Recently I started a Dynamics 365 project and one of the requirements that the client had was they wanted to be able to scan inventory in and out of the warehouse. I have seen that many consultants stop there when determining if Advanced warehouse should be used. If the client says they need to be able to scan then immediately the solution is advanced warehouse.
Unfortunately for us Advanced Warehouse is the only way that we can utilize scanning devices in the warehouse. Currently there is no out of the box solution for basic warehouse. This can cause an issue because I understand the want for scanning but often advanced warehouse may be overkill for the client even with the increased efficiency of scanning.
Lets talk about a few considerations we should make when thinking about implementing advanced warehouse in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain.
Does the client currently use barcoding/scanning?
One of the first things I take into consideration is does the client currently use any sort of scanning technology in their warehouse. If no, why not? Does their current system not support scanning or do they have a very simple operation where scanning might get in they way. Do they currently have locations in their warehouse? Are the items currently barcoded. Often when I work with clients that don’t currently do any sort of scanning there is an underlying reason why. It’s one thing to have to go through and setup locations for the warehouse, but an entirely different thing to work into your scanning process the ability to print out a barcode label for every item during the receiving process. I have worked with clients that do not have barcodes on their products and often times I find that their vendors are not equipped to put barcodes on items. It is generally worth a conversation with the vendor though because sometimes we can get the vendors to apply barcodes to their items. The takeaway here is if a client doesn’t currently scan find out why. There might be a pretty good reason why they don’t currently scan. Make sure you can work around the underlying reason.
Do they have simple warehouse processes?
Another area that I look at when determining if a client is a candidate for advanced warehouse is what their processes look like. For example, if their sales process consists of a sales person going to the back and pulling a part to put on the counter for a customer pick up this is not a process that is conducive to advanced warehouse.
A simple test here that I like to apply is “does this business have warehouse pickers”? If they don’t have dedicated pickers for outbound goods more often than not advanced warehouse may not be for this business. I see this often in parts type business that have a lot of walk in. Parts will be pulled and put on the counter or pulled into a will call desk. Often items are held to the side until a special order can come in.
When evaluating a business for advanced warehouse take a close look at their processes to determine who is doing what. Is the process static and the same every time or very dynamic. Advanced warehouse processes are pretty static and predictable.
What Processes do they want to use scanning?
Another area where I see where companies may not be the best candidate for advanced warehouse is when there are only a few processes that they want to use advanced warehouse for.
An example here would be a company that only wants to use advanced warehouse for receiving and cycle counting. There are workarounds for various processes where you don’t want to use advanced warehouse for example sales order picking, but those work arounds may be onerous for a client.
If you have a client that only wants to use scanning for a few use cases make sure you take this into consideration when making a recommendation of basic warehouse vs advanced warehouse.
Conclusion
There are many things that can influence whether or not you should implement advanced warehouse. I’ve tried to cover only a few of them here today. Advanced warehouse can be setup very simply, but even with a simple implementation can be process heavy depending on the business processes.
As any of you know that have watched any of my videos or have followed my blog I’m typically all in on advanced warehouse. It’s one of my favorite modules in Dynamics 365. I have just seen more than one project try to implement advanced warehouse and have to strip it out part way through the build because it is just too heavy handed.
One recommendation I have if you have a company that is on the fence as to whether they should implement advanced warehouse or basic warehouse is to setup a few processes as simply as possible very early on in the project. Then allow the client users to try it out and give them some hands on time. I have done this exercise a few times and more often than not the client will make the call on whether advanced warehouse is right for them or not. This does take up some valuable time during the initial phases of the project but its an investment that is well worth it if it avoids having to make a change part way through the implementation.
