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Introduction to inventory to deliver business process to manage the flow of goods

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Applies to: Dynamics 365 Business Central, Dynamics 365 Finance, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Microsoft Supply Chain Center

This article introduces the inventory to deliver end-to-end business process. It outlines how Dynamics 365 products can help organizations manage and optimize their inventory to deliver processes. This end-to-end business process has the number 60 in the business process catalog. Learn more at About the business process catalog for Dynamics 365 apps.

Inventory to deliver overview

The inventory to deliver business process involves managing the flow of goods from receipt into a warehouse or distribution center through to delivery to the customer. This end-to-end process includes receipt of goods, quality management, inventory management, inventory costing, order fulfillment, and shipping.

Important

The process defined here doesn't include the procurement process, which involves purchasing raw materials or finished goods from suppliers. It only includes the receipt of goods in the warehouse. Learn more at Help organizations manage and optimize the source to pay business processes.

The process also doesn't include production, which involves converting raw materials into sub-assemblies or finished goods. This process does include the issuing of raw materials into production and the receipt of finished goods into inventory. Learn more at Help organizations manage and optimize their plan to produce processes.

Every organization has variations to the inventory to deliver process. Here, we define the basic outline for any organization looking to implement a technology solution to support their inventory to deliver business processes.

Impact on the organization

A good process for inventory to deliver is critical for any organization that wants to efficiently manage its supply chain operations and meet customer demand. Effective inventory management helps make sure that the right products are available at the right time, in the right place, and at the right cost. Potential benefits include increased customer satisfaction, reduced inventory costs, improved cash flow, and better overall business performance.

Dynamics 365 is a comprehensive business process management solution that can help organizations to optimize their inventory to deliver process. The platform provides end-to-end visibility into the entire supply chain, from procurement and inventory management to order fulfillment and delivery. Businesses can make more informed decisions about inventory levels, lead times, and order fulfillment strategies.

Dynamics 365 also supports automation of key inventory management processes, such as demand forecasting, inventory planning, and order allocation. By automating these processes, organizations can reduce the risk of stockouts, overstocks, and excess inventory handling, which can lead to improved inventory turnover and profitability.

Dynamics 365 provides powerful analytics and reporting tools built on Power BI, Azure Data Lakes, and Azure Synapse. These tools can help organizations to monitor key inventory metrics, such as inventory turnover, stock levels, and order fill rates. With insights such as those, businesses can identify trends, track performance, and make data-driven decisions that can improve their inventory management processes over time.

Overall, a good inventory to deliver process supported by a technology solution like Dynamics 365 can help organizations to optimize their supply chain operations, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction, leading to improved business performance and profitability.

Stakeholders

The key stakeholders required to define the inventory to delivery business processes include:

  • Inventory stakeholders – examples: Warehouse manager, Transportation planner

  • Customer service stakeholders – examples: VP of Customer Service, Customer service director, Customer satisfaction manager, Call center manager

  • Planning stakeholders – examples: COO, VP of Operations, Operations Manager, Planning manager

  • Procurement stakeholders – examples: Director of procurement, Buyer, Purchasing agent, Purchasing manager

  • Sales stakeholders – examples: VP of Sales, Sales director, General manager

  • Production stakeholders – examples: Production manager, Production scheduler

Inventory to deliver benefits

When your organization plans to implement technology solutions to assist with the inventory to deliver process, there are several benefits, outlined below, that the solution can help provide that should be considered. These key benefits should be used to determine if the solution is a good fit for your business and to drive the specific business requirements for implementing the solution. As an extra benefit, they can be used to create a baseline for your goals and objectives for the project so that you can measure the success of implementing solutions to meet those business requirements.

Increased customer satisfaction

With a well-defined inventory to deliver process, Dynamics 365 can increase customer satisfaction by providing real-time visibility into inventory levels and delivery status. All transactions throughout Dynamics 365 including sales, purchases, production, and other inventory movements, for example, are updated in real-time. By using the inventory management tools in Dynamics 365, such as planning optimization, the product information management module, and robust reporting and analytics capabilities, businesses can ensure they have the right products in stock to fulfill orders, avoid stockouts, and provide accurate delivery estimates to customers. The system can also automatically generate notifications to customers when orders are shipped, giving them visibility into their order status and improving the overall customer experience. With Dynamics 365, businesses can streamline their inventory management and order fulfillment processes, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Reduced inventory costs

By accurately forecasting demand and automating inventory management with Dynamics 365, businesses can optimize inventory levels, reduce stockouts, and minimize overstocking. Such benefits lead to lower carrying costs, fewer stock losses due to obsolescence or expiration, and lower costs associated with inventory holding, handling, and storage. Dynamics 365 can also help organizations improve supply chain efficiency by streamlining vendor management, reducing lead times, and improving order fulfillment accuracy. By reducing inventory costs, organizations can improve their bottom line and pass on the cost savings to their customers, thus enhancing customer satisfaction.

Improved cash flow

A well-defined inventory to deliver process, supported by Dynamics 365, can improve cash flow in several ways.

  1. By optimizing inventory levels, organizations can reduce the amount of cash tied up in excess inventory. Better inventory management helps make sure they have the right amount of inventory on hand to meet demand while minimizing the amount of capital required to maintain that inventory.
  2. By streamlining warehouse and transportation operations with the Dynamics 365 Warehouse management and Transportation management modules, companies can reduce lead times and improve order fulfillment, which can lead to faster payment and improved cash flow.
  3. Dynamics 365 can provide real-time visibility into inventory levels and order status, enabling organizations to make informed decisions that improve cash flow. The system can also automate invoice generation and payment tracking, reducing administrative time and increasing efficiency. Overall, a well-executed inventory to deliver process supported by Dynamics 365 can help organizations optimize inventory and order fulfillment, leading to improved cash flow and financial performance.
  4. Dynamics 365 Finance also includes a robust cash flow forecasting feature that uses artificial intelligence to provide real-time visibility into the cash flow for an organization to monitor the cash flow across the organization that integrates seamlessly with Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management. Similarly, you can analyze your organization's cash flow in Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Increased overall business performance

By having greater visibility and control over inventory levels, organizations can optimize their operations to better meet customer demand and avoid excess inventory costs. Improved inventory management can lead to faster order fulfillment times, which can help increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. The result might be higher sales revenue and better cash flow, and improved inventory turnover ratios. By using Dynamics 365 to manage their inventory to deliver process, organizations can ultimately improve their bottom line and overall business performance.

Reduce the risk of stockouts, overstocks, and excess inventory

Dynamics 365 provides real-time visibility into inventory levels and demand forecasts, which enables businesses to make informed decisions about when and how much to order. With Microsoft Supply Chain Center, your team can get tailored information from external sources, including supplier-related information, news and more from artificial intelligence delivered in a dashboard that is easy to use and react to supply chain disruptions. This information helps prevent stockouts, which can result in lost sales and dissatisfied customers, while also reducing the risk of overstocks and excess inventory, which tie up capital and increase holding costs. Additionally, the solution can help identify slow-moving items and enable organizations to adjust their ordering and stocking strategies, accordingly, reducing the likelihood of excess inventory. Overall, an effective inventory to deliver process supported by Dynamics 365 can help organizations optimize inventory levels, reduce the risk of stockouts and overstocks, and improve overall business performance.

Next steps

If you want to implement Dynamics 365 solutions to assist with your inventory to deliver business processes, learn more at the following resources and steps.

  1. Define the goals and objectives of implementing an inventory to deliver technology solution. Learn more at Implementation strategy.

  2. Define the business process scope of your project. Learn more at Process-focused solution.

  3. Request a demo or get a free trial of Dynamics 365 solutions for the inventory to deliver process. Learn more at Request a demo.

  4. Get an overview of the inventory to deliver process. Learns more at Inventory to deliver overview.

Use the following resources to learn more about the inventory to deliver process in Dynamics 365.