List of the AX Companies

5/23/2018 List of the AX Companies

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FOCUSING ON

SUPPLY CHAIN

MOBILITY &

DATA TRENDS

CELEBRATING

AXUG SUMMIT


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3/60

Winter 201

winter 2014 | www.AXUG.comIn Every Issue

5 From the Director

7 Events

8 Regional Chapter News

12 Welcome to Our New Members

23 Name That Photo Contest

25 Volunteer of the Quarter

28 Find the Logo Contest

37 Word Find

39 Academy Corner

45 The AX List, from The Partner Channel

Features

10 Meet the Leaders

13 Top Collaborate Discussions 14 User Member Showcase Wirtz Beverage Group

16 Breaking Down EDI

18 Tips & Tricks Embedding Power View Dashboards

22 Microsoft Member Showcase C. Venkatesh

24 Display Pack Pushes the Envelope

26 Tips & Tricks Streamlining Budgeting and Forecasting

27 Tips & Tricks More Readable Reports

29 Industry Showcase Oil and Gas

32 VAR Partner Member Showcase Blue Horseshoe

34 Inbound Tips for Turbocharging Your Wareho

36 Tips & Tricks From Power View to Cube and Back Again

38 ISV Partner Member Showcase TARGIT

41 On Topic with AXUG Members

42 Celebrating AXUG Summit 2013

FOCUSING ON

SUPPLY CHAIN

MOBILITY &

DATA TRENDS

CELEBRATINGAXUG SUMMIT

Advertiser Index

Altec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Arbela Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

AXtension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Bottomline Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Client Strategy Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

eNSYNC Solutions, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

MetaViewer from Metafile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Microsoft Convergence 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Radley Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Sandler*Kahne Software, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . 33

TARGIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30-31

WatServ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

contents


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Winter 201

WOW, what a couple months it has been in the Microsoft Dynamics

User community. From a record AXUG Summit in ampa, to exc

announcements on the Microsoft Dynamics AX product front, to a great

group day at Convergence EMEA in Barcelona, things have been hop

With everything going on, it might be easy to forget about the theme of this months mag

and instead just focus on all these great events and announcements, but that would be a mis

Many Members have told me over the past two years how much they enjoy the magazine an

themes covered. Tis issue is no different, with the theme of Supply Chain Management (SC

I can remember when I first installed Axapta back in 2002. At that time, there wWarehouse One and Warehouse wo module that provided some pretty cool function

to help in our warehouse and distribution areas. A lot has changed since then, with more

more SCM functionality being included in both the base Microsoft Dynamics AX pro

and supplemented by many great add-ons from the ISV channel. As technology has evolv

the same time, with slates and smartphones, the needs of Users in the SCM area has chan

and Microsoft Dynamics AX has continued to meet that demand. Te recent announcem

around new SCM functionality in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 are just the latest exa

of the growth of the product in these areas. Tats a lot to keep track of, but in this issue

highlight many of these items and also spend time reviewing some old school SCM con

like EDI. Even back in 2002, my company had EDI needs with Axapta. Te need for EDI h

changed, and our panel discussion provides a great overview.

Please take the time to read this issue front to back. Te tips and tricks can be ap

immediately to help you be more successful with Microsoft Dynamics AX. Te SCM con

will explain how Microsoft Dynamics AX can enable your company to do more both inter

and externally to improve your warehouse and distribution operations. SCM, much

business intelligence, continues to evolve, which was a top reason for addressing it in this i

Teres also information about AXUG Summit and the success of 1,000 Members conver

in sunny ampa for a week of unparalleled networking and knowledge sharing. Yes, AX

Summit 2013 was truly a great event, with more than 230 breakout sessions, a motiv

keynote from coach ony Dungy, the huge Expo Hall, and the 5 oclock Somewhere Regi

Chapter session where a couple hundred AXUG Members met with Users from their ci

region. I would be remiss not to thank the 130 speakers, numerous volunteers, and AXUG

that all contributed to make Summit such a success. Te bar will be raised even higher i

Louis for the 10th AXUG Summit, but I believe the AXUG community is up to the challen

Finally, I want to remind the AXUG community to continue to use the AXUG Collaborateas your one stop shop for knowledge sharing and networking. Since we rolled out Commu

AXUG.com at Convergence 2013, thousands of AXUG Members have created profiles, jo

the 30+ online communities, and posted hundreds of questions and replies in the discus

boards. AXUG Collaborate continues to grow, so if you have not taken advantage of this

AXUG benefit, theres no time like the present to do so. I promise you will not be disappoi

See you in Atlanta for Convergence 2014, or perhaps at an upcoming AXUG Regi

Chapter or Global Branch meeting!

Frank Vukovits, Jr.

Director Programming, AXUG

Going to the Next Level...

Sherry Linaresletterfrom the axug director

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On a Roll

to Grow in

2014

Frank Vukovits, Jr.


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Winter 201

March 47, 2014 / Atlanta, GA

Register today and start planning

your trip to Atlanta! To find out

more or to register online, visit:

www.microsoft .com/ convergence

Learn.See how you can make your life easierwhen you get back to work.

Connect.Find out how others successfully useMicrosoft Dynamics.

Expand.Visit the Expo Hall and see how thelatest innovations bring new value toMicrosoft Dynamics.

Discover.Watch Microsoft experts demo thenew releases and talk about theproduct roadmaps.

Envision.Hear where Microsoft executives and

analysts think the industry is going.Enjoy.Hang out with new friends at eveningevents and listen to a GRAMMY-winning band at the Closing Celebration.

12,000 M icrosoft D ynam ics com m unity

m em bers cant be w rong.The premier Microsoft Dynamics event is happening inAtlanta, GA, March 47, 2014.

Here are just a few things you can look forward to:

eventssessions meetings courses

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Te event calendar on www.AXUG.com and the weekly AXUGnewsletter are your best sources for the latest AXevent information as this list is subject to change. Events are added weekly, so check back often and get registeredthe next exciting AXUG event.

AXPC PreGAMEMARCH 3 | OMNI HOTEL AT CNN CENTER | ATLANTA, GEORGIA

www.AXpartnerconnections.com

Microsoft DynamicsConvergence 2014

MARCH 4-7 | ATLANTA, GEORGIAwww.microsoft.com/dynamics/convergence/atlanta14

The Partner Connections EventOCTOBER 12-14 | ST. LOUIS, MISSOURIwww.thepartnerconnectionsevent.com

AXUG Summit 2014WEEK OF OCTOBER 12-17 | ST. LOUIS, MISSOURIwww.AXUGsummit.com

Regional Chapter/GlobalBranch Meetings

JANUARY 23 United Kingdom (England) | Reading, LondonJANUARY 29 Denmark | HellerupFEBRUARY 12 Carolinas| Charlotte, North CarolinaFEBRUARY 12 United Kingdom (Scotland) | Edinburg, ScoFEBRUARY 20 Italy | MilanFEBRUARY 20 Ireland | DublinFEBRUARY 20 NorwayFEBRUARY 20 Spain | MadridAPRIL 15 Netherlands


8/60

8|AXUG Magazine

For several years, the Minnesota Chapter of AXUG has made an

annual trip to the Fargo, North Dakota campus of Microsoft. It is a

trip that everyone looks forward to and is not limited to Minnesota

Chapter Members all AXUG Members are welcome! Tis year

we met for two days of sessions and networking in mid-September.

