Today we launched the 2024 release wave 1 for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform, a rollout of new features and enhanced capabilities slated for release between April and September 2024. These updates include new Microsoft Copilot capabilities across Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform—as well as role-based extensions of Copilot for Microsoft 365—that transform business processes with natural language processing, AI-generated insights, and assistance with time-consuming tasks.

This morning’s Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event, available to view on-demand, includes highlights and demonstrations of features from the release wave, as well as a firsthand look at how organizations like Lenovo, Sonepar, Ford, Omnicom Group, and G&J Pepsi are using these capabilities in transformative ways.  

Extend Microsoft 365 with role-specific Copilot capabilities

The central theme across this release wave is how, across the business and productivity applications organizations depend on, Copilot is helping to better empower employees, improve business processes, and engage customers. In fact, 68% of surveyed Copilot users told us that it helps them jumpstart their creative process, and 70% said Copilot made them more productive so that they could do their job faster and easier.¹

Since each role is unique, we have extended Copilot for Microsoft 365 even further to tailor Copilot experiences for specific business functions. This includes Microsoft Copilot for Sales, Microsoft Copilot for Service and the recently announced Microsoft Copilot for Finance—all integrated with the apps and data you use every day so that you can spend less time searching for data and more time engaging with customers and driving a strategic agenda for your organization.

Underpinning these Copilot extensions is Microsoft Copilot Studio, which makes it easy to customize and build your own customer and internal-facing copilots using your data and workflows. We are excited to dive deeper into Copilot this release wave and help you use it to transform your business.  

Business Applications Launch Event

Tune into demos of new capabilities, on demand.

Watch here

Transforming customer and field service with generative AI 

Release wave 1 introduces new Copilot capabilities to help customer service agents and frontline workers boost efficiency, reduce training costs, and deliver exceptional customer experiences. 

New Copilot capabilities for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Microsoft Copilot for Service—which infuses generative AI into your existing contact center and customer relationship management (CRM) solutions—include Copilot-drafted knowledge articles to streamline the knowledge creation process, as well as proactive Copilot responses for conversations with customers. 

At the launch event, we shared how Lenovo is integrating Dynamics 365 Customer Service, third-party solutions, and custom bots to scale its innovative service delivery solution, Premier Support Suite for PC devices. Thousands of agents can now provide omnichannel support to customers in 200 regions and in more than 40 languages globally.   

We also spotlight how G&J Pepsi, the largest family-owned and operated Pepsi franchise bottler in the U.S., has reduced operating costs by 6.6% and increased revenue by 8% with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service, Dynamics 365 Sales, and Microsoft Power Platform. They expect Copilot to further streamline work order management and enhance their best-in-class service by giving the field service teams access to a complete picture of their accounts in real time.   

Explore the release plans for Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Copilot for Service, and Dynamics 365 Field Service.  

The future of enterprise resource planning (ERP)

ERP is going through a once-in-a-generation transformation. For decades, employees across the globe have manually completed a significant amount of ERP processes daily to keep their companies running. Microsoft is pioneering a new vision for ERP—a world where ERP solutions powered by AI operate more independently, continually adjusting to evolving circumstances, involving users when necessary, and opening new possibilities for businesses.  

At the launch event, we spotlighted how Omnicom Group, a global leader in marketing communications, envisions leveraging Dynamics 365 for a new, autonomous ERP model that will help it to accelerate growth, become more efficient, and power its ability to innovate. They can use the new Copilot to optimize their strategic decision-making and transform their operational processes, such as prompting Copilot to identify opportunities for growth expansion and gauge the performance of initiatives.  

We also introduced new Copilot capabilities for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central that help small and medium businesses to automate processes and complete tasks faster. A new Copilot chat pane allows users to quickly find and go to data, reveal insights, and get help with tasks. Users can prompt Copilot to create sales lines, match e-invoices with purchase orders, answer questions about data analyses, help with repetitive tasks, and more.  

Other updates include sustainability tracking, the ability to connect Business Central with Shopify B2B (business-to-business), and developer tools for Copilot.  

Explore the release plans for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, Microsoft Copilot for Finance, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, and Dynamics 365 Business Central.  

Accelerate development with Microsoft Power Platform 

Microsoft Power Platform is the rapid modernization platform of choice of hundreds of thousands of organizations, providing AI-first, low-code tools to build enterprise-wide solutions and automations. Copilot is seamlessly integrated across Microsoft Power Platform, empowering you to create applications, automations, and analytics through simple, natural language and conversational interactions.  

At the launch event, we demonstrate how Ford is leveraging Copilot to produce connected services to enhance the driving experience. Like Ford, organizations can take advantage of new Copilot capabilities in this release wave to transform workflows. Microsoft Power Automate introduces new ways to create cloud flows, desktop flows and process mining using natural language prompts. Microsoft Power Apps accelerates app development with enhanced user reasoning and data insights in custom apps. Microsoft Copilot Studio enables organizations to build custom copilots, with new ways to build custom prompts and generative actions, along with access to OpenAI’s custom GPTs and AI Builder models for extended scenarios.   

Explore the release plans for Power Apps, Microsoft Power Pages, Power Automate, Microsoft Power BI, and Copilot Studio.  

Deliver more personalized customer experiences  

Buyers expect businesses to cater to their unique set of needs. To do so, marketing and sales teams need a unified understanding of the customer and the ability to orchestrate experiences across marketing, sales, and service.  

Sonepar is leveraging Copilot in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales to become the first global B2B electrical distributor to provide a fully digitized and synchronized omnichannel experience to every customer. With Copilot alongside sellers, Sonepar can personalize marketing content, improve the quality of leads, and enhance every engagement with customers.  

New Copilot capabilities in release wave 1 provide recommendations, summarize data, retrieve information, and perform actions in context and within the flow of work—so they can stay productive and focus time on engaging customers.  

Explore the release plans for Dynamics 365 Sales, Microsoft Copilot for Sales, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights. 

Watch the virtual Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event  

We invite you to tune into the launch event on-demand for more details and demos of new capabilities across Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform. In addition, you can explore several special topic presentations covering the evolution of generative AI, including small language models and AI experiences to help transform strategic, cross-domain business problems.  

Be sure to read the detailed release plans for Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform and keep track of what’s new and upcoming, as well as create a personalized release plan in the release planner.  

Sources:

¹ Microsoft Work Trend Index Special Report: What Can Copilot’s Earliest Users Teach Us About Generative AI at Work? (microsoft.com) 

The post 2024 release wave 1 kicks off with hundreds of AI-powered capabilities for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Editor: Denis Conway

Introduction

In the relentless pursuit of streamlining warehouse operations and empowering organizations to achieve more, perfecting the receiving process is a cornerstone. This blog post delves into the transformative role of Dynamics 365 SCM Warehouse Management’s feature “Deferred Processing”, a strategic framework designed to increase operational efficiency by effectively deferring work creation, allowing rapid registration of incoming inventory without waiting for each put-away work to be generated.  

The Supermarket Analogy 

Imagine you are at the checkout in your favourite supermarket. Each customer who visits the store needs to pay for their groceries. Today, most of us usually pay using our debit or credit card, which transfers money from our account to the supermarket’s account. But what if you had to wait for your bank transfer to go through and the supermarket to receive their money before they could move on to the next customer and you could exit the store? That would be tedious, right? 

Fortunately, in the world of dynamics warehousing, the process is not as exhaustive. We don’t wait long for work to be created in the receiving or inventory movement process, but we still need to wait a couple of seconds for it.  
The waiting time is a consequence of the various database calls needed for a process in the warehouse system to take place, such as inventory on-hand-updates when receiving.  
That’s where the deferred processing feature comes into play. Deferred processing creates work in the background, allowing the warehouse worker managing the process to continue without interruptions. It assures the user that “work will be created, but it will be done in the background, so that you don’t have to wait” and can continue receiving other items. 

Referring to the earlier paragraph with the supermarket example, the deferred processing allows the cashier and the customer to consider the transfer of money for groceries as complete and processed, even though the real transaction has not taken place yet. In our warehouse system, the process works in an equivalent way. We are told work has been completed and we are allowed to continue in our inventory movement or receiving process, but in fact the work creation has just been deferred to be processed in the background.  

Warehouse Scenarios: Regular vs. Deferred Receiving 

In a warehouse scenario, the main difference between using deferred processing for deferred receiving and regular receiving can best be explained using a fictional scenario. Let’s imagine a load entering the warehouse holding multiple purchase orders. 

Scenario 1: Regular Receiving 

In this scenario, the warehouse worker(s) responsible for the receiving process scans the license plate or the items for each order. The worker(s) might need to wait a brief time for the related work to be created based on complexity of put-away configuration logic (in this case, work creation will be moving items in the purchase order from receiving area to its “Put” location in the warehouse) before continuing with the next item. This process is usually fast for the majority of the put-away cases, but in some cases, due to a more complex set of put-away rules, waiting time could be experienced. Even though customers only wait a brief time for each, the waiting time adds up, leading to more idle time for the worker. This situation can be avoided by using deferred processing described in scenario 2.  

Scenario 2: Using Deferred Processing for Receiving 

In this scenario, we use the deferred receiving feature that is used when put-away rules inside WMS configuration are complex and might result in slight waiting time on WMA powered devices during put-away work creation. The warehouse worker responsible for managing the inbound receiving scans license plate/items for each order, and as we are using deferred processing, the put-away work that is created from that receiving inventory is processed in the background, releasing workers to continue to scan without interruptions. The work is processed in the background, but in the eyes of the warehouse worker, the work can be considered done and completed. This allows the warehouse worker to spend less time on completing the same amount of work. 

Configuration of deferred warehouse work processing 

In the picture below, users can get a hint of what the configuration process looks like. On this page, users select the work order type that the policy is applied to, which type of operation that is processed by using the policy, and the method that is used to process the work line. If the method is set to Immediate, the behavior resembles the behavior when no work processing policies are used to process the line. If the method is set to Deferred, deferred processing that uses the batch framework is used. 

A value of 0 (zero) indicates that there is no threshold. In this case, deferred processing is used if it can be used. If the specific threshold calculation is below the threshold, the Immediate method is used. Otherwise, the Deferred method is used if it can be used. For sales and transfer-related work, the threshold is calculated as the number of associated source load lines that are being processed for the work. For replenishment work, the threshold is calculated as the number of work lines that are being replenished by the work. By setting a threshold of, for example, 5 for sales, smaller works that have fewer than five initial source load lines won’t use deferred processing, but larger works will use it. The threshold has an effect only if the work processing method is set to Deferred. 

Implementation and Supported Processes

This feature is available for these ways of receiving into your warehouse:

• Purchase order item receiving.
• Purchase order line receiving.
• Transfer order item receiving.
• Transfer order line receiving.
• Load item receiving.
• License plate receiving.

For deferred put-away processing, the following work order types are supported:

• Sales orders.
• Transfer order issues.
• Replenishment orders.

Application of Deferred processing:

In cases where warehouse workers are experiencing slight waiting time on each received item, due to system figuring out where that item should be placed, and processing is slowing down the inventory registration for the worker, deferred processing is an answer.

Conclusion

Deferred processing enables high productivity on inbound docks even in situations where put-away logic is complex, and processing consumes unnecessary time. Deferred receiving empowers workers to effectively handle incoming inventory regardless of length of work creation. It’s a powerful tool for supporting productivity and preventing unnecessary delays.

By deferring work creation and processing it in the background, we allow warehouse workers to focus on their tasks without interruptions.
Ultimately, Deferred processing is not just a feature, but a strategic framework that empowers organizations to achieve more, making it an excellent tool in the modern warehouse operations landscape. It enables customers to keep productivity high in any circumstances and with any put-away configurations.

If it is needed for you, embrace Deferred processing, and let your warehouse operations reach new heights of success.

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Field service management is a complex process that requires seamless coordination among technicians, customers, equipment, and suppliers. To address these complexities, we have introduced two new capabilities in Dynamics 365 Field Service to make this easier.

