The Next Generation Manufacturer

Today is a great day for manufacturers. They have more comprehensive offerings available to them than ever before. Connectivity options enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing adoption and the emergence of powerful business applications allow manufacturers to be closer to the marketplace and build better products more effectively than ever before. Sometimes, however, faster, better, and cheaper is simply not enough. Manufacturers need to delight their customers while satisfying the needs of their internal employees and business partners. They need more…and Microsoft Dynamics AX has arrived to help achieve that goal.

On Thursday November 19, 2015 Microsoft announced the next release of Microsoft Dynamics AX and its availability in the first quarter of CY2016. While this might seem like a generic announcement of a product, in fact, it’s truly a momentous announcement reflecting years of effort by the Microsoft R&D team to build a transformative ERP solution that addresses the needs of customers and Microsoft partners. This next release of Dynamics AX is a significant first step in Microsoft’s redefinition of the ERP space for manufacturers. No longer will your ability to respond to customer requirements and market changes be limited by your software solution. Au contraire mon ami: you’ll now have a modern application built and architected on Azure that brings the speed, scale, and flexibility of the Microsoft cloud to life for manufacturers.

For businesses the importance of speed, connectivity, business insight, and operating intelligently cannot be overemphasized, but for manufacturers there are additional needs for more connected operations.  Whether they need to accelerate new product introductions, agilely execute on the shop floor, effectively and intelligently fulfill orders, or other traditional needs as detailed in the Microsoft Dynamics AX Factsheet, manufacturers using Microsoft Dynamic AX will have more options and power than ever before…for example here’s a walk-through on how to Simplify Production Floor Management.

It all starts with having a system that empowers users to work the way they want to work. As Mike Ehrenberg explains in his blog, there’s an expectation that for a tool to be effective it must be able to address “the right scenarios with the right experiences on the device of the user’s choice.” When user expectations are fulfilled by a solution like this, improvements happen across the board. We see visibility throughout the organization, business productivity and process optimization become the norm, and key insights are gained through enhanced analytics. With Microsoft Dynamics AX manufacturers will prosper.

Microsoft Dynamics AX is an enabler to the next generation of businesses as outlined by Christian Pedersen. We’ve validated our research with customers and partners to get direct feedback into our R&D process. When manufacturing customers said we want more powerful analytical capabilities and recommendations…we listened. You now have the ability to analyze your supply chain and make predictive determinations to ensure you have the right product, in the right quantity, arriving in the right place at the right time. This is not just the power to view or have access to data, but now having the ability to take this information and turn it into action.

It’s real…it’s now…and it’s enabled by a Microsoft solution built on Dynamics AX and the cloud.

This is definitely an exciting time. Manufacturers are now right smack in the middle of the convergence of many technologies like IoT, Business and Operational Intelligence, Predictive Analytics, and advanced production capabilities. Now manufacturers have an ERP solution in Microsoft Dynamics AX that can take advantage of these technologies to make them industry leaders.

With Microsoft Dynamics AX…this next generation in business solutions is going to be fun!

Learn More About Microsoft Dynamics AX