Tere were more than 80 Microsoft Dynamics AX Users in

attendance the largest turnout weve had to date. Outside of

AXUG Summit, this was the largest AXUG-sponsored event of

the year. Microsoft did an outstanding job of hosting us at their

Executive Briefing Center on the Fargo campus. Lunches were

included, and we enjoyed a reception with dinner one night.

Because we met at the Fargo campus, many Microsoft Dynamics

AX engineers and product managers were available to give us a

number of excellent presentations. Te presentations were divided

into two tracks: technical and functional. In all, there were more

than 20 presentations given by Microsoft and Partners on a large

newsregional chapter news

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Minnesota Chapter Heads to North

Dakota for September Meeting

by Pat Ryan, chapter leader

variety of topics. A tour of the Microsoft campus was include

and there were numerous opportunities for networking with oth

Microsoft Dynamics AX Users and for meeting with Microso

experts.

We are all looking forward to next years meeting, which

planned again for September. Join us!

Outside of AXUG

Summit, this was the

largest AXUG-sponsored

event of the year


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Winter 201

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I have been involved with the New England Chapter of AXUG since

January 2011. Te group was formed prior to this time but had gone

inactive until Green Beacon stepped in to help revive momentum in

the New England area. Te efforts have paid off, and we have been

meeting every quarter since with an average of 22 attendees.

Mark Erikson and I organize the meetings as best we can around

the needs of the group. Part of our agenda is a roundtable where we

openly discuss current issues or things wed like to see in the future.

It is from these roundtables that we are able to assess the needs of

the meeting population and start our search for relevant meeting

sponsorship. A number of vendors have graciously stepped up to the

task and provided us with presentations around electronic document

capture, BI, and reporting solutions as well as EDI. Since the majority

of our Member companies are running Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009,

our most recent undertaking is to get help understanding Microsoft

Dynamics AX 2012 and the future roadmap of the solution so we can

make the best decisions possible for our respective companies.

New Life for the New England Chapter

by Barbara Maraglia, chapter leaderIts been amazing to me that as a group we have so many sim

struggles, and that in some cases, we are able to jointly wor

solutions. Trough my involvement with this group, we have

able to identify a mutual need and hire developers to wor

solutions while splitting costs. Situations like this are defin

win-win for all involved.

One thing that I believe has made us stronger as a group is

we continue to communicate with each other outside of our reg

quarterly meetings. Our group is on LinkedIn, so its simple

anyone at any time to get assistance. We also try to keep an upd

list of folks who have attended our meetings so if we need topic cl

its easy to reach out to the group, but more importantly, we are

to send personal reminders of planned meeting agendas and me

dates to the group to help keep them engaged between meeting

Last summer we changed up our regular meeting agenda

by meeting at one of our Member companies. Tis was the m

attended meeting yet with 39 in attendance! It was fun to

how they use Microsoft Dynamics AX, what they do outsid

Microsoft Dynamics AX that needs to then interface with it

to understand more about their company in general. We hope

able to do more of this down the road either by visiting a Memcompany or by having them present at our regular meeting.

I dont see 2014 being much different for us. We will cont

to solicit topic suggestions from our group so the meetings

meaningful and worthwhile for our Members to attend.

quarterly meetings are already booked for January, April, July,

October, and we hope to continue delivering topics our Member

interested in as well as growing the average meeting size.

AXUG TOLA Looks for a Great Year Ahe

by Eric Hintz, chapter leader

Te recent AXUG OLA (exas, Oklahoma, Louisiana,

Arkansas) Regional Chapter meeting in Houston was a sucwenty attendees were present to share User experiences

learn from one another. Clive Wiley from ARGI gave a te

presentation on the companys business intelligence (BI) platfor

Another great component of the meeting was the Custo

experience presentation. Arhan Dundan from Gurwitch Prod

showed how his company utilizes Microsoft Dynamics AX i

business, including how the solution interacts with eCommerce,

and other third party integrations.

Planning for 2014 rounded out the meeting. Members prov

feedback, ideas, and input, and topics of interest and pote

speakers/vendors for the year ahead were identified. AXUG

looks forward to a tremendous 2014! AX


10/60

10|AXUG Magazine

COMPANYOrganogenesis

TITLEsenior business analyst

[email protected]

How long have you been a Regional Chapter/Global Branch leader?

Since about June 2011. Te New England Chapter had been dormant for some time, and

Green Beacon got us going again in January 2011. At that time, they introduced about

15 of us to AXUG and asked for a couple of folks to step up and lead the group. I, along

with Mark Erikson of Bemis Associates, Inc., stepped up and have been co-leading the

chapter ever since.

Whats the most valuable aspect of the chapter/branch meetings?

Te networking. You cant put a price on the knowledge and training you get from your

peers. o also find out that you have similar requirements and can combine efforts onprojects has been a big help. Our chapter meets once per quarter, and we always make sure

there is time for our roundtable discussions. Tere is so much knowledge in the room that

its been very useful to tap into everyones knowledge. Not one person knows the answer;

rather its a combination of people that makes our chapter work more as an extended team instead of separate companies.

What do you enjoy most about your AXUG membership?

Te expertise we have the ability to tap into. Regardless if someone is with a Member company, a Partner, or a vendor, we all g

the time to share our knowledge and help each other learn and grow.

What was your favorite topic at a past chapter/branch meeting?

One thing I think we have been good about with our chapter meetings is to highlight Partner companies that meet the intere

of the majority of our Members. Every single one of these topics has had something that could be applied back at the office. I f

one cant pin-point a favorite topic and hope that the group feels the same way.

Barbara Maraglia

COMPANYFCC Environmental

TITLEsenior research analyst

[email protected]


Since July 2013


Networking with other Microsoft Dynamics AX Users and learning from their

experiences are the two most valuable items of regional meetings. It is a great feeling

to learn about a fix another company found that would solve the same issue that my

company is having. Having vendors showcase a product or solution also helps because I

can ask more detailed questions about the product to the speaker than simply going to

the vendors website to view general information about the product.


Tere are two main reasons I enjoy my AXUG Premium membership. First, the annual

AXUG Summit is worth its weight in gold. My company is an AXUG Premium Member and receives a discount on registrati

which saves several hundred dollars. I network with peers who have similar Microsoft Dynamics AX modules and customizatio

as me. I also take academy-led training at AXUG Summit, and I always learn better ways to utilize Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Second, I enjoy the regional meetings. I love finding local Microsoft Dynamics AX Users that I can network with. Te chap

meeting is a short drive which saves time and money.


Te Customer experience portion of the meeting was most valuable. Te Microsoft Dynamics AX end User explained h

his company used Microsoft Dynamics AX with several other integrations. He explained the challenges and lessons learned

choosing a Microsoft Dynamics AX implementation Partner, his current challenges, and the desired future state of his ERP. T

Customer experience story is an invaluable part of the chapter meeting.

Eric Hintz

leadersmeet your axug l eaders

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11/60

Winter 2014

COMPANYMarshalltown Company

TITLEinformation engineeringdirector

[email protected]


I am a first-year branch leader.


Networking with other Users and learning about their experiences with Microsoft

Dynamics AX.


