5 Tips to Maximize Manufacturing Efficiency with D365 Finance and Operations

Introduction

Boosting efficiency is a crucial aspect for any business looking to become more competitive. When it comes to manufacturing efficiency, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management (D365) might be the perfect solution – simplifying production and supply chain processes to cut costs and increase efficiency.

This article looks at 5 things you can do with D365 to enable data-driven decision-making and take your operations to new heights. Streamline operations, cut costs, improve quality, gain a competitive edge, and more with these valuable insights.

1. Improving Production Planning and Scheduling

Production planning and scheduling is #1 when it comes to optimizing manufacturing efficiency. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations software simplifies these critical processes by enabling you to set up production plans, manage resource availability, and closely monitor your progress.

With advanced analytics and machine learning (ML), D365 can generate optimized production plans and schedules, automatically creating detailed instructions to ensure everything runs smoothly. Real-time insights into production and resource availability let you respond quickly to any changes in demand, helping to reduce delays. With everything running more smoothly, you can start to focus on improving your planning and scheduling processes, making changes on the fly to keep your operations running at peak efficiency.

A study by McKinsey & Company found that companies with strong production planning and scheduling processes achieved up to 20% higher throughput and up to 50% lower inventory levels.

2. Automating Data Collection

For most businesses, accurate, consistent data collection is key to maximizing manufacturing efficiency. D365 helps to streamline the data collection process by allowing manufacturers to capture information quickly and without error, improving accuracy, reducing costs, and increasing the speed of decision-making.

D365 Finance and Operations software offers several features that help automate data collection. For starters, there is included functionality for barcode scanning, inventory tracking, and asset management. D365 also offers a wide range of capabilities to automate tracking, from simple material tracking to complex production tracking – including batch and item level.

D365 helps improve data accuracy by providing access to powerful analytics and reporting tools out of the box. This lets manufacturers easily review and track data to ensure that it is up-to-date and accurate. By automating data collection, manufacturers can reduce the amount of time spent on manual data entry, allowing them to focus on more productive tasks, resulting in improved productivity and cost savings while increasing quality and accuracy.

3. Increasing Visibility Across the Supply Chain

According to a report by EY, companies that effectively manage their supply chain can see a 10-20% reduction in supply chain costs and a 50% increase in supply chain efficiency.

By connecting inventory, production, and order data, D365 can give manufacturers more visibility and insight into the status of their supply chain. This enhanced visibility results in better planning and decision-making. Manufacturers using D365 have a better way to anticipate future needs and adjust their supply chain accordingly. They can also identify issues and take corrective action before they become bigger problems.

With automated data collection and up-to-date analytics, manufacturers have a better way to monitor key metrics like product availability, order lead times, and delivery accuracy. This allows them to optimize their supply chain operations and ensure they meet customer demands.

Overall, leveraging D365 Finance and Operations software gives manufacturers more control of their supply chain. This leads to improved planning and decision-making, allowing manufacturers to reduce costs and improve quality, further increasing profitability.

4. Improving Quality Control

Quality control is another essential part of manufacturing efficiency, and making sure that your products meet the highest standards. With Microsoft D365, you get a better view of quality throughout your production processes. Features like automatic data collection and real-time reporting mentioned above let you quickly detect any problems and take corrective actions immediately.

The Quality Management module in D365 lets you create standard operating procedures and assign tasks to track and monitor quality at every step. Additionally, this module allows you to set up automatic notifications to alert your team whenever there is a quality issue.

D365 provides built-in tools to monitor the performance of each production line, giving you a detailed view into how your processes function. You can use this data to continuously improve production quality and minimize waste. With a comprehensive understanding of how your operations are performing, you can adjust processes to maximize efficiency and reduce costs.

D365 lets you significantly improve the quality control throughout your manufacturing operations. With better visibility into processes, automated data collection, and built-in analytics, your users will be able to quickly detect issues and take corrective action before they become an issue.

5. Implementing Predictive Maintenance

At the heart of predictive maintenance is the practice of using data to monitor the health and performance of manufacturing equipment to proactively diagnose potential failures or issues before they occur. Predictive maintenance can help manufacturers increase reliability, reduce downtime, and improve operational efficiency. Microsoft D365 provides a platform for enhanced predictive maintenance, with built-in tools that enable businesses to manage their operations more efficiently.

D365’s predictive maintenance capabilities come from two different modules:

• the Analytics Suite and
• the Internet of Things (IoT) Suite.

The Analytics Suite leverages machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze and optimize production data in real time. The Analytics suite works to detect patterns, trends, and outliers in processes, and provides early warnings of potential problems or areas that require improvement. The IoT Suite helps to monitor and track equipment performance, enabling users to quickly identify anomalies, diagnose issues, and take corrective action.

To maximize manufacturing efficiency with predictive maintenance, it’s important to understand the data and develop a system that can accurately detect, analyze, and act upon this data. By leveraging the power of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, manufacturers can develop an effective system for predictive maintenance, which can lead to improved quality, increased efficiency, and reduced costs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations provides manufacturers with a comprehensive set of tools to maximize their efficiency. By streamlining production processes, managing the supply chain, and gaining real-time visibility, manufacturers can achieve significant cost savings, improve quality, and increase profitability.

Following the 5 insights presented in this article puts manufacturers in a better position when it comes to taking advantage of D365’s capabilities to improve production planning and scheduling, automate data collection, increase visibility across the supply chain, improve quality control, and implement predictive maintenance. All of these are surefire ways for any business to reduce costs, improve quality, and gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

Achieve your goals and take your operations to the next level with the power of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations.