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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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Planning Optimization in D365: The Nerve Center of Your Supply Chain

Planning Optimization in D365: The Nerve Center of Your Supply Chain Table of Contents Planning Optimization in D365: The Nerve Center of Your Supply Chain As a Chicago native, conversations about the delays at O’Hare airport have long-dominated small-talk topics along with our constant weather changes; construction on the Kennedy; the ’85 Bears; and out-of-state drivers. It’s for a good reason. To paraphrase Klemens von Metternich, “When O’Hare sneezes, the country catches a cold.” O’Hare is a vital airline hub in the United States with flights coming in and out at an astonishing rate. Without proper planning and predictions, it can turn into a mess really fast.   Manufacturing and distribution operations are not entirely dissimilar. With constant shifts in supply and demand, it can be exceptionally difficult to generate the right orders at the right time. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management’s Planning Optimization (formerly Master Planning) module serves as the nerve center of supply chain operations, helping businesses optimize inventory, align production schedules, and ensure timely fulfillment.   Whether managing day-to-day replenishment or long-term strategic planning, Planning Optimization delivers real-time insights and automation to drive efficiency and profitability. Planning Optimization: Your Supply Chain’s Air Traffic Control Using our analogy, think of Planning Optimization in D365 like an air traffic control system at a busy airport. Without it, planes (orders) would take off and land chaotically, leading to: Missed connections → Stockouts and late shipments Crowded runways → Excess inventory and tied-up working capital Major delays → Production bottlenecks and inefficiencies Just as air traffic control ensures planes take off, land, and taxi efficiently, Planning Optimization coordinates supply chain movements, keeping materials, production, and deliveries aligned. Operations scheduling provides a high-level view—like monitoring all flights on a radar. Job scheduling gets into the details, ensuring each plane has a clear path. Time fences act like air traffic rules, controlling when and how flights are scheduled to avoid congestion. With Planning Optimization guiding the supply chain, everything stays in sync—materials arrive on time, production runs smoothly, and customers get what they need, when they need it. Core Planning Methods in D365 At the heart of every efficient airport is a control tower that coordinates the movement of aircraft—balancing the big picture of airspace with the detailed instructions needed for each takeoff and landing. In D365 Planning Optimization, core planning methods function much the same way, managing both the high-level flow of operations and the fine-grained details of execution. Whether you’re looking at operations scheduling to understand the broader capacity landscape or job scheduling to direct specific production tasks, these tools give you the visibility and control needed to keep your supply chain running smoothly and on time. Operations Scheduling vs. Job Scheduling Operations scheduling provides a high-level production estimate without breaking down individual tasks. Useful for long-term capacity planning and understanding overall production flow. Job scheduling is a more detailed scheduling method, where each operation is divided into individual jobs. It considers capacity constraints and shop floor scheduling for short-term execution. Key Planning Time Fences Time fences control how far into the future Planning Optimization calculates requirements. Configuring them correctly is crucial for balancing efficiency and responsiveness. Coverage time fence defines how far ahead demand should be considered for planning. Freeze time fence prevents changes to planned orders within a set period, ensuring stability. Firming time fence automatically converts planned orders into actual purchase or production orders. Forecast plan time fence controls how far into the future forecasted demand influences planning. Capacity time fence ensures production scheduling considers resource constraints and limits. Action message time fence determines the period for generating rescheduling suggestions. Advanced Planning Controls Much like the sophisticated systems used by air traffic control to anticipate weather disruptions, manage flight sequencing, and calculate delays, D365’s advanced planning controls provide the precision needed to optimize your supply chain under real-world conditions. These tools help fine-tune order timing, streamline production flows, and ensure schedules remain realistic—even when disruptions occur. From adjusting for lead times with dynamic buffers to sequencing production orders for efficiency, these advanced settings give planners the ability to respond quickly and intelligently—keeping operations aligned and preventing turbulence across the business. Positive and Negative Days: Optimizing Order Timing Positive days defines how far into the future on-hand inventory can be used to fulfill demand, preventing unnecessary orders. Negative days determines how long the system should wait before creating a new order when supply is delayed. Dynamic positive and negative days adjust automatically based on item lead times, optimizing order timing without manual intervention. Sequencing: Smart Production Order Arrangement Enables planned orders to be arranged based on attributes such as color, size, or packaging. Reduces changeovers, improving production efficiency. Calculated Delays: Ensuring Feasible Production Dates Detects and reports possible order delays, ensuring that production and purchase schedules are based on realistic fulfillment timelines. Requisitions and Demand Planning Planning Optimization can automatically create planned orders for approved requisition demand, ensuring seamless replenishment without manual intervention. Why Planning