The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically affected businesses over the past 18 months, especially in the distribution and manufacturing industry. A number of these unprecedented challenges include supply chain issues, fluctuating costs, and commodity pricing.
In the distribution industry, supply chain uncertainties have cause inconsistent visibility, scheduling delays, and vendor lead times have also increased during the pandemic. In addition, the fluctuating cost of materials has dramatically changed, whereas competition from e-commerce chains such as Amazon has made it hard to compete. This has changed the way companies manage their warehouse as they look to keep up with the competition. Customers are also expecting real-time communication and instant access to information which makes sales pipeline visibility critical.
To overcome these new challenges in distribution, customers are looking for an all-in-one solution for their technology needs. Dynamics 365 Business Central has vendor scoring and landed cost features to help resolve supply chain issues. E-commerce integrations within Business Central such as Shopify make it easier for companies to compete with plugs-ins right out of the box. In addition, using features such as Dynamics 365 for Sales & Customer Engagement has become even more integral for distribution companies, and add-on solutions such as Jet Reports allow companies to generate real-time financial reports seamlessly.
The manufacturing industry also has similar challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The prices of commodities such as wood and metal have gone up significantly and are fluctuating daily. In addition, the availability of inventory and freight charges are constantly changing. Managing backorders have also become critical to the supply chain for manufacturing companies.
A diverse offering of solutions from Dynamics 365 Business Central can overcome these new challenges by utilizing production order costing, visual production scheduling, MRP/planning worksheets, and automatic backorder allocation. Planning worksheets have become vital in allowing manufacturing companies to automate that process. A reporting solution such as Jet Reports and Power BI has been critical for manufacturing and distribution companies. We offer a reporting package that includes the most integral reports (80+) a business would need. (https://www.websan.com/images/Implementation/Business-Central-Implementation-Reports.pdf)
Understanding the right approach to solving these issues is essential. Companies can now adapt and compete in this new challenging business landscape by making the appropriate changes to their ERP system. WebSan Solutions Inc. has the expertise and understanding to help your company navigate these new challenges and help grow your business. Contact us at