The first capability, Complete Work Order by Status, allows field service organizations to use a booking status to indicate if further work is required to complete a work order. This feature gives technicians the flexibility to indicate when additional work is needed on a work order, streamlining the process for field service teams to gain better insight into the tasks required to fulfill a work order.

The second capability, Complete Booking While Preserving End-Time, ensures that when a booking is marked as completed by someone other than the assigned resource, the end-time value will no longer automatically update to the current timestamp. Instead, it will retain the end-time value of the booking. This helps ensure accuracy and consistency in the record-keeping process.

These features aim to optimize service delivery, reduce costs, and enhance customer satisfaction. Now, let’s explore each feature in greater detail.

Complete Work Order by Status

Why is it needed?

In the Field Service industry, it’s not uncommon that what begins as a routine service request can morph into a complex task, requiring multiple follow-up visits to finalize a work order.

Consider a scenario where a commercial building is experiencing recurrent refrigerant leaks from its rooftop HVAC unit. Typically, these leaks are addressed by replacing a worn-out seal. However, upon closer examination, it becomes evident that the evaporator coil is corroded and requires replacement. This insight only emerges once the field service technician arrives on site. Typically, when this occurs, technicians find themselves without the required parts for immediate repairs. This results in the need to contact suppliers, procure necessary parts, and schedule follow-up visits—unforeseen tasks not factored into the initial work order creation. In this scenario, the technician would close the booking while still needing to acknowledge the need for a follow-up visit to complete the work order.

Previously, field service teams encountered challenges in accurately reflecting this information without implementing custom logic. However, with the introduction of the “Complete Work Order by Status” feature, these unexpected visits can now be effortlessly marked as requiring follow-up by utilizing a booking status to indicate the need for further work to fulfill the work order.

How it works?

To configure this feature, administrators should access the Resources section within Dynamics 365 Field Service. Navigate to Booking settings and choose Booking Status. Here, administrators can either select an existing completed status or create a new one. Next, administrators should navigate to the Field Service tab within the selected booking status. Within the “Field Service Status” dropdown, update the “Status Completes Work Order” toggle to “off”.

Upon adjusting this setting, technicians can utilize the newly configured booking status to indicate both the completion of a booking and the need for follow-up work on the associated work order. This adjustment optimizes the workflow for field service teams and enhances their understanding of the tasks necessary for work order fulfillment.

Complete Booking while preserving ‘End Time’

Why is it needed?

Field Service technicians are the backbone, tirelessly striving to meet deadlines, resolve customer issues, and ensure tasks are completed promptly. However, amidst their hectic schedules, oversights may arise, such as neglecting to mark a job as “completed” once finished. In such cases, dispatchers or field service managers step in to manually update the booking status on behalf of the technician.

For example, a dispatcher schedules a repair job from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM. Despite an unforeseen delay, the technician completes the task at 2:00 PM but forgets to update the booking status to “completed.”

The dispatcher later notices the oversight and manually marks the booking as completed at 9:00 AM the following day.

Previously, this would inaccurately reflect a job duration of 19 hours, with the end time value set to 9:00 AM. With the implementation of the new “Complete bookings while preserving end-time” logic, when a user other than the assigned resource updates the booking to complete on behalf of the technician, the original end-time value of 2:00 PM is maintained.

How it works?

Exciting update: No setup is needed! When a booking is marked as completed by someone other than the assigned resource, the end-time value will no longer automatically update to the current timestamp. Instead, it will retain the end-time value prior to completion. This ensures accuracy and consistency in the record-keeping process.

We’re eagerly anticipating your experience with these new updates! Feel free to share your thoughts with us.

Share Your Feedback for Continuous Improvement

These new capabilities for Dynamics 365 Field Service are designed to simplify tasks for technicians and empower field service teams with enhanced tracking abilities for work orders and bookings. These advancements offer precision and efficiency, driving improvements in service quality, cost reduction, and customer satisfaction.

Explore more on Dynamics 365 Field Service documentation and share your feedback within the Field Service product or via our ideas portal. Your input drives continuous improvement for enhanced operational performance.

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