Interaction with other Users and chapter meetings. I really like the way the AXUG

website and Collaborate is growing with features and information.


Te annual Fargo trip is always the highlight of the year.

Patrick Ryan

COMPANYIIMAK

TITLECFO

[email protected]


I have been one of the leaders of AXUG Brazil since 2011.


Te most relevant aspect is the opportunity for Users to share experiences with

other hands-on workers and also to promote collaboration with Microsoft

teams for the constant improvement of Microsoft Dynamics as well as better

communication between Users, Partners, and Microsoft.

What do you enjoy most about your AXUG membership?Te volunteer spirit of the people in AXUG is what most motivates me to work

hard in building a stronger Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem.


Business intelligence (BI) is one of my favorite topics as well as the interactive

session which is a unique and innovative way to learn about Microsoft Dynamics.

Felipe Feijo leadersmeet your axug l eaders

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12/60

12|AXUG Magazine

ALCO Stores Inc.

Bonita Packing Co.

Britomart Group

Management

Company

Depomed, Inc.

Dynamics User Group

Enventure GlobalTechnology

FuelCell Energy, Inc.

GI

Jaipur Rugs Inc

Leatherman Tool Group

Longitude 80 Dairies, Inc

& Subsidiaries

Lyle Signs, Inc.

Merit Brass

Metal-Matic, Inc.

Metrohm USA

MHPM Project

Managers Inc

Mid-Continent

Instruments and

Avionics

Norbord Inc.

Ocean View Engineering

Omnicom Media Group

Pierre-Fabre laboratories

PFSAPrenco Progress

and Engineering

Corporation Ltd.

Primcogent Solutions

Rodofort S/A

Sokol and Company

Teledyne Technologies

Tip Top Poultry, Inc.

Travel Alberta

Uniform AdvantageVictrex Plc

WESCO

X-FAB Texas, Inc.

Lyle Signs, Inc.Tis quarter were featuring Lyle Signs, Inc. sharing a little abo

who they are and what they do.

Lyle Signs, Inc., headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota,

the leading manufacturer of traffic, regulatory, and safety signs

the United States. Te company has been shipping regulatory sig

nationwide for nearly 100 years. Its experience with reflective sheeti

dates back to the 1930s. Lyle Signs is committed to providing the b

service and best sign possible.

We decided to upgrade from a

basic Membership to the Premium

membership because it provides

us with more User interaction,

information, and a place to network

with other Microsoft Dynamics AXUsers, says Donna L. Convey, I

manager at Lyle Signs. Te ability

to connect with other Members

provides additional resources

for implementing and upgrading

Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Tank you to Donna and Lyle Signs for moving from basic

Premium membership!

If you, too, want to explore the benefits of AXUG Premiu

membership and take advantage of membership opportuniti

simply visit www.AXUG.com > Join AXUG. Our Premium Membe

are the lifeblood of our organization and enable us to continue

provide valuable networking, educational events, and solutio

specific programming. AXU

Premium Members AddedLast Quarter

k-eCommerce

UXC Eclipse

Premium Partner MembersAdded Last Quarter

membersw e l c o m e t o o u r n e w m e m b e r s

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Welcome to the new Members who have invested

in AXUGPremium membership and Partner

membership this year! Each new Member adds

value not only to their own organization, but also

to the entire AXUG community as they share their

knowledge and experiences. Please note that these

organizations have given AXUG permission to share

their name publicly.


13/60

Winter 2014

Conversations are flying on AXUG Collaborate, and

we thought it would be fun to look back at some of

the top discussions from fall 2013. Te oldest topics

are posted first, and if youd like more information

on any of these topics, log on to AXUG Collaborate

(www.community. AXUG.com) to read the full conversation.

Discontinued Inventory Items

12 Replies | Posted by Kaitlyn Peot on August 9 at 5:25 p.m.

Hi, I am wondering if anyone has a process for deactivating/gettingrid of discontinued items. Soon well be clearing out all inventory and

replacing it with new. When that happens well no longer have a use

for 75% of our current items. As I understand it, there is no way to

delete an item. Knowing that, when I pull reports they will contain all

items, discontinued and not. Tat is not ideal and ultimately I would

like to be able to delete the item, anyone find something that works

comparable to the item actually being deleted? Tanks for any input.

Kaitlyn Peot | New Belgium Brewing Co. Inc

Statistical General Ledger

Accounts in AX 2012 R2???

9 Replies | Posted by Dan Naser on August 28 at 12:34 p.m.

Is there a way in AX2012 R2 to create statistical accounts to track

metrics such as department headcount, etc. - so that the value/

balances associated with the statistical account can be used for future

calculations such as allocations? I see there is a statistical Main Account

Category however I do not see a Main Account ype for statistical?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Tank you.

Dan Naser | controller | Crow Holdings

MRP: Ignore Purchase Orders that

are Not Posted

9 Replies | Posted by Eric Lepage on August 30 at 4:26 p.m.

Hello, as soon as a P.O. is created, it is considered by the MRP

calculations. We would like to take in consideration only those P.O.that have at least been posted.

Te include inventory transactions checkbox in the master plan

parameter form indicates whether the MRP process will used pending

transactions, like purchase orders, in the calculation process.

However, is there any way to somehow configure this parameter so

it will take into account only the P.O.s that have been posted (posting

- purchase order). Or as an alternative, only P.O.s which have physical

quantity received (posting - receipt list).

Te documentation indicates that it is the case for production

orders: production orders that are not yet registered as physical

receipts. Regards.

Eric Lepage | Biron Groupe Sante Inc.

Master Scheduling Quitting

Halfway Through Product List

9 Replies | Posted by Tom Cook on October 23 at 10:40 a.m.

Hey folks, So, weve been running into an issue with M

Scheduling on a fairly frequent basis: it will often, when run

about 20%, halfway, or 75% or so through the SKU set it has

tasked to run planned orders for and then decide that it is fini

for no discernible reason other than petulance or outright m

We deal with it by re-running master scheduling on diffe

computers until it does what we want it to do, which, needlesay, is a whole lot of fun.

Has anyone else encountered this issue? If so, were you ab

more permanently fix it? Tanks.

om Cook | inventory analyst | Fountain ire

Inventory-Excess and Obsolete

11 Replies | Posted by Aaron Newman on October 29 at 10:48 a.m.

Hi, Im looking for ideas or processes to identify the excess

obsolete inventory in 2009. We are getting ready for phy

inventory and were looking for a way to identify what part

have on hand that have zero usage over the past X amoun

months (or years). I dont see any canned reports but Im alsoto AX and its possible Im missing a canned routine or pro

that does what were looking for. I thought maybe it cou

identified via SQL Query by some type of a join from Invent

and Inventrans...the problem is if you havent used it,

there wouldnt be any entries to Inventrans so how would

write it? I know this isnt a new area for companies, especial

manufacturing, so Im hoping theres someone here who can

hanks!

Aaron Newman | corporate I manager | Delta Star, Inc.

Quantities in Financial Reports

9 Replies | Posted by Pascal Quellet on October 31 at 8:40 a.m.

Hi everyone, We are a manufacturing company implemenAX 2012 R2, For us, quantities (sold, produced, hours work

would ideally be presented along with our Financial data in rep

(for example, with the actual cost of a production departm

Ideally, we would like to populate the quantity field in the

posting along with the actual transaction. Do anybody ever

to do this? Any thoughts or suggestions?

Pascal Ouellet | AX implementation project manager

Nordic Wood Structures / Chantiers Chibougamau Ltd AX

TOP COLLABORATE DISCUSSIONS


14/60

14|AXUG Magazine

One of the things that

drew us to Microsoft

Dynamics AX is the

familiar Windows look

and feel of it , says James

Harrington, director of technology services with

Wirtz Beverage Group, which is a leading distributor

of luxury and premium wine, spirits, and beer brands

as well as non-alcoholic beverages. Te company

does $2 billion in annual sales in the states of Illinois

where its headquartered and Iowa, Minnesota,

Nevada, and Wisconsin.

Prior to deploying the technology, James recalls

a heavily siloed environment. Each state operationof ours not only had a different name, but also

its own set of systems as well, he says. It made

sharing and consolidating financial statements

very difficult. We wanted to bring it all together to

alleviate the pain points.

Specific items on the wish list for the new

system included more visibility into data and more

repeatable, efficient processes across all states.

Our monthly closing statements were different

for each state, James recalls when asked for an

example of the challenges presented by silos. So

wed review each state separately.

Once Microsoft Dynamics AX was chosen,

James realized that the Windows look and feel

was but the beginning of the benefits. Inste

of the platform dictating how we do things, t

configurability and extensibility make it possib

to accommodate our processes, he says.

oday, Wirtz entrusts all of its gene

accounting, master data management, and prici

to Microsoft Dynamics AX. Te solution do

indeed provide a consolidated view of the busine

from a financial perspective. It tells us ho

individual units are performing so that correcti

action can be taken proactively if necessary, Jam

says.

Te information, he reports, is not only mo

accurate, but also available more quickly. Wipricing changes, many times we had to wait to g

an accurate view of revenue and profit from 30

45 days after the end of the month, he says. No

we have an accurate view on a daily basis. O

of many areas where thats beneficial concer

chargebacks the term for the incentives paid

suppliers whose products Wirtz sells. Once we

sold it, we can send documentation to the suppl

much more quickly than we used to be able t

James says.

Hes also very pleased with the newfound abil

to deliver on a shared services model. We

able to implement and deliver things such as H

programs across different groups and differe

COMPANY:

Wirtz Beverage Group

HEADQUARTERS:

Chicago, Illinois

INTERVIEWEE:

James Harrington

EMAIL:

[email protected]

WEBSITES:

www.wirtzbev.com

ESTABLISHED:

1926

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES:

3,000

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX

USER SINCE:

2011

NUMBER OF USERS:

2,000

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS

AXUGMEMBER SINCE:

June 2011

Cheers: LeadingBeverage SupplierToasts Configurable,Extensible Platform

user member showcase

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15/60

Winter 2014

state lines, he says. We had separate systems before, so this enables

us to grow more profitably.

Overall, James is pleased with Microsoft Dynamics AX. It does

what we wanted to it do, he says. For us, the challenge was in

changing behavior. Our Users have had to get used to the amount of

information that became available. Teres a methodology that takes

some getting used to, and if you dont know how to look at it, its

almost too much data.

In the future, James says hes looking forward to taking advantage

of the Microsoft Dynamics AX modules that hes not currently using,

such as those for expense management and purchase requisitions.Te Project Management module was implemented, but due to

timing, only in one unit. Were circling back now to do more and

further leverage what we have in the solution, he says.

As it stands, in addition to Microsoft Dynamics AX, Wirtz r

on separate solutions for the core areas of warehouse managem

and purchasing. It would be nice if they ran on the same syst

James says. At Convergence, he attended development sessions

said the previews were very encouraging. Well take a serious lo

the upgrade path and what we need to do.

In the meantime, he says that rather than relying on an ext

implementer, Wirtz is bringing the development work in-ho

While the company hired its first Microsoft Dynamics

developer only a year ago, the transition to being 100 per

sufficient is already well underway. And that transition, he will likely mean that rather than only answering questions in o

discussions hosted by AXUG, the company will likely be as

them as well. AX

Super charge your Microsoft Dynamics AX businessAdd competitive power to your dynamics AX

platform with an AXtension solution for:

Be amazed at how AXtension features are seamlessly integrated. They can accelerate your platform

investment, increase bottom line revenue, safeguard future business and achieve an early ROI.

Visit our booth at the Microsoft Dynamics Convergence 2014 in Atlanta to get a live demonstration.


16/60

As with everything in life, its good to start with the facts.

Youve likely heard the term EDI flying around the

last couple of years. Outside of defining the acronym

as electronic data interchange (and maybe even that

was a stretch), do you know what EDI is??

AXUG sat down with a User and two Partners who work in EDI

every day. Tey say that by far the most popular question they receive

is, What is it? So, if youve been unfamiliar with the ins and outs of

EDI to this point, youre not alone.

What is EDI?o get the ball rolling, I asked our interviewees to define EDI in

their own terms:

EDI is a standard in which two companies can exchange data

electronically, allowing both parties to transact business in a seamless

and efficient manner, says Christian Fordham, an EDI User and

director of business applications for New Sunshine, LLC.

According to Mike Gross, vice president of the EDI and supply

chain essentials group at Accellos, EDI is best defined as, a standard

language used to orchestrate business-to-business transaction

exchanges, such as moving inventory throughout a supply chain

network, invoicing and payment reconciliation, healthcare claim

processing, etc.

Rounding out the message, Dennis Bruce, director of busine

development for Data Masons Software, says EDI is, the ability f

a company to transact business electronically with other busines

using standards-based messages.

Unfamiliar Territory

Often times when Im talking with people regarding EDI, I try

figure out why theyre interested, says Dennis. Many are doing

because their customers are forcing them; others want to do it fthe benefits that come from that electronic relationship and proc

automation.

As Dennis said, adoption is often driven by mandates within

industry, says Mike. If a User is not familiar with EDI, well expla

the multiple methods and options available for managing ED

EDI is a functional process that overlaps multiple disciplines, a

its important that Users understand how to interpret complian

requirements and the business processes that EDI can automate.

Christian agrees with both Dennis and Mike, sharing that

receives questions from colleagues within his own organization abo

EDI

BREAKING

DOWN

CHRISTIAN FORDHAM DENNIS BRUCE MIKE GROSS

16|AXUG Magazine


17/60

whether or not EDI can help them with one business need or another.

Many people dont have an understanding of what EDI is or what

it can do, as well as what it cant do, says Christian. Once we get into

a discussion and really dig into requirements to get a feel for why

they want to use EDI, Im able to provide some direction as to what

the best options and tools might be to make life a little bit easier. For

example, if we have one small customer buying only a few products,

it doesnt make sense to start EDI with that customer.

Who is a Good Candidate for an EDI

Solution?

One of the most important things to understand is that EDI is not

one-sided.

In discussions Ive had with fellow Users, I try to get an

understanding of whether they have a current EDI presence or if

theyre just throwing out an idea, hoping it will provide a solution

for them, says Christian. EDI is not a one-sided deal. Both the User

and the organizations theyre working with need to be set up to give

and receive information. Once I know where they stand with EDI, Im

better able to help them figure out a solution.For Mike, a good candidate can also be defined by the number of

transactions they exchange with business partners each week and

how much time is spent manually processing those transactions.

