Business Central for Manufacturing: Features You Didn't Know You Needed
Microsoft Dynamics 365 | Simplify your IT footprint and make decisions faster.
- June 16, 2025
Introduction – Rethinking ERP in the Modern Manufacturing Era
For small and mid-sized manufacturers, staying competitive in 2025 means more than just managing inventory-it means embracing intelligent automation, streamlined production, and real-time decision-making. That’s where Business Central for manufacturing comes in.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central isn’t just a financial tool-it’s a powerful, cloud-based ERP platform that brings end-to-end visibility and control to your shop floor. From managing production orders to tracking serial numbers and optimizing capacity planning, it delivers features many manufacturers don’t even realize they already have access to.
As digital transformation accelerates, more SMBs are turning to low-cost ERP for manufacturing that’s scalable, flexible, and deeply integrated with tools like Power BI and Microsoft 365. With native cloud support and 2025-ready features like Copilot AI and mobile shop floor access, Business Central is redefining what’s possible for manufacturers-without the enterprise price tag.
At Volt Technologies, we help manufacturers unlock the true potential of Business Central, going beyond basic inventory and accounting to implement smart, connected production workflows.
In this blog, we’ll walk through the hidden gems of the Business Central manufacturing module,the features you didn’t know you needed, and how to put them to work for your operations.
Core Manufacturing Features in Business Central You Might Be Overlooking
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central isn’t just built for basic inventory or accounting,it includes a rich set of manufacturing features designed to support both simple and complex production environments. Below are some of the most underutilized capabilities that can dramatically improve efficiency, planning accuracy, and cost control.
Production Orders and Planning Worksheets
From MRP to Make-to-Stock – Built-In Flexibility
With Business Central, you can create and manage production orders that support make-to-order (MTO), make-to-stock (MTS), and even engineer-to-order (ETO) scenarios. The Planning Worksheet acts as your built-in MRP engine, suggesting production orders based on demand, inventory levels, and lead times.
- Automatically convert forecasts or sales orders into planned production
- Use multi-level BOMs and routing lines for complex assemblies
- Release and firm orders with a single click to trigger shop floor execution
This feature helps SMBs manage production with Business Central without needing bolt-on tools or spreadsheets.
Capacity Planning and Work Centers
Schedule Shop Floors Without Excel
Forget whiteboards and overstuffed Excel sheets. Business Central allows manufacturers to define work centers, machines, and human resources, each with capacity, calendars, and shift scheduling.
- View loading by day, resource, or work center group
- Enable finite or infinite capacity constraints
- Assign skilled resources for specialty jobs
It’s an essential feature for businesses scaling operations and needing better control over operations scheduling and bottleneck management.
Item Tracking and Lot/Serial Control
Track Inventory and Compliance with Ease
Whether you’re managing raw material lots, serialized components, or finished goods with regulatory tracking, Business Central’s Item Tracking functionality ensures full traceability.
- Lot and serial number assignment at receipt, consumption, and shipment
- Integrated tracking throughout production and inventory transactions
- Supports warranties, service items, and compliance reporting
Ideal for discrete manufacturing, medical device production, or any industry requiring strict traceability.
Product Configurator Extensions
Handle Make-to-Order with Less Effort
Business Central integrates seamlessly with product configurator extensions like Insight Works, allowing users to streamline make-to-order manufacturing and complex BOM creation.
- Let sales reps generate buildable quotes without engineering help
- Auto-generate routings and BOMs from pre-defined rules
- Reduce time to quote and speed up order-to-manufacture workflows
This significantly reduces engineering delays and empowers sales and production to collaborate more efficiently.
Beyond Basics – Hidden Benefits of Business Central for Manufacturers
While core manufacturing tools like production orders and item tracking are well known, Dynamics 365 Business Central offers a host of modern, automation-ready features that many SMBs overlook. These tools are especially valuable in 2025, as manufacturers strive to increase agility, reduce manual overhead, and connect every part of their business in real time.
Integration with Microsoft 365 and Power Platform
Automate Reports, Notifications, and Quality Checks
Business Central seamlessly integrates with Microsoft 365 and the Power Platform, giving manufacturers the power to build smart workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and create visual insights with just a few clicks.
- Use Power Automate to route quality issues to supervisors automatically
- Generate real-time production dashboards with Power BI
- Draft and share audit reports via Teams or Outlook
- Leverage Microsoft Copilot AI to summarize shop floor exceptions
This transforms Business Central into a connected cloud ERP for manufacturers, not just a siloed back-office system.
Shop Floor Insights with Mobile and Cloud Access
Empower Operators Anywhere, Anytime
With built-in cloud access and mobile-friendly interfaces, shop floor workers and supervisors can interact with Business Central on the move.
- Log production output with tablets or barcode scanners
- Access job queues and routing steps from any location
- Get real-time updates without waiting for shift-end reports
Perfect for manufacturers adopting lean principles or managing multi-site operations with a lean IT footprint.
Costing Methods and Financial Insights
Actual vs Standard Costing – Smarter Margins
Business Central supports multiple costing methods, including FIFO, LIFO, standard, and actual, giving finance and operations teams the visibility they need to make informed margin decisions.
- Monitor Work in Progress (WIP) by job, location, or project
- Compare expected vs actual consumption and variances
- Enable better financial planning with real-time cost rollups
This capability is often overlooked by SMBs but becomes a game-changer when trying to manage profitability across product lines or customers.
Why Business Central Is the Ideal ERP for Manufacturing SMBs
Many small and mid-sized manufacturers delay ERP upgrades out of fear, fear of cost, disruption, or complexity. But the reality is, Business Central offers enterprise-grade capabilities with a lightweight, scalable footprint that makes it perfectly suited for growing manufacturers.
Whether you’re managing job shops, discrete manufacturing, or make-to-order environments, Business Central delivers the core functionality you need, without the overhead of legacy systems or overly complex enterprise software.
Key Advantages for Manufacturing SMBs:
- Low-cost ERP for manufacturing with no need for custom development to get started
- Cloud-native, meaning you reduce IT costs and gain instant updates
- Integrates with tools you already use, Microsoft 365, Excel, Teams, and Power BI
- Built-in support for multi-location inventory, production scheduling, WIP tracking, and quality management
- Configurable modules for planning, routing, capacity, and job costing
- Future-ready with support for Copilot AI, remote access, and mobile-first production tracking
At Volt Technologies, we’ve implemented Business Central for a wide range of SMBs in manufacturing, including electronics, industrial equipment, consumer goods, and specialty production. We help companies go beyond just “going live” with ERP, we enable them to realize measurable outcomes like:
Reduced manual planning by 40%
Improved order fulfillment accuracy by 30%
Streamlined cost rollups and margin analysis in real time
Enhanced inventory visibility across warehouses and job sites
Comparison Table: Business Central vs Traditional ERP for Manufacturing SMBs
|
Final Takeaway – Move Beyond Inventory: Unleash the Full Manufacturing Suite
ERP should be more than just inventory and accounting. For modern manufacturers, it’s the foundation for smarter decisions, automated workflows, and scalable operations. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is built to support exactly that, especially for small and mid-sized businesses that need agility without sacrificing depth.
By tapping into the lesser-known manufacturing features of Business Central, like planning worksheets, capacity scheduling, mobile access, and Power Platform integration, you can streamline your shop floor, empower your teams, and respond faster to market shifts.
Whether you’re looking to reduce manual planning, improve margin visibility, or scale production across multiple locations, Business Central is more than capable, it’s built for it.
Why Choose Volt Technologies?
At Volt Technologies, we specialize in Business Central implementation for manufacturing SMBs. We understand your industry challenges from fluctuating demand and shop floor complexity to inventory traceability and cost control. Our approach goes beyond ERP setup, we deliver solutions tailored to your workflows, people, and growth goals.
- Rapid deployments with minimal downtime
- Industry-specific templates and extensions
- Smart automation and Power BI insights
- Long-term support and optimization
