Dynamics GP ISV Add-ons: WMS, SCM, Barcoding

Popular directions are Warehouse Management, Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Distribution, where the core technology is Barcode scanning and integration with Great Plains.  This publication should give you short excurse into ISV development for GP and SCM related add-ons:
1. Dynamics GP Integration technologies.  Great Plains has Integration Manager, eConnect SDK, plus it is possible to push records directly to GP tables via ODBC connections or via direct SQL insert statements.  Barcode scanner operating system offers limited resources for such “heavy technologies” as Integration Manager, in our opinion the best approach to speak with WMS server is something like conventional VB coded client application.  WMS Server in its turn is conventional PC Windows computer, where you can deploy one of the three tools, mentioned above.  In our case we preferred ODBC connection to Dynamics GP databases directly from WMS Server, as we have long lasting experience of pushing transactions to Great Plains via our Order Connector technology
2. Integrated Supply Chain Management extensions for Great Plains.  WMS client with some SCM advanced features (which is the client application, running on the Barcode scanner directly) talks to WMS Server and the last one talks to Dynamics GP company database in real time, creating and modifying such transactions as SOP Order (where you allocate lines via Barcode scanning directly on the Warehouse floor), POP Purchase Receipts (Merchandize replenishment by receiving and scanning), Inventory Transfers, Adjustments and Cycle Count
3. Consignment.  If you are in food or retail merchandize distributor on the consignment contracts – we recommend you delivery routing, date and time optimization features
4. Warehouse Management System implementation practice.  As we see from our experience, WMS may require additional custom features to be specially programmed for you and incorporated into your final WMS version.  This is normal and it is good to try to balance standard WMS functionality, available in out-of-the-box version with some level of customizations.  Sometimes we hear the stories of disappointed WMS customers, where WMS itself probably works great, however its integration part to Dynamics GP went over budget and after months of fixes and additional custom programming it is still in limbo.  Good news is – our WMS and SCM extensions are integrated by their nature, as they work directly out of Great Plains company database
5. How to request additional info?  Call us 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918 or email us help@albaspectrum.com  We have offices in Chicago, Orange County (Irvine, California), San Diego, Los Angeles, Houston, plus we serve USA, Canada, Mexico nationwide and internationally
6. WMS implementation internationally.  We are currently under way to implement several WMS and SCM projects for Dynamics GP international customers.  If you are US based multinational corporation, you should first check if Dynamics GP is localized in your targeted country or region.  If it is not localized, we recommend you to consider other ERP platforms, such as Dynamics AX (former Axapta) or SAP Business One – call us for details