Optimization Matters Shifting from a reactive supply chain to a proactive, optimized operation is essential for driving efficiency and financial performance. With D365 Planning Optimization, businesses can achieve significant operation improvements: Reduce stockouts and excess inventory, improving working capital efficiency Optimize production schedules by aligning with actual capacity and supplier lead times Enhance supply chain resilience by adjusting dynamically to disruptions and demand shifts Automate aspects of planning processes, reducing manual effort and improving accuracy Greater efficiency creates capacity to drive growth—but it also enables smarter, faster decision-making across the organization. When your planning is intelligent and responsive, your business is positioned to seize opportunities, minimize risk, and consistently deliver for customers. Bringing Blue Skies to Your Supply Chain Just as an air traffic control tower brings order to the complex, fast-moving environment of an airport, Planning Optimization brings clarity and coordination to your supply chain.   With D365 Planning Optimization, your supply chain operates like a well-orchestrated airport, where: Materials, production, and deliveries flow seamlessly Bottlenecks are avoided, and disruptions are … Read more

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AI-Powered Predictive Pricing: A Game Changer

AI-Powered Predictive Pricing: A Game Changer Table of Contents Optimize Pricing for Maximum Growth Pricing has always been a challenge, no matter the industry. Whether selling industrial equipment, retail products, auto parts, or wholesale goods, businesses need accurate, data-driven pricing to remain competitive and profitable.   Traditionally, pricing relied on historical trends, intuition, and competitor benchmarking. However, manual methods lead to inconsistencies, lost revenue, and slow inventory turnover.   Now, AI-powered predictive pricing is transforming how businesses price their products. By analyzing historical sales, quotes, competitor trends, and real-time demand, AI provides dynamic price recommendations that help businesses:   Maximize revenue and profitability Reduce inefficiencies and guesswork Adapt quickly to market changes Why Businesses with Large SKU Inventories Benefit the Most While AI pricing benefits all businesses, those managing large, diverse SKU portfolios see the most impact. Pricing thousands of SKUs manually creates challenges: How to competitively price each SKU while maintaining profitability How to adjust pricing dynamically based on inventory levels and demand How to balance slow-moving vs. high-demand items to optimize cash flow With AI-driven pricing, businesses can: Automate SKU-level pricing based on real-time market data Prevent overstocking or excessive discounting Improve margins by identifying premium pricing opportunities Inventory: A Fluctuating Asset or a Hidden Liability? Inventory is a valuable asset, but mismanagement turns it into a liability. The challenge is knowing when to maximize profits on high-demand SKUs and when to adjust pricing for slow-moving stock. AI-powered predictive pricing acts like a real-time stock market for inventory: High-demand SKUs – AI raises prices to maximize margins before demand drops. Slow-moving SKUs – AI recommends strategic discounts before they become dead stock. Market adjustments – AI continuously scans trends, adjusting pricing to optimize turnover. By leveraging AI-driven pricing, businesses avoid markdown losses, optimize margins, and ensure inventory remains a revenue-generating asset. Industries Where AI-Powered Pricing Delivers the Most Impact Industrial Equipment & MRO Supplies Managing pricing for industrial equipment and MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Operations) supplies is complex due to demand fluctuations, supplier costs, and product lifespan.   AI-driven pricing models help: Optimize pricing based on supplier costs and demand trends Adjust prices for slow-moving stock before obsolescence Maintain competitive pricing for in-demand equipment   Example: A company selling industrial pumps and spare parts can use AI to: Update prices dynamically based on raw material costs Improve margins by pricing high-turnover SKUs effectively Prevent markdown losses on aging stock Wholesale & Distribution Wholesalers manage tens of thousands of SKUs across suppliers and regions, where pricing depends on bulk orders, supplier costs, and demand shifts.   AI pricing eliminates inefficiencies by: Automating bulk pricing adjustments Preventing excessive discounting while maintaining competitiveness Adapting pricing to inventory levels and demand fluctuations   Example: A food distributor managing thousands of SKUs can use AI to: Optimize pricing for perishable goods based on expiration dates Prevent markdown losses by adjusting prices proactively Ensure profitable bulk pricing E-Commerce & Retail In fast-moving consumer markets, price is a major factor in conversions. Retailers and e-commerce businesses need continuous pricing adjustments to stay competitive.   AI helps by: Automating real-time price updates based on competitor pricing Identifying optimal discounting strategies to maximize revenue Predicting seasonal demand spikes to optimize pricing in advance   Example: An online electronics retailer can use AI to: Adjust prices based on inventory and sales velocity Prevent over-discounting during peak sales periods Identify premium pricing opportunities based on customer behavior Automotive & Auto Parts Suppliers The automotive parts industry deals with millions of SKUs, from OEM parts to aftermarket accessories. Inventory turnover varies, making manual pricing inefficient and inconsistent.   