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Supply chain pivots: Extending supply chain management with Power Apps

Author: Corey Bakhtiary, Global Director, Programs and Product Management, Arbela Technologies
 

If there’s anything 2020 taught us — and continues to teach us—is that supply chain management can be a tricky business. Yet there were many companies reliant on an effective supply chain that not only survived in these trying times but prospered and continue to do so.

The shared key to their success? They did it their way. By this, we don’t mean they bought their own trucks, built their own warehouses, or wrapped and shipped every raw material or product themselves. They took what they had in place — such as business applications like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management — and enhanced and extended it to better suit both their strategic objectives and to pivot during times of change.

The primary tool used to fuel success in extending foundation business systems was the Microsoft Power Platform. And we know this because we developed a multitude of tools in response to our customers’ needs, using Microsoft Power Apps as the core.

Many moving parts, many custom apps

Perhaps the main challenge we helped our clients solve in 2020 was moving more and more of their supply chain management tasks and workflows to mobile. Companies needed the capability to run advanced warehousing, manufacturing executions systems (MES), and other integrated supply chain operations on a mobile platform and have that data and those workflows managed via Dynamics.

Through Power Apps, we were able to help clients move those operations to the mobile environment, and optimize a host of others, including:

  • Inventory transfer journals
  • Picking list registration
  • Packing slip
  • Route card
  • Production order execution
  • On-the-fly pick
  • Container receipts
  • Counting journal
  • Item inquiry

And it was never via a one-size-fits-all approach, or a “prix fixe” menu; it was always tailored, and always à la carte. Even in the best of times, it’s critical that you adapt your supply chain systems and process to be innovative and nimble in the service of your strategic goals. With Arbela, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, and the endless customizations we can create with Power Apps, the trying times can often be as rewarding as the best of times.

Watch this webinar to learn more or contact us to begin extending your SCM with Arbela and Power Apps.

View our recent webinar: Driving Innovation with Microsoft Power Apps for Integrated Supply Chain