Dynamics AX forms support multiple language scripts typing (Unicode)

Many customers often inquire if AX supports non-Latin scripts in the forms (for example: Sales order, Customer master, Product master, Fixed asset master etc.,) while using English as the primary language for the AX implementation.

YES

This is very much feasible in AX. Unicode has eased many things and fortunately Microsoft Dynamics AX supports Unicode fonts. I have checked this both in AX 2012 and Dynamics 365 for operations with expected results.

In the below screen I have created a new Fixed asset master and in the text fields as highlighted in Japanese & Telugu as a sample:

 

This helps a lot of users to write local language descriptions that help ease the pain of users.

Print multiple Purchase Orders from AX (Dynamics 365 for operations)

It is a common requirement for many companies that the print out of the Purchase Order. The option of printing multiple purchase orders (or any other Business documents such as Sales Order, Invoice etc.,) is available in AX.

This can be achieved using the Print Management settings in AX. Below I am going to show you the setup required for the setting up Print Management to generate Purchase order as a PDF format (alternatively it can be directly sent to printer).

First things first. We need to setup the Print Management settings for the Purchase Order as below.

Go to Accounts Payable > Setup > Forms > Form setup

 

The form setup page is opened as below. Click on the Print Management button as highlighted below:

The Print Management for is opened as below. in the below form under the Purchase order select printout type (in our case : Original) and this shows the properties on the right hand side.

In the highlighted Tab "Destination", The current destination is "Default" this is where we need to change to achieve the required goal.

 

Click on the Arrow shown and it will display options as below. In the options select the "Printer Setup"  as shown below:

This will open the "Print destination settings" dialog box. This is a familiar dialog box for many of us. In this box on the left side, choose Printer (as below):

I am selecting the Printer as "Microsoft Print to PDF" as in my case, I wanted to print the Purchase order into a PDF and Click "OK"

You may choose a different printer as is required. The print management functionality can also be used to send Purchase Order via Email. You may choose different options as per your business needs.

Once the setup is done, the destination is changed to "Printer: Microsoft Print to PDF" as below

With this setup is completed. Now we need to go to the Confirmed Purchase orders, which lists down all the Confirmed POs:

Navigate to  "Procurement and sourcing >Purchase orders >Purchase order confirmation >Purchase order confirmations". This opens the Purchase order confirmations form as below

from the list, Select all the Purchase Orders to be printed:

Click on the "User Print Management" option in the screen above and that's it, the selected Purchase orders are printed as separate PDF files and the prompt asks us for the location to where the file needs to be saved.

The same process can be applied to any type of Business document and I hope this article is useful for your AX implementation

AX 7 (Rainier) is fast approaching....What to expect

AX 2015, will be the outcome of the highly ambitious Project Rainier executed with a lot of commitment by the Microsoft Product Development Team that is going to be a reality any time now (Expected to be released by December-2015.)

• Web Based AX: Yes this will be a reality with Rainier. AX can be accessed on your web browser (not too sure if this is OS independent!). Those of you who have been familiar with Oracle Financials, will already know how handy Web (& JRE) based access to ERP is. The AX client may continue to co-exist. How exciting this will be if this is also OS independent and AX can be accessed even on a Linux machine. (More customers especially in retail, Mfg and services industry will be looking forward to this functionality).

• More efficient Accounting: The Traditional school believes in traceability of journal entries to the Trial Balance and they least bother of how it happens. But, the Modern school emphasizes on the transformation, connivance & complicity of accounting, rather than just the output.
  Having witnessed the differentiation followed by the Microsoft between 2009 to 2012 in terms of accounting and the more modern concerns such as Transfer Price, Cost pooling etc., we can expect many modern accounting technologies in revenue recognition, cost control, Investments to be integrated.
  The Europe is already implementing IFRS and slowly the countries around the globe are standardizing their accounting policies with either the IFRS or US GAAPs. So, we can expect a paradigm shift in the accounting function to accommodate these standards.
  Rainier-Ax may also address the industry concerns of the SOX controls, Corporate Governance and the like policies across the globe.
   
• Inter-operability between the Group Companies: The organization is one but broken down into multiple legal entities / companies for the comfort of functioning, due to legal requirements or due to the geographical constraints.
  This however is a hindrance for the business in terms of profitability, efficient functioning, resource sharing, taxation or reporting etc.
  Rainier-AX can try to bridge down this gap in many ways. Replacing the physical boundaries between the companies and imposing a virtual boundary with strong security controls could better the current situation.
   
• Cloud based and Office 365 integrated: 100% integration with the Office 365 and Microsoft Azure platform is a possibility through Rainier-Ax. ERP would be more of a service rather than a product to compete with NetSuite and the likes.
   
• Better integration to add-ons developed by ISVs: If Ax needs to compete with the likes of SAP, Microsoft needs to better integrate the add-ons developed by the ISVs with the standard AX framework to ease the delivery schedule.
  Currently, The ISV add-ons need a complete revamp whenever an update is released and this results in a lot of effort. Microsoft may come with a more sophisticated Life Cycle Services Integration Manager to remove this agony.
• Faster and simpler to implement: This would be fair to expect considering the current difficulties in Ax

Microsoft always aims at simplicity of a product and sure it will definitely plan to make Rainier-AX simpler and faster to implement than its predecessors by providing better tools to move similar data between companies and environments and modules. 
Just like the drastic changes from Ax 2009 to Ax 2012, we can expect a completely refreshed UI and functionality. The faster we adapt to these the more effective we can implement.

Dynamics AX growing, but a long way to go

In a recent publication from Gartner "Magic Quadrant for ERP" , an attempt to compare the widely accepted ERP solutions globally against the ERP's "Completeness of Vision" and "Ability to Execute" .

The only ERPs qualified as leaders are "SAP Business" and "MS Dynamics AX" (High on both Vision & ability to execute) . Players like Oracle financials, JD Edwards, Infor are high on ability to execute but very low on vision.

A relatively new entrant Epicor 9 assumes greater role with its strong Manufacturing capabilities supported by its relatively powerful supply chain (High on vision, but low in ability to execute).

Dynamics AX is still very far against its competitor SAP Business all in one, in terms of Production and supply chain. But, is building upon to reduce the gap in projects & service management. This gap can be much narrowed with improving performance and functionalities in core areas and aiming at large scale sector