How we have been keeping busy
The whole world has been affected by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. This has changed how many organizations around the world work. As a company, we had to adjust to continue an unchanged delivery of our services to our partners and customers (see an earlier blog post we wrote about how we are currently working).
For those of you who are stuck at home and want to learn something new, we have recently launched our Visual Scheduling Academy, which aims to educate people about our newest extension for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central: the Visual Advanced Production Scheduler (VAPS). I’m pretty sure this has kept several of our partners busy during this time.
What about you, what have you been up to during self-quarantine and isolation?
Today’s digital revolution
Not only has our working ways changed, but also how we entertain ourselves and what we do during our free time. From online shopping to online gaming we are seeing the digital revolution take shape during an unprecedented time. Personally, I’ve been using YouTube a lot to up my cooking game, adding several new dishes to my culinary arsenal (i.e. Korean Kimchi Stew).
I’ve also seen a lot of people start doing online courses, since they have time on their hands to complete some courses on popular websites such as Coursera or Udemy. People now have “more time” on their hands, but still want this disposable time used in a productive manner, such as engaging in digital content to learn a thing or two.
The Visual Advanced Production Scheduler
I mentioned earlier that we recently launched our VAPS, the much awaited finite capacity scheduler, fully integrated and built specifically for the manufacturing module of Business Central (by the way it is now available on AppSource). The VAPS is the bigger brother of our Visual Production Scheduler (VPS). It was also created to help planners in their daily firefighting and quest for operational excellence. The VAPS differentiates itself from the VPS with the following functionality:
- Various scheduling tools to support different scenarios (more automation)
- Alternative machine centers
- Material availability information
- Ability to build and maintain various production scheduling simulations
- Prioritization via pinning/freezing operations
VAPS certification and the Visual Scheduling Academy
The VAPS is a product that makes working with the manufacturing module of Business Central a walk in the park – it does though, take some effort to learn and setup. Thus for partners we require VAPS certification, which entails a training process and several meetings:
- Remote kickoff meeting
- 1 year access to the Visual Scheduling Academy the VAPS course
- 2 hours technical & functional support after completion of training courses
- 2 presales meetings
- Demo version of the VAPS for your system
- “VAPS certified partner” certificate
Our CEO Martin, has designed the courses on the Visual Scheduling Academy in a way, that you should be an expert upon completion. Of course, assuming you have prior knowledge in manufacturing planning, finished the course (without skipping videos) and did your homework.
For most regions in the world, the end of self-isolation and working from home is still a huge question mark. So if you find yourself at home with time in your hands, wanting to learn something new that could enhance your business, either as a customer to give you firmer grip over your operations or as a partner, to add a new product in your portfolio of offerings, then you could view the VAPS course as an Udemy course on Manufacturing, which you can complete during this period of uncertainty.
I am actually the first graduate of NETRONIC’s Visual Scheduling Academy. It took me a week and a half, of probably an hour or more a day to watch videos and try to do it on my VAPS. In the past month, a few more partners have also graduated from the Visual Scheduling Academy. Since the VAPS has been release in January, it has been happily welcomed by our partners. We already have close to a dozen Certified Partners from around the world and a handful of customers using this new tool, which will also surely help you along the way.
Learn about the VAPS and get started
If you’re looking for something new to learn during this period – then getting VAPS certified might be perfect for you. If you want to learn more about the VAPS Certification process or learn how to make Kimchi stew, then don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. Connect with me on LinkedIn or send me an email at lawin.ileto@netronic.de.
Alternatively, you are cordially invited to check our upcoming webinars and join us there.
