We’re now going to look at supply chain tracking using stock control software. Customers demand information and you have to be able to supply it. You need to know where the stock is to fulfil their order, whether it is available in the warehouse, at the docks, or in manufacture, or never coming.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV and supply chain tracking

With NAV you can find out instantly where any item is in your supply chain, and what its status is. This has significant benefits for your inventory management:

• You can respond quickly to customer demands and provide them with detailed information on their order status. This increases satisfaction and boosts your reputation.
• You can monitor purchasing status and take action when supply is slipping, avoiding late delivery penalties and fees.
• You can use data on stock status to streamline distribution and increase efficiency.
• Monitor testing requirements, certificate expiry dates, and production issues.
• You can identify which suppliers are most efficient and supply goods the fastest.
• With streamlined admin, you can communicate easily with vendors to assess updates and load the information into the system.
• You can communicate with customers using reports reflecting current stock availability and projected estimated times of arrival.

*Some of the benefits listed are Evo-soft add-ons and not standard in Dynamics NAV.

Good supply chain tracking is vital for both customer and supplier satisfaction, and Microsoft Dynamics NAV allows you to achieve both from unified stock control software. In our next post we’ll be examining how NAV can help manage goods received and make your stock system faster and more efficient as a result.

Our solution was to use Microsoft Dynamics NAV in place of the separate systems, ensuring that data is not only unified, but that it gives you the power to make more strategic and effective purchasing decisions.

We’re now going to look more closely at Microsoft Dynamics NAV from a purchasing perspective – and find out how using it for inventory management makes buying much easier.

Stock control software and purchasing decisions

Users of effective stock control software need to ensure that they have the correct amount of stock at any given time. Ideally you need enough stock to satisfy demand, but not so much excess stock that your cash flow suffers.

If you have significant excess stock, then you have capital tied up in items that may take weeks, months or even years to sell. That’s money that could have been used on faster-moving and more profitable products.

On the other hand, if you don’t have enough stock, you won’t meet demand and you’ll lose out on current profits as well as possibly losing those customers. And if you don’t spot in time that you need to increase your stock of a particular item, you may not have time to get it to market before demand slumps.

In terms of inventory management, the correct stock levels rely on effective purchasing decisions. Microsoft Dynamics NAV gives you extra tools to make these decisions effectively.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV for informed purchasing decisions

Traditionally, buying decisions could be weakened by purchasing managers who put too much faith in outdated stock, sales and forecast figures.

With Microsoft Dynamics NAV, you can track up-to-date stock levels, quickly identify when demand for an item increases or decreases by an unexpected amount – and take action accordingly. You can also incorporate sales forecasts on demand, and identify patterns that you may have missed using a less effective system.

For example, traditional sales forecasts may show that sales of a particular item increase by 20% in the second half of July. Therefore, relying on that information, you would normally increase your stock levels just before that period.

However, if sales picked up by 25% in the first half of July, it would take some time for traditional stock control systems to pick up on the fact – this could leave you without sufficient stock by the end of the month. Microsoft Dynamics NAV, on the other hand, is capable of detecting the increased sales instantly, allowing you to make faster purchasing decisions that give you an edge over competitors.

Dynamics NAV provides you with four choices of standardised reordering policies, which meet the needs of most companies:

• Fixed Reorder
• Maximum Quantity
• Order
• Lot-for-Lot

Companies can simply choose the settings that fit their company buying policies. Evo-soft also has an adapted version that is tailored for the idiosyncrasies of the seasonal markets.

NAV and purchase orders

Microsoft Dynamics NAV streamlines the purchase order productions process. Purchasing managers can quickly review and approve requests straight away. With the push of a button the Purchase Order can be raised directly from the Requisition Worksheet, the buying planning tool in Dynamics NAV, creating greater efficiency and less administrative tedium.

An additional time saving feature provided by Evo-soft is that new items can be created through uploaded spreadsheets from Microsoft Excel into NAV. As many suppliers now generate Excel quotes this eliminated a lot of duplicated effort.

