Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 has just been released and comes with a number of features that help increase an organization's agility. The new AX update includes features tailored for the manufacturing, service, retail, distribution, and public sector industries. The range of new capabilities in Dynamics AX 2012 R3 is bound to attract new customers and drive upgrades.
New Features in Dynamics AX 2012 R3
Most ERPs on the market have some shortcomings in one way or another, such as an inability to support growth, highly fragmented operations, and a lack of operational visibility. Dynamics AX 2012 R3 makes it easier for manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to deploy a single ERP system for most of their operations, thanks to its fully integrated Transportation and Warehouse Management System.
Below are some reasons why upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 makes sense:
1. Advanced Transportation and Warehousing Module
The transportation and warehousing module in Dynamics AX 2012 R3 features:
- Warehouse Management: This module bridges the functional coverage of previous AX releases. The module includes license plates, cluster picking support, cycle counting processes, inventory blocking and unblocking, wave processes, item allocation, sales order processing, purchase order receiving, and support for users of mobile devices.
- Transportation Management and Planning: This module features global transportation planning and execution capabilities.
- eProcurement: With this module, organizations can make more accurate decisions by defining evaluation criteria and scoring rules for RFIs and RFPs.
- Demand Forecasting: This tool makes it easy for organizations to manage product changes through a formal methodology with approvals and releases.
2. Deployment on the Cloud
Microsoft Dynamics AX is now available on the cloud thanks to the Azure Deployment Portal in the R3 upgrade. Organizations can now utilize the power of Elastic IT to scale their infrastructure requirements up or down. By using Azure, organizations can deploy any number of tests of development environments, reducing the time it takes to deploy applications from weeks to hours.
If you are already using another product from the Dynamics family, such as SL, NAV, or GP, you can take advantage of Transition Investment Credits offered by Microsoft to switch your license investment to Dynamics AX 2012 R3.
3. New Technical Capabilities
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 comes with several technical features that make it easy to manage data. These features include:
- Modern App Framework: This framework enables organizations to develop, manage, distribute, and use modern apps. With the release of Dynamics AX 2012 R3, organizations can get started with several pre-integrated apps including Approvals, Expenses, Timesheets, and more.
- Master Data Management (MDM): MDM enables users to manage data across multiple instances of Dynamics AX. MDM supports full and incremental change synchronizations and automatic conflict detection.
4. Retail Industry Modules
Dynamics AX 2012 R3 comes with advanced modules tailored specifically for the retail industry. Examples of the modules include:
- Mobility: Retailers can now create rich mobile experiences for their customers to enhance their shopping and store experiences.
- Catalog and Call Center Sales: This module enables retailers to streamline their operations through fast order entry, assisted sales, and order fulfillment. Apart from this, retailers can reach their target customers through a mail order catalog.
Other notable retailer-focused features in Dynamics AX 2012 R3 include ecommerce and social capabilities that enable retailers to offer consumers omni-channel shopping experiences, assortment and catalog improvements, pricing and promotions enhancements, global gift cards, and others.
Retailers, manufacturers, and distributors are under constant pressure to perform in several areas of their operations, such as developing and maintaining a connection with customers, improving customer service and loyalty, and increasing employee productivity. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 helps organizations to achieve all these without increasing their costs.