We are delighted to announce that the largest US-based casting manufacturer is partnering with CloudFronts for Dynamics 365 support & maintenance with a Managed Services Agreement (MSA).  The manufacturer and distributor based in Houston, Texas, is doing business since 1960 with facilities in the United States, India, and China. It was one of the first innovators to globally source municipal castings and utility fittings in the United States. They have set the standard for quality and reliable globally sourced products in an economical manner for the utility marketplace and OEM castings. Under this MSA, CloudFronts will provide support & maintenance services for the system based on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales.  On this occasion, Priyesh Wagh, Dynamics 365 Practice Manager at CloudFronts, said, “We are delighted to collaborate and support the client’s business objectives through our Managed Services Agreement. This partnership underscores our commitment to delivering unparalleled support and innovative solutions to help our client achieve its business goals effectively.”  Visit us at https://www.cloudfronts.com/ to learn more about our Dynamics 365 offering  About CloudFronts   CloudFronts is a Dynamics 365 focused Microsoft Solutions Partner helping Teams & Organizations worldwide solve their Complex Business Challenges with Microsoft Cloud. Our head office and robust delivery centre are based out of Mumbai, India, along with branch offices in Singapore & the U.S.  Since its inception in 2012, CloudFronts has successfully served over 500+ small and medium-sized clients all over the world, such as North America, Europe, Australia, MENA, Maldives & India, with diverse experiences in sectors ranging from Professional Services, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Retail, Logistics/SCM, and Non-profits.   Please feel free to connect with us at transform@cloudfronts.com 

In Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations (D365 F&O), the use of batch numbers is a common practice to manage and trace items with specific characteristics. Batch numbers are typically assigned to groups of items produced or received together, allowing for better control, tracking, and compliance with industry regulations. In this blog I will explain how to solve the expiration date issue while registering a Batch and Serial number tracked product. In the above screenshot you can see that the Batch Number 23010-CM-000088 has been assigned for my Item P-000014. Here, the Expiration Date is 08-04-2023. Now if I try to register this Item with the same Batch Number, I will get the Batch Number Expiration Date being past the Required Date error. Now to solve this error go to Inventory Management>Enquiries and Reports>Tracking Dimensions>Batches. Now on the Batch Number page go to Reset Tab then under the Reset tab click on Reset Shelf-Life Dates. The next step is to select the New Expiration Date and then Click Ok. This will Update the Expiiration Date of that Batch Number. In the above screenshot you can see that the Expiration Date has been changed. Now we will be able to register the Item. Here, you can see that now I am able to register the Item successfully. That’s it for this blog. Hope this helps you! Thank You!

Introduction: This comprehensive guide provides administrators with a step-by-step process for restoring Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central environments to a previous state within the retention period. Users with Restore Permissions: Only specific users, such as internal and delegated administrators, can restore environments. These users must also have the D365 BACKUP/RESTORE permission set in the relevant environment. Considerations and Limitations: Environments can be restored up to 10 times per calendar month. Restoration is limited to the same Azure region and country as the original environment. Preparation before Restoration: Before restoring an environment, it’s essential to communicate the plan within the organization, restrict user access, and consider renaming the environment to avoid conflicts. Restoration Process: 3. Click on Restore 4. In the restore environment window select date and time to which you want to restore the environment. 5. Select the type of environment such as sandbox or production. 6. Name for restored environment. 7. Click on restore. Important point: You can restore your production environment into a new production environment even if doing so results in exceeding your number of environments or database capacity quotas. You can however only exceed this quota by one extra production environment, regardless of how many production environments you have available for your subscription. This capability is provided as an exception, to ensure that you can always restore your production environment in critical situations. You must return within your quota within 30 days following the restore by either removing the original production environment or by purchasing an additional production environment. Once the data in the restored database meets your expectations, activate the users, initiate the work queues, and notify your organization that the environment is once again available for use and that the restoration procedure is now complete. Hope this helps!

