Production Scheduling Tips & Tricks for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Release 1.17 of VPS and VJS for Dynamics 365 Business Central

Written by Ute Gillet | Jan 25, 2023 3:00:31 PM

Together with release 1.12 of the Visual Advanced Production Scheduler (VAPS), we have released version 1.17 of the Visual Production Scheduler (VPS) and the Visual Jobs Scheduler (VJS) for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central respectively. Both versions have been approved by Microsoft and can be downloaded from AppSource and our Teams-based partner portal now. 

So, sit back and see what we have in store for you.


New features of the Visual Production Scheduler (VPS)


#1Directly see and quickly create additional information - enhanced 

As you perhaps know, with one of the last releases we added the option to show an info symbol on a production order routing line when comments were added to this routing line in BC.

 

With the current release, we have comprehensively enhanced this feature. Now, the VPS can also show the info symbol for tool information, personnel information, and quality measure information. But, even better, you can now directly create and edit this information by clicking the according item in the context menu. This really saves you a lot of clicks and time ;-).

 

 

To see the information icon in your plan, you need to activate the feature in the "General" area of the VPS Setup menu:

 

#2 Improved visual connection between timescale and diagram/planning area

Some of our customers use a 24-hour working calendar and, as they told us, sometimes have difficulties navigating and planning by day in the diagram area because the change between the days and/or weekends and working periods is not clearly visible, thus forcing the planner to constantly look back and forth between the timescale and the plan. So we set to work and implemented two new visual elements to create a better connection between the timescale and the diagram area:

  • vertical separation lines between individually selectable intervals
  • individual background color for weekends

In the picture below, the date line grid mode is set to "Daily", and the weekend's background color is light green.

 

The according settings can be found in the "Appearance" area of the VPS setup dialog:

  • Dateline Grid Mode

The "Auto" mode causes the grids to automatically adjust to the resolution of the time scale resulting from zooming in or out.



  • Weekend coloring

If you want to color the weekends individually, you can activate this here. By clicking "..." you open the Color Picker dialog where you can

    • select the desired color
    • adjust the transparency:

    • reset the weekend color to default comfortably and at one click:



New features of the Visual Jobs Scheduler (VJS)

 

#1 Enhanced handling of operations with a start or end date outside the timeframe

Since release 1.15, we provide improved handling of operations whose start or end dates are outside the defined timeframe. With the current release, we have further enhanced this functionality:

  • If the length of a job planning line is calculated by the VJS and the bar is moved before the start of the working area, the bar will be highlighted by a dashed frame and a warning symbol in the Gantt chart table header.



  • An average capacity (loaded capacity / loaded days) is used for the days within the time frame.

    • Capacity load before moving the job planning line outside the working area

    • Capacity load after moving the job planning line outside the working area



  • If a bar gets moved beyond the end of the timeframe by scheduling, its start date will be set to the last day within the view instead.



  • A warning symbol is shown when a resource without capacities is loaded.

And now enjoy the new features. For more details on the new (and, of course, also on the old) features, read the release notes and browse our knowledge base.

 

Additional information

  • Join one of our upcoming webinars 

  • Watch a recorded webinar about our extensions for visual scheduling in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

  • Book a free demo with a VPS or a VJS specialist.

  • Get your free copy of our comprehensive eBook: