From the Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations & AX Blogs: Inventory adjustment; Boxing logic; Label translator; Manage shifts

This week on the Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations  (D365FO) & AX blog roundup:

• Inventory adjustment options in Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations
• Boxing logic in Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations
• Label translator for AX2009/AX2012 (Bing Translate)
• Dynamics 365 Retail: working with the new 'manage shifts' functionality in POS

Inventory adjustment options in Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations

On the Encore Business Solutions blog, Katalin Kegel stated that during a D365FO implementation, you can group the functionalities in the system into two categories: The ones the users are familiar with, such as sales orders and purchase orders, and the entirely new functionalities.

Kegel stated that the movement journal fell into the second category.

It takes a while for users to get off the one-track mindset, that any inventory adjustments have to be a profit/loss. So what is the movement journal and why do we love it?

Kegel stated that Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations offers four distinct functionalities for adjusting inventory: Counting journals; adjustment journals; movement journals; and bill of materials.

You can find out more about the movement journal as well as the other functionalities for adjusting inventory here.

Boxing logic in Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations

Also on the Encore Business Solutions blog, Ayo Fakankun stated that boxing logic is an automatic and efficient process for picking and grouping items on a pick route.

Although the feature dates back to Dynamics AX 2012 R3, in his post, Fakankun explains the feature as it pertains to Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations.

The boxing logic feature considers the weight, volume, and dimensions of a product to determine the best size box to pack it in, he stated. Boxing logic also optimizes the maximum capacity of that box for the set of items on the picking route.

The picking and shipping functions then determine whether multiple items are boxed together or not depending on the box size requirement. A box name is then assigned to the picking route and the picking routes are split per box. For example, if we have 12 items to ship to the same address, it is best for these items to be shipped as 1 medium box containing 10 items and 1 small box containing 2 items or 1 large box containing 12 items instead of using 12 separate boxes for the shipment.

You can read more about boxing logic here.

Label translator for AX2009/AX2012 (Bing Translate)

On Rudi's Dynamics AX Technical/Development blog, Rudi Hansen stated that he created a tool to help translate label files in Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Here's how it works:

[Y]ou export the labels you want to translate from AX, run the C# program that translates all the labels using Bing Translate, and then imports the new Translated labels into AX.

To use the tool, you need access to Azure as well as Visual Studio to compile the C# program. Hansen stated that since this is the first version of this tool, it's not 100% tested and still needs a bit of work, but it gets the job done.

You can find out where to get the tool here.

Dynamics 365 Retail: working with the new 'manage shifts' functionality in POS

On the Microsoft Dynamics AX Support blog, Dawn Langlie stated that the "manage shifts" functionality has been added in D365FO to enable managers to recover and unblock terminals.

With the new functionality, the "show blind closed shifts" operation has been renamed manage shifts. This functionality lets users view opened and suspended shifts, as well as perform shift operations on blind closed shifts or delete "stuck" invalid shifts, she stated.

Note: The POS operations is changed to "manage shifts," but the button grids containing this operation should be renamed to reflect this change. Demo Data still displays "show blind closed shifts."

The business reason for the new feature is to make it easier for managers to monitor the shifts and take any necessary action, according to Langlie.

You can read more about this new feature here.