Introduction: It is crucial for the management team to track the client’s utilization of the system as a key metric for assessing the project’s success and the value it brings to the client. To facilitate this monitoring process, I have developed a utility that can automatically generate and send reports to the management team, detailing the number of records created in specified tables. For example, during the initial master data upload phase, 1500 data added into the Customer table. Subsequently, over the following month, this figure increased to 1750 and then to 1950. Such trends signify that the client is utilizing the system in line with expectations. Pre-requisites: Configuration: Usage Statistics Setup Page: This page, contains two main fields:- Collect Statistics (Boolean) and Mail Recipients (which contains email id’s to which the report has to be send) and one more field that is primary key field is added in table but not in page and it is set to code due to which the header we get as required in Usage Statistics Setup Page. The datatype of the field primary key is set to header because the default number of code is null. Regex is used for pattern matching. Here, email validation is added on Mail Recipients. User can enter multiple email addresses in this format eg. abc@gmail.com;xyz@gmail.com. If the Collect Statistics is enabled than only you can process further and there should be at-least one mail id present in Mail Recipients. Usage Statistics Configuration Page: This page contains the actual data from which the data will be passed and report will be generated. The list and the card pages are also created with same fields. The “All Object With Caption” is used for viewing all object details in the system. The trigger lookup is used to get the table no. and table name at runtime. After fetching the specific table no. and table name, fields will filter according to the filter field 1 value, same goes for filter field 2 value. (filter field 2 is added according to the requirements.) The FieldsDisplay procedure is used to retrieve field no. and field name of the according to its record. In Filter Field 1 Name any field can be selected and filter field 1 value must be set according to that field. Create Statistics Report: This report is designed to automate the generation of usage statistics based on configurations specified in the “Usage Statistics Configuration” table. The report is flagged as “ProcessingOnly,” indicating it is intended for background processing rather than direct user interaction. The dataset within the report contains a data item with an “OnAfterGetRecord” trigger, which executes after each record is retrieved. This trigger is responsible for processing each configuration record, applying filters, and updating or inserting records into the “UsageStatistics” table. Additionally, the report features an “OnInitReport” trigger that checks the “Usage Statistics Setup” table to ensure that statistics collection is enabled. If this condition is not met, an error message is displayed, and the report exits. In essence, this report streamlines the creation of usage statistics in Business Central, adhering to specified configurations and ensuring the necessary setup conditions are satisfied before processing. Usage Statistics Page: After filter the number of records the data which will be generated will be displayed in this table. List will also be created with same fields. In Record Count the number of values are there which satisfies the filter condition. Send Statistics Report: This report is designed to send usage statistics via email. Let’s break down the code: The report begins with specifications such as its application area, caption, and usage category. Notably, it is marked as a “ProcessingOnly” report, indicating it is intended for background processing rather than direct user interaction. The OnInitReport trigger executes when the report is initialized. It checks settings in the “Usage Statistics Setup” table, ensuring that statistics collection is enabled (“Collect Statistics”) and valid mail recipients are specified (“Mail Recipients”). If these conditions are not met, error messages are displayed, and the report exits. The main functionality is in the OnPostReport trigger, which executes after the report is processed. It performs the following steps: Email Excel Sheet: In this, on 22nd date after applying the filters the output is given and on 24th it again checks by applying same filter since new data was not added in the respective table that’s why it is showing the same data. Conclusion In conclusion, the automated reporting tool plays a pivotal role in monitoring client system utilization, revealing encouraging trends such as the gradual increase in customer records. These insights affirm the project’s success and underline its value to the client, reinforcing our commitment to proactive monitoring for continual optimization and client satisfaction.

