Item Arrival Overview in Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations

Item arrival overview in Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (F&O) can help warehouse managers and purchasers receive and monitor various shipments, providing better visibility and efficiency for processing incoming items.

When I train clients on how to properly use the item arrival overview in their F&O solution, they’re often pleasantly surprised on how it helps them to bridge the gap between purchasing and warehousing.

Let’s dive into the details of using item arrival overviews for your warehouses.

Table of Contents

• What Is the Item Arrival Overview in D365?
• How to Use the Item Arrival Journal
• Item Arrival Overview in Your Broader Processes
• Limitations and Challenges

Note: Even though most customers, commentators, and consultants still call it Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations or D365FO, Microsoft now technically licenses it as Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management.

What Is the Item Arrival Overview in D365?

The item arrival overview in D365 F&O is a functionality in the Inventory Management module area that helps warehouse/receiving managers and purchasers manage incoming shipments. The enhancements in visibility and overall efficiency between purchasing and warehousing is key to help companies streamline their overall process.

This functionality is especially important for companies like distributers with a large number of SKUs or manufacturers that rely on knowing when items will arrive for just-in-time production requirements.

How to Use the Item Arrival Journal

Below are the steps to effectively use item arrival journals. The example below shows standard warehouse functionality rather than warehouse management systems and handheld devices.

Once purchase orders (POs) have been created by the purchasing department, the inventory receiving manager can go to a central location and see what POs they can expect to come in for today or this week, for instance.

Step 1: Navigate to Inventory management > Inbound Orders > Arrival Overview

Step 2: At the screen below, under Arrival Options, the receiving manager can streamline what purchase orders they want to see. These selections can be by a certain number of due dates in the past or future. Specific warehouses or vendors can also be selected.

Under Arrival Query Details, the manager can also define just a specific site or types of orders they wish to review and process.

Step 3: Once the selections are done, the manager clicks Update at the top of the screen.

Step 4: Based on the selections, orders will show up in the Receipts area, with the line details below that.

Step 5: Select the purchase orders (in this case I selected both) and then click Start Arrival.

Step 6: You will see an Item Arrival Journal has been created.

Step 7: Under receipts, you can now go to Journals and select Product Receipt Ready Journals. This will take you to the journal that was just created from this arrival.

Step 8: You can see the lines of the 2 PO’s. If all looks good, you can validate and post the journal.

Step 9: This has now registered the items into inventory, and they can be used for transactions. You can now go to each purchase order and process the remaining receipt and then invoice the PO.

A common caveat to understand is the items have only been registered, and the standard process of receiving the purchase order is still necessary. This can be accomplished with a batch job that does this for you, or you can manually do the remaining steps.

Item Arrival Overview in Your Broader Processes

The item arrival overview function fits in with a larger business process that can run from procurement to production to sales order shipments. By giving your inventory team real-time access to the receipt of goods, you can either move these items to your production area to get orders ready to produce with greater timeliness, or make the items available to ship and meet delivery dates for your customers’ sales orders.

Limitations and Challenges

As with all processes within any ERP system, there needs to be an understanding of potential limitations and frustrations. For example:

• The employees that will use item arrival features must be trained in the steps of this process so that mistakes do not occur and create incorrect product receipt/registrations.
• If the purchasing team doesn’t confirm the dates when the items are to be received with the vendor, this can cause confusion and inefficiency in the warehouse. For instance, your warehouse manager could see data indicating a certain item will arrive today, and end up waiting for a package that won’t arrive until next week. Purchasing teams may not initially realize the frustration and inefficiency this can cause in the warehouse, so it’s important to train them proactively on the importance of those arrival dates.
• Some of the arrival types, such as transfers and quarantine orders, will need additional process training and understanding by the workers to get the item to specific areas of your warehouse for processing.

Encore provides Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations support, training, and implementations to help companies like yours better align their processes, strategy, and technology. Learn more about how we serve our clients as a Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations Partner.