Release 1.9 of VAPS for Dynamics 365 Business Central (March 2022)

Posted by Ute Gillet on Apr 13, 2022 12:20:28 PM

Just in time before Easter we can provide you with new versions of our visual scheduling extensions for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Together with the versions 1.14 of the Visual Production Scheduler and the Visual Jobs Scheduler (watch out for the respective blog which is to come within the next few days), we have released version 1.9 of the Visual Advanced Production Scheduler which has already been approved by Microsoft and can be downloaded from AppSource as of now. 

For detailed information, please read the release notes

#1 Comprehensive enhancements concerning EMAD calculation

  • We have reworked the EMAD calculation process to considerably improve the performance.

  • The EMAD allocation page was enhanced to offer more information:

    • new fields "Item Description" and "Supply Type" 

    • The "supply type" shows if the component is available on inventory, if the demand was fulfilled from a reservation, if the demand was fulfilled from a purchase order or if the demand was fulfilled by a mixture of those sources
    • Additional information on the demand listVAPS enhanced EMAD allocation page

    • In this context, we added the field "Log Entries" to the demand overview page. You can click on the number and get additional information on the EMAD allocation. This is especially useful if the EMAD allocation failed or was removed. It allows you to identify the missing components more quickly.

      VAPS log entries in demand overview


  • To make sure that the EMAD gets considered when scheduling, the VAPS "Setup" dialog offered two switches so far, one regarding "Add all" and the other one regarding "Fill idle times". With the new release, we have streamlined the dialog and have combined the two switches into one, this working for all affected automatic scheduling functions (Add All, Fill Idle Times, Apply Routing, Tighten Operations):

VAPS consider EMAD one switch

 

  • In some cases, the calculation of the EMAD took quite long and users told us that during the process they often were wondering whether everything was running smoothly. This made us think about a way of keeping them informed during the calculation and came up with a new info window that provides feedback on and during the calculation of the EMAD values.

 

VAPS - info window calculate EMAD

 

#2 Minimize gaps between operations on a resource

With the new function "Tighten queues" the user can minimize gaps between operations on a resource by shifting all operations to the scheduling start position as far as possible. The function differs from "Fill idle times" in that it does not change the order of the operations. Please note that operations before the scheduling start will not be affected.

The picture below shows an example with operations before they were tightened:

 VAPS - tighten queue before

 

And this is how it looks after tightening the operations:

 VAPS - tighten queue after

 

You can activate this feature

  • for a single resource via context menu

VAPS - tighten queue for one resource

 

  • for all resources by clicking the according item in the "Schedule" menu:

VAPS - tighten queues global

 

#3 Use work centers in alternate routings

In the past, we only allowed selecting machine centers and subcontractor work centers as resources for alternate routings. We have removed this restriction so that it is possible now to select any work or machine center for alternate routings.

 

#4 Overlapping display mode also available for standby resources

With the December 2021 release of the VAPS, we introduced the option of showing overlapping operations either overlapped in one row or stacked. With the new release, we make this possible also for resources being on standby. You can select the desired option via context menu, the default being "Show operations stacked".

VAPS - overlapped/stacked on standby

 

#5 Improved performance of color schemes

The color schemes have been thoroughly reworked to improve the performance.

That's it for today, I hope you'll enjoy the new functions and enhancements. As always, the complete information can be found in the release notes. And don't forget to browse our knowledge base for more detailed information.

And what's more - have a nice Easter holiday!

 

Further information


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Topics: Business Central Production Scheduling, Business Central Visual Scheduling Extensions, Release VAPS