Stock control software that makes purchasing much easier

Getting the purchasing right is of paramount importance to a company’s survival in a competitive marketplace. Microsoft Dynamics NAV is ideal if you need to make effective purchasing decisions for good inventory management. You can interrogate your data to spot unusual sales patterns as they happen, allowing you to make faster buying decisions. And if you have to manage lots of purchasing transactions, NAV completes them much more quickly and helps you keep ahead of your rivals – it’s stock control software that makes purchasing much easier.

In our next post, we’ll be looking at how Microsoft Dynamics NAV is invaluable for supply chain tracking. Make sure you don’t miss out – subscribe to our RSS feed today.

Let’s assume that that you sell furniture in bulk. If you look at your accounting figures you can see – for example – how many sofas, chairs, tables and sideboards you buy from your suppliers, and at what cost. The accounting figures track the quantity of product owned by your company and its value. They ignore physical location and just deal with financial impact.

That’s where operational stock figures come in. These allow you to track every single item of stock, and follow its progress from the moment it is acquired to the time it is sold and delivered. So, to return to our furniture example, you can track how many sofas have been received from your supplier and their exact locations in your warehouse(s), even down to the detail of internal transfers from one warehouse bin to another.

Many companies have separate accounting and stock control software. In these instances, it is at best frustrating – and at worst almost impossible – to reconcile your accounting figures with your operational stock figures. That’s where inventory management using Microsoft Dynamics NAV comes in.

You don’t need to reconcile data in Microsoft Dynamics NAV

With Microsoft Dynamics NAV you don’t have to reconcile your operational stock figures with your accounting figures: all your data are already unified. This allows you to manage your inventory much more effectively.

Because you don’t have to reconcile data, you save valuable management time and focus on profit producing activities. Functionality of this kind also allows to you save money by keeping stock levels to a workable minimum. Less stock means less capital is tied up, and having the information to purchase stock to the right levels at the right time is invaluable. You can provide the same standard of service, but you can improve cash flow by reducing your inventory holding. You can revise your stock levels to match both demand and profitability.

With better information at your fingertips, purchasing decisions become more strategic and effective. And Microsoft Dynamics NAV also offers functionality that will make your purchasing process much easier, reducing the time and administration required to raise purchase orders.

That’s going to be the topic of our next blog post. Come back soon to read more. Or subscribe to our RSS feed to make sure you don’t miss a post.

At Evo-Soft, we have built up a reputation as stock control software specialists with expertise at deploying Microsoft Dynamics NAV for companies that need robust and flexible stock control systems.

We’re also one of the very few firms that have made E-Type bonded warehousing available to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and our deployment of Microsoft Dynamics NAV – with its electronic transmissions to the HM Customer CSFP (Chief) System – helps businesses to benefit from bonded status without having to invest in additional manpower or special facilities. Stock management, stock visibility, cash flows and cash savings are all improved by the use of NAV.

But why is Microsoft Dynamics NAV such a good fit for businesses that are looking for a new and efficient way to manage stock control? Our new, six-part blog series will take you through some of the features and advantages of deploying NAV in a way that assists your inventory management.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV: six steps to effective stock control

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be examining six aspects of our stock control deployment of NAV. You’ll learn how NAV can reconcile your accounting figures and operational stock figures, see how purchasing is made much easier, find out how supplier chain tracking is simplified, how stock can be entered straight into the system without having to wait for invoicing to catch up, and how space can be maximised by stock management within warehouses. And, of course, we’ll be looking at E-Type bonded warehousing.

If you’re interested in NAV or stock control software, this series of blog posts will be unmissable. The six topics will be:

1) Accounting figures & operational stock figures
2) Purchasing made easier
3) Supplier chain tracking
4) Goods received
5) Stock management inside the warehouse
6) The audit trail

Make sure you don’t miss a post – subscribe to our RSS feed. You can also visit our site to learn more about how Microsoft Dynamics NAV can revolutionise your approach to stock control – and please get in touch if you need any advice or help.

