In production or project planning the scheduling of backlog items is an essential task. It is important to keep an overview of all work to be done and to include the items step by step in the planning board. In a previous blog post we have already discussed different backlog visualizations. Now, we will see how our Visual Scheduling Widget can help you to perform the handling of backlogs by using Gantt charts.
The Visual Production Scheduler (VPS) has been our signature software since 2013. With the experience from more than 300 VPS customers using Microsoft Dynamics NAV, we knew that there are a lot of manufacturing clients that have higher scheduling requirements as what can get fulfilled with the standard Dynamics NAV, respectively Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central functionality.
For this reason, we very consciously decided for a two-pronged approach when we transferred our IP from Dynamics NAV to Dynamics 365 Business Central. On the one hand, we rebuilt the Visual Production Scheduler to prove customers with an easy-to-use visual drag & drop front-end to standard Business Central manufacturing. On the other hand, we started the development of the “bigger brother” to the VPS, which we named VAPS – Visual Advanced Production Scheduler.
The idea was, and is, to enhance the Business Central manufacturing module by those functions that the standard seems to lack, and that larger manufacturers require to better run their shops.
As of today, both the VPS and the VAPS are available on AppSource for Dynamics 365 Business Central addressing to improve the same module: Manufacturing. Then, what are the main differences between these two extensions?
As announced in my last week's blog about release 1.7 of VPS and VJS, here comes what is new in version 1.2 of the Visual Advanced Production Scheduler (VAPS), the only available finite capacity scheduler that fully integrates with the manufacturing module of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
In addition to fixing some bugs, the VAPS was enhanced by a couple of useful and really powerful new features that makes the planners' lifes still more easy. Since this release is really a major one, my blog has gotten slightly longer than usual but I'm sure you will be pleased with all the new things we have on offer.
Our standard edition of the Visual Scheduling Widget (VSW SE for short) for HTML5/JavaScript Gantt charts has evolved excellently in the last few weeks. Driven by the requirements of our customers and by those of our own products we have enhanced the widget further and today we released a new version 3.2. SE. So, let me give you a brief overview of the most important extensions.
The summer has arrived and who would have thought that the situation is still as exceptional as it is - I hope you are all well!
At NETRONIC we are all still working from home and - what can I say - everything runs smoothly and effectively as it has been during the last three months.
So - on time like a clockwork and sticking to our promise - we released version 1.7 of both the Visual Production Scheduler (VPS) and the Visual Jobs Scheduler (VJS). While the focus of version 1.6 was mainly on streamlining the products and improving the user experience, the new version now offers a couple of handy new features.
As always, the complete release information can be found in the respective notes for VPS and VJS. Moreover, both new versions will be available in AppSource soon.
Episode number 13 of the Business Central Manufacturing Show was with Matthew Woodhouse. Matt is the Microsoft Dynamics Team Director at Technology Management and runs its project delivery team. Originally coming from a manufacturing & distribution background, Matt first came into contact with Navision back in 1999. Since then he has been helping manufacturing companies. The interview evolved in a way that we looked at manufacturing and Dynamics 365 Business Central from various angles (e.g. from shop-floor data capture as well as from artificial intelligence). But, independent of how we looked at it: Matt always came up with very concrete tips that manufacturers should apply when it comes to an ERP system.
Paul Hogendoorn was my guest for the 12th episode of the Business Central Manufacturing Show. Paul is an incurable entrepreneur from Canada and has founded, co-founded, or helped launch numerous ventures over his 30+ year career, including most recently, FreePoint Technologies. FreePoint's unique technology captures and delivers real-time productivity information, connecting plant floor manufacturing processes directly to managers and operators in innovative, practical, and cost-effective ways. I picked up one of his recent likes on LinkedIn and started the conversation with a question on gamification. This let to a vital discussion on why gamification matters for manufacturing companies. (spoiler: among other benefits, it can yield a 25% uptick in productivity for high-mix low-volume manufacturers). The good news is: we didn't stop with the why, but also looked at a hands-on recipe how it can get implemented, and what metrics can help with gamification.
Not so long ago, we released our new product, the Visual Advanced Production Scheduler (VAPS), the only available finite capacity scheduler that fully integrates with the manufacturing module of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (also known as "the bigger brother of our Visual Production Scheduler (VPS)").
Of course, we didn't rest on our laurels (as tempting as it might have been, what with the lots of positive feedback we got from you ;-)) but have been busy developing and implementing a couple of handy new features for you, and, of course, fix some bugs. And by the way: there is more to come rather shortly ...
Enjoy reading!