pareto’s principle, popularly known as ‘the 80–20 rule’, also referred as ‘the law of vital few’. The law states that for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of causes. 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. It can be noted that 10% of items contribute to 70% of inventory investment, which is termed as the ‘significant few’ or otherwise called the A-class items. The next 20% of items that contribute the 20% of investment are termed as B-class items. The rest 70% of items, the major portion of items, contribute just 10% of inventory investment, which can be termed as the ‘insignificant many’ or C-class items. Thus, the classification provides the opportunity to apply different rigor but appropriate control techniques to respective class of items. While the A-class items deserve tightest control and most frequent review, B-class items can be put into medium level of control. 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 Analysis The 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 The classification of items into A, B& C yields many tangible and intangible benefits to the practicing organization. A smarter management of working capital to manage optimal on-hand inventory and safety stocks, based on the consumption pattern and lead-times. Item replenishment policies can be derived from ABC analysis. Better Planning and forecasting: The ABC analysis help the planners to be more precise and effective in their demand and consumption forecasts. Wiser negotiations with vendors: With the insight of the vital few and insignificant many, negotiations with vendors become more wiser for price, lead time and delivery. Strategic pricing: Product pricing gets a shot in the arm as the analysis identifies the ‘vital few’ for profits and sales revenue. Marketing strategy and selling techniques could be revised based on the item classification to maximize revenue and profits. Optimized physical verification: Physical verification of stocks based on ABC classification helps organizations to effectively utilize organizational resources. 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. Frequency of the movement of an item is omitted in ABC classification, which is covered under FSN (Fast, Slow, Non-moving) analysis. How to use ABC classification? ABC analysis is usually running on 4 different parameters/factors of … Read more

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Procurement Goals: We Don’t Need Any Toner

Procurement Goals: We Don’t Need Any Toner Table of Contents Procurement Goals: We Don’t Need Any Toner 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. Leave. Now.” or “I don’t want your ____”. I leave you to fill in the blank. While always said with a smile on his face, we all knew he was trying to stay on top of numerous rush purchase order orders, pushy sales reps, expedite requests and receiving issues. These situations aren’t new to procurement and purchasing teams. Fortunately, there are numerous modules and features in Microsoft Dynamics 365 which can help handle all the ______. Request for Quotation Good, Fast or Cheap. While typically used in project management, the principles of the Iron Triangle are certainly applicable to procurement. Nowhere is this more apparent than during the Request for Quotation process. 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 winning RFQ is then converted into a purchase order so the team has full visibility of the purchasing lifecycle. Purchasing Agreements Purchasing agreements are contracts between the customer and vendor which set special pricing and discounts for meeting certain quantities or dollar values. Once an agreement has been established in D365, the contract can be selected upon purchase order creation. The requirements and details are automatically populated into the order. Manual calculations, convoluted Excel formulas and time consuming phone calls and emails can be eliminated as all the necessary data resides in the system. Master Planning MRP is nothing new. However, a surprising number of companies fail to use it to its full potential, if at all. D365 Master Planning uses data from all areas of the company to generate planned purchase and production orders to reduce missed delivery targets, accommodate production schedules and flag any problem orders. Coupled with Demand Forecasting, procurement can place orders on in-house demand as well as forecasted demand from historical orders. By utilizing Buyer Groups, team members can filter planned orders by department, team or individual. Master Planning can also be configured to search for purchase agreements to make price and quantity adjustments. Purchasing Workflows Obsolete parts, incorrect purchase quantities and exceeded credit limits can be easy mistakes to make when placing orders. This is especially true when a coworker is covering for someone on vacation or sick-leave. One of the ways D365 can mitigate these issues is through workflows. Robust and customizable, workflows allow organizations to require approvals on purchase requisitions and orders to account for spending limits, missing information, vendor approval, etc. Quality Orders Nothing makes a customer service or production manager’s heart stop like a quality assurance issue. Thousands of questions begin whirling around and there’s usually precious little time to get them answered. D365 Quality Management allows mistakes and defective material to be caught before it gets to the production line or – worse yet – in the customer’s hands. Organizations can develop custom tests based on qualitative and quantitative measurements to track the material, batch & serial number, employee and vendor associated with each test. Additionally, material can be automatically directed to the quality department upon receipt to ensure nothing “slips through the cracks”. All of these are extensive topics which need to be covered in more detail. That being said, if procurement is facing any of these challenges, then perhaps the functionality of Microsoft Dynamics 365 is worth looking into. When paired with an experienced partner like Ascent Innovations, D365 can reduce the stress and make your procurement team a more efficient department within your organization. Now, if you don’t mind, Please. Leave. Now. Author: Matthew Newcomb Solution Consultant Icon-linkedin Latest Posts You might also like:

