When you are doing your next Corporate ERP platform selection, you should prepare really detailed checklist or the features you want to see, or the options how these features could be realized.
Microsoft Dynamics GP was also historically known as Great Plains Dynamics and eEnterprise,
this is mid-market ERP platform with rich business logic and impressive list of Dynamics GP ISV add-ons to implement additional features, especially industry specific requirements (verticals) and common peripheral features (horizontals). In this small paper we would like to talk about Wholesale Distribution industry, which features to look for, which modules of Dynamics GP are typically implemented and which user training, data migration, customization and external integration could be expected:
1. Dynamics GP Distribution Set of modules. This is probably what you need to explore and see executive and technical presentation. It includes such modules as Inventory Control (with Distribution Bill of Materials), Purchase Order Processing and Sales Order Processing. There are other modules, but in this publication we would like to talk about the most popular ones, as we see them implemented in Wholesale Trade and Distribution industries. In these modules you may expect over 80% or more of the required functionalities, however Distribution is often built upon such technologies as Barcoding, EDI (Electronic Document Interchange), order placement via B2B eCommerce Shopping Cart, where you should reasonably excuse out-of-the-box Dynamics GP for not having them in native business logic
2. Barcoding and Warehouse Management System. Each type of major software system has its own and often restricted realm. Dynamics GP ERP is something, working on the server (hosted in Microsoft SQL) with rich client application (logic is stored in Dynamics.Dic metadata DB, plus add-ons). And it is not really targeting supporting such peripheral devices as Barcode Scanners. You may be aware that barcoding scanner is available from various providers with diversified set of operating system, graphical or text only interfaces. Plus barcode scanner is now similar to small computer, where you can run pretty robust client application, such as WMS client, programmed in Visual Basic and communicating with Warehouse Management System Server program via ODBC connection. If you think about Barcode Scanning in the warehouse, there are possibilities to scan the whole document (Order Fulfillment, Purchase Receipt, Inventory Adjustment) with multiple item lines or even to scan the whole batch of document prior to uploading them to Dynamics GP. All these examples should give you a good idea why Warehouse Management application is needed as extension to core Dynamics GP Distribution logic
3. Customer Order Placement technology: EDI and B2B ecommerce. Great Plains is open for such technologies as EDI and you should be able to find large number of EDI add-ons, supporting virtually all the EDI protocols and communication methods. Also, considering the fact that Dynamics GP is mid-market Corporate ERP application, you may rather consider small scale custom programming to achieve the same goal with just one of two EDI protocols and only one communication interface (likely FTP). There are new trends in Distribution industry, where EDI could be in concurrence with B2B ecommerce, where customer places the order via ecommerce web site (user login leads the customer to customer portal with negotiated price list, order delivery status and other nice features, surpassing old-goods-days EDI protocol). If you already made investment in ecommerce website, we recommend you to keep it and just integrate your ecommerce shopping cart platforms, such as Magento, ASP.Net Storefront, nopCommerce with Microsoft Dynamics GP SOP Transaction Entry (customer order or invoice with prepayment or on account)
4. Implementation scenarios. If you are switching from legacy accounting system, such as QuickBooks, Accpac, SAP Business One, Platinum, Scala Accounting, Sun Accounting, or even when you are downsizing and walking away from Oracle Ebusiness Suite, PeopleSoft, SAP R3/mySAP, we recommend you to consider Great Plains Integration Manager as the vehicle for the data conversion phase (it validates business logic, it is very performance efficient, considering new eConnect integration connectors). We recommend you to restrict the scope of the conversion, with keeping legacy application on one of the computers/server ready for data inquiry. The best data migration scenario in our opinion is just entering GL beginning balances, bringing over GL accounts, Vendors, Customer and Employees (if you plan to run Payroll in Dynamics GP)
5. Dynamics GP ongoing support in Distribution. The majority of the support cases are related to WMS integration to SOP, POP and Inventory modules. And this is probably justifiable, as that’s where you have the majority of the transactions to happen
6. Supporting Dynamics GP Wholesale implementation on the old version of Great Plains Dynamics. The difference here is the fact, that Microsoft Business Solutions doesn’t support your historical GP version directly (Dynamics GP 8.0, 7.5, Great Plains Dynamics 7.0, 6.0, 5.5, 5.0, 4.0, Great Plains Accounting for DOS, Windows, Mac 9.5, 9.2, 9.1 or earlier). In this situation it is not really the end of the World, but some negative points should be mentioned. There is no way to give you additional users licenses (with GPA it is terminal judgment, for Great Plains you could still reenroll your old lapsed company into MBS annual enhancement program, and this should allow you to get new licenses, however the reenrollment cost might be discouraging). Having said that, we would like to give you more positive note – Alba Spectrum carrying consultants to support all version of Great Plains (Great Plains Software, Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions, Microsoft Dynamics GP), ever released
7. How to get further information? Please call us 1-866-528-0577, email us help@albaspectrum.com We service you USA, Canada and Internationally via short visits onsite and following web sessions and phone conferences. Local service is available in Western Michigan: Kalamazoo, Benton Harbor, Grand Rapids, Saint Joseph, New Buffalo, Muskegon, South Haven, Holland, Grand Haven, Ludington; Chicagoland, Northern Indiana, Southern California: Los Angeles, Irvine (Orange County), San Diego, Houston Texas
