Having worked on several manufacturing based ERP implementations I have been able to recognise and appreciate the capabilities of Dynamics NAV: from easy set up of Bill of Materials to drag and drop Production Scheduling; and from production planning to shop floor management.

NAV’s manufacturing module, in addition to key Fenwick Gold granules, offers an attractive option for most manufacturing companies. From my experience, this solution offers some key operational improvements including (but not limited to) overall visibility of production cost and scheduling; ease of maintaining raw materials and finished goods; and smooth control of day to day operations.

I’ve been able to recognise and appreciate the capabilities of Dynamics NAV: from easy set up of Bill of Materials to drag and drop Production Scheduling; and from production planning to shop floor management.

But as we all know, no two companies are the same. Differences may exist in products, manufacturing processes, Key Performance Indicators (KPI), reporting requirements etc. These differences not only make each company unique but can also provide them with a competitive advantage within the industry. This works well with NAV’s flexibility allowing specific functionality to match individual requirements.

The recording of scrap during production can be an important KPI measure for companies. This can drive performance improvements during manufacturing, resulting in more efficient processes which ultimately affect the bottom line. I experienced this in one of my implementations.

NAV’s standard scrap recording functionality is limited to recording scrapped finished goods. It does not provide the functionality to record scrap for raw materials separately from the expected quantity or use multiple scrap codes within a single output process. However, the flexibility to add custom functionality in NAV allowed us to design a solution to match our client’s exact requirements.

We developed Scrap Ledger Entries to store a comprehensive record of all historical production scrap. Using this functionality operators are able record scrap on an ongoing basis directly within NAV, instead of having to note this on a sheet of paper and having to re-key the details at the end of the day. This gives the operators more control and the system shows a live scrap record. This custom solution allows for multiple scrap codes to be recorded within a single output process which frees up time to carry out other tasks. The solution also automatically adjusts the raw material scrap count when a finished good is recorded as scrap. The solution allows for a number of KPI reports related to Operator Efficiency, Overall Equipment Effectiveness and Reject Ratio.

So, with the mix of NAV’s standard manufacturing module, Fenwick Gold granules, and some customisation, Fenwick Software has been able to deliver an ERP solution that accommodates all the manufacturing needs of the customer.