Who Is Microsoft Business Central Manufacturing Actually For?
At a Glance
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Manufacturing is best suited to small and medium-sized manufacturers that need greater control over production, inventory, purchasing and financial operations. It supports multiple manufacturing models and helps businesses replace disconnected systems with integrated, real-time processes, although its suitability depends on production complexity, operational requirements and future growth plans.
To find out if Business Central is good for your manufacturing business, contact us today.
Who Uses Business Central Manufacturing?
Manufacturing businesses rarely stay the same for long. Production volumes need to be upped to meet customer demand and expectations, which can lead to more complex supply chains. At some point, many manufacturing organisations feel they’re held back by manual processes and legacy systems
This is where Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central manufacturing can help. Building on the manufacturing capabilities of Dynamics NAV, Business Central delivers the same core functionality within Microsoft’s cloud-based ERP system with tight integrations across the ERP’s inventory, supply chain and finance modules.
But is Business Central good for all manufacturing businesses? The answer depends on your production methods, the complexity of your operations and your future growth objectives.
What Is Microsoft Business Central Manufacturing?
Microsoft Business Central manufacturing is designed to help manufacturers gain better control over managing their inventory, production, purchasing and finances within a single ERP system. It’s an extension of Microsoft’s cloud-based ERP platform that adds dedicated production planning and manufacturing capabilities.
Instead of multiple applications and systems, you need a single system configured to your operations that connects to various other departments.
Depending on your operational needs and system configuration, Business Central manufacturing can help your business manage:
- Bills of Materials (BOM)
- Production orders
- Capacity planning
- Material requirements planning (MRP)
- Routings and work centres
- Inventory and warehouse management
- Purchasing and supplier management
- Shop floor scheduling
- Quality and traceability
- Cost tracking and profitability reporting
Instead of your production teams maintaining one set of data while the finance team maintains another, everyone works on the same, real-time updated information.
Consider a practical example: When raw material stock falls below set levels, purchasing teams can immediately spot shortages while planners can adjust production schedules before delays occur.
Which Types of Manufacturers Benefit Most from Business Central Manufacturing?
Business Central’s manufacturing capabilities are well-suited to small- and medium-sized manufacturing setups that have outgrown entry-level systems.
So, who uses Business Central for manufacturing?
Business Central’s manufacturing capabilities can support organisations that:
- Produce multiple product ranges
- Manage anywhere between 10 and 500+ SKUs under production planning
- Operate multiple warehouses
- Manage multiple BOMs across different products
- Purchase from multiple suppliers
- Run batch sizes ranging from single units to large production runs
- Need accurate visibility into inventory, better forecasting, traceability for compliance and stronger financial reporting
Which Manufacturing Models Does Business Central Support?
Business Central manufacturing’s key strength lies in its suitability for diverse manufacturing environments. It can support:
Made-to-Stock (MTS): If your manufacturing business creates standard products for inventory, use Business Central to forecast demand, maintain stock levels and replenish inventory. This is typical of producers of food, consumer goods, packaged products or industrial components.
Made-to-Order (MTO): If your business manufactures products only after receiving orders, you can use Business Central manufacturing for tighter production planning and purchasing in sync with demand.
Assemble-to-Order (ATO): If you keep individual components in stock but assemble products only after customer orders are confirmed, Business Central can support your workflow by linking inventory availability to the assembly process.
Configure-to-Order (CTO): If your manufacturing business offers customisable products, you can benefit from the flexibility of BC, combined with specialist manufacturing extensions and applications such as Empowered Business Central for Manufacturing.
Engineer-to-Order (ETO): If you create highly engineered products that involve unique designs and extensive customisation, you can benefit from additional Microsoft solutions which can be integrated with Business Central.
The team at Brookland Solutions can understand your manufacturing model and assess whether standard Business Central functionality is sufficient or whether additional manufacturing solutions are a better fit.
Signs Your Manufacturing Business Has Outgrown Its Current Systems
More often than not, manufacturing businesses may not seek an ERP system until operational problems become extremely hard to overlook. Here are 5 warning signs that your current system may not be able to support your business’ needs.
- Production planning takes too long as planners spend more time maintaining data than managing production
- Inventory accuracy is poor, leading to stock discrepancies that cause production delays, emergency purchases and missed deliveries.
- Different departments use different systems, which results in duplicate entries and inconsistencies in reporting
- Your team spends too much time re-entering information, chasing production status, reconciling stock and creating manual reports
- You struggle to understand actual production costs, labour costs, material variances, machine utilisation and product profitability
Industries That Commonly Use Business Central Manufacturing
Business Central’s capabilities for manufacturing sectors allow it to be adapted across different industries, including:
Food and Beverage Manufacturing
Food and beverage manufacturing businesses operate in highly regulated environments where uncompromised product quality, traceability, and production efficiency are essential.
BC can help businesses with batch and lot tracking to trace ingredients from suppliers to finished products. It can also manage shelf life and expiry dates to minimise waste. Businesses can also control recipes and ingredients through BOMs while scheduling production in response to customer demand and seasonal peaks.
Engineering and Industrial Manufacturing
Industrial and engineering manufacturers often produce complex products with multiple components, specialist labour and machining operations.
Business Central can support multiple BOMs, routings, MRP, production costing and capacity planning, while more advanced manufacturing requirements can be supported through specialist extensions where required.
Electronics Manufacturing
Business Central can help electronics manufacturing organisations trace components at the component level, monitor supplier performance, automate purchasing recommendations, plan inventory and schedule production based on component availability.
It helps manage long lead times or fluctuating availability that electronics manufacturers typically face while managing thousands of individual components sourced from multiple suppliers.
Medical Device and Regulated Manufacturing
For manufacturers operating in regulated industries like medical device manufacturing, it’s important to comply with strict quality standards. Business Central can provide support by documenting production records, ensuring batch and serial number traceability and enabling audit-ready reporting.
How Brookland Solutions Helps Manufacturers Choose the Right ERP
Business Central’s enterprise resource planning system for the manufacturing industry is more than just the software. It’s more about how your business operates today, where there is scope for improvement and how future growth will affect your production.
This is why at Brookland Solutions, our approach begins with understanding your manufacturing processes before recommending the right manufacturing module. Our Microsoft-certified consultants work closely with your production, operations, finance and supply chain teams to assess how Business Central can support your business goals.
Our approach involves:
- Reviewing your current manufacturing workflows
- Evaluating production planning, scheduling, purchasing and inventory management processes
- Identifying manual processes that can be automated
- Recommending the best-suited Business Central capabilities and manufacturing extensions where appropriate
- Structured implementation, user training and ongoing support
Whether you produce standard products or operate across multiple warehouses, we help ensure that your ERP solution reflects how your business actually works.
Book a consultation today to learn how your business can benefit from Business Central’s manufacturing capabilities.
