Microsoft Dynamics GP Logistics Custom Extensions and Programming Tools

May 13
09:00

2010

Andrew Karasev

Andrew Karasev

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Formerly this Corporate ERP application was known as Great Plains Dynamics and eEnterprise. Microsoft Dynamics GP is good platform for Distributions, Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Warehouse Management, Consignment functionality.

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Plus it is open for external SCM and WMS applications via such technologies as Integration Manager,Microsoft Dynamics GP Logistics Custom Extensions and Programming Tools Articles eConnect, Microsoft Dexterity, Modifier with VBA scripting, Microsoft Visual Studio libraries (often in combination with light Dexterity programming), direct ODBC connection to Dynamics GP company tables and via SQL Stored Procedures.  In this small publication we would like to review several modules, typically involved in Logistics business logic integration and custom programming:
1. Sales Order Processing.  SOP Transaction Entry screen is probably the leader in the popularity of being customized in Dexterity, Modifier/VBA and MS Visual Studio.  If you are looking for Warehouse Management System Order Fulfillment via Barcode scanning on the warehouse floor – the good way to do this is to trigger SOP Order line allocation logic in SOP Entry screen when item ID and QTY are scanned and now ready to be pushed to Dynamics GP
2. Purchase Order Processing.  Here Purchase Receipt is often used for integration with WMS system, when you are receiving merchandize on the floor of the warehouse by scanning Receiving sheets and item barcode labels
3. Inventory Control.  Here you typically expose to SCM extensions such screens as Inventory Adjustment, Transfer, Cycle Count (often referred as Physical Count, or Stock Count) 
4. Integration Manager and External WMS or SCM integration.  We recommend this approach as the most reliable, however it is probably not real time one.  Consider the following scenario.  Your external WMS does Sales Order Fulfillments, Purchase Receipts, Inventory Counts and other transactions and saves them in its own Database (MS SQL, Oracle, MySQL/PHP/Linux, MS Access or another platform).  Then you run on demand Integration Manager integration, based on Advanced ODBC data query, running cross platform ODBC view to pull data from external WMS DB and push it into Dynamics GP SOP, POP, Inventory or other modules
5. eConnect.  As we already mentioned above IM doesn’t do real time integration (however it is possible to set it firing every twenty minutes to imitate quasi real time integration) and if this is your goal or you would like to have better control from custom WMS system (especially when you are in house programmer of the WMS itself) – consider eConnect.  In MS Visual Studio C# or VB.Net projects (we are mentioning these programming languages simply due to the fact that eConnect SDK has code sample in C# and VB – if you prefer another .Net compliant language you are free to use it) you can include eConnect libraries to call Dynamics GP objects to be created, modified or deleted.  All modules mentioned above are available for eConnect programming
6. Dexterity, Modifier, SQL Scripting.  We recommend you other articles, posted on the major info portals, composed by Alba Spectrum technical writers.  The most powerful would be Great Plains Dexterity, where you physically do not have the limits in reaching and manipulating Great Plains document and master records.  In fact we are offering Alba Spectrum Posting and Workflow Automation Server, where you can add Dexterity scripts to automate such routines as Manufacturing Order automation steps and then finally post MO without user intervention
7. How to get help?  Please call us in USA: 1-866-528-0577, or internationally 1-630-961-5918 or email us help@albaspectrum.com  Our consultants speak English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Filipino, Russian.  Dynamics GP is localized and available in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, UK, Ireland, Spanish Speaking Latin America and Caribbean, Arabic speaking World.  Also there are interfaces in Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Dutch, German, Swedish.  Please see us on Convergence 2010 in Atlanta or if you already missed this even, sign for the Convergence 2011 in Atlanta in April of the next year (2011)