If somebody is evaluating EDI as an initiative for their organization,

an essential step is to review the supply chain network that is engaged

with the delivery of inventory or services to customers. Tey should

also review their order to cash and procure to pay processes to identify

areas that can be automated, says Mike. If the organization is doing

100 or more transactions a week, thats a lot of manual work and

room for error. EDI minimizes the potential for mistakes and down-

line supply disruptions, lowers PO processing costs, and tightens

up processes so as change occurs, the change is handled through a

system-iterated process rather than phone calls and emails.Mike also shares that EDI capabilities can elevate your positioning

with potential new business partners that prefer or mandate EDI as a

method of exchanging business transactions.

Nobody will ever tell you that entering data is a core competency

for their business, and data entry is one of the main reasons why

people enter an EDI discussion, says Dennis. If youre looking to

increase your business but want to do it in a fashion that doesnt

require you to increase headcount, then EDI may make sense for you

as it gives you the ability to transact with any company whether

thats a customer, vendor, third-party logistics provider, or carrier

24/7 without increasing headcount as the accuracy and speed of

how you process transactions improves immensely over your teamsmanual data entry capabilities.

Putting Your Best Foot Forward

As with anything, there are best practices associated with EDI that

can help an organization find a greater level of success.

Success with EDI starts at the foundation, during the configuration,

says Christian. As you bring in an information trading partner, its

critical that both parties have a good, firm understanding of the

transactions theyll conduct and that during the project a high level

of testing has occurred all the way through the system, including the

exchange of EDI documentation. Tis is critical.

Another thing that was key for us in our business is that we h

person in an EDI coordinator role whose responsibility is to mo

the EDI transactions that occur each day, checking for errors

making sure transactions are completed successfully, cont

Christian. Sometimes a partner will send awkward item num

or documents will get stuck. Its key to have somebody monito

system to catch things that are outside the norm. A companydoesnt have something like this in place is probably causing prob

that they dont know about.

Tose are great thoughts from Christian, says Mike. In gen

we try to provide the recommendation for Users to automate

workflows so that you can manage by exception, just respon

when a true exception has occurred that requires attention fr

business User.

If you think about manufacturers and distributors selling

large companies across the globe, there are numerous compli

requirements, and a lot of companies dont have the resou

to have one person own compliance, so its a shared funct

continues Mike. Another best practice is to ensure your organizunderstands your trading partners compliance requirem

and builds discipline within your organization and processe

minimize non-conformance to requirements as non-conform

can introduce significant chargebacks, disruptions, and dam

scorecard performance with key accounts.

Mike is correct; managing by exception is a big deal, says De

Being in a position where you have a fully automated EDI solu

and are able to manage by exception, receiving notifications w

things are processed, properly or improperly, is key.

A final best practice I would share is to set up audit report

specific transactions or trading partners. Tese types of report

strengthen a managing by exception process by delivering intell

and timely notifications that help you stay up-to-date withinformation you need to run your business efficiently.

The Future of EDI

EDI is, in reality, a format for what electronic documents look

says Dennis. Tere are other formats out there now. For exam

Europe uses a lot of XML and ASCII formatted documents, and

want those documents formatted to fit within an EDI solution, so

change of accepting and translating different document types

EDI solutions is becoming an industry requirement.

One trend that has driven significant change is the emerg

of multi- or Omni-channel fulfillment, meaning that consumer

dictating how products are supplied to them and their customersmeans that manufacturers and distributors will have to deal with

EDI and fulfillment requirements to ship individual packages dir

to consumers, says Mike. Te biggest fundamental change in

industry will be a continued shift towards cloud-based techno

which moves management of data communication, translation

compliance validation to a hosted service versus on-premise mo

I agree with Mike, concludes Christian. I dont see much

there to replace how were currently doing business. EDI is the

works, and it works well. Managing the exceptions in that pro

makes it fairly simple. AX

Winter 2014


18/60

Power View is a great tool for creating dashboards and analytics

for Microsoft Dynamics AX; you can easily embed it into Role

Centers to create summary dashboards, you can use it to drill into

offending statistics that you notice, and you can easily create new

dashboards using the new Analyze button in Microsoft Dynamics

AX 2012 R2. But what would be even better would be having context-sensitive dashboards built into the actual master data forms. You

would then be able to see statistics and trends against the data that

you are focused on. Fortunately, that is not very hard to do.

In this example, we will show how you can easily create a new

dashboard through Power View and then embed it within the

Microsoft Dynamics AX forms to display just the statistics that you

are looking for.

Creating a Customer Summary

Dashboard

Te first step in the process is to create a new Power View

Dashboard that you will embed into your master forms. Once you

have done this, you can continue to tweak the view later on and not

have to do any further coding.

How to do it...

o build a simple Customer analysis dashboard, follow these steps:

Start off by finding your Power View Data Sources and creatinga new reporting canvas. In this example, we will use theSales

cube as our data source.

Embedding Power View Dashboardswithin Microsoft Dynamics AX Formsby Murray Fife

Build your dashboard from the available dimensions and measurin the cube. We just summarized the sales by date period a

also listed out all of the products that the Customers have boug

Note: Dont put any filters on this form. We will apply filters

the code later on.

Once you have finished building the dashboard, select theSave Aoption from theFilemenu. When theSave Asdialog box shows u

give your new dashboard a name and then click theSavebutto

t t&

TIPS & TRICKS

18|AXUG Magazine


19/60

How it works...

Now if you return to the Power View reports library, you will see

the new report that you just created.

If you open it, then you will see your report in view mode.

Embedding the Dashboard into the

Customer Form

Once you have designed your dashboard, it is time to add it to your

forms. Tis will allow you to browse through the records and see

statistics alongside the original field data in Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Getting Ready

In this example, we will extend out the Custable form, which

normally looks like this:

How to do it...

o add the Power View dashboard to a form in Microsoft Dyna

AX, follow these steps:

Open up the AO and create a new project for the change. copy the Custable form over to the new project.

Expand the form definition until you are able to access all oUpperGroupset of controls which houses the definition fo

main form layout.

Winter 2014


20/60

Right-click on the UpperGroupform and from the New Controlsub menu, select the Groupitem. Rename the group, and then

set theWidthto 600 and the Heightto 512. We do this so that

you can see the dashboard when it is displayed on the form; the

default sizing for the control is a little narrow.

Ten right-click on the new group that you added and select theActiveXoption from the New Control sub menu. When the

ActiveX browser is displayed, find the Microsoft Web Browser

control and add it to the group.

Give your new ActiveX control a more appropriate name, andalso set theWidth to Column Width, and the Heightto Column

Height so that it fills the container.

Now open up the Methods at the parent table level, a

right-click on the Methods group. Open up the Overri

method sub-menu and select the activate method. Wh

the method editor opens up, add the following lines of cod

Note: In the second line of the urlvariable definition, note t

name of the report. Tis needs to match the name of the rep

that you created in the prior section.

If you save the project and then open up the Customer form, ywill see the Power View dashboard is now shown.

t t&

TIPS & TRICKS

20|AXUG Magazine


21/60

Unfortunately, this allows the User to edit the form. o fix that,update the code to include a couple more qualifiers.

