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Product management and ordering

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Posted on by CU08071038-0

Hi guys!

We have been trying to implement BC for over an year and when I say many, I mean MANY of us are getting frustrated with it. We just can't figure out how to use BC efficiently. Handling our products in the system sometimes takes longer than the manufacturing process itself. I will list you a few things about our business and then... any kind of help is appreciated.

We are a small company (under 30 employees) and used to have simple processes. It was clear we needed better control and visibility into our material requirements. Now we are dealing with items and sales orders and production orders and routings and production BOM:s and so on. Now our product information management is basically 404 - not found. We know we need to reorganize it, but we don't know how.

Our products fall into different categories:

80% One-off-products

Completely unique each time
They will never be produced again with the same structure
Technical design department always involved
Challenge: if we create a new item for each, we end up with thousands of items per year and we've already lost control

10% Custom-to-order-products

Always has the same base structure, only small details change between orders (paint, color, surface finish, etc.), while the cost stays stable
Technical design is only needed for the first order
Challenge: How to manage order specific information such paint, color?

8% Dimension based products

The customer orders it by the piece, but always with given dimensions (e.g. 2.312 m wide × 1.884 m high)
The material consumption is proportional to the area: for every 1 m² of finished product, we always need 1 m² of X and 1 m² of Y.
These are usually also one-off-products, but with a standard structure picked from our catalogue
Challenge: We don't want to create a new item for every possible dimension, we need to capture dimensions on the sales line and we would like to avoid manual calculations, because the value of each job can be small (sometimes like few dollars)

1% Standard products

Identical structure every time
Designed once, then reused without further design effort
If we only had these type of products, the system would be easy and fun

1% Warehouse products

Simple stocked items taken directly from inventory

I wish I found someone who have had similar situation and managed to solve it so I could rest in peace finally. I've tried to understand assembly orders, but our process involves routing, welding, painting, surface treatment and final assembly. It would be great if we could somehow inspect and manage the capacity of those departments.

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Dynamics 365 Business Central

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Valentin Castravet 32,200 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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This is typically addressed during your initial implementation by the consultants helping you, so it’s unfortunate you’re still dealing with it a year later. To help, which modules are you using? Since you mentioned manufacturing, are you using the Manufacturing module (production orders, item BOMs)?

Valentin Castravet
Work: Zander ERP Services
Blog: Dynamics 365 Business Central Insights
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/valentin-c-0500a247/

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CU08071038-0 18 on at

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Our consultants were not familiar with this type of product range. They seemed to be used to couple different products that were manufactured with model 1000 pc per month and that's it. I was not part of the first stages of implementation so I have no idea how they were picked to make such a heavy transformation in our processes.

And yes, we are using manufacturing module but we consider it quite heavy to use since BOM:s are almost always unique and run times are hard to estimate since there are so many variables in products.

In my opinion, for us, the most critical thing is to know which materials are required and in what quantities. That’s where we need the system to give us reliable visibility. Estimating labor times is more challenging, but labor is still a major part of our costs. So while capacity planning and time tracking are important, our first priority is always to get the material requirements right. As far as I’ve understood assembly orders would be a lot more lightweight to use in our case - they seem simpler to set up and maintain compared to full production orders. But how about the capacity cost and capacity management and and... setting up the products? I have a lot of questions.

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Rishabh Kanaskar 6,219 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi,

For your scenario, here’s how you can structure Business Central to simplify product management and ordering while addressing your categories:
1. One-off products (80%)
> Use Sales Order BOMs instead of creating a separate item for each order. This allows capturing unique components per order without inflating your item master.
> Keep design notes in the Sales Line or BOM Line Comments to retain traceability.

2. Custom-to-order products (10%)
> Create a base item and use Variant Management for small differences like color or surface finish.
> Store order-specific attributes on the Sales Line or BOM Line so costs and material usage stay consistent with the base structure.

3. Dimension-based products (8%)
> Capture dimensions on the Sales Line and calculate required materials using formulas in the Sales Line or a custom AL extension.
> Consider Item Tracking by Lot or Serial for large batches if traceability is required.

4. Standard products (1%)
> Maintain as normal items with standard BOMs and routings.
> Use production orders directly for efficiency.

5. Warehouse products (1%)
> Manage with normal inventory items, reorder policies, and automated planning using MRP and Requisition Worksheet.

Additional Recommendations:
> Use Routing & Capacity Planning to manage welding, painting, and assembly workloads. Production Orders can be planned to reflect department capacities.
> Implement Item Categories and Product Groups to filter and manage different product types.
> For cost and planning visibility, leverage Job or Production Order reporting.
Consider lightweight custom extensions for calculating dimensions and material usage automatically on one-off or dimension-based products.
This approach minimizes the number of items while still allowing traceability, planning, and costing. For a company of your size, combining base items + variants + sales order BOMs is typically the most practical solution.

Thanks

Rishabh

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Suresh Kulla 50,269 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Sometimes, you cannot solve all problems using standard BC; you need to use an ISV or a custom process built for your specific needs. It seems like you could use a product configurator so that you can specify the item number. Always remains the same, but the configuration changes according to need. Please check all the available product management apps on AppSource.

https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps?page=1&search=Product%20management&product=dynamics-365-business-central

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Jeffrey Bulanadi 9,112 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi,

What you’re describing is the kind of hybrid product mix that pushes BC to its limits, and I totally get why it’s been frustrating. When your manufacturing process is faster than your system setup, something’s off. You’re not alone in this, and the good news is: there are ways to tame the chaos without drowning in item cards.

Let’s break it down by product type and what’s worked for teams in similar setups:

One-off products (80%)

Instead of creating a new item for each job, consider using a generic “One-Off” item with a production BOM and routing that’s dynamically updated per order. You can use the Sales Line Comments or Extended Text to capture job-specific details. For traceability, link the job to a Job No. or use a dimension to tag the customer or project. This keeps your item list lean while preserving audit trails.

Custom-to-order products (10%)

Use a base item with variants or item attributes. Variants can handle paint, color, and surface finish without creating new items. If the cost stays stable, you don’t need separate costing layers, just make sure your descriptions and attributes are clear for production and invoicing. You can also use configuration templates or production order comments to capture specifics.

Dimension-based products (8%)

This is where BC needs a little help. You can capture dimensions on the sales line using extended text or custom fields, but for automated material consumption, consider a small customization or use a configurator extension. Some teams use a generic item with a UOM of m² and calculate consumption via routing or production BOM formulas. Avoid creating items per dimension, use the sales line to drive the job and let the production order handle the math.

Standard products (1%)

These are your anchor. Keep them clean, use standard BOMs and routings, and let them be your benchmark for what “easy” should feel like.

Warehouse products (1%)

Treat these as stocked items with standard replenishment methods. Keep them separate from your make-to-order flow to avoid confusion.

On the capacity side, since you mentioned welding, painting, surface treatment, and final assembly, you’ll want to lean into routings and work centers. Each department can be modeled as a work center with its own calendar and capacity. Use routing links to tie operations to components if needed. You can inspect capacity via the Work Center Load page or use the Production Order Capacity report to see bottlenecks.

Helpful Reference
How to manage items - The complete guide to product management in Business Central
Work with dimensions to track and analyze data - Business Central | Microsoft Learn
Create production orders - Business Central | Microsoft Learn

If you find this helpful, feel free to mark this as the suggested or verified answer.

Cheers
Jeffrey

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Sumit Singh 11,757 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi,

Agreed with Suresh that you can use ISV. I am sharing few of them along with their links so that you can review or take a trial run yourself as per your business requirements.

1. Insight Works – Product Configurator

Use Case: Ideal for custom-to-order and dimension-based products.

Features:

Automates creation of Production BOMs and Routings from sales orders.

Supports rule-based configuration, dynamic pricing, and advanced options.

Integrates with MPS/MRP for planning.

Best For: Businesses needing quick configuration without creating thousands of items.

Learn more on AppSource [1]

2. Insight Works – Multi-Level BOM Viewer

Use Case: For complex BOM management and visualization.

Features:

Visualize and edit multi-level BOM hierarchies.

Real-time supply-demand insights and shortage analysis.

Excel export and graphical BOM layouts.

Best For: Companies with complex assemblies and routing requirements.

Learn more [2]

3. MxAPS & Graphical Scheduler (Insight Works)

Use Case: For capacity planning and scheduling across welding, painting, and assembly.

Features:

Automated finite capacity scheduling.

Drag-and-drop graphical scheduler for work centers and machine centers.

Learn more [3]

4. Tech Ventures Product Configurator

Use Case: Attribute-based configuration (size, color, material).

Features:

Simplifies custom product creation without manual BOM edits.

Supports quick quoting and order accuracy.

Learn more [4]

5. Sabre ETO Solutions

Use Case: Engineer-to-Order (ETO) and project-based manufacturing.

Features:

Tailored for companies with one-off products and project-driven workflows.

Includes training and implementation services for ETO.

Learn more [5]

Please mark “Verified” if it helps.

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Ben Baxter 6,918 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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I don't think you need any ISV products here, what you need is a better partner. Focus on a partner who caters to your industry rather than geographic location. You should be able to have a consultation with a few partners before you actually make a change. Below are my recommendations for your categories of product.

80% one-off:

If it is a long duration consultation/build process, use Projects (no Finished Good Item, treats deliverable as a Service).

- Handles detailed budgeting, task-based cost tracking, and can use material/labor tracking per task

If it is a short duration build, but the components/labor change, use Assembly (Assemble-to-Order).

- Handles custom material/labor requirements, but no structure/tasks and no time tracking (labor estimate is just used for costing)

10% custom-to-order:

Same as 80%, if they are long duration builds use Projects. If they are short duration use Assembly (Assemble-to-Order).

8% dimension based:

Potential Customization to Sales Line to track specific dimensions.

Have the Dimensions Calculate the Quantity (Area).

Use Assembly (Assemble-to-Order) which will have components calculated based on the area.

If you build ahead of time and store in Inventory, use Assemble-to-Stock instead.

1% standard:

If Simple builds, use Assembly (Assemble-to-Order OR Assemble-to-Stock depending on whether you keep Finished Inventory)

If complex builds, use Manufacturing (hard to justify additional license costs for 1% of builds)

1% warehouse:

Easy, traditional Purchased Item

For all non-Assemble-to-Order Items, understanding the planning parameters can make the stocking/purchasing process easy. Based on the variety of finished goods, you'll want good planning control on your raw materials.

These are just my suggestions based on my product knowledge, not AI. Hopefully it helps you simplify your process and potentially save some money on your licensing. I would say you first need to identify a better support partner, as these shouldn't have been hard requirements for a partner familiar with Business Central's capabilities.

P.S. Please test any data/process changes in a Sandbox Environment first before making changes in your Production environment.

Best Regards,

Ben Baxter

Accent Software Inc

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