Breaking the Barcode Barrier: WMS Express in Business Central

In this engaging episode, Emma and Ryan dive into the real-world challenges and misconceptions surrounding barcode scanning in warehouse operations for Dynamics 365 Business Central users. They discuss how many businesses wrongly assume that implementing barcode functionality means costly hardware, complex add-ons, and slow rollouts. The conversation highlights how WMS Express shatters these assumptions by offering an integrated, cloud-ready app that’s easy to deploy, free to start, and compatible with affordable mobile devices. Emma and Ryan unpack recent app updates—like automatic package IDs, smarter barcode parsing, and container management—that enhance usability and efficiency without extra cost. With a focus on practical solutions, they challenge the notion that warehouse scanning must be expensive and complicated.

Website: https://WMSExpress.com

 

Episode Transcript

(04:00):
Welcome to Inside Insight. Your quick hit of

(01:00:58):
tips, tools and trends for manufacturing, Distribution

(01:50:49):
and Dynamics 365 Business Central, brought

(02:33:33):
to you by Insight Works.

Ryan (03:37:39):
Welcome back to the deep dive. You know, if you've ever been involved

(04:41:45):
in workplace safety, you'll know the the struggle.

(05:38:43):
Imagine something happens, a critical incident,

(06:21:27):
and you're suddenly digging through piles of

(07:11:18):
paper or maybe endless emails, scattered spreadsheets.

Emma (08:01:10):
Yeah. Just trying to piece it all together.

(08:36:22):
It's tough.

Ryan (08:49:10):
Exactly. For an investigation or maybe an audit,

(09:36:20):
it's just an administrative nightmare, honestly.

(10:11:43):
It hits productivity and, well, it can even

(10:58:54):
put compliance at risk.

Emma (11:23:50):
And that's really the perfect entry point for

(12:08:45):
what we're looking at today. It's an application

(12:53:41):
called Safety logbook. It's from InsightWorks

(13:27:23):
and it's built specifically for Microsoft Dynamics

(14:06:42):
365 Business Central. Cloud.

Ryan (14:30:30):
Oh, business Central.

Emma (14:58:10):
Right. And what's interesting here, it's actually

(15:32:39):
available for free on App Source. That's Microsoft's

(16:12:04):
App Store basically. And it is cloud only.

Ryan (16:55:30):
Free is definitely interesting. So getting

(17:29:27):
back to the core problem, our sources really

(18:14:44):
hammer home those points you mentioned. Inconsistent

(18:54:21):
records are a big one. And missed follow ups

(19:45:18):
on incidents. Plus that, sheer stress when

(20:24:55):
an audit looms and your information is, well,

(21:10:12):
everywhere but where you need it.

Emma (21:44:10):
Right. It just drains time and energy and frankly

(22:28:05):
adds risk you don't need.

Ryan (22:57:50):
So Safety Logbook aims to fix that.

Emma (23:43:10):
That's the idea, yeah. Its main goal is to

(24:36:13):
offer a solid ehs, Environmental health and

(25:17:28):
safety management solution.

Ryan (25:36:30):
Ehs, Got it.

Emma (25:54:30):
Yeah. It's really designed to simplify compliance,

(26:49:13):
make incident documentation much smoother,

(27:28:19):
get employees properly involved, track follow

(28:15:13):
ups and crucially, doing.

Ryan (28:46:30):
All that inside Business Central.

Emma (29:22:30):
Exactly. Directly within the system you might

(29:57:30):
already be using for other business processes.

Ryan (30:32:30):
Okay, that sounds genuinely useful. So, thinking

(31:10:48):
about you, our listener, who really stands

(31:49:06):
the game the most here, who are the typical

(32:38:21):
users?

Emma (32:45:10):
Well, the sources point to quite a few key

(33:28:10):
roles. Obviously safety managers are top of

(34:01:36):
the list. Makes sense. But also HR and compliance

(34:44:36):
officers, they need to track the people side

(35:22:50):
the regulations. Operations managers too, overseeing

(35:51:30):
the day to.

Ryan (36:05:50):
Day supervisors on the floor.

Emma (36:33:30):
Absolutely. Supervisors, team leads, they need

(37:14:57):
that immediate visibility. Then you've got

(37:56:24):
your dedicated health and safety officers managing

(38:44:46):
the overall programs.

Ryan (39:05:30):
Right.

Emma (39:12:10):
And even, you know, executive leadership, they

(39:55:16):
need those high level dashboards on safety,

(40:38:23):
performance and risk across the whole organization.

Ryan (41:28:10):
Okay, quite a wide range then. So let's, let's

(42:06:46):
dig into the how. How does it actually deliver?

(42:45:23):
What are the features doing?

Emma (43:08:10):
Well, it starts with incident tracking, but

(43:45:30):
it's pretty comprehensive. It's not Just logging

(44:22:50):
injuries.