Softworld has been consistently providing market leading events for financial software since 1991. These events focus purely on software solutions that can help businesses maintain that competitive edge. In the current economic climate, it is more important than ever for businesses to work efficiently and productively and to keep running costs to a minimum. The right software is essential to meeting these goals.

The Softworld show has two sections:
1) Softworld Accounting and Finance Solutions
2) Softworld HR and Payroll Solutions.
Evo-soft will be showing Microsoft Dynamics NAV in the Accounting and Finance Solution section of the show.

Come and see us at Stand 317a at the London Olympia 2. The two-day show is on 13th-14th October.

In line with this new policy, Microsoft has reopened support for Microsoft Dynamics NAV 5 RTM Service Pack 0. This support had terminated on 14th April 2009 but will now be continued until 13th April 2010.

Microsoft has introduced these changes to show its commitment to customers and partners. The longer support times allow businesses flexibility to optimise their IT infrastructure, plan upgrades, and manage support costs during challenging economic times.

This new change does not impact Mainstream Support or Extended Support dates for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV package. Microsoft will continue to provide Mainstream Support on the Dynamics NAV package as per the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy, for five years from the general availability of the product. Extended Support covers an additional five years. Both Mainstream Support and Extended Support are only available at the product’s supported service pack level.

These one day ShD Regional Shows are of interest to buyers of logistic and intralogistic products and services. Supply chain issues are key business drivers; get it right and you can make substantial savings; get it wrong and it can be expensive.

Evo-soft fits nicely into this environment with its expertise in the importation and distribution vertical markets covering areas such as warehousing, distribution, transportation, and supply chain management. The Microsoft Dynamics NAV package provides a fully integrated, secure platform to operate the business efficiently.

The show will be held at ProLogis Cabot Park Bristol, located close to Junction 18/18a of the M5/M49 and 10 miles from the M4/M5 interchange. You can find Evo-soft at stand number 30.

Further info and registration is at www.shdregionalshows.biz.

Evo-soft recommends the following 4 guidelines as keys to selecting a new software provider who will be a great partner, not just provider:

1) Capability – Does your partner have the knowledge and resources to get the necessary work done?

2) Character – Check some references. How does the provider deal with their current customers? Have they been honest and dependable?

3) Communication – Can you really talk to you supplier? Do they listen? Do they give you feedback and offer alternative solutions? Do they have any business experience? Can they relate to you?

4) Continuity – Will you have access to the people who design and implement your system after it is up and running? If not, how well will your support team know your business and its unique features?

A great partner will save you money and help your business deploy best practice strategies, while preserving your unique qualities. Get the right product, but be sure you get the right partner too!

Microsoft Dynamics Zero Percent Financing Promotion enables customers to spread the cost of a new Microsoft Dynamics over 36 months with 0% interest on Microsoft Dynamics New License including the first year Business Ready Enhancement Plan / Software Assurance utilising a standard Microsoft Financing commercial loan or lease payment solution.

According to Ashley McIntyre, ACMA , “The current economic climate has only added importance to business efficiency. Dynamics NAV software is performing strongly and the return on investment figures will only be strengthened with the zero percent financing offer.”

Derek Fisher, Sales Director for Evo-soft attributes the success to a combination of long term sales effort together with some new short term referral prospects  who immediately saw the benefits of the Evo-soft tailored supply chain version of Dynamics NAV for their company.  Fisher stated, “We are always pleased to see the referral business, as it shows that our clients are having a positive experience with the software and service.”

Oliver Norton, Microsoft   Account Manager, states, “I recently sat in on an Evo-soft demonstration for a prospect, and was highly impressed at the level of development Evo-soft had done to support its vertical market.  The number of new accounts Evo-soft is adding is a tribute that that work.”