Hello Everyone!!! In this blog I will explain the Quarantine Management process in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management.  Here the Product was first received in the Main warehouse and then it was moved to Quarantine Warehouse for further inspection as the Product failed to clear the Quality Test. In this blog I will explain a scenario where the Products should be directly received in the Quarantine Warehouse for inspection and after final inspection it turns out that all the products fail the inspection so, a few products will be scrapped and the rest will be returned back to vendor. What is Quarantine Management? The quarantine management process in D365 aims to effectively manage and control quality issues, ensuring that only items meeting the required standards are released for use or distribution. The quarantine management process in Dynamics 365 is a systematic approach to handling items that are suspected of having quality issues or non-conformities. When an item is flagged for quarantine, it is physically segregated from the regular inventory and moved to a designated quarantine location. The quarantined item undergoes thorough inspection and testing to assess the extent of the quality issue. Based on the evaluation, decisions are made regarding the item’s disposition, which may include repair, return to the vendor, or scrapping. If the item is repairable, necessary actions are taken to rectify the identified issues. In cases where the vendor is responsible, the item can be returned for resolution. Once the necessary actions are completed, and the item meets the required quality standards, it is released from quarantine and reintegrated into the regular inventory for use or distribution. This process ensures that only items meeting quality criteria are allowed for further processing, while mitigating the risk of non-conforming products entering the supply chain Let’s start with the setups first: Step 1: Map the Quarantine Warehouse to the Main Warehouse. For that the Pathway is: Go to Inventory Management>Set Up>Inventory Breakdown>Warehouses. Step 2: The next step is to Enable the “Quarantine Management” parameter in the Item Model Group Quarantine Management Process: The below Purchase Order CM-PO-0000137 has been received in the Quarantine Warehouse as per the setup, hence a Quarantine Order CM-0000142 with 9 quantities has been created. Now if I go to the Quarantine Orders page, I can see that a new Quarantine Order has been created. The below screenshot shows the Transactions that took place after the Product Receipt was posted. After Inspection it was found out that 5 quantities were damaged, 4 quantities were to be returned back to the Vendor which means that all the 9 quantities failed to pass the Quality Inspection. So, what I will do is Scrap the 5 quantities and return back the 4 quantities to the Vendor by creating a Purchase Return Order.  Now I will split the Quarantine Order CM-0000142 into 2 separate Quarantine Orders. For that I will use the Split function which is available at the Top of the screen under the Functions Tab. In the above image you can see that I have split the Quarantine Order CM-0000142 into 2 different Quarantine Orders that is CM-0000143 and CM-0000144 for further processing. Now let’s begin the further processing. To scrap this order, I will use the Scrap functionality. To Scrap this order, click on Function and then select Scrap. Here, you can see that the Quarantine Order CM-000143 has been ended as it has been scrapped. 2.  Return the Items back to vendor: Now in order to return the Items back to vendor I will first the Invoice the existing Purchase Order which is CM-PO-0000137. Then I will receive the Items from the Quarantine warehouse to the W3 warehouse. Below you can see that I have invoiced the purchase order CM-PO-0000137. Now let’s receive the items from the Quarantine Warehouse to the Central Warehouse, for that I will use the Arrival Journal. As you can see that a New Arrival Journal has been created. Validate and Post the Journal. Vendor Return Process: After posting the Journal create a New Purchase Order with the type as Return Order.  For that go to Procurement and Sourcing>Purchase Orders>All Purchase Orders. Then select the Vendor to whom the Items will be returned and select the Purchase Type as Return Order. Enter the Site and Warehouse from which the Items will be returned back to the Vendor. Then enter the RMA number provided by the Vendor and then Click OK. Click on the Purchase Order line, select Credit Note, choose the specific invoice, input the quantity as a negative value, and then click OK. In my case the Invoice Number was 311711, so I will select that and then click OK. Then proceed with the normal purchase order processing which will be Product Receipt and Invoicing. After Invoicing the Return Order aa credit note will be  created which will be  deducted from the Vendor Balance. The below screenshot represents the On hand List before and after posting the Return Order Invoice. In the above screenshot you can see that the On hand Quantity changed from 26 to 22 since 4 quantities have been returned back to vendor. That’s it for this blog. Hope this helps you! Thank You!