Ryan (44:28:10):
Okay.

Emma (44:35:30):
It extends to documenting safety meetings,

(45:21:19):
tracking employee certifications, knowing who's

(45:59:30):
qualified for what when things expire, and

(46:52:57):
even managing audit trails.

Ryan (47:23:30):
They're broader than just accidents.

Emma (47:47:30):
Much broader. And it emphasizes employee involvement.

(48:35:10):
You can easily link the injured person. Sure.

(49:29:40):
But also witnesses, supervisors, the safety

(50:10:32):
team involved.

Ryan (50:24:10):
Right. Get the full picture.

Emma (50:43:30):
Exactly. And when it is an injury, the injury

(51:28:11):
documentation is specific. Specific. You can

(51:57:58):
log the body part, the type of injury, the

(52:42:40):
suspected cause, things like that.

Ryan (53:08:50):
That covers the immediate response. But what

(53:58:02):
about prevention? Getting ahead of things.

(54:40:13):
Does it help create a more proactive safety

(55:36:28):
culture?

Emma (55:43:30):
It does, yeah. There's functionality for risk

(56:20:03):
assessment. You can rate hazards based on potential

(57:01:50):
severity and how likely they are to happen

(57:43:36):
again.

Ryan (57:50:10):
Okay. Identifying the big risks.

Emma (58:20:10):
Right. And then crucially, it drives structured

(59:08:59):
follow up actions. So tracking required training,

(59:57:49):
maybe reviewing work practices, making sure

(60:39:40):
root causes are actually addressed and fixed.

Ryan (61:28:30):
And you mentioned earlier, it's inside Business

(62:05:01):
Central now. Integration is a word thrown around

(62:46:45):
a lot. Sometimes it just means clunky connections.

Emma (63:29:50):
That's a fair point. And it's maybe the most

(64:20:06):
important differentiator here. This is native

(64:53:37):
integration. Native meaning it's built directly

(65:27:09):
for Business Central. It uses the existing

(66:06:15):
employee records. It works with BC's analysis

(66:45:21):
mode for reporting. There's no complex setup,

(67:24:28):
no separate database you need to sync. No extra

(68:14:44):
integration.

Ryan (68:36:10):
Ah, okay. So it leverages data I already have

(69:21:23):
in my ERP system.

Emma (69:44:10):
Precisely. It links incidents directly to your

(70:35:02):
existing assets or departments, specific projects,

(71:18:38):
even physical locations you've defined in bc.

Ryan (72:13:30):
That sounds powerful. Less data entry, less

(72:49:54):
chance of error.

Emma (73:05:30):
Definitely. And beyond that, core integration.

(73:45:54):
It also handles certification tracking. You

(74:26:19):
get alerts for expirations. You can upload

(75:13:28):
attachments like phone, photos, documents,

(75:47:09):
right to the incident record.

Ryan (76:23:30):
Attachments are always useful. What about reporting

(77:10:10):
audits?

Emma (77:18:10):
Yeah, big focus there. You can automatically

(77:50:35):
generate a full summary report. Great for audits.

(78:27:38):
And there's real time reporting built in, so

(79:04:41):
you can analyze trends, track lost time, that

(79:41:44):
sort of thing, whenever you need to.

Ryan (80:19:30):
Okay, pulling all these features together,

(80:57:40):
what does this actually mean for a company

(81:48:35):
using it? What are those bottom line benefits?

Emma (82:47:40):
Well, when you connect the dots, the benefits

(83:34:46):
become pretty clear. First, improved compliance.

(84:10:06):
It's just easier to meet requirements when

(84:51:20):
everything's tracked systematically.

Ryan (85:09:00):
And audits become less painful, I imagine.

Emma (85:46:20):
Way less painful. Generating those reports

(86:30:36):
instantly versus scrambling, huge difference.

(87:07:30):
Then there's significant risk reduction. By

(87:51:46):
spotting those patterns and incidents quickly

(88:36:03):
and ensuring the follow up actually happens,

(89:27:42):
you prevent recurrence. You're actively lowering

(90:11:59):
risk. And think about administrative efficiency.

(90:56:15):
If you're moving away from Excel sheets or

(91:55:17):
worse, paper forms. The time savings are substantial.

Ryan (92:54:20):
Why bet?

Emma (93:05:00):
Plus you get clearer employee accountability

(93:45:00):
because it's all tracked in one system and

(94:38:20):
really detailed insights into injuries for

(95:18:20):
your medical response teams or operational

(95:58:20):
adjustments.

Ryan (96:10:20):
So the big picture is really about that integrated

(97:01:09):
workflow, leveraging the BC data you already

(97:40:41):
manage.

Emma (97:49:00):
Exactly. No more disconnected tools. It brings

(98:30:04):
EHS management right into your core business

(99:11:08):
system. 158 99:31:20,000 --> 100:15:06,666 Ryan