Cracking the Code on Warehouse Inefficiencies: Real-Time Solutions for Business Central Users

This episode explores the costly and often overlooked inefficiencies hiding in warehouse operations—especially for companies using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Hosts Emma and Ryan unpack how small mistakes, such as mispicks and outdated manual processes, can quietly erode profits. They highlight actionable fixes, including real-time data capture, mobile-enabled workflows, and low-code customizations. Plus, they explore the hidden burden of managing warehouse devices and how centralized configuration can streamline operations. It’s a bright look at how technology can turn warehouses from bottlenecks into strategic assets.

Website: https://WMSforDynamics.com 

Episode Transcript

(04:00):
Welcome to Inside Insight, your quick hit of

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tips, tools and trends for manufacturing, Distribution

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and Dynamics 365 Business Central, brought

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to you by Insigh tWorks.

Emma (03:04:00):
Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we're plunging

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into a challenge that consistently trips up

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manufacturing operations. It's that never ending

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tug of war between keeping essential equipment

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running and, well, hitting those relentless

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production targets.

Ryan (07:10:40):
Yeah, it's a classic conflict, isn't it? Maintenance

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needs the machine time. Production also needs

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that exact same machine time.

Emma (08:54:40):
Exactly. Okay, let's unpack this then. Our

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mission for this deep dive is to explore how

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you can maybe transform equipment maintenance.

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Move it away from being this disruptive.

Ryan (11:54:00):
Bottleneck where planned downtime suddenly

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becomes chaos.

Emma (12:42:40):
Right. And move it towards being a predictable,

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integrated part of your overall production

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plan. We want to ensure maximum uptime efficiency,

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you know, without those costly delays or sudden

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overtime pushes. We're going to get right into

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the nuts and bolts here using the industry's

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own language. Really understand the specific

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functions and benefits that make this kind

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of transformation possible. So we're talking

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about a real pain point. Many manufacturers

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feel deeply, this constant battle, maintenance

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versus production, over the same limited resource

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time on your critical equipment.

Ryan (21:29:20):
It's like they're fighting over the same parking

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spot every single day.

Emma (22:24:40):
Pretty much.

Ryan (22:33:20):
And what's fascinating here, or maybe frustrating,

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depending on your perspective, is that the

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root of this conflict often boils down to a

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fundamental blind spot. It's usually within

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the enterprise resource planning systems, the

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erp, you know, the backbone of operations.

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Our sources really highlight a key issue. Platforms

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like Microsoft Dynamics 365, Business Central,

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straight out of the box. They don't natively

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see maintenance as its.

Emma (29:50:00):
Own distinct thing, separate from just making

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widgets.

Ryan (30:42:00):
Exactly. Yeah. Treat it differently from standard

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production.

Emma (31:29:40):
Yeah.

Ryan (31:43:00):
So this means you could schedule crucial maintenance

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on a machine, but the system scheduler, it

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won't automatically see that machine as unavailable.

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It won't stop a production order from landing

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on that exact same piece of equipment at the

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exact same time.

Emma (35:39:00):
Right. Which leads directly to friction.

Ryan (36:14:20):
Oh, absolutely. Between planners and technicians.

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It creates this reactive environment where,

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you know, planned downtime routinely spirals

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into unplanned chaos right there on the shop

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floor.

Emma (39:09:40):
That's the kind of scenario that just bleeds

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money and causes endless headaches.

Ryan (40:07:20):
It really does. Lots of frustrated phone calls.

Emma (40:50:40):
That sounds like constant firefighting. So,

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okay, if Business Central already understands

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production orders really well, what if we just

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made maintenance behave in the exact same way?

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This is where it gets really interesting, I

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think.

Ryan (44:22:40):
Precisely. That's the core concept. Create

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what we're Calling maintenance orders. And

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you structure them just like your standard

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production orders.

Emma (46:32:00):
Meaning, what does that include?

Ryan (46:56:00):
It means they include all the familiar operational

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bits, defined routings, the step by step instructions.

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Right. And bills of material or BOMs for any

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parts.

Emma (49:31:50):
You need the recipe of components like filters

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or oil.

Ryan (50:20:30):
Exactly. And of course, scheduled times start

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and end.

Emma (51:17:50):
Okay, so you package maintenance work into

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these familiar production structures, but what's

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the actual tangible benefit? What does that

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do inside the system?

Ryan (53:57:50):
Well, the real genius here isn't just like

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a technical trick. It's a fundamental shift.

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It gives planners a single unified view of

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equipment availability. That's huge. When you

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link a maintenance order to a specific work

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center, maybe a group of similar machines,

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or a machine center like one specific lathe,

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Business Central automatically reduces the

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available capacity for that equipment during

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that scheduled maintenance window.

Emma (60:59:20):
Ah, so the system finally sees it as busy.

Ryan (61:43:20):
It sees it as busy. And furthermore, if you're

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using advanced scheduling tools, maybe an add

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on like mxaps.

Emma (63:33:50):
Manufacturing Execution System and Advanced

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Planning and Scheduling. Got it.

Ryan (64:36:30):
Right. Or even the free graphical scheduler

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that comes with B.C. these tools will inherently

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respect that designated downtime. They simply

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won't assign production to equipment that's

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already booked for service.

Emma (67:35:50):
Okay, so it prevents the clash automatically.

Ryan (68:12:30):
It does. Imagine a released maintenance order

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for a lathe oil change. It's got specific start

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and end times. It's tied directly to that lathe

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machine center record to the system. It's indistinguishable

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from any other production job. That lathe is

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genuinely unavailable for anything else during

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that time.

Emma (73:40:20):
That eliminates the guesswork. Eliminates that

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constant tug of war.

Ryan (74:35:40):
Exactly. That previously just crippled efficiency.

Emma (75:21:00):
Okay, that sounds like a massive step forward.

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Really helps avoid those, you know, mourning

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of conflicts we hear about constantly. But

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it does sound like you're still relying on

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someone setting that maintenance order on a

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calendar somewhere. Right. Are manufacturers

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still just stuck with like rigid calendar based

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checks or can we get even smarter about the

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timing?

Ryan (80:28:20):
That's a crucial question. Yeah, because yeah,

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relying purely on static calendars, weekly,

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monthly, quarterly, it's often not accurate.

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It's definitely not always efficient.

Emma (83:09:40):
You end up over maintaining some things and

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under maintaining others.

Ryan (84:12:20):
Precisely. You either waste resources on healthy

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equipment or worse, miss critical signs on

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assets that are actually struggling. This is

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where dynamic scheduling and usage based triggers

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really become game changers.

Emma (87:55:50):
Okay, tell me more about that dynamic scheduling

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first.

Ryan (88:41:50):
So tools like that MXAPS we mentioned, they

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extend Business Central's capabilities quite

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a bit. They can look at the production schedule,

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evaluate available windows, and automatically

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Slot maintenance into low impact times.

Emma (92:15:10):
Like between jobs?

Ryan (92:43:40):
Exactly. Between jobs. During periods where

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the machine isn't heavily loaded anyway. Or

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maybe strategically, just ahead of a planned

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longer shutdown. This approach dramatically

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minimizes disruption to your actual customer

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orders and your overall throughput.

Emma (96:35:40):
Makes sense. Find the quiet spots.

Ryan (97:06:20):
Yeah, I remember one place. They saved countless

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hours of unplanned downtime just by shifting

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from a rigid quarterly schedule to dynamically

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slotting it in based on the actual production

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load. It made a huge difference. 161 100:04:40,000 --> 100:43:33,333 Emma