Company Overview
The customer is a leading retail pharmacy chain in India, operating multiple outlets nationwide. With a strong presence across both urban and semi-urban regions, they manage a high volume of medicines, health products, and wellness essentials. To keep pace with their growing operations, they required an efficient way to streamline the purchase order (PO) creation process within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (D365 F&O).
Before: Manual Process, Limited Grouping, Procurement Bottlenecks
The client managed purchase orders both manually and through Master Planning.
- Master Planning generated planned purchase orders based on item coverage settings (minimum/maximum inventory levels).
- However, in standard D365 F&O, planned purchase orders could only be grouped by vendor.
- The client required a more flexible grouping mechanism based on Store, Vendor, and Item Category, which was not available out-of-the-box.
- Additionally, they wanted to restrict the maximum number of PO lines per purchase order and ensure error handling with automated user notifications.
Why Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations?
- A comprehensive ERP system, enabling automation of complex procurement processes.
- Robust master planning capabilities for managing inventory and stock levels across stores and warehouses.
- Flexibility to build customized enhancements that align with unique business needs.
- A scalable platform ensuring error-free, systematic PO creation and optimized workflows.
After: Customized Purchase Order Automation Implemented
The pharmacy chain partnered with CodeValue, our team, to build a customized PO automation solution in D365 F&O, delivering:
1. Planned Purchase Order Grouping
- Extended the standard functionality to allow grouping based on Store + Vendor + Category.
- Ensured that purchase orders are created accurately for each grouping.
2. Maximum PO Line Parameter
- Introduced a new parameter in Procurement and Sourcing to set a maximum number of PO lines.
- If a grouping exceeded the allowed limit (e.g., 50 lines), the system automatically split it into multiple POs.
3. Error Handling with Email Alerts
- Before firming planned purchase orders, the system validates for errors.
- If errors are found, an email notification is sent to the user with details (Planned Order Number + Error Description).
- This allowed users to quickly resolve issues before proceeding.
4. PO Creation Notification
- Once POs are successfully created, the system automatically sends an email confirmation with the list of all generated POs to the initiating user.
Outcome:
The pharmacy chain adopted the customization successfully and reported:
- 60–70% manual effort reduction in PO creation.
- Error-free procurement through automated validation and alerts.
- Faster PO cycle time with systematic grouping and automation.
- Improved inventory accuracy across multiple stores and warehouses.
- Better user productivity with email-driven visibility and reduced manual intervention.
- Scalable customization to support business growth and expansion.
They continue to leverage this customization in their daily operations, resulting in better control, efficiency, and scalability of their procurement process within D365 F&O.