From Glenn McPeak, EDI / ERP Expert:

Coming off of the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 sessions at Convergence, and anticipating the GP technical Airlift event in September, I’m with all the other GP professionals anxiously awaiting the expected product launch in December 2012.

One of Microsoft’s key goals with this release is to position GP as a more competitive and flexible ERP solution for the SMB market. For these organizations, hopefully GP 2013 will transform their business practices by building a strong foundation that supports growth, increasing operational efficiencies and significantly lowering the burden on IT. But for organizations looking to implement GP 2013, it’s important to not only look at the new web client release and the other 150+ features, but also…

With Microsoft’s theme of power, agility and simplicity around the release of AX 2012, doesn’t it make sense that Microsoft’s ISV partners follow suit in supporting upgrades to the upcoming GP ‘12’ and NAV ‘7’ releases as well? While these releases may offer new functionality and opportunities for user organizations, the need to meet EDI requirements will be nothing new, but how you meet them can be a new cost-saving opportunity for your business.

EDI has been around for some time, but it has grown dramatically in regards to its importance and breadth in business relationships. Today it is quite common for larger organizations to mandate EDI capability as a pre-requisite for new suppliers and business partner relationships. While a few years ago most companies traded only a few documents, such as purchase orders, invoices and ship notices, today there is a significant amount of documents that can drive labor efficiencies, ultimately leading to the more critical competitive advantage.

EDI enters the process a major player because these documents also require more flexible and comprehensive software applications. And with upgrades on the horizon for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, GP ‘12’ and NAV ‘7’, the need for more flexible and comprehensive software applications doesn’t mean that you have to expect complicated ERP customizations…

While Microsoft has packed AX 2012 full of enhancements, one of the new enhancements I’m excited about are the improved shipping features that are even more suitable for outbound Advance Ship Notice (ASN) processing. More fields have been added to the base tables that make it more suitable for EDI cross reference maintenance, thus eliminating the need for additional fields. Also, the global address book has been refined even further making it easier for…