Manufacturing Business Central: A Focus on Discrete Manufacturing

Manufacturing Business Central: A Focus on Discrete Manufacturing

Manufacturing processes are central to the production industry, offering the methods and systems needed to produce goods. Business Central (BC) provides robust functionalities that cater to various types of production, with a particular strength in supporting discrete manufacturing. This blog explores discrete manufacturing in detail, clarifies its support within BC, and notes the need for third-party applications for process manufacturing.

Discrete Manufacturing in Business Central

Discrete manufacturing involves assembling products from parts, pieces, or components. It is characterized by distinct items and countable production units. Industries such as automotive, electronics, furniture, and machinery typically engage in this type of manufacturing. Business Central supports discrete manufacturing through several key functionalities:

Bill of Materials (BOM): BC allows for detailed BOM management, where each product can have its list of parts. This ensures accuracy in production and assembly.

Routing: Defines the manufacturing process workflow, specifying the sequence of operations, the machines or work centers involved, and the time required. This helps in optimizing production efficiency.

Production Orders: Supports the creation and management of production orders, scheduling, and tracking, providing visibility into the manufacturing process from order placement to final delivery.

While BC excels in discrete manufacturing, it is important to understand how it differs from process manufacturing:

Nature of Products: Unlike process manufacturing, which deals with formulas and recipes, discrete manufacturing assembles products from individual parts that can be disassembled back into their original components.

Production Flexibility: Discrete manufacturing is characterized by distinct production runs, contrasting with the continuous or batch production common in process manufacturing.

Inventory Needs: Discrete manufacturing focuses on the count and unit measurements, managing parts inventory.

Regulatory Compliance: Process manufacturers often face stricter regulatory controls due to the nature of their products. This requires robust tracking and documentation functionalities.

Process Manufacturing and Business Central

For process manufacturing — common in industries like food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and cosmetics — Business Central typically requires the integration of third-party applications. These applications are designed to handle the specific needs of process manufacturing, such as complex recipes or formulas, batch production, and stringent compliance requirements.