At the core of every mid-market or enterprise organization is an ERP system that literally helps run the business. The ability to process sales orders and purchase orders, manage inventory and warehousing, build out reliable forecasting, run accurate financials — and much more! — is a vital necessity.
Knowing this, Microsoft has been innovating Copilot to surface data, provide insights, and assist people by simplifying tasks — and a few of the recent innovations caught my attention.
Improving Demand Planning Outcomes
If you are a demand planner, you already know the challenging nature of your role that requires accurate forecasting and strategic decision-making. I really like that Copilot provides guidance to:
- Create accurate forecasts by leveraging historical data, external signals, and advanced analytics to improve demand forecasts. Planners can then make the best decisions regarding inventory levels and minimizing stockouts.
- Set time-fences and planning horizons to ensure timely adjustments based on market dynamics. Rolling plans allow for continuous adaptation, keeping forecasts aligned with changing business conditions.
- Manage product lifecycles and can even suggest actions for retiring or phasing out products. This ensures efficient inventory turnover and prevents obsolete stock.
Streamlining Procurement Decisions
Alright. What about purchase orders? I really like that Copilot can assist with frequent PO changes, assess the impact, and provide information to help make informed decisions. Further, Copilot simplifies processes for:
- PO modifications and considers factors like lead times, supplier performance, and cost implications. It identifies critical changes that require immediate attention.
- Identifying potential risk associated with PO changes. For example, a delayed delivery might impact production schedules. By highlighting risks, Copilot empowers procurement teams to prioritize actions.
- Suggesting alternative suppliers based on real-time data from factors like pricing, quality, and lead times.
Boosting Warehouse Operations Accuracy
The flow of inventory through a warehouse (or multiple warehouses) is critical to all aspects inventory management. Think about the raw materials coming in, quality control checks, assembly, finished goods, and inventory management – each of these are critical to any manufacturing company.
Now, drop Copilot into the mix and it can help streamline:
- Intelligently prioritizing warehouse tasks based on urgency, resource availability, and order deadlines. This ensures timely order fulfillment and minimizes bottlenecks.
- Assisting with quality checks during receiving and shipping. It verifies product specifications, detects discrepancies, and prompts corrective actions.
- Integration with vendor portals, automating communication related to shipments, returns, and quality issues. It reduces manual effort and enhances collaboration.
Closing Thoughts
Bottom line, supply chain is complex. Period.
However, if there are opportunities to spot anomalies, extract holistic insights, and be proactive, then Copilot can assist with this. Also, I would suggest that you combine the power of your ERP with an analytics solution like Power BI to truly see trends, unlock potential revenue streams, and stay competitive.
Lastly, I would highly recommend that your most valuable asset – people – be invested in through consistent training to keep them up to date on Copilot and Dynamics 365. Keep in mind that ongoing training should not only include business applications, but honing communication skills with AI solutions like Copilot. Learning how to ask the right questions or frame the right prompt will help provide the best output and deliver more insights to everyone at the right time.
Cautions and Considerations
Please keep in mind that some of the above overview is about functionality that may or may not have fully released by Microsoft. Bookmark the Microsoft Learn site and pages about Dynamics 365 to stay up to date on the latest details.
Further, dig into the “What’s New and Planned” section to see a breakdown of the functionality, public preview dates, and general availability dates.
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