Dynamics GP in SCM: Barcoding, Warehouse, B2B eCommerce

It has good base for the companies in Distribution and Logistics, general Supply Chain Management.  There is special Distribution set of modules, including Sales Order Processing, Inventory Control with Bill of Materials, Purchase Order Processing.  Plus there are various extensions on the market where these modules are exposed to Barcode scanning or RFID tag reading, EDI, integrations with external SCM applications, B2B Ecommerce.  We would like to give you some highlights in components selection and implementation:

1. Barcode Scanning and GP user interface.  Generally speaking you can use USB barcode scanner the same way as you use computer keyboard.  However it is not practical on the warehouse floor.  Modern scanners work in batch mode, where all job is done in the few minutes and then scanned documents are transmitted to the ERP database.  This is why you need Barcoding extensions.  One of them is described in the following paragraph

2. Warehouse Management System.  We favor the product which works out of Great Plains tables and doesn’t require integration to be programmed and implemented.  WMS functionality is implemented in SOP Transaction tables (Order Fulfillment, also referred as Allocation), Inventory Transaction and Transfer and POP Purchase Receipt (Inventory Restocking, also referred as Replenishment).  You may also take a look at external high-end WMS solutions, these systems typically come with connectors to major accounting applications, including GP, AX, NAV, Oracle, SAP.  These solutions are implemented in higher volume, but the cost is higher, comparing to extensions.  Plus, be sure that you checked out references, that solution has reliable and easy to implement integration module to Great Plains

3. EDI and Business to Business Ecommerce.  You might be in EDI channel to automatically reorder merchandise from nationwide suppliers.  If you have multiple vendors, it is good idea to acquire and implement EDI package, which is compatible with your ERP application.  However, if you have only one or two suppliers, EDI interface could be coded in SQL or in Integration Manager.  In our case we recommend Alba Spectrum Order connector as generic base for ecommerce programmer or the whole module, build on the base of connector, where popular ecommerce shopping cart are supported (Magento, ASP.Net Storefront, etc.)

4. Openness to customizations.  Well, if you are healthy in competing on the market, then you probably do have your own business secrets and unique processes.  MRP and ERP applications are created with the goal to have reasonable number of customers to support native programming, version releases and service packs.  If your business logic is really unique, there is natural way to automate it via custom programming.  Dynamics GP offers such modification tools, as Dexterity, eConnect SDK, Modifier with VBA, MS Visual Studio Tools, Web Services (for inquiry of the existing documents and master records, otherwise you use eConnect to create data modification web service to call from Linux, where you may have custom application, programmed in PHP on MySQL database platform)

5. Custom Integration.  We would like to recommend standard Integration Manager module, as here you can do such things as obviously text file integration, but also Advanced ODBC, where you can create SQL View, which crosses platforms and joins tables from Oracle, Sybase, IBM DB2, MS Access, MySQL or you name the database.  If you think that IM doesn’t do the job, consider custom eConnect coding in C# or VB.Net in MS Visual Studio

6. International GP customers.  Yes, we do serve internationally with WMS, Logistics, Supply Chains Management solutions for GP.  We have WMS customers in such regions as Middle East (Saudi Arabia), Latin America (Ecuador).  We also helped one of the Polish furniture reseller to install GP with WMS extensions in Lithuania.  However, you should be aware about such things as Corporate ERP localization for your country or region.  Historical versions of Great Plains Dynamics (especially prior to Great Plains Software acquisition by Microsoft, such as 6.0, 5.5, 5.0, 4.0) were available in continental Europe and even Russia.  Current version 2010/11.0 is not offered in continental Europe (it is available in UK) and the recommendation is to consider Dynamics AX or NAV (formerly known as Navision).  Some words for Brazilian customers in Sao Paulo or across the country.  Our company was chosen by Microsoft Brazil to localize Microsoft Dynamics version 7.5, where we got some financial commitments and help with initial software sales advertising campaign in Brazil.  Unfortunately MS changed its decision and favored Navision and later on Axapta in Brazil.  If you are multinational corporation with headquarters in USA, where you are deploying GP as Corporate ERP, we recommend you to consider AX or maybe even SAP Business One for your Brazilian subsidiary

7. For additional information, please feel free to call us 1-866-528-0577 or 1-630-961-5918 (this number works for international customers) or email us help@albaspectrum.com We serve you USA/Canada nationwide via remote support (web sessions and phone/Skype conferences). Local service is available in Western Michigan, Chicagoland, Southern California (LA, Orange County, San Diego), Houston area of the state of Texas