HECO-Pacific Manufacturing has partnered with CloudFronts to implement Dynamics 365 Business Central. With this collaboration, HECO-Pacific Manufacturing continues its goal to use innovative technology to improve productivity and streamline business procedures.  HECO Pacific has been in business since 1961 providing all types of material handling equipment. They have built some of the most complicated cranes in the industry for some of the toughest customers. This experience has also allowed them to provide a wide range of standard cranes for light duty applications. Learn more about them at http://www.hecopacific.com/  HECO Pacific is looking to migrate from QuickBooks to Dynamics 365 Business Central to improve existing processes and bring efficiency to the organization. Some of the key objectives of this project are to automate reconciliation, manage the entire life cycle of the procure to pay and order to cash cycles in the platform, improve reporting for actions (like PO with due dates), approval processes and finally leverage this new platform for further automation in the future like time entry using project line barcoding.  On this occasion, Jimil Bhatt, Dynamics 365 ERP Team Lead at CloudFronts, said, “We are excited to partner with HECO-Pacific Manufacturing on their journey towards digital transformation. Dynamics 365 Business Central is an ideal solution for Heco Pacific, and we look forward to ensuring they achieve their goals efficiently.”  About CloudFronts   CloudFronts is a Dynamics 365 focused Microsoft Solutions Partner helping Teams & Organizations worldwide solve their Complex Business Challenges with Microsoft Cloud. Our head office and robust delivery centre are based out of Mumbai, India, along with branch offices in Singapore & the U.S.  Since its inception in 2012, CloudFronts has successfully served over 500+ small and medium-sized clients all over the world, such as North America, Europe, Australia, MENA, Maldives & India, with diverse experiences in sectors ranging from Professional Services, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Retail, Logistics/SCM, and Non-profits.   Please feel free to connect with us at transform@cloudfronts.com 

Introduction: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Opportunities and Processing Sales in Business Central Pre-requisites for creating Sales Opportunities: Create Sales Opportunities You can create opportunities from the Opportunity List page. Typically opportunities are created from a specific contact or salespeople. Globally search “Salesperson” and select related link. Select the salesperson from the list for whom you want to create an opportunity. On the salespeople card page, select opportunities action –> selected salesperson opportunities page will open up –> user can create new by clicking on New action. If opportunity is created through salespeople then salesperson code is automatically generated. Globally search “Contact” and select related link. Contacts list page will open up, user can select the contact for which opportunity has to be created. Click on Home –>Create Opportunity for new opportunity. Click on Contact–> Open Opportunity (To view existing opportunity of selected contact) If opportunity is created through contact then contact name is automatically generated. No. – This field is auto generated based on the set no. series. Description – Description of the opportunity. Contact no. – User can select existing contact or create new. Contact name: Contact name is auto generated based on contact no. Phone/mobile/email: Auto generated from contact card page. Contact company name: This field is auto generated from contact card page Salesperson code: if opportunity is created through salesperson then this field is auto populated, if not then user can manually select the salesperson. Campaign no. User can select specific campaign to link with the opportunity. Priority: The default priority is set as normal. Other priorities are Low and High. Sales Cycle code: This is a setup. (To know more refer part 1 of this blog) Status: The status field is updating automatically. Closed: Specifies if the opportunity is closed. Creation date: Opportunity creation date  Date Closed: Specify the date the opportunity was closed. Segment no.: User can link segment to the opportunity. (If any) Sales cycle stages To start the sales cycle, user can click on “Activate first stage” To move an opportunity through sales cycle stages: Sales cycle stage is automatically updated Fill in the rest of the details as necessary. To Close opportunity When the negotiations are finished, you can close the opportunity. When closing an opportunity, you can specify whether it was won or lost, as well as why it was closed. To specify a reason, you must set up closed opportunity codes. To Create Sales Quote To Create Sales Order To Delete Opportunities After you have deleted an opportunity, it is removed it from the Opportunity List page. Conclusion Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central provides a robust framework for creating opportunities and processing sales seamlessly. By following this step-by-step guide, you can harness the full potential of Business Central to optimize your sales processes, enhance customer relationships, and drive business growth. Hope this helps!

US-based leading global provider of technical talent solutions organization has partnered up with CloudFronts to conduct the Business Requirement Study (BRS) D365 Finance & Operations solution with the goal of improving financial operations for a European-based solution provider company.  The company is focused on providing solutions that deliver services in three key areas: sourcing, skilling, and scaling tech talent; investing in places for people to live, work, unwind and thrive, and supporting people through access to finance. Learn more   The client has already implemented D365 Finance & SCM for a few legal entities and plans to do so for the rest of the other group companies. CloudFronts will focus on conducting a Business Requirement Study for them to document the current process and customisation and to provide recommendations for improvements, concerns, and deviations from best practices.  On this occasion, Eusebius Rodrigues, Dynamics 365 Project Manager at CloudFronts, said, “We are excited about the opportunities this partnership presents. The deployment of BRS D365 Finance & Operations is a step towards streamlining financial procedures, and it also guarantees an edge over their competitors.”    About CloudFronts   CloudFronts is a Dynamics 365 focused Microsoft Solutions Partner helping Teams & Organizations worldwide solve their Complex Business Challenges with Microsoft Cloud. Our head office and robust delivery centre are based out of Mumbai, India, along with branch offices in Singapore & the U.S.  Since its inception in 2012, CloudFronts has successfully served over 500+ small and medium-sized clients all over the world, such as North America, Europe, Australia, MENA, Maldives & India, with diverse experiences in sectors ranging from Professional Services, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Retail, Logistics/SCM, and Non-profits.   Please feel free to connect with us at transform@cloudfronts.com  

We are happy to share the news of our partnership with a US-based casting manufacturer to deploy the Dynamics 365 Sales Solution.   The manufacturer and distributor based in Houston, Texas, is doing business since 1960 with facilities in the United States, India, and China. It was one of the first innovators to globally source municipal castings and utility fittings in the United States. They have set the standard for quality and reliable globally sourced products in an economical manner for the utility marketplace and OEM castings. Learn more   CloudFronts will help the client with a quick deployment of Dynamics 365 Sales, leveraging its powerful functionalities like accounts, contacts, leads, and opportunities. By adopting this D365 sales solution, our client, with a strong sales team of 50 people, aims to streamline sales activities and enable visibility across the team throughout the sales cycle, along with robust reporting.  The CEO of CloudFronts, Mr. Anil Shah, expressed his excitement about the partnership by saying, “We are happy to work with our client as they implement the Dynamics 365 Sales platform. Our goal is to enable their growth by helping their sales team track and focus on the right opportunities and improve win rates!”  About CloudFronts   CloudFronts is a Dynamics 365 focused Microsoft Solutions Partner helping Teams & Organizations worldwide solve their Complex Business Challenges with Microsoft Cloud. Our head office and robust delivery centre are based out of Mumbai, India, along with branch offices in Singapore & the U.S.  Since its inception in 2012, CloudFronts has successfully served over 500+ small and medium-sized clients all over the world, such as North America, Europe, Australia, MENA, Maldives & India, with diverse experiences in sectors ranging from Professional Services, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Retail, Logistics/SCM, and Non-profits.   Please feel free to connect with us at transform@cloudfronts.com 

Introduction: In this blog I will demonstrate the set ups for opportunities. The sequence for setting up opportunity to sales cycle is as follows: Opportunities: Any inbound lead could be viewed as a potential sales opportunity. You can make opportunities and link them to certain salespeople to keep track of possible sales. You must first build up sales cycles and sales cycle stages before you start working with opportunity management. When creating opportunities, you should include details such as the contact, salesperson, sales cycle, and dates as well as your estimates of the opportunity’s sales value and success odds. Set up Opportunity Sales cycle Codes: Set up Opportunity Sales cycle Stages: On the Sales Cycles page, select the line for which you want to set up stages, and then choose the Stages action. The Sales Cycle Stages page opens. Stage: Specify the stage number. Description: A description for particular stage Completed %: Specifies the percentage of the sales cycle that has been completed when the opportunity reaches this stage. Chances of Success %: Specifies the percentage of success that has been achieved when the opportunity reaches this stage. Activity Code: User can select the activity Code for particular stages. (Activities have to be created separately) Quote Request: this check box puts a validation on that particular stage to request quote. Allow Skip:  this check allows user to skip that stage. Date Formula: Specifies how dates for planned activities are calculated when you run the Opportunity – Details report. Comment: Specifies if comments exist for the selected stage. (To add comment on any stage, navigate to Related –> Sales cycle –> Comments) Set up activities with task: You can combine multiple task, in an activity. A task represents a step in the activity. You can assign activities to opportunities, salespeople, or contacts. Assign tasks or activities of tasks to opportunities. The following procedure describes how to assign activity tasks to opportunities. The steps are similar when you assign tasks to salespeople and contacts. I will be demonstrating how to create Opportunity and Process sales Opportunities in part 2. Hope this helps!