Microsoft Great Plains Inventory Control ? Overview For Consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies as well as Navision (which has very good positions in Europe and emerging markets where it can be easily localized). Great Plains Inventory control is pretty robust and here we would like to give you highlights on standard functionality as well as what could be added to its standard features.

Historically Great Plains Dynamics / eEnterprise was designed with modules structure with very clear ERP workflow ? Inventory control had a link to General Ledger and was interacting with Sales Order Processing, Invoicing, later on with Purchase Order Processing (it was some development and unsuccessful marriage with Intellisol Purchase Order Processing third party module), Project Accounting and Manufacturing set. Inventory control has addition in the form of Bill of Materials module (we see the whole spectrum of downsizing manufacturing companies, who are switching from full-featured manufacturing to Great Plains Inventory control with Bill of Materials). Features:

? Inventory Allocation ? from SOP Sales Order, Invoice you can automatically of manually allocate Inventory items

? Sales Item, Service, Misc Charge, Flat Fee, etc ? these are types of the Inventory items.

? Serial and Lot Number tracking ? serial number is unique, while Lot Number might be assigned to the lot of items

? LIFO, FIFO, Average with Periodic or Perpetual ? these terms should be familiar to accountant

? Inventory Class ? you can group items into the class and have reporting in ReportWriter or just Crystal Reports to summarize by inventory class

? Kit ? item might be a set of items ? or a kit

? Substitute items ? you can have two (GP version 7.5 and 8.0)

? ABC Codes ? is you are familiar with replenishment or manufacturing

? Accounts distribution ? Great Plains first look if you specify accounts on the item level, then if these are empty ? it look at the class level and then to Setup->Posting->Posting Accounts

? Inventory Count ? this nice feature was added several years ago with version 5.0

Add-Ons:

? Barcoding ? you have to check with your Microsoft Great Plains Partner which third party solution fits to your needs.

? Manufacturing ? Great Plains Software bought Icontrol Manufacturing and integrated it into Great Plains about 8 years ago and now it is seamlessly integrated with Inventory Control module

? Web front ? there are eConnect (SDK for eCommerce developer), eOrder, and other eXXX series products that you could deploy. There is a good chance that you will have to develop custom web-interface to your Great Plains back end

Good luck with implementation, customization and integration and if you have issues or concerns ? we are here to help! If you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-630-961-5918 or 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies ? USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, serving clients in Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and having locations in multiple states and internationally ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), he is CMA, Great Plains Certified Master, Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer. You can contact Andrew: andrewk@albaspectrum.com

In The News:

pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


Backing Up And Restoring Your MySQL Database

If you've been using MySQL database to store your important... Read More

Computer Based Language Development and Spell-checking

Language development computer: Computer-based method for aiding language development seems... Read More

How to Build a Basic CSS Layout

Designing without tables by using CSS layouts is fast becoming... Read More

SQL scripts for Project Accounting: Microsoft Great Plains series ? overview for developer

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has Project Accounting module where... Read More

Microsoft Navision Customization and Reporting ? Tips For Programmer/IT Specialist

C/SIDE (Client/Server Integrated Development Environment) - The core of... Read More

Are You Waiting for Microsoft Longhorn Operating System

I love new technology. I am still ready to wait... Read More

What Stands Behind The Software Description?

With thousands of web pages added to the Net every... Read More

Why Stick With Email Clients Like Outlook?

Trying to figure out a stream in banning one email... Read More

Huddle Up; Groupware on Three

It could just be me, but my experiences with document... Read More

Rapid Application Development - Is it Really a Need of Today?

Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a software development methodology. In... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation for Large Corporation ? Overview for VP IT

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains was historically designed to serve... Read More

Downloading Spyware Removers: Think Before, not After

Just imagine: you are walking, say, towards your car, and... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains - Payroll & HR Inexpensive Solution? Not Any More

Microsoft Great Plains is main Microsoft Business Solutions accounting package... Read More

Spyware Definitions List

The adware and spyware definitions list is very long. But... Read More

Why do Manufacturers Invest in Business Management Software?

With many manufacturing shops heading over seas in favor of... Read More

What You Must Know About Spyware Right Now

Spyware is like the new technological nuclear weapon on the... Read More

Microsoft CRM: Implementation, Customization, Support ? Consultant Overview

Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is present several years on the... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains e-Commerce ? additional considerations for programmer

Microsoft Great Plains, designed back in 1990th as database transferable... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: exchange & brokerage ? implementation notes

If you company is small or mid-size special products or... Read More

Great Plains DOS Support ? Notes for Consultant

Great Plains Accounting, accounting package for mid-size and small companies... Read More

Microsoft CRM Implementation ? Fundamental CRM Principles Revision

Microsoft CRM is relatively new player on the now becoming... Read More

Can You Calculate Complex Financial Calculations?

Are you a whiz at calculating financial information? Not the... Read More

Microsoft Navision Database Selection: C/SIDE or MS SQL Server - Overview For IT Specialist

There are certain pluses and minuses in both cases and... Read More

15 Questions to Ask Your Software Vendor

When making a decision to buy any piece of software... Read More

Helping Newbies Understand Professional Software

The Windows registry is a huge database that ensures normal... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: Annual Enhancement Program ? How To Be Re-Enrolled

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is mid and even corporate... Read More

OS 101: Suggestions for Choosing an Operating System

An operating system (abbreviated OS) is essentially the path through... Read More

Microsoft CRM Customization Secrets ? Second Edition

This article is for advanced Microsoft CRM SDK C# developers.... Read More

Behave, Word, Behave!

If you copy something from a Web site or elsewhere...... Read More

Bridging the Gap between Paper and Data

The cornerstone of successful automated office systems is the ability... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains ? Licensing & Product Versions

Current Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has more that 10... Read More

Resume Software ? Advantages Revealed

The various resume software offered, particularly on the internet, can... Read More

Microsoft CRM Data Conversion FAQ

Microsoft Business Solutions CRM data conversion deserves FAQ type of... Read More