Now when you open up the form, you will just see the report.

Te final step in the process it to add some filters to the

code so that it will only show the data that you selected.

Here is the complete code listing:

publicvoidactivate(boolean_active){

strurl;

url ="http://dynamicsax.contoso.com/sites/DynamicsAx/_layouts/ReportServer/AdHocReportDesigner.aspx" ;

url = url + "?RelativeReportUrl=/sites/DynamicsAx/Power View Reports/CustomerSummaryDashboard.rdlx";url = url + "&ViewMode=Presentation";url = url + "&DefaultItemOpen=1";url = url + "&Fit=True";url = url + "&BackgroundColor=White";url = url + "&AllowEditViewMode=False";url = url + "&PreviewBar=False";url = url + "&rf=[Compan ].[Compan ] eq '"+ CustTable.dataAreaId + "'";

How it works...Now when the dashboard is displayed, it will only show

information that relates to the current record.

How cool is that!

Summary

Tis was just a quick example of how you could create a P

View report and then embed it into the Microsoft Dynamic

forms.

Tis is not the only place that you could do this though. I

wanted, you could create dashboards for:

Inventory statistics and embed them within the products fo Vendor scorecards and include them in the vendor record

help with negotiations

Project status reports to help the project managers Employee performance

Tis is a simple change to make, so give it a go. AX

Murray Fife is a Microsoft Dynamics AX MVP, a presenter, an au

AXUG Premium Partner, and solution architect at I.B.I.S. Inc more than 18 years of experience in the software industry. Unab

completely kick the habit of being a developer, countless prototypes

started their life on Murrays desktop, only to be turned into stan

products and offerings. Te projects that are too visionary (a.k.a

out there) usually live on through his personal blog site (A ink

Notebook - www.atinkerersnotebook.com) or his SlideShare acc

(www.slideshare.net/murrayfife/presentations) waiting for othe

discover them. He can be reached at [email protected] or

324-3862.

Winter 2014


22/60

AXUG: Walk us through what your team has

developed for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3.

Chandramouli Venkatesh (CV): Te biggestfeature we added is Master Data Management,which has been a long-standing ask from

Customers and the field. Id say this is the singlebiggest feature addition in R3 by my team.

We also worked on performance improvements,including specific advancements and improvements

to X++ compiler, which has been a huge pain pointfor ISVs and Partners in particular.

AXUG: Youve been in program management

for quite a few years. What do you like best

about that role as it applies to the business

applications Microsoft develops?

CV:Business applications are a really motivatingand inspiring way to see how our solutions addressreal business problems and have an impact on ourCustomers bottom lines. Its very gratifying to see

that play out.As a program manager, the touchpoint we have

with Customers, Partners, ISVs, and AXUG iseye-opening and educational. Every time I meet

a Customer or Partner, I walk away thinking thattheyre using the product in ways that we didnteven think about. Its refreshing to get those insightsand put what weve learned back into the product to

make even more of an impact with future releases.

AXUG:Where do you get most of your product

feedback?

CV: Te Connect tool is the most concrete way, butwe receive input from informal channels as well,as we take the feedback from casual conversations

and feed that information back to the productteamso much so that some Customers arefriends with me on Facebook!

AXUG: Now thats a friendly relationship!

I imagine you also have a regular cadence

of receiving feedback from the Technology

Advancement Program (TAP)?

CV:Yes; we also have the Customer Advisory Councilthat we meet with regularly to gather feedback andbounce ideas off of, which ultimately leads to them

helping to shape the future of the product.Tese meetings are frequent enough to enable

getting updates often, but not so often that weannoy the Customers that are helping us.

Another thing with the advisory council is thatwe include a bunch of different Customers, from

business size to industry to geography, to getdiverse number of viewpoints.

AXUG: You previously mentioned that you

engaged with Users during AXUG events. W

love to hear that. How has that involveme

helped connect you with Users?

CV: Its a very structured way to hear the Customevoice. Its also a beneficial way for Users to ginformation and voice opinions, rather than looki

on the web for random feedback where they couwalk away not finding the answer they need.

Teres also so much innovation in the Usworld, and this User group model allows innovatito flourish. Te more creative the product usag

the better.

AXUG:On that creativity note, Microsoft Dynam

AX was previously known for customizations, b

the last couple of releases seem to have focused

more out-of-the-box functionality. Can we expe

that with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 an

future releases as well?

CV: We see a continuing trend towards enabli

more standardization in the product. Tis is purea reaction to the market and industry movi

towards more and more ready-made solutiowhere people dont want to start from scratch.

Its the right thing to do as technology evolvand is in line with what we want the base produ

to be, so were investing more in the product enhance that out-of-the-box functionality.

Tat said, we will not take away the power customize as thats one of the biggest traits of Micros

Dynamics AX, but if theres less need to customithen thats a good thing. Less time implementing, letime upgrading. Tats good news overall.

AXUG:Is there anything else youd like to shawith our readers?

CV:Keep the feedback coming as were absolute

listening. Sometimes Users might feel like theynot getting individual responses, but thats dpurely to the volume we receive, so were nalways able to extend a personal response.

Te Connect tool is the most official wto provide feedback, but there is also AXUCollaborate, LinkedIn forums (which I cheoften), and other avenues. Use all the avenues y

can, except maybe not Facebook. My aunts afriends might not know what youre talking aboif you start to ask questions about X++. AXU

Chandramouli Venkateshprincipal group program manager

microsoft member showcase

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Chandramouli CV

Venkatesh is no rookie

when it comes to

development group

management at Microsoft.

In his 19 years with the

company, CV has worked

with the Exchange,

Windows Security,

Indigo, Bing, and

Microsoft Dynamics

groups, serving as the

group program manager

for server, services and

integration, and X++

programming language

for Microsoft Dynamics

AX for the last several

years. AXUGsat down

with CV to talk about

his teams contributions

to Microsoft Dynamics

AX 2012 R3, what

he likes most about

working with business

applications, and how his

team incorporates User

feedback into their work.

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Something caught their attention at

AXUG Summit 2013. What do you

think it was?

What would you name this photo?

Simply email your submission to

[email protected]. Te

winning submission will be printed

in the magazines next issue.

Congratulations!Congrats to ZAHEER POTTAYILfrom

UNITED CONVEYOR CORPORATION

for his winning submission, Do you think

that BlackBerry will make it to the next

Summit? Zaheer your prize is in the

mail!

NAME THAT PHOTO CONTEST

Winter 2014


24/60

Display Pack is a packager that has a niche market in advertising. Chances are if you

purchased a mobile phone or accessory in the last couple of years, youve held the

product before youve held your new phone.

Over the past 47 years, the family-owned company grew from a one-stall garage to

five-story, 460,000-square-foot building plus two additional facilities, creating solutio

that have earned them numerous AmeriStar awards for packaging.

Display Pack implemented Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 in January 2011 to help them bring the

spreadsheets and disparate data into a single system. In addition to Microsoft Dynamics AX, the compa

leans on RF-SMAR to control their shop floor from handheld devices, automating their manufacturienvironment and keeping their team on the warehouse floor to enter data instead of in their offices.

