Dynamics GP Warehousing: Fulfillment, Restocking, Adjustments

Most of the Warehousing procedures require barcode scanning and scanned data transfer to the Servers via such technologies as RFID, wireless.  Dynamics GP (or how it was historically known – Great Plains Dynamics and eEnterprise) is Corporate ERP, MRP and Accounting application, which is barcoding technology “neutral”, meaning that most of what you expect to do in warehouse via laser scanning you can do directly in Dynamics GP forms by simply keying in text and digits (on computer keyboard).  We typically recommend review Distribution related transaction entering and editing – this should help you to manage your data on the Corporate ERP back end; but for Warehouse Management we recommend professional software and hardware: barcode label printers, scanners, RFID equipment, barcoding servers, etc.  Also Great Plains implementation in Warehouse automation often requires careful planning and modules selection - here you should see several presentations and be ready to do serious homework.  Let’s review typical business processes mapping in Warehouse Management System to Dynamics GP Distribution modules and SCM processes implementation recommendations:

1. Typical Warehouse Management System has three core functionalities: Order Fulfillment (often also referred as Allocation), Inventory Reordering (Restocking, Replenishment), and internal inventory transactions (Cycle counts, moves from one warehouse to another and quantity adjustments).  And this is how it is implemented in Great Plains Distribution modules: Fulfillment is naturally fit to Sales Order Processing Order or Invoice fulfillment (usually you select SOP document type without automatic allocation, as the fulfillment/allocation routine should be done separate on the warehouse floor); merchandise restocking is done in Purchase Order Processing Purchase Receipt; Inventory activity related records are done in Inventory Adjustment and Transfer.  There are several WMS brands available on the Supply Chain Management software market as well as via Dynamics GP ISP channel, where Warehouse Management transactions are integrated wither into Distribution modules records or directly to General Ledger (when all your Logistics and SCM reporting is done exclusively in the external Warehousing application)

2. WMS brands available on the market.  We do not want to give credits to one provider over another, if you would like to review the offers and specification sheets, please type in “Warehouse Management System” in Google search.  The WMS business model often dictates the way to be compatible with several major Corporate MRP and ERP brands – to enable broad offer to the ERP/MRP market (it is difficult to provide high quality of the software and hardware being limited to just only one Corporate MRP platform).  These WMS providers give you so-called Stand Alone or External Warehouse Management Application.  Dynamics GP, on the other hand has huge number of installations across the USA and Canada and Internationally (especially in Spanish speaking Latin America and English speaking countries around the Globe).  This fact allows some Dynamics GP ISV partners to develop Great Plains Warehouse Management Extensions and market them to existing and new Dynamics GP customers.  External WMS might be credited for being more reliable (as most of the software and hardware bugs are fixed, being reported by large pool of customers and users).  WMS extensions for Dynamics GP on the other hand allow you to save on software licenses, as you do not have to pay for parallel WMS and SCM functionality, plus there is no need for WMS integration implementation and pilot period, as Warehouse Management extension works out of Great Plains Distribution tables

3. Some WMS and Dynamics GP paradoxes we found in our consulting practice.  Dynamics GP customers are either growing from the small business warehouse or garage based operations (outgrowing QuickBooks, Peachtree, MYOB, SAP Business One), or they are downsizing from such MRP applications as Oracle Financials, SAP R/3, Lawson, Accpac, JD Edwards.  In such reasonable instability, associated with mid-size or small business, we found that probably half of all Warehouse Management applications, as well as Supply Chain Management, Assembly on order or Simple Manufacturing, have been programmed in-house in such open programming languages as Microsoft Visual Basic, C#, MS Access, Sun Microsystems Java, Unix, PHP MySQL/Linux

4. Digital Enterprise, or how my ecommerce transactions could be fulfilled on the production facility or the warehouse floor automatically, when ecommerce sales order is placed and paid.  Here the success factor is in ecommerce add-ons selection for Microsoft Dynamics GP, one of the is available from Alba Spectrum

5. XML rising star and possibly the dusk.  XML was the vehicle in late 1990th, and earlier 2000th to resolve conflicting technologies between Microsoft (Windows, ADO, .Net, Visual Basic, MS Access) and the rest of the Information Technology World: Oracle, Sun, Java/EJB, Unix/Solaris.  Our opinion is that XML came through the substantial transformation, and it is still the vehicle to resolve conflicting computer platforms contradictions, but we as computer consultants should find the way to agree with each other without appealing to judicial procedures

6. EDI resurrection?  Electronic Document Interchange is established and ready to considered as sort of the legacy standard.  In our opinion a lot or at least some of the Dynamics GP customers are overpaying for Electronic Document Interchange support. EDI is not the rocket science and it could be programmed directly in SQL Server new query interface (in simple scenario as SQL view and in more advanced scenario as SQL Stored Procedure)