I recently read an article by H. Mackay titled Quality Is Not a Thing, It’s a Way where he illustrated the importance of quality and quality control (QC) systems. Mackay reminds us that the only goal worth attaining in your quality control system is 100%. The following research from Insight Syncrude Canada Ltd. shows us why trying to achieve 99.9% quality can mean failure. At 99.9% quality these things could happen:

• Two flights per day at O’Hare would be unsafe
• 12 babies would be given to the wrong parents each day
• 107 incorrect medical procedures would be performed each day
• 18,322 pieces of mail would be mishandled in the next hour
• 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions would be written in the next year
• 880,000 credit cards in circulation would have incorrect cardholder information in their magnetic strips

In the food & beverage industry quality is not only one of the important factor to success, I’d say it is the most important factor. In the age of increasing food recall incidents, growing government regulation, and difficult economic times it is critical to have the right quality system in place. Food Processors need to ensure they can effectively track each ingredient from the moment it enters the facility, at each processing step, during storage and transportation, all the way through to the final product sale and delivery. The quality management and regulatory compliance program needs to enable companies in the food industry to perform a mock recall within four hours. It’s not to say we won’t have food recalls. As a food industry executive reminded me,

“when you run food, you’ll have recalls, it’s just a fact of the business.”

The important focus here is that we aim for 100% quality and we install the systems we need to quickly and effectively respond n the event it happens. The companies who are nimble enough to survive food recalls, economic downturns, and other business challenges will be those with fail-safe quality systems and comprehensive enterprise resource planning solutions in place. These systems shorten the time between problem identification and solution. Effective QC Systems and ERP Solutions enable companies to track product, make critical decisions, and implement solutions all in minutes – not days.

I’ll leave you with one final quote from H. Mackay, Mackay’s Moral on quality:

The difference between failure and success is the difference between doing a thing nearly right and doing it exactly right.

One of the benefits of the new Role Tailored Client (RTC) offered by Dynamics NAV 2009 is the ability users now have to personalize their own Role Center, Pages, and Cards to fit their specific daily business processes. Unlike previous versions, most personalization can be performed without any modifications to the base product. For example, the following is the standard – out of the box – Dynamics NAV 2009 Order Action Pane.

Standard Action Pane (no RTC Personalization)

Out-of-the-box Dynamics NAV 2009 Order Action Pane

If the order processor is required to Calculate Delivery Fees, then Calculate Grants prior to Post & Printing the Orders, using RTC the user could personalize their Order Action Pane to mirror that process flow and increase their productivity each time they perform these tasks.

Order Action Pane with RTC Personalization

Role Tailored Client Personalization in Dynamics NAV 2009

This is just one example of the robust nature of Role Tailored Client Personalization available in Dynamics NAV 2009. RTC personalization can be performed throughout the entire product on Journals, List Pages, Cards, Fast Tabs on Cards, etc… the possibilities and opportunities for productivity improvements and improved business processes are endless.

Role Tailored Client Personalization can also be deployed by Profile to multiple users. An administrator can access a Profile in Configuration Mode and personalize a Profile then deploy those changes to anyone who is also assigned that specific Profile.  To do so the Administrator will need access to the Classic Client. Follow the steps below to deploy a RoleTailored Client Profile to each user with the Profile you have personalized.

Mass Deployment of RTC Profile in Dynamics NAV 2009

Make yourself Administrator for the Profile

1. Launch the Classic Client
2. Go to Administration > Application Setup > RoleTailored Client > Profiles
3. Find the Profile in question; here you can hit F5 to view the list.
   1. For demonstration purposes we will use the “Agency Order Processor” Profile.
4. Add your login as the administrator for this profile
   1. Uncheck the Default Role Center (if it is checked.)
   2. Place cursor in the Owner ID field then click the Assist Button to select your user name
   3. Recheck Default Role Center

Create a Role Tailored Client Profile in Dynamics NAV 2009

Open Role Tailored Client in Configuration Mode

1. Open a Command Prompt
   1. Start > Command Prompt (or Start > Run… then type “CMD” and hit Enter


Open a Command Prompt in NAV 2009

2. Change to the directory containing the RoleTailored client executable.
   1. Type the following command:
      cd c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\60\RoleTailored Client
3. Open the RoleTailored client in configuration mode.
   1. Type the following command:
      Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Client.exe -configure -profile:”order processor”


Role Tailored Client Command Prompt

4. The RoleTailored client opens in Configuration Mode. NOTE: There is no indication you are working in “Configuration Mode.”


Configuration Mode Dynamics NAV 2009

5. Once you have configured your screens accordingly, exit Dynamics NAV 2009. The next time users who are assigned this profile log in, they will see these changes.
6. You can now remove yourself as the Administrator for this Profile (see above)

When it comes to ERP, Dynamics NAV is a household name. But the Dynamics NAV we know today is much different than when it came to be 25 years ago. From starting as a small accounting solution software product from a company in Denmark, to becoming a leading comprehensive business software solution, Microsoft Dynamics NAV has seen its share of changes along the way.

Here’s how it got there.

The 80s: PC Plus is Born

Dynamics NAV began as PC Plus, an accounting software package released by PC&C in Denmark, which is the only country that saw its release. Several years later, the company released the first version of Navision, although it went under the name IBM-Navigator. Rather than operating only on single-user systems, Navision was able to work across LAN Networks and servers, allowing businesses to share information within the network.

Fun Fact: “Beauty of Simplicity” was the first company slogan

The 90s: The Expansion of Navision

1990 saw the release of the earliest iteration of what is Dynamics NAV today. One of the major changes to the software was its ability to allow users to make major modifications to the software due to the introduction of an application language, or AL.

Navision arrived in North America in 1994 as a DOS-based system called A/Vista. Navision immediately gained support for Windows 95. Throughout the rest of the decade, newer versions of Navision software are released, continuing to improve upon its simplicity and performance.

Iterations went from 1.X through 3.X by the late 1990’s. Version 2.X brought the ability to utilize SQL Servers as the RDBMS. Version 3.X was a critical release for North America as it initiated the process of combining the Navision Financial Management, Distribution, and Manufacturing Databases into one single Database. Other notable advances in Version 3.X were the combination of Canadian and U.S. databases into one, as well as the addition of unlimited dimensions building on a truly relational chart of accounts.

Fun Fact: In 1990, the name Navision was used for the first time

The 2000s: The Times They Are a Changin’

The new millennium brought about several more changes to Navision, beginning with the approval of Windows 2000 Professional Certification as well as the merging of Navision and its competitor Damgaard A/S to become NavisionDamgaard A/S. A year later they will become simply Navision A/S while receiving certification for Windows XP.

But 2002 was the year that Navision really became integrated with Microsoft, as the software giant purchased Navision as part of its goal of to create a major business solutions software package named Microsoft Business Solutions, changed to Microsoft Dynamics in 2005. That same year Microsoft would begin announcing a vastly improved version of the software with a new user interface.

Although the release of Dynamics NAV 5.0 did not see the new user interface, it did bring several big changes, including an updated cost accounting feature that allows for more accurate inventory valuation. It would be Dynamics NAV 2009, the latest version of the software that would introduce the new user interface, known as RoleTailored client or RoleTailored interface, as well as other significant changes.

Fun Fact: Microsoft’s initiative to merge Navision, Axapta, Great Plains and Solomon into one system was called Project Green.  Despite the cool name, it was later decided that the products are best served individually, and are now known as Dynamics NAV, Dynamics AX, Dynamics GP, and Dynamics SL respectively.

It’s here! On May 19, Microsoft announced the upcoming release of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009R2. It’s a major release for Microsoft Dynamics NAV and builds upon their success in delivering solutions that help business productivity.

Look for it in the fourth quarter of 2010. Read the full article…

1. Adaptability – Dynamics NAV is very robust, highly configurable, and 100% customizable. This application is designed to wrap around your business and evolve with you as business processes change.

Read the full article…