We caught up with Holly Coppock, IS manager, and Nate Briggs, logistics manager, of Display Pack

learn more about how the technology and mobility have moved their business forward over the last cou

of years, as well as hearing their advice on how the combination can help other Users move forward as we

A Team of Experts

Before the implementation of the handheld devices, Display Packs warehouse team learned how to u

Microsoft Dynamics AX, something that Holly and Nate say was instrumental to their success with bo

Microsoft Dynamics AX and the handheld devices interface. As Nate says, We now have a team of expe

instead of a team of Users.

Te data gathered from these systems has helped us understand our movements more clearly and p

the warehouse together in a practical sense. Its also really helped with labor as well, as weve been able

break down overtime due to poor process control, continues Nate. Were getting tighter and tighter a

starting to see the gains.

From a back office perspective, Hollys team has experienced a seamless integration between t

handheld devices and Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Nates really great to work with as hes very specific with his needs, says Holly. As long as we have t

information in the system, were able to compile the reports and data he needs. We really dont have

spend a lot of time supporting him and the warehouse, which makes our jobs rather fun and easy.

Nate is quick to compliment Holly and her team as well, sharing, Holly does a fantastic job of putting

together so I can actually use it , shares Nate.

pushes theNVELOP

HOLLY COPPOCK

NATE BRIGGS

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Always Moving

ongue in cheek, Display Pack has the mantra of God, family,

and ERP. his mantra holds up as the team continues to looktowards the next big thing, whether thats a search for new

hardware that will bring more control to the floor or re-evaluating

workflows to make sure theyre as efficient as possible.

Display Pack was built on being progressive and always moving,

and we continue to push for ROI in everything we do, says Nate.

Were interested in getting into tablets, but we own the scanners, and

its hard to justify replacing a $4,500 device when its still working.

When the devices are retired, the team plans to replace them with

mobile devices.

Weve been looking at a motion tablet that can run Microsoft

Dynamics AX and RF-SMAR, continues Nate. Its a great tool, a

way of the future. Our receiving guy has taken ownership of it and hasreally embraced the tool.

Were also looking at setting up our workflows so that in two

years we can streamline our operations and remove clerical support,

meaning that POs would go up to accounting from the floor, and our

shipping paperwork would be completed electronically, says Nate.

Have Faith

Te Display Pack team finds it hard to envision life withou

implementation they have today.here is absolutely nothing we cant do, says Nate. Sure, t

are things that cost money so we cant just do them, but we

do anything with the system to let our people do what they

to do.

Tat feeling is bittersweet as like many other companies, Di

Pack had to cut their workforce substantially in 2008, due to

economic depression.

We cut our staff in half back then, but were ramping bac

without having to add as much staff, says Holly. Now in b

times, were able to maintain our workloads without increasing

workforce at the same rate.

With an eye on the future, Nate shares advice that resonates aindustries and implementations.

Have faith in your process. Understand it and be willing to l

to your people and their feedback, shares Nate. Dont be sati

with whats coming out of the box. Challenge the norm and

pushing the envelope. AX

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5

MINUTESVOLUNTEER

My favorite blog is

I have been following a variety

maker blogs. The most interes

projects are the Rube Goldberg

machines because they exist ju

for fun.

On my desk right now are

Various equipment we are test

contracts, invoices, and a full c

of coffee.

My three goals for 2014 are

1. Complete some improvements to my house.2. Spend more time outside.

3. Study conversational Chinese.

When Im not at work

I volunteer at my sons school, primarily to help the faculty brin

appropriate technology into the classroom to excite the studen

interests in learning.

The best advice I ever received was

It is okay to ask for help.

WITH AXUGS

AXUGhas selected Tom Dockstader as our

Volunteer of the Quarter. Congratulations, Tom!

Tom is the IT manager for Kurt J. Lesker Company

and is a longtime AXUG Member. He has helped

out in a variety of roles this past year, from leading

sessions at Convergence and AXUG Summit to

assisting the Ohio Regional Chapter, even though

he lives in Pittsburgh! Tom has given a lot to AXUG

in 2013, and his dedication and willingness to

pitch in wherever needed are greatly appreciated.

OF THE QUARTER

Winter 2014


26/60

A

common tool for any accountant is Microsoft Excel; its used

everywhere to complete a variety of tasks including budgets andyear-end financial forecasts. Such was the case at International Dairy

Queen, Inc. based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In the past, 12-month budgets were prepared in Excel by department

heads for each cost center for each company. Each company/cost

center combination was a separate Excel file. Te Excel files were

submitted to the accounting team for review. After each proposed

budget was approved by accounting, all of the individual Excel files

were submitted to the information services team, who then uploaded

each spreadsheet into the budgeting software. Accounting would

run 12-month rollup and consolidation budget reports for upper

management review. As upper management changes were mandated,

the process was repeated until the final budget was arrived at.

Te process for preparing monthly, year-end financial forecastswas a more cumbersome process because year-end forecasts were

prepared for September, October, November, and December and

were prepared entirely using Excel. Beginning in mid-September,

each department head would prepare a year-end forecast for their

respective area(s) using Excel. Each forecast was submitted to

the accounting team who would then manually create rollup and

consolidated forecast reports using Excel. Te entire process was

repeated for the months of October, November, and December.

oday, the process of preparing budgets and year-end forecas

at IDQ is streamlined considerably using Microsoft ForecastMicrosoft FRx, and Microsoft FRx Webport. Te process is handl

completely by accounting without the assistance of informati

services. Department heads and end Users key their budgets an

year-end forecasts directly into Microsoft Forecaster via Micros

Forecaster Web Access.

Trough the use of input sets in Microsoft Forecaster, inputti

12-month budgets and year-end forecasts has the look and feel f

the end User as if they were inputting into Excel.

For budget input, first a Microsoft Forecaster administrat

defines budget accounting periods, including a year-to-date to

period. Next, line sets are created with all of the revenue and expen

accounts to be budgeted for. Column sets are created by combini

the 12 budget periods for the year and the year-to-date total perioTe administrator creates budget input sets by assigning the line

and the budget column set

the input set. Line set overrid

on the input set allow for som

cost centers, as defined

IDQ, to see a shortened list

accounts to budget for.

Rollup and consolidati

rollup structures are defined

Microsoft Forecaster, allowi

for rollup and consolidat

12-month budget reports be generated in Microso

Forecaster at any tim

Microsoft Forecaster repo

are created by combini

the same line set and column set used in the input set. Curren

conversion rates are input into Microsoft Forecaster, allowing for to

consolidation budget reports to be generated across multi-curren

companies. When running reports for a rollup cost center and/or

consolidation company, Microsoft Forecaster allows the end User t

ability to drill down to the detail level to see what components ma

up the consolidated numbers.

Streamlining Budgeting andForecasting with MicrosoftForecaster and Microsoft FRxby Gary Novak

t t&

TIPS & TRICKS

Through the use of input sets in Microsoft

Forecaster, inputting 12-month budgets and

year-end forecasts has the look and feel for the

end User as if they were inputting into Excel.

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When the final budget is approved by upper management,

12-month budget reports, by cost center, are generated by accountingusing Microsoft FRx and the IDQ rollup reporting hierarchy defined

within Microsoft FRx. Rather than printing budget reports and

distributing these reports to the respective department heads,

budget reports are pushed out to the Microsoft FRx Webport where

department heads can view their budgets online.

Setting up Microsoft Forecaster for budget input is a fairly

straightforward process. However, setting up Microsoft Forecaster

for year-end forecasting takes more thought and effort.

At IDQ, Users are presented with a pre-populated forecast input

set. Users see actuals numbers for all closed periods and their budget

numbers for the remaining open periods in the calendar year to

formulate their year-end forecast. Actuals are locked down and are

not editable by the User. Users are able to adjust their budget/forecastnumbers to prepare their year-end forecast.

o accomplish this in Microsoft Forecaster, first current-year

actuals periods and forecast periods are defined. A forecast column

set is then created by assigning to it both the current-year actuals

periods and forecast periods. Next, a forecast input set is created by

assigning to it a line set with all of the revenue and expense accounts

and the forecast column set. Be sure to lock the actuals periods on

the input set. Tis is what prevents Users from editing the actuals.

Current-year actuals are imported into Microsoft Forecaster, and the

current-year budget is copied to the forecast input set , being sure the

budget is copied to the forecast periods.

On the column set, check the hide check box to hide actuals periodsthat are still open where actuals numbers have not been imported. Also,

hide forecast periods where actuals exist. By hiding and unhiding

columns in the column set, you can always display 12 months at a time to

the User. A 12-month YD forecast column can be added to the column

set by creating a year-to-date forecast total period using a formula to

sum up the appropriate actual periods and appropriate forecast periods.

As months close, you import actuals for the closed month, followed

by unhiding that months actual numbers and hiding that months

forecast numbers in the column set and adjusting the year-to-date

forecast total period. Te previously entered forecast numbers for the

remaining open months remain in the system and are available to the

Users for updating as more information about the future beco

available. Tere is no need for the User to start over to prepare months year-end forecast.

Rollup and consolidation reports can be generated in Micr

Forecaster using the same column set and line set. Appropriate a

periods and forecast periods will display and total up to a year-to

total. Currency conversion rates are input into Microsoft Forec

allowing for top-consolidation forecast reports to be generated a

multi-currency companies.

Forecast reports at IDQ are generated by accounting u

Microsoft FRx and the IDQ rollup reporting hierarchy defined w

Microsoft FRx. Microsoft Forecast reports are also pushed o

the Microsoft FRx Webport where department heads can view

year-end forecasts online.

Using Microsoft Forecaster, Microsoft FRx, and MicrosoftWebport in combination have greatly streamlined the budget

forecast processes at IDQ. AX

Gary Novak is senior business analyst at International Dairy Qu

Inc. He can be reached at [email protected] or 952-830-0355.

When viewing any Microsoft Dynamics AX report, hit the U

on the keyboard to increase the size so that it can be more

read. Hit the D key to decrease the size. Additionally, right-click o

Item Number and select Item Details (forms) to go back into Item M

in Microsoft Dynamics AX and bring up the item in question. AX

Daniel Walter is production planning manager at Australian Gol

can be reached at [email protected].

More Readable

Reportsby Daniel Walter

Winter 2014


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Congratulations to our Fall 2013 contest

winner, Jason Valentinefrom

AMTROL Inc.!Jason found the logo on

page 16 of the Fall 2013

issue of AXUG

Magazine. Lets playagain. Hidden somewhere between the

covers of this magazine is our AXUG logo.

Can you find it?

While our logo shows up throughout

the magazine in conventional spots, its

hidden in only one place.

When youve found it, send an email to

[email protected]

an explanation of where and on what

page its at. Well choose a winner at

random and will highlight him/her

in the next issueof the magazine.

16 AXUG Magazine

C O N T E S T

logofind the

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industry showcase

Oil and Gas:Digging Deep to Keepthe World Running

Focusing on innovation, sustainability, and safety, these

AXUG Premium Members keep the world

running with their provisions of oil and gas.

Tink of them (kindly) next time youre

filling your tank.

HELMERICH &

PAYNE, INC.

Tulsa, Oklahoma

H&P is primarily engaged

in contract drilling ofoil and gas wells for

exploration and production

companies. Te contract

drilling business accounts

for almost all of H&Ps

operating revenues, making

it one of the major land and

offshore platform drilling

contractors in the world.

AUX SABLEChannahon, Illinois and

Calgary, Alberta

Since the start of their

United States operations in

December 2000, Aux Sable

has processed more than

six trillion cubic feet of gas

and has produced more

than 10 billion gallons of

specification natural gas

liquids (NGL) products.

ENSIGN ENERGY

SERVICES INC.

Calgary, Alberta

Ensign is a leading

provider of oilfield

solutions in many of the

worlds most prolific and

growing crude oil and

natural gas regions. Te

company has developed

an automated drill rig that

moves two to three times

faster than conventional

rigs, reducing well

development time by 25

percent or more.

COUNTRYMARKIndianapolis, Indiana

CountryMark is an

American-owned oil

exploration, production,

refining, and marketing

company. Te companys

transportation fuels and

lubricants are sold through

a distribution channel of

member cooperatives that

operate more than 180 fuel

delivery routes and areresponsible for more than

100 CountryMark branded

fueling stations.

SECURE ENERGY

SERVICES

Calgary, AlbertaOur specialized services

ensure oil and gas

producers are set up for

success in an increasingl

cost-competitive and

environmentally-stringe

industry. We offer servic

for the treatment and

handling of crude oil an

byproducts, engineered

fluids for drilling and

completions, and

additional support servi

throughout the process.

FRAC TECH

SERVICES, LLC.

Cisco and Houston, Texas

FS International is a

provider of well completion

services, including pressure

pumping, wireline and

pressure control, and water

management. A focus on

safety first pegs Frac echs

OSHA incident rate at 65

percent lower than their

industry peer group.

Winter 2014


30/60

With TARGITs BI & Analytics for AXEveryone in your organization sees and shares the same goals

and objectives. No more static reports, but dynamic analyses that

keeps you up-to-speed. TARGIT is the worlds largest BI vendor

for MS Dynamics AX.

www.targit.com


31/60

Zoom inonyour objectives


32/60

he wake of September 11, 2001, wasnt

an ideal time to start a company,

but for six individuals who left

a large public organization andwanted something small that valued

employee, Customer, and Partner satisfaction, it

was a perfect time.

We figured that if we put an emphasis on those

principles and invested in employees as our greatest

asset, everything else would take care of itself, says

Kevin Paul, vice president of Blue Horseshoe.

Blue Horseshoe chose to focus on supply

chain for the midmarket, an area of business that

generally continued with their investment strategies

and schedules even in tough economic times.

We chose to develop solutions for Microsoft

Dynamics AX in 2005 because it lined up nicely

with the Customers and industries we were

selling to and the expertise we were building,

says Kevin. It also offered us an open system feel

with development, with huge white space around

warehousing and transportation, which met our

desire to focus on highly distributed markets.

Fast forward 12 years, and Blue Horseshoe has

gone from six to 150 people, grown a consultative

management practice, and kept its employee

turnover to less than 10 percent. Te company

has also expanded its footprint into the retail,

beverage, and consumer packaged goods industrieswhile continuing to hone its warehousing and

transportation solution.

We felt that if we embedded that solution in

Microsoft Dynam

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