Microsoft Dynamics AX for
Retail is made up of several sub-systems.
§ A back-office ERP system
§ A front-office POS system.
§ A connection between the two systems for both routine
data updates as well as one-time transactional information.
Dynamics AX for Retail –Back Office
Microsoft Dynamics AX is a
comprehensive enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution for midsize and larger
organizations that empowers people to work effectively, manage change, and
compete globally. It makes it easy to operate across locations and countries by
standardizing processes, providing visibility across your organization, and
helping to simplify compliance.
With Microsoft Dynamics AX, you
can be confident your business management solution is—and will continue to
be—relevant to the needs of your people and the demands of your industry and
business. Microsoft Dynamics AX can provide your organization with business
value in a single ERP solution that extends into every area of your operations
to help you:
Improve productivity - Familiar, easy-to-use tools and access to Role
Tailored information and tasks enable people to work quickly and make smart,
proactive decisions.
Manage change and growth - Scale your business systems and adapt processes
easily with a single ERP solution that can support your strategic initiatives
and help manage change in the marketplace, such as new product launches and mergers
and acquisitions.
Compete globally - Manage the complexities of a global organization
with one centralized ERP solution that helps you standardize processes and gain
visibility across your organization while staying on top of changes in local
regulations.
Simplify compliance - Stay ahead of regulatory compliance and reduce risk
and liability associated with corporate governance and customer initiatives.
Microsoft Dynamics AX provides
unique and powerful features within functional areas and the development
environment. The features of Microsoft Dynamics AX are summarized below:
§ Single-database architecture is used for all companies
in the organization.
§ A highly-integrated design between functional areas
such as resource planning, sales, and manufacturing.
§ Dimension-based system for manufacturing and financial
modules.
§ Advanced features such as Forecasting and Master
Planning are available.
§ Multicurrency and Multilanguage capabilities.
Dynamics AX for Retail –Front Office
Microsoft Dynamics AX for
Retail is an integrated retail solution designed for Microsoft Dynamics AX.
Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail provides midmarket and large retailers a
complete head-office and point-of-sale solution. It can help retailers achieve
higher financial returns, provide better service, manage operations for growth,
and streamline efficiencies. This solution controls the fundamental aspects of
a retail business from the head office to the stores, and links the
point-of-sale (POS) registers and Microsoft Dynamics AX.
Microsoft Dynamics AX for
Retail includes the following subsystems:
§ Microsoft
Dynamics AX for Retail Headquarters:
Retail
Headquarters is a module for Microsoft Dynamics AX that retailers use to manage
a chain of stores as one enterprise. It is designed to run at the head office,
centrally managing daily operations and tracking sales information for every
store in the chain. Retail Headquarters includes Retail Scheduler (a feature
that orchestrates communication between the head office and the stores) and
Retail Inventory (a feature for managing movement of inventory).
Retail
Headquarters can be used with any point-of-sale system that is able to receive
and transmit necessary data from Microsoft Dynamics AX.
§ Microsoft
Dynamics AX for Retail POS:
Developed
especially for Microsoft Dynamics AX, Retail POS is an optional feature that
brings speed, power, flexibility, dependability, and ease of use to the
point-of-sale. Retail POS has a dynamic interface that can be fully customized
for your type of business and store procedures. In addition, Retail POS can
work offline, ensuring that your stores remain fully operational during network
interruptions. All data is automatically updated when the connection is
restored.
§ Microsoft
Dynamics AX for Retail Store Connect:
Retail
Store Connect is the integrated service that periodically sends data between
the head office, stores, and individual Retail POS terminals. Communications
via Retail Store Connect are managed through distribution locations and Retail
Scheduler in Retail Headquarters.
§ Microsoft
Dynamics AX for Retail Transaction Service
Together
with Retail Store Connect and Retail Scheduler, Retail Transaction Service
completes the communications mechanism of Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail by
providing real-time, synchronous communication. It can be used to authenticate
cashier logon credentials, send loyalty requests, and exchange
“up-to-the-minute” physical inventory information between the head office and
the stores, and more.
Retail Headquarters
When you install Microsoft
Dynamics AX for Retail Headquarters, the following modules are added to
Microsoft Dynamics AX:
§ Retail
Headquarters – Use this module to
configure and manage stores, terminals, retail items, and the other records
that make up the Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail implementation. Also use this
module to generate reports, perform inquiries, and complete other daily business
processes.
§ Retail
Scheduler – Use this module to manage
the distribution of data from the head office to stores and terminals. You can
also use this module to create distribution locations, set up table
distribution, and schedule the jobs and sub-jobs that send information to
stores.
§ Retail Store
Inventory – Use this module to send
store inventory documents to stores to use for receiving inventory for a
purchase order, picking or receiving inventory for a transfer order, or
counting stock for a count order.
Retail Headquarters forms
and fields
In addition to the forms
included in the three modules of Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail Headquarters,
installing Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail Headquarters adds fields to certain
forms that already exist in core Microsoft Dynamics AX. For example, several
new fields are added to the Item and Employee forms.
Retail Headquarters is the primary module of Microsoft Dynamics AX for
Retail Headquarters. It is use to enter the information and settings that are used
in the” day-to-day” operations of your retail organization. It is also the area
where you can view “up-to-the-minute” information about your inventory,
revenues, and more.
Microsoft Dynamics AX for
Retail POS is the point-of-sale program for Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail.
It can be used to perform sales, operate the cash drawer, scan bar codes, and
print customer receipts. Retail POS adds up the sales total, calculates the
tax, calculates the change back from the amount paid, and adjusts the store's
inventory levels to reflect the amount of inventory sold.
Primary transactions include
activities such as sales, refunds, suspend, advance, loyalty, credit voucher
issue, gift-card issue, bar-code scanning, receiving payment, and receipt
printing. Retail POS includes the ability to track customer orders, process
credit and debit cards, connect to other systems in a network, and check
inventory. Each point-of-sale register is uniquely identified by a register
number.
Retail POS, built on the
Microsoft .NET Framework, uses a unique and easy-to-use graphical user
interface (GUI) that can be set up according to various business needs, such as
food, fashion, grocery, and so on.
Staff
The Retail Headquarters staff
setup describes how to create staff members for stores and assign privileges
for performing operations in Retail POS.
Retail Headquarters staff
information is linked to employee master records in Microsoft Dynamics AX.
The program keeps record of
staff details such as employee number, Retail POS logon password, address, and
contact numbers, and so on. Each staff member is assigned Retail POS
privileges, such as voiding transactions, performing tender declaration,
overriding price, and maximum discount to give. A staff member can be assigned
only to one store.
If you have set up Enterprise
Portal for Microsoft Dynamics AX, you must set up User Profiles for the
employees who will access the Enterprise Portal. These profiles define each
user's role and specify the store information that the user will have access
to.
Infocodes
Infocodes are a powerful tool
that can be used to capture data at the point-of-sale. They capture additional
information when a cashier performs various actions at point-of-sale such as an
item sale, item return, or customer selection. Retail POS prompts the cashier
for input that can be selected from a list or entered as a code, a numeric, a
date, or as text. Infocodes can be assigned to predefined store actions, retail
items, tender types, customers, or specific point-of-sale activities.
§ Infocodes make it possible for a business to get
additional information needed at the transaction time, such as a flight number,
reasons for returns, and so on.
§ Infocodes can be set up for specific item prices that
prompt the register cashier to select one of a number of prices.
§ Infocodes can have a sub-code linked to them that
prompts the register cashier for input while performing a specific activity.
§ Items can be sold through an Infocode as a normal
sale, discounted sale, or free item.
Inquiries and reports
Retail Headquarters provides
extensive reporting capabilities in addition to the standard Microsoft Dynamics
AX reports. Retail Headquarters provides a number of reporting options, both in
the form of online analysis, also called inquiries, or in the form of reports.
Both reports and online
inquiries in Retail Headquarters support specific features such as filtering
and sorting. This allows for the quick filtering of the data on which the
reports should be based. Custom date filtering is also supported. Transaction
and statistics-level reporting can also be generated on a time basis, which
enables the analysis of the sales flow throughout the day. In addition to this
capability, sales by item and store can be displayed in graphical format.
Retail Headquarters adds to
your ability to extract accurate sales information by providing numerous
statistical windows and reports that build on statistic tables, item-value
entries, and transactions from the registers. This ability can help to
determine which items or variants are selling best and which stores, registers,
and staff are performing best.
All standard sales reports in
Microsoft Dynamics AX can be used to analyze sales information. Items in
unposted statements are not included.
Processes
Retail Headquarters supports
retail-specific processes such as the following:
§ Statement calculation and posting
§ Label printing
§ Vendor item import
§ Replenishment (cross docking or buyer's push)
§ Contract concessions
These periodic activities are
carried out when required. Some of these periodic activities are: post physical
Inventory, financial- ledger entries, Inventory journals, and purchase orders.
Replenishment
Optimizing inventory levels at
the distribution center is necessary for removing excess costs from the
customer-driven value chain. To invest inventory dollars more effectively,
retailers must be able to blend both the art and science of purchasing and
inventory management.
