Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Company in the US

inc-5000-logo
Ascent Innovations Logo
Schedule
by
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

by
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

by
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:

by
What is Safety Stock?

What is Safety Stock? Table of Contents What is Safety Stock? Safety stock or buffer stock is the additional quantity of an item above the desired quantity that is held in the on-hand inventory. Such extra inventory is held with the sole purpose of avoiding the risk of running out of stock. Safety stock serves as an insurance or a cushion for manufacturers and retailers against possible out of stock situations for an item. Such stock outs are caused usually by: Changes in the demand for the item Inaccuracies in the forecasts of the item Unforeseen disruption to the supply line of the item Maintaining safety stock for an item comes with its own challenges. The first is the identification of the appropriate method of calculation in arriving at the right quantities that need to be maintained for each item. The second is the increase in the working capital to store additional on-hand quantities. So, the right safety stock for an item should strike a balance between the conflicting goals of maximizing customer experience (satisfaction) and the cost of managing additional inventories. Why to maintain Safety stock? The important reasons to maintain the safety stock is to prevent the business from stock out situations which arise due to various internal and external factors. 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. It might be due unforeseen reasons including weather-related shipping delays, and vendor’s production bottlenecks. Internal Factors: Inaccurate Forecasts: Any inaccuracies in the forecasts lead 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 levels Holding 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 demands Prevents stock out due to uncertain lead times of vendors and internal production line Prevents stock out due to disruption to the supply line from vendors Prevents stock out due to inaccurate forecast Ensures customer service and satisfaction levels Ensures continued sales and market share Helps to maintain healthy relationship with supply chain partners Helps to automate the reorder points How 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. While calculating the safety stock levels a right balance should be arrived between the opposing objectives of satisfying customer requirements at a specific service level and the cost of holding additional inventory. Since not all items are same, any general application of safety stock policy has adverse effects.   Some organizations often employ the policy of using their rule of thumb to arrive at the safety stock levels in the absence of any modern automation tool or software under their disposal. Such policies often end up with more disturbances to business than the expected improvement.   A robust inventory management system supported by a dynamic planning engine is required for business to handle the safety stock level and to process automate item replenishments. A statistical calculation technique is required for business to manage the conflicting goals of maximizing customer experience and the cost of managing the additional inventories. Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers a robust and scalable supply chain solution to manufacturers and retailers with end-to-end supply chain and inventory management processes, including the safety stock management, and seamlessly integrated with the modules of Finance, Purchase and Master Planning for accounting, replenishment and reporting. Solution offered by D365 Finance & Supply Chain (or Operations) Safety stock level fulfills the following purposes:   1. Act as the buffer stock against to prevent stock out scenarios   2. Act as a demand (reorder point) thereby triggering the automatic fulfillment ordersWhile safety stock levels prevent stock outs, it also serves as the reorder point or act as a system generated demand, where automatic replenishment policies can plan for item coverage for a given period. Thus, safety stock offers the process automation and reduces human efforts in managing the desired stock levels. As part of item replenishment policy, safety stocks are configured for items according to their consumption and importance to business. With a clear marking of safety stocks for items, master planning engine takes care of replenishment based on the (Coverage plan) policies attached to the item.   Management of safety stocks in D365 F&O requires knowledge about 3 different aspects of safety stock. Configuration required for using safety stock Automatic replenishment policies Recalculation of safety stock levels Configuration and automatic replenishment policies The configuration and automatic replenishment policies for safety stock cover the following: What to plan? Where to plan? When to plan? How to plan? What to plan: The fundamental and one of the important set up for safety stock is the setup of the coverage plan (replenishment … Read more

by
Committing to Accurate Barcodes: Because Royal Doulton Looks Weird Next to a Sippy Cup