AI-driven pricing models help: Optimize pricing for high-demand parts while preventing deep markdowns on slow-moving inventory Predict resale value for aging stock based on historical trends Automate price adjustments for new vehicle model parts   Example: An auto parts distributor can use AI to: Optimize pricing for aging inventory to reduce obsolescence costs Adjust prices dynamically for high-demand replacement parts Predict demand surges for vehicle-specific parts How AI Predicts the Optimal Selling Price AI pricing models follow a structured approach to ensure accuracy and adaptability: Data Collection – Aggregates historical sales, competitor pricing, and industry benchmarks Category & Subcategory Analysis – Refines pricing based on product classification and demand trends Depreciation & Asset Age Modeling – Determines optimal pricing for aging stock Market Trend & Demand Integration – Adjusts prices dynamically based on seasonal demand shifts Continuous Optimization & Learning – Refines pricing based on real-world sales results How Ascent Innovations Helps Businesses Overcome Common Barriers Implementing AI-powered pricing requires clean data, seamless integration, and a strategic approach to ensure accuracy. Ascent Innovations helps businesses overcome common AI pricing challenges by: Building a Clean, Reliable Data Foundation – We help clean, structure, and centralize pricing data to ensure AI models generate accurate recommendations. Optimizing Data Integration – We ensure AI pricing tools seamlessly connect with ERP, CRM, and e-commerce platforms, eliminating data silos. Leveraging Real-Time Market Intelligence – We set up automated data pipelines to keep AI models updated with market trends and competitor insights. Combining AI with Human Expertise – AI models need strategic oversight for complex pricing scenarios and asset valuations. We help businesses balance automation with human input. Conclusion: The Future of Pricing is AI-Driven AI-powered predictive pricing is no longer a competitive advantage—it’s a necessity for companies looking to scale efficiently, maximize profitability, and stay ahead of market shifts.   Are you ready to transform your pricing strategy with AI? About the Author Sohena Hafiz is the Founder and CEO of Ascent Innovations, with 20 years of experience in Microsoft Dynamics and 16 years leading ERP implementations. She has been directly involved in 50+ ERP projects, including 30+ in D365, across industries like industrial equipment, steel fabrication, food manufacturing, banking, recycling, retail, and the public sector.   Her passion is helping businesses succeed with ERP—the right way, the first time. With a deep background in business process optimization and system integration, she knows that strong leadership and … Read more

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AI: Hype vs. Reality

AI: Hype vs. Reality Table of Contents Understanding AI as an Aggregate Term Businesses hear bold claims about AI revolutionizing industries, yet many leaders struggle to separate hype from reality. What can AI actually do? Where does it deliver value, and what misconceptions should be avoided?   The challenge starts with how AI is discussed. It’s often portrayed as a single, all-powerful technology, when in reality, AI is an umbrella term that encompasses multiple specialized fields. To understand AI’s true capabilities, it’s important to break it down into its key categories, each with distinct functions and applications. The Primary Categories of AI Machine Learning (ML) – The Foundation of AI Machine Learning is a subset of AI that enables systems to learn from data and make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed. Before the rise of generative AI, the term AI was often synonymous with machine learning. How It Works: ML models analyze patterns in historical data to predict future outcomes. Where It’s Used: Demand forecasting in supply chains Fraud detection in banking Predictive maintenance in manufacturing Generative AI – Creating, Not Just Predicting Generative AI is a type of machine learning that produces new content rather than analyzing data for predictions. These models generate text, images, audio, and code based on the patterns they’ve learned from vast datasets. How It Works: Instead of recognizing trends, generative models produce new outputs that mimic human-created content. Where It’s Used: AI-generated marketing content Automated code writing Image and video generation Natural Language Processing (NLP) – Making AI Conversational Natural Language Processing (NLP) enables computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language. While NLP powers AI chatbots and virtual assistants, it relies on machine learning and other AI techniques to function. How It Works: NLP algorithms process text or speech to extract meaning, detect sentiment, or generate responses. Where It’s Used: AI-powered customer support Language translation tools Sentiment analysis for brand monitoring Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – Often Mistaken for AI Unlike the other AI subsets, RPA is not artificial intelligence. Instead, it is a form of automation that mimics human actions in software environments, following predefined rules without learning or adapting. How It Works: RPA bots interact with software interfaces to execute repetitive, rule-based tasks. Where It’s Used: Data entry and invoice processing Extracting data from emails and logging into systems Automating HR onboarding tasks Laying the Foundation Before Broad AI Adoption While AI has the potential to drive significant business impact, most organizations need to lay the groundwork before it can be applied at scale. Establishing a strong, scalable technical foundation – Clean, well-structured data and modern analytics platforms must be in place before attempting more advanced AI projects. Building workforce skills – Teams must develop expertise in data literacy, modern analytics, and process automation, which provide immediate value and prepare organizations for more complex AI-driven initiatives. Taking a strategic approach – AI adoption should focus on well-defined, high-impact use cases rather than broad, unfocused initiatives. Crawl, Walk, Run—The Key to Success with AI AI is powerful, but it is not a magic wand. Most organizations need to slow down and focus on the fundamentals—building a strong foundation of integrated processes and data while enabling teams to apply modern analytics that shift the business from reactive to proactive decision-making.   Whether you are just starting your modernization journey or have reached a plateau, Ascent Innovations can help you develop and implement a strategic plan that unlocks immediate value and drives game-changing business impact—building executive confidence and support for continued investment. 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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Top Skills for 2025

Top Skills for 2025 Table of Contents Hiring Managers Are Looking for These Skills—Do You Have Them? After the pandemic, the hiring process has changed substantially. Skills that used to be prioritized in job interviews, such as technical expertise, are no longer the only traits employers seek.   Managers today are focused on identifying foundational skills that enable employees to continuously learn, adapt, and grow. These behavioral skills form the backbone of a successful career, allowing professionals to acquire new competencies and evolve with changing business needs.   The best way to assess yourself from a skills perspective is to consider the things you’re naturally good at and the tasks that energize you. These two components will help you identify strengths that can propel your career forward. Here are the key skills that hiring managers are looking for in today’s workplace. Curiosity Do you naturally ask questions, investigate the world around you, and seek to expand your horizons? If so, curiosity is one of your strengths. Curious professionals thrive in new situations because they see them as opportunities to learn, solve problems, and discover more efficient ways of doing things.   When interviewing, be ready to share an example of how your curiosity led to a breakthrough—whether that was improving a process, solving a complex problem, or helping your team achieve better results. Learning Agility Are you quick to absorb new information, pivot to different challenges, and apply knowledge across a variety of situations? Learning agility is an invaluable skill, especially in today’s fast-changing work environment. Employers value candidates who can rapidly acquire and apply new skills without extensive training.   Be prepared to share a time when you had to quickly learn something new and how that ability helped you succeed. Growth Mindset A growth mindset is the belief that you can develop your abilities through effort and persistence. People with a growth mindset embrace challenges, viewing them as opportunities rather than obstacles. They are willing to take on unfamiliar projects because they see them as a chance to learn and improve.   To demonstrate this skill, highlight a time when you took on a challenging project, faced setbacks, and ultimately succeeded through perseverance. Critical Analysis Strong critical thinkers evaluate situations from multiple angles, consult different perspectives, and make informed decisions based on data and logic. This skill is particularly important in roles that require problem-solving, strategic planning, and risk assessment.   Employers want to see that you can break down complex challenges, identify patterns, and make sound decisions. When interviewing, be ready to discuss a time when your ability to analyze information and think critically led to a positive outcome. Collaboration Collaboration is more than just working well with others—it’s about actively contributing to shared goals, adapting communication styles to different team members, and fostering an environment of trust and productivity.   If you thrive in team settings, be sure to highlight how your collaboration skills have helped drive results, whether in-person or in virtual environments. Business-Tech Crossover Skills The clear lines between business and technology are disappearing. Companies no longer operate with distinct technical and business silos—every department relies on technology, and IT professionals must understand business priorities.   For technologists, this means developing business acumen—understanding market dynamics, financial performance, and customer needs to align technical solutions with strategic goals. IT professionals who can communicate the value of technology in business terms will be invaluable assets to any organization.   For business professionals, this means developing technical acumen—understanding the capabilities of modern technology, from data analytics to automation, to make informed decisions and drive innovation. Leaders who can work closely with IT teams to leverage technology for business success will stand out in the competitive job market.   Employers are looking for candidates who can bridge the gap between technology and business. Showcasing your ability to navigate both worlds will set you apart in today’s workforce. The Skills That Drive Long-Term Success Think of these skills as accelerators that will help you develop and grow throughout your career. Highlighting them to hiring managers demonstrates your ability to evolve, take on leadership roles, and contribute to an organization’s success.   More importantly, these skills will shape your personal and professional development. They help you understand yourself, leverage information effectively, tackle challenges with confidence, and collaborate with others to create meaningful impact.   By honing these foundational skills, you position yourself not only for your next job but for a dynamic, resilient, and fulfilling career. About the Author Saadiqa Amatul is a Business Analyst & Microsoft Dynamics Consultant at Ascent Innovations LLC. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, she is passionate about leveraging technology to drive business efficiency and innovation. In addition to her work in digital transformation, Saadiqa volunteers her time helping children with neurodevelopmental disorders develop behavioral skills. She is dedicated to continuous learning and helping organizations bridge the gap between technology and business strategy. Saadiqa Amatul Business Analyst & Microsoft Dynamics Consultant Icon-linkedin Latest Posts You might also like: