The Benefits of Routing Information in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 – Part 1: Defining Production Resources

Editor's Note: This article represents an extract from Scott's new book about AX 2012.

As a model of the production process for a manufactured item, routing information within an ERP system can lead to multiple benefits such as calculating value-added costs, determining capacity requirements, scheduling production activities, reporting actual work performed, and tracking progress through production.  Different ERP packages on the market take a variety of approaches to routing information, sometimes even offering more than one approach.  Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 supports two different approaches - one for traditional production orders and one for kanban orders. 

The two routing approaches within AX 2012 have changed significantly from the previous version, AX 2009. Modeling a production process within AX 2012 can take advantage of more flexible and simpler approaches.  This is the first in a two-part article about the definition of production resources and routing information to support traditional production orders for internal manufacturing.  Future articles will explain the slight differences to support production orders for subcontract manufacturing, and the differences in routing information to support kanban orders. 

Production resources provide the foundation for routing information.  A logical starting point consists of the business process for defining production resources, and the tasks within this business process provide an organizing focus for further explanation. And many more detailed explanations are included in my new book about AX 2012.

A Typical Business Process to Define Production Resources  A typical business process consists of several basic steps to define each production resource and its resource group.  The new construct for resources (and resource groups) replaces the previous AX construct for work centers (and work center groups).   An internal resource often represents a machine, a type of production worker, ...