Has your sales team ever wanted to have visibility into when an order would be expected to be delivered? Do they clamor for and ask for some inside information on production and procurement processes, leading to insights into when they can promise orders to their customers?
Within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations is a functionality called Delivery date control. It is not a perfect tool, but it does give some level of visibility into when a customer could expect to see their order delivered.
How Does Delivery Date Control Work?
When entering a Sales order in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations, there is an option to “Simulate delivery dates” and a dropdown for Delivery date control underneath. These options help to give a sales team visibility into when an order can be expected to ship as well as an expected receipt date based on parameters set in the system.
The ability to simulate delivery dates using Delivery date control is available at the Sales order header and line level.
When selected, a screen will pop up, giving users a simulated date of when to expect shipment based on the type of Delivery date control selected on the Sales order. This can be calculated at the order or line level. Likewise, it can consider transport days, lead times, and considers working days versus non-working days as well when it displays the expected delivery date.
Setup Delivery Date Control
Delivery date control is set up at Accounts receivable > Setup > Accounts receivable parameters in the Shipments tab.
Whatever is set in Accounts receivable parameters is the default that will be applied to all Sales orders automatically.
What Are the Types of Delivery Date Control?
As you review your options for Delivery date control, you may be left with more questions than answers. There are five options available, and this is how they help to calculate dates:
- Sales lead time – selecting this will apply the Sales lead time in days that is specified in Accounts receivable parameters. This works well in an environment where a consistent lead time will need to be applied for all orders.
- ATP – ATP stands for Available to Promise. This looks at available, uncommitted inventory, and if inventory is available, will show that it can be shipped. ATP also takes lead times, issues, and receipts into consideration for the item as well.
- ATP + Issue margin – Similar to ATP but includes any standard Issue margin as defined in the Coverage group applied to the Released product being sold.
- CTP – CTP stands for Capable to Promise. This is similar to ATP but will look at the availability through an explosion of the item’s bill of materials and capacity.
- Batch CTP – This is for use within Planning optimization only and when the Dynamic plan has been run to help calculate delivery dates, shows as “Ready” in the Batch CTP status field on the Sales order and “Not ready” when it had not been run. Note: Standard CTP orders will always show “Ready” status in this field, so if you are not using Batch CTP yet, this will always show “Ready.”
- Batch CTP is available as a Feature in Preview after version 10.0.41
Conclusion
Using Delivery date control can be a game changer if used correctly. Having proper setup and visibility to help guide your customers’ expectations gives you a competitive advantage and helps bring clarity to the visibility of your expected deliveries.
AI Copilot Summit NA is an AI-first event to define the opportunities, impact, and outcomes possible with Microsoft Copilot for mid-market & enterprise companies. Register now to attend AI Copilot Summit in San Diego, CA from March 17-19, 2025.
The post Delivery Date Control in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations appeared first on Dynamics Communities.