Shawn Blogs

Just another WordPress site

Exciting News: New Book Release- August 25th 2023

August 30, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Extending Business Central with Power Platform

We are thrilled to share the announcement with you today. The wait is finally over, as we proudly announce our very first book, co-authored by yours truly and the amazing Kim Congleton. It’s been an incredible journey, and we’re beyond excited to introduce our creation.

The past few months have been an exhilarating whirlwind of inspiration, collaboration, and hard work. Countless hours of research, writing and editing have culminated in a masterpiece that we’re immensely proud of. Just yesterday, I received the first physical copy of the book, and let me tell you, holding the tangible result of our efforts was a surreal experience, still can’t believe it! Even though we’ve poured our hearts and minds into every chapter, the felling of flipping through the pages of a real book was simply indescribable.

Now, let’s talk about what’s inside. We have broken it into 4 parts:

Part 1- Part Fundamentals

Part 2- Doing the work of Designing, Building, and Implementing

Part 3- Common Business Cases in Business Central for the Power Platform

Part 4- Tips and Tricks for Common Issues

The target audience of this book is Business Central Power Users and technical consultants who want to expand their capabilities using the Power Platform. Basic familiarity with Business Central is needed: however, you need not have any technical expertise in programming or software development.

If you’re as thrilled as we are and eager to get your hands on a copy of our book, you’re in luck! Extending Business Central with Power Platform is now available on Amazon. Head over to our book’s page and secure your copy today.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who has supported us on this remarkable journey.

Thank you for joining us in celebrating this monumental achievement. Here’s to learning, growing, and mastering Business Central and Power Platform together!

Keep learning,

Shawn

Celebration Cookie

How to manage a successful EDI Implementation

April 14, 2023 / / 0 Comments

How do I manage my EDI projects and especially if I have more than one trading partner?  The best advice I can give you is micro-manage the whole process from start to finish.

  • Get to know your documents.  I like to use this fun screenshot to show you some common EDI on the sales or customer side.

  • Understand the EDI transactions.
  • Keep track of the trading partner and each document required.
  • Who is the representative for each of your documents?  It is common within one trading partner to have several different staff members assigned to other documents.  For example, Susan might not be responsible for 850,856 and 810; ask the trading partner upfront about the best person to contact and who will be reviewing documents.
  • Ask for sample testing files upfront, even outgoing documents, and match them with the mapping guide.  This is helpful in testing and making sure you have accounted for all the different data types.

TEST, TEST, TEST

Embedding Power BI reports into your PowerPoint Presentations

April 14, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Embedding your reports into your presentations is a great way to keep all the data and reports refreshed in all your presentations.  Let’s say you do a slide document monthly with several different Power BI reports, you can embed the report into the slide deck and every month just refresh the data, so you have real-time data.  The report is completely interactive and in the bottom left corner you will see when the report was last refreshed

Install Microsoft Power BI Add-in.  On the ribbon-Select Insert-Get Add-ins-Search for Microsoft Power BI -Add-Continue

    Paste report URL-Insert

    Overview of different warehouse location configurations option in Business Central Warehouse

    April 14, 2023 / / 0 Comments

    I am often asked about the differences between all the settings on the location card and have been engaged in making changes after a client has gone live with Business Central.

    We have three levels: the first one with no dedicated warehouse activities. This is the simplest of the three, and all the receiving and shipping happens on the purchase order, sales order, and transfer orders; you can have bins turned on, and the user would need to specify the bin on the order before posting.  This option is excellent if you have a simple warehouse and minimal staff or the person entering orders is the same as the person receiving and shipping. 

    The second level is basic, and you have a couple of options, require receipt and/or require ship, the process creates a separate document, and it allows the warehouse staff to avoid having to open or be in the orders for receiving and shipping. This also provides the option to use bins.  You can use this one to consolidate receiving and shipping for posting multiple orders simultaneously.  This is helpful for the segregation of duties.  Basic order by order, and you can require a Putaway and Pick; this one matches the warehouse and system processes.  You would also do what you physically do in the warehouse in the system.

    The last option is advanced. This option comes with several different settings and processes.  On the location card, you set the required receipt and Putaway and need to ship and pick.  You don’t have to select all four options, but it is usually all or nothing when using this setting.  The other option to consider is directed Pick and Putaway; when you use this complexity, the system can suggest bins to put the product into when receiving and where to pick.  The system will require additional documents on the production order and consumption journal if you manufacture and use production orders.  This option is usually used in combination with barcoding and handheld devices.

    The cross-dock functionality is another area to discuss.  If you have a short turnaround and receive a product that needs to be shipped that day, consider using the cross-dock.  This process will save you time in the warehouse.

    Here is a chart for each of the options:

    “How The Cow App came about “

    April 14, 2023 / / 0 Comments

    It started about six years ago when my dad asked if I could install the Angus App on his tablet. So, of course, I said yes, not realizing at the time this would become a part-time job for me. My daughter and I went to the farm that summer to visit and help work the cattle, and it brought back memories of my childhood in Kansas. As a child we lived in town but spent as much time as we could on the farm, I loved spending time in the house with grandma and was always the kitchen helper.  Grandma was an amazing cook and I loved to help. When I got old enough to drive, I would volunteer to take tea & sandwiches to the guys working in the field. Guess my point is, I spent all my time being a cook & Uber delivery driver, not actually outdoors doing physical work with the cows. Our favorite time of year was the calving season, they were so fun to watch play around, and we would laugh as we watched them play king of the mountain. So, this time coming back to the farm with my daughter for our trip, I found that dad had two tablets, he thought one was broken, however, it just needed to be charged, but he had bought a second one because of this. I got both charged and running, and away I went with my task at hand. I installed Angus’s App on all his devices.  I am sure you see where I am going with this, it was a hot mess express. So, when I left him and traveled back to California, I started the process. As the months went by, he needed help to get his Angus cows entered and registered. What that meant was the computer lady needed to get them registered. I quickly made friends with a customer support woman at Angus, and she helped me figure out the mess.  Next was the task of keeping it updated.

    • • •

    This cattleman has spent his life farming and working cattle and is responsible for raising great, genital cows. He writes everything down on paper in his calving book and has no issues using his iPhone to easily see that the needed information is correct. Stay tuned to future blogs as I go through the process of becoming the computer lady and working with an old farmer who has become a well-known Angus cattleman in Kansas.

    Thank you for reading!

    Signed The Computer Lady

    Welcome to Shawn’s Blogs

    March 1, 2023 / / 1 Comment

    My background is in NAV, now known as Business Central. I have spent most of my 20+ years as a Business Analyst. I started my computer career in IT networking, but along the way, I ran into a little ERP system, Navision; I fell in love with it and have spent 25 years implementing software for hundreds of customers. Industries ranging from Medical, Retail, Jewelry, Apparel, Food, Entertainment, and not to mention my cows and agriculture.  I grew up in Kansas and spent most of my summers and weekends on my grandparents’ farm and moved to California in High School. Some of the areas of functionality I have focused on over my years are warehouse, distribution, manufacturing, EDI, accounting functions, and not to mention Fixed Assets.  I often joke with one of my colleagues that we are a jack of all trades, and it does feel like that as I go back and think about all the projects I have done over the years. I have learned many things over the year and am still learning; I spend most of my time researching and learning.  Learning has always been important to me so that I stay up with the ever-changing world of technology.  My latest passion is Power Platform and extending Business Central with Power Platform.  I love to do cool stuff. Welcome to my page, and I hope to share cool stuff with you, and we can learn together!

    © 2024 Shawn Blogs

    Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