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D365 Supply Chain Management: Because Guesswork is Not a Strategy

D365 Supply Chain Management: Because Guesswork is Not a Strategy Table of Contents D365 Supply Chain Management: Because Guesswork is Not a Strategy Supply chain management is a delicate balancing act. Too much inventory? You’re stuck with pallets of unsold product gathering dust. Not enough? Customers are left empty-handed, and suddenly you’re in crisis mode, scrambling to make up for lost sales. If you’ve ever had to explain to an executive why a crucial shipment is still “in transit” (translation: no one knows where it is), you know that supply chain visibility is everything.   That’s where Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management (D365 SCM) comes in. It replaces the spreadsheets, outdated reports, and “fingers-crossed” planning with real-time data, predictive analytics, and automated processes—all designed to keep your supply chain running like a well-oiled machine. Goodbye spreadsheets, hello real-time visibility Let’s be honest: Excel is great, but it was never meant to be a real-time supply chain management tool. Trying to track inventory, supplier performance, and logistics in a collection of shared spreadsheets is like trying to navigate a highway using hand-drawn maps. It works… until it doesn’t.   D365 SCM pulls live data from across your supply chain—inventory, warehouse management, production schedules, supplier lead times, and customer demand—all into a single system. No more waiting for weekly reports or manually refreshing data. Instead, you get instant visibility into what’s happening right now. What that means for you No more “Where is it?” moments – Track shipments, inventory levels, and supplier updates in real time. Fewer stockouts and excess inventory – Forecast demand accurately and adjust purchasing before problems arise. Automated replenishment – Let the system handle reorders based on demand patterns, rather than last-minute panic buys. Predictive analytics: seeing the future (sort of) Reactive supply chain management is a nightmare. Something goes wrong, and suddenly everyone is in fire-drill mode. The magic of predictive analytics in D365 SCM is that it helps you spot risks before they become problems.   Using AI and machine learning, D365 analyzes historical data, market trends, and supplier performance to forecast demand, detect potential disruptions, and recommend adjustments—before you’re knee-deep in an inventory crisis. Is it a crystal ball? No. But does it keep you on top of market trends? Absolutely. Supplier delays? Get alerts and alternative sourcing recommendations before it’s too late. Sudden demand spike? Adjust production schedules and distribution in real time. Warehouse bottlenecks? Identify inefficiencies and optimize layout and workflows. Automation: because you have better things to do A lot of supply chain headaches come from manual processes—rekeying purchase orders, chasing approvals, and updating inventory counts by hand. D365 SCM automates the busywork so you can focus on strategy, not spreadsheets. Some of the best time-saving automations in D365 SCM Automated procurement – The system tracks vendor performance, pricing, and lead times to suggest the best suppliers and auto-generate POs. Intelligent order fulfillment – Orders are routed automatically based on warehouse location, inventory levels, and shipping costs. AI-driven demand planning – The system adjusts stock levels and reorder points based on real-time sales trends and forecasts. A smarter, more resilient supply chain D365 Supply Chain Management isn’t just about keeping things running—it’s about building resilience. Whether it’s handling supply disruptions, optimizing warehouse operations, or making smarter purchasing decisions, it takes the guesswork out of managing your supply chain. So, next time someone asks, “Where’s that shipment?” you won’t have to answer with, “Let me check the latest version of our Excel tracker.” Instead, you’ll have real-time, AI-powered insights at your fingertips—because guesswork is not a strategy. About the Author Matthew Newcomb has been navigating the twists and turns of ERP implementations long enough to know that supply chains run on data, not wishful thinking. As a Microsoft Dynamics AX & 365 Trade & Logistics Functional Senior Consultant, he helps businesses cut through the chaos with real-time insights, automation, and a little common sense. Whether it’s optimizing operations or figuring out why half your inventory is stuck in a warehouse 500 miles away, he ensures companies get the most out of their Microsoft solutions—without the headaches. Matthew Newcomb Microsoft Dynamics 365 consultant Icon-linkedin Latest Posts You might also like: