An Interview with Microsoft Dynamics AX MVP Scott Hamilton

If you didn't hear much from Microsoft Dynamics AX manufacturing guru Scott Hamilton for the last year, it's probably because he was hard at work on his latest book, Food Products Manufacturing using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. The book has been available for pre-order for a while, but it begins shipping this week and has been seeing rave reviews so far (all eight Amazon reviews are five stars as of publishing this article).

Hamilton, who is now with Columbus and focusing on the food products industry, answered some questions for us on writing the new book,  the importance of AX 2012, and the industries and manufacturing topics that are catching his attention moving forward.

This book represents a year's worth of work.  What were the most salient aspects of your research and writing?

The book topics and prior research focused on using AX 2012 for supply chain management (SCM) in manufacturing and distribution firms.  This involved a complete review of AX 2012 capabilities and thousands of pages of documentation and training materials.  With few exceptions, only those capabilities personally tested and proven were included in the book contents.  The same approach was used for my previous AX books.  This takes a tremendous amount of time.  The selection of book topics and case studies was guided by an 80/20 rule about dominant business practices in food products manufacturing, and reflected my own field experience as well as discussions with other experienced field consultants.

What is your biggest impression about AX 2012 compared to previous versions? 

My biggest impression would differ for various audiences.  Let's start with those people ...