Effective location/warehouse
replenishment helps retailers, manufacturers, and wholesaler-distributors to
increase revenue and ensure high levels of customer satisfaction by sustaining
this balance. By providing accurate visibility into the location or warehouse,
replenishment helps buyers to create accurate demand forecasts and order
projections, as well as table order patterns.
Replenishment assists the
purchasing department in creating purchase orders and also to assist the
warehouse with making suggestions about what items must be transferred to the
stores.
Replenishment in Microsoft
Dynamics AX for Retail offers the option to replenish warehouses or stores
using the purchase order or transfer order. The replenishment processes run at
the head office. It is possible to manually allocate quantities to be
distributed to the stores. Retail Headquarters provides the three distribution
methods listed below:
§ Location weight
§ Replenishment rules
§ Fixed quantity to all
Location replenishment is also used when items are
distributed automatically to stores. If the item that needs to be distributed
has variants, the combination of the location replenishment curve and the size
or color curve determines the quantity that is allocated to each location or
store.
Retail Scheduler
Retail Scheduler manages the distribution of data through Microsoft
Dynamics AX for Retail Store Connect, from the head-office database to the
appropriate store and terminal databases. It also manages updates of the
head-office database with sales and inventory data from the stores.
This guide discusses the
day-to-day operations that you might perform in Retail Scheduler, including
adding a new store or terminal to the data-distribution structure, running
jobs, and viewing the status of jobs and data packets.
Data distribution is the system
of settings and records that control how data in the head-office database is
sent to the store and terminal databases. Data distribution is store-specific,
meaning you can specify that certain records are sent only to the locations
where they are useful. Data distribution is also table-specific, meaning you
can customize the way that changes to certain tables are distributed.
Jobs are the mechanism for
distributing data to your locations. Each job is made up of one or more
subjobs. The include list or exclude list for a job filters the locations that
data is sent to.
There are four types of jobs
which are listed below:
§ Action (A)
jobs – “A” jobs send data that has
changed (tracked as actions) from the head office to stores. The locations that
receive the jobs are determined by the distribution settings for the changed
records (or their parent records).
§ Custom (C)
jobs – “C” jobs run a specified
custom class. Two “C” jobs are included in Retail Scheduler by default, C-1000
(Send email receipts) and C-1020 (Convert Preactions).
§ Normal (N)
jobs – “N” jobs are not dependent on
actions. They delete all existing data in the destination tables and then
insert updated data. “N” jobs send data from the head office to stores.
Pull
(P) jobs –
“P” jobs pull data—such as sales and inventory data— from the distribution
location specified in the job and insert it into the head-office database. You
need one “P” job for each terminal or store database.
Retail Store Inventory
With Retail Store Inventory, you can
manage the store- inventory documents that provide an interface between stores
and the purchasing, transfer, and counting features in Microsoft Dynamics AX. A
store-inventory document is a form that is associated with a purchase order,
transfer order, or counting journal. The document is typically created at the
head office, used at the store to enter inventory data, and then reviewed and
posted at the head office.
AX 2012 Retail Deployment Architecture
Deployment
topologies
The following table lists the types of computers used in a
typical Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 deployment.
The above figures
illustrate typical deployment topologies of a Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 deployment.
In the above deployment,
each component is hosted on a dedicated physical or virtual computer.
Components that support multiple instances, such as AOS and Retail Store
Connect, could be installed on additional computers for load balancing. This deployment topology is appropriate for
a large retailer.
With the exception of
the communications server, the computers at the head office are all standard in
a Microsoft Dynamics AX deployment. Retail Headquarters is installed on the AOS
computer and all client computers. The process for adding it to Microsoft
Dynamics AX is much like the process for adding any other component to the
deployment.
The head-office database server does not need to be modified
at all unless the settings for Microsoft SQL Server.
Retail Transaction Service and the head-office instance of
Retail Store Connect are installed on the head-office communications server. If
you prefer, you can have two communications servers, one for each of these
applications.
Typically, head-office
and store computers on which Retail Store Connect is installed also have SQL
Server 2008 Express installed, but this instance of SQL Server is used only for
the Retail Store Connect message database.
Retail POS is installed on each register computer.
Optionally, a store database instance or an offline database may be installed
on a POS computer.
Microsoft Dynamics AX
2012 R2 supports two store-side database topologies, providing flexibility in
the location and connectivity of POS terminals:
§ POS
terminals with an offline database that is synchronized with the store database
when the POS terminals are connected
§ POS terminals without an offline database, so
that they must always be connected to the store database