What's new in the VPS? Release 1.11 for Business Central

Posted by Lawin Ileto on Jul 13, 2021 8:10:31 AM

Fresh out the oven! We just released version 1.11 of Visual Production Scheduler (VPS) on Business Central. This new version is available on-prem and can also be downloaded from AppSource for cloud customers. The new version brings a lot of new functionalities to the visual drag & drop production scheduler for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

#1 Consider queue time

With the continuous enhancement of our products, this time we introduce new scheduling logic for the VPS that enables it to consider the queue time when scheduling.

Setting a queue can be done on the machine/work center time.

Visual Production Scheduler for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central - version 1.11

 

This time has no impact on the load of a work/machine center. The queue time acts as a buffer time between an operation and its successor so that you create a gap between the end time and the start time of two consecutive operations.

On the example below you can clearly see the queue time acting as a buffer between the two operations.

Visual Production Scheduler for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central - version 1.11

 

The VPS setup dialog has also been enhanced accordingly so that you can decide whether to consider the queue time or not.

 


#2 Consider the send-ahead quantity

We have been listening to our customer’s demands, and we are proud to announce the fact that we now can consider send-ahead quantities on the VPS.

On the routing of an item users on Business Central can specify a send ahead quantity for a particular operation. The send ahead quantity can be used to start a dependent operation before the current operation is fully completed.

This means that instead of an operation to finish a whole batch, it can send smaller quantities of that batch on to the next operation, allowing the succeeding operation to start earlier. This reduces the overall runtime of the production order line because the operations then start to overlap. The successor does not have to wait until the predecessor finishes and hence has no idle time.

 

This option can be activated on the VPS setup dialog

Visual Production Scheduler for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central - version 1.11

 

#3 Enhanced Search Functionality

We made it a lot easier for you to search both production order routing lines and production order lines on the Production Order View and Capacity View. The respective view automatically scrolls to the first search result (the operation for production order routing line or to the first operation of the production order line i.e., operation without predecessor) which gets highlighted with a blinking frame and will also be selected so that the links are shown. The search dialogs can be personalized the same way as is known from Business Central by adding columns in the fields list.

Search dialog for Production Order Line

Visual Production Scheduler for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central - version 1.11

Search dialog for Production Order Routing Line

Visual Production Scheduler for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central - version 1.11

#4 API enhancements

As mentioned in our previous update (last April), we have now extended the VPS with an API, where customers/ partners can change specific behavior of the app via an extension. It is a very powerful functionality that we continue to enhance.

In this update we introduce OnBeforeTransfer events. These events can be used to modify Business Central data before transferring them into our simulation data. This way, the VPS can now support custom flow fields (dynamically calculated fields that are normally introduced by the Microsoft partners). Flow fields can now be shown either on the Text Tooltips or on the Bar Label

Another API enhancement that we introduce is the ability to customize the production order due date line. Through the API you can customize the color, thickness, and description color. The event will be thrown in the load/reload phase of the VPS. If the event is not handled, the standard appearance will be applied.

 

#5 Removal of Automatic Translations

We removed automatically generated translations. They got exchanged by manually created proper translations in English and German. For partners wanting to create their own language translations, we provide the English .xlf files as basis.

If you want to learn more about these updates in detail as well as our bug fixes, check out our release notes

 

More information

Ebook - Visual Scheduling for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

 

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