Committing to Accurate Barcodes: Because Royal Doulton Looks Weird Next to a Sippy Cup Table of Contents Share Committing to Accurate Barcodes: Because Royal Doulton Looks Weird Next to a Sippy Cup Take a moment and think about the most exciting and joyful moment of your wedding. If you aren’t married, then try to imagine it. What did you pick? The expression of your love and faithfulness to your spouse? While that’s a sweet sentiment, you’re wrong.   Throwing a party for your family and friends? Barring the judgmental looks from Great-Aunt Ethel, sure, that’s fun. However, the price can sap away some of the enjoyment. So, no. Still wrong.   What about the cake? Surely something so simple, honest and delicious has to be the right answer. Nice try, but still no.   No, the most exciting and joyful moment of your entire wedding is setting up a wedding registry and walking around the store with a scanner. You get to pick all the things you like, decide in that moment you are absolutely going to host weekly candlelight suppers for 12 guests, and shoot laser beams out of a handheld device.   The entire experience hinges on two very important principles: Commitment and Accuracy. If you and your spouse aren’t in love with the Royal Doulton with the hand-painted periwinkles, then you might be stuck with that pattern for a long time. Likewise, if you want twelve place settings and find out much later the store doesn’t quite have twelve of everything, then one of your guests is going to have an awkward dining experience. Similarly, a successful inventory barcode process heavily relies on commitment and accuracy to ensure a dependable and long-lasting implementation within your organization. Commitment On the surface, one might think that developing an inventory barcode process is pretty simple. Take some key data, translate it into a barcode or QR code, print it on a label and slap it on the box. Done. However, a barcode label is a commitment to a static set of parameters and a narrow interpretation of that data. Let’s take some typically requested fields and put them into context. Logo: Putting the company logo or name on a product label is very common. However, think of the potential ramifications once that package leaves your dock. Do you have customers that demand private labelling? That logo is going to lead to some angry phone calls. Does the competition have access to your client’s facilities or inventory? Don’t make it easy for them to cross-reference your product. Space: Once you have committed to a certain label size, make sure all the fields are tested. If one line on the label can only fit 45 characters but the form field has a 60-character limit, you risk wrapping to the next line and most barcode scanners cannot read that information. Even worse, the extra characters may get cut-off entirely leaving incomplete data and a non-readable barcode. Description: This is a helpful field. While an item number means something to procurement, it might be useless to a warehouse worker. The description should very clearly indicate what the item is. That said, does it really need a barcode? Perhaps that extra space could be utilized elsewhere. Date: A date is good, especially for items with a shelf-life. Which date do we use? Purchase date? Receipt date? Label print date? This should be clearly indicated on the label. Remember, we want to leave as little open to interpretation as possible. Alternatively, consider relying on batch and/or serial numbers, as that data can be easily traced to the originating documents and journals. Quantity: This is commonly requested and very tricky. Let’s assume we’re receiving one box of twelve tubes of sealant. As long as we always commit an entire box in our sales or production process, there’s no issue. However, as soon as we remove one tube from that box, our label is incorrect and that can lead to serious inventory issues and the segue to our next topic. Accuracy Simply put, bad data is asking for trouble. Printing a barcode and placing it on a box is capturing a moment in time. Once any of the variables change, the label is no longer accurate. If the label is inaccurate, then it’s only a matter of time before your physical inventory no longer matches your database inventory. Timing: When are labels reprinted? Assuming the original label is printed upon product receipt, when, if ever, is an updated label generated? If we remove certain fields such as quantity or date, we can avoid bad reporting. Reprint Functionality: If a label is to be reprinted, what is the process? A warehouse worker may think they are being helpful by reprinting a missing label. However, if they assume the serial or item number, we may have a serious problem. There needs to be a safeguard in the business process or at the label generation point to ensure the correct data is printed. Warehouse Dimensions: While it may seem like a good idea to print the item’s location at receipt, that data can become problematic after the fact. Let’s say the inventory was received into Bin 1 but was moved via transfer journal to Bin 2 for space optimization. Without reprinting the label, a worker may think he found an item in the wrong location and move it back. Special Characters: Ampersands, slashes and hyphens are great for shortening and delineating descriptions but they can wreak havoc on a barcode. If the scanner cannot read special characters, then have them removed from the barcode programmatically or consider reformatting the form field. When developing a barcode label, the most important thing to remember is that data is dynamic and labels are static. As managers and consultants, our goal is to make a user’s job as easy and foolproof as possible. Labels can help, but they can hinder as well. Inaccurate inventory counts, loose reprint procedures and poor formatting can lead to questions which then lead to assumptions and inefficiencies. … Read more

by
Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing

Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing Table of Contents Modern Manufacturing What Is Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing? Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing is a cloud-based solution designed specifically for manufacturers, helping them become more agile, efficient, and resilient. It brings together powerful tools like Azure, Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, and Power Platform to create a connected, intelligent manufacturing ecosystem.   With built-in AI, IoT, and automation capabilities, manufacturers can get real-time insights, streamline operations, and proactively manage risks—helping them stay ahead in a rapidly changing industry. Key Capabilities of Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing 1. Strengthening the Supply Chain Supply chain disruptions and unpredictable demand can create major challenges for manufacturers. Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing helps businesses gain visibility, plan smarter, and reduce risks. Real-time supply chain visibility – Use AI-powered insights in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management to monitor supplier performance and identify risks before they become problems. Better demand forecasting – Improve planning with AI-driven models that predict demand trends, helping manufacturers balance supply and demand more effectively. Warehouse & fulfillment optimization – Streamline inventory tracking, warehouse operations, and order fulfillment to reduce delays and costs. 2. Improving Production & Quality Keeping production efficient and maintaining high quality are critical for success. Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing gives manufacturers real-time insights and automation tools to improve output and reduce waste. Production monitoring & optimization – Track factory operations in real-time and use AI-driven analytics to optimize processes and reduce downtime. Automated quality control – Leverage AI-powered inspections and real-time tracking to ensure product quality and reduce defects. Digital twins & simulation – Simulate production changes before implementing them, allowing for smarter decision-making and improved efficiency. Empowering Workers with Smart Tools Modern manufacturing requires a connected workforce with access to the right information at the right time. Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing provides tools that help employees work smarter. Connected workers – Use Microsoft Teams, Power Apps, and HoloLens 2 to improve collaboration, training, and productivity on the factory floor. Hands-free assistance & training – Enable employees to receive remote guidance and training through augmented reality tools like Dynamics 365 Guides. Enhancing Customer & Field Service Customers expect fast response times and proactive service. Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing helps manufacturers improve engagement and service quality. Preventative field service – Use AI and IoT to predict equipment failures before they happen, reducing downtime and improving customer satisfaction. Stronger B2B customer engagement – Build better relationships with customers using AI-driven sales, marketing, and customer insights tools. What’s Next? Microsoft’s Continued Investment in Manufacturing Microsoft is constantly adding new features to help manufacturers stay competitive. Some of the latest innovations include: AI-powered summaries – Quickly generate concise summaries of manufacturing data using AI, making it easier to find key insights. Faster portal creation – Build customer and partner portals using AI-driven natural language tools, reducing development time. Autonomous AI assistants – Improve customer support with AI-driven virtual agents that interact with users in real time. Stronger cybersecurity & compliance – Enhanced authentication and security features to protect sensitive data. Why Ascent Innovations? With 16 years of experience in Microsoft ERP, analytics, and digital transformation, Ascent Innovations helps manufacturers get the most out of Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing. Implement AI-powered manufacturing solutions for supply chain, production, and field operations. Connect Microsoft Power Platform, Azure, and Dynamics 365 to streamline processes and improve decision-making. Use real-time analytics to improve forecasting, efficiency, and business performance. Strengthen customer engagement, security, and compliance to future-proof operations. Take Your Manufacturing to the Next Level The future of manufacturing is all about agility, intelligence, and automation. Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing provides the tools you need to compete today while preparing for tomorrow.   Want to get started? Contact Ascent Innovations to learn how we can help you maximize your investment in Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing. About the Author Abdul Hafiz is a business and technology strategist with 25+ years of experience in optimizing and implementing ERPs to modernize finance and operations. As a Partner at Ascent Innovations, he has led growth and delivery for 14 years. He holds a master’s degree in computer and information sciences from the University of Illinois and advises executive teams on how to modernize the enterprise to drive profitable growth. Author: Abdul Hafiz Enterprise Solution Architect Icon-linkedin Latest Posts You might also like: