Plant engineering#

General#

For plant and mechanical engineers, the "Plant Engineering" performance extension makes it possible to track the complex production and scheduling processes in all phases of a project according to costs and deadlines. The function extension KUMAVISION "Plant Engineering" describes supplementary performance points to the standard project of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central¹. The following is described in more detail:

• Project plans with phases, milestones, tasks and responsibilities.
• Project progress and commercial project evaluation available in real time
• Clear management of internal and external resources
• Diverse controlling: budget, material and time expenditure, schedule, quality

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Resource master data#

Resources include employees or machines. Resource management allows you to plan capacity and deployment in detail and for an unlimited period of time.

Furthermore, resources can be grouped into resource groups. Purchase and sales prices can be recorded in detail and budgeted and invoiced for resources and resource groups.

Establishment#

To create a resource in KUMAVISION factory365, the following setups have to be done in advance:

Number series for resource#

Set up the number series for the resources so that when a new resource is created, the system automatically assigns a sequential identifiable number for the resource.

To do this, call up the "Number series" via the user search. You can create a new number series via "New" in the menu ribbon.

Afterwards, the created number series is stored in the "Resources setup" in the "Resource numbers" field.

Further information can be found in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central1 Helpsite.

Units#

Set up the "Units" table according to your individual requirements to be able to make the assignment when creating a resource (base unit code).

Call up the "Units" via the user search and create the units according to your requirements (for resources it is recommended to set up the unit "Hour").

Further information can be found in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central1 Helpsite.

Basic calendar#

The "Base calendar" can be used for several processes in KUMAVISION factory365. In connection with the resource, you can store a corresponding base calendar, with the help of which, for example, the different holidays in a (federal) country can be taken into account.

Example:
In Germany, January 6 (Epiphany) is viewed completely differently - while in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, for example, this is handled as a normal holiday, in North Rhine-Westphalia it is a normal working day. With the help of the stored calendar, resource availability can be calculated accordingly.

To create a base calendar, call up "Base calendar" via the user search. You can create a new base calendar via "New" in the menu ribbon.

The assignment of the possible different base calendars is done when the resource is created on the respective resource card.

Further information can be found in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central1 Helpsite.

Qualifications#

Qualifications can be stored in the resources according to your skills. To define the qualifications, first call them up via the user search.

Via "New" in the ribbon you can create a new qualification with the help of the table below.

Further information can be found in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central1 Helpsite.

Working Time Template#

The working time templates allow you to store the different working time models of your employees in the system. Call up the "Working time templates" via the user search.

Via "New" in the menu ribbon, you can define a new working time template that can be assigned to a resource when it is created. Further information can be found in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central1 Helpsite.

Capacity units#

Resource management and capacity determination of production work with different unit tables. For linking the units, the resource unit is assigned to the capacity unit.

To do this, call up the capacity units via the user search. Via the menu item "Edit list" in the menu ribbon you can edit already existing capacity units and thus link the resource unit of the capacity unit in the field "Resource units".

Resources#

To create a new resource in the system, first call up the "Resources" via the user search. Via "New" in the menu ribbon you can create a new resource with the help of the table below.

Inforegister General#

Invoicing information register#

Inforegister Personal Data#

Qualification#

On the respective resource card, you have the option of assigning a qualification to the respective resource via "Qualifications" in the menu ribbon. If no qualifications have been set up in the table of the same name, they must be created beforehand.

Depending on the "Projects setup" in the "Check resource qualification" field, the system checks whether the necessary qualifications for an activity type are available when a resource is entered in the project plan lines.

Set capacity#

The capacity of a resource is the amount of work that can be done within a defined period of time (one day). To calculate and define the capacities of the resource, call up the "Define capacity" function via the menu ribbon in the "Navigate" menu tab.

The "Calculate Res. Capacity" mask opens on which the filtering of the resource is already preset. By specifying the start/end date, the capacity items can be determined and defined.

Resource capacity#

By calling up "Resource capacity" via the user search, you have the option of viewing the capacity of the resources.

The "Set capacity" function is also available via the "Planning" menu selection on the "Resource capacity matrix" info tab.

The difference between the call on the resource map and the call in the resource capacity is that when calling from the resource map a pre-filtering is set on the resource. The call via the resource capacity is not, so that the capacity can be calculated over all available resources.

Plan resource#

General#

Especially in the initial stage of a project, usually no actual employee resources can be assigned behind positions, it is worked with a substitute, a so-called "planned resource".

A planned resource is equivalent to a normal resource, but has no capacities itself. A resource group is also defined for each department or team, which serves as a bracket for resources. All resources of a team are assigned to the resource group of the team.

(Plan) resource#

To create a planning resource in the system, first call up the "Resources" via the user search. A planning resource is usually created in the same way as a conventional resource. For further information on creating resources, please refer to the "Resources" section.

Resource Group#

To actually make a resource a "planned resource", it is necessary to assign the resource to a resource group intended for this purpose.

Call up the resource groups via the user search.

Via "New" in the menu ribbon you can create a new resource group by entering an abbreviation and a description.

Then assign the resource that is to be used as a "planned resource" in the future to the resource group in the "Accumulation resource no. " field.

Capacity#

A planned resource corresponds to a normal resource, but has no capacities. An overview of which capacities are available and their requirements is shown in the resource group availability.

Posting behavior of the planning resource#

No consumption postings may be made for a planning resource, posting via the billing document is possible. Especially for the case that the planning resource is to be settled instead of the executing resource.

Create timesheet#

Via the function "Create timesheet..." in the menu ribbon under the menu tab "Actions" you can create a timesheet for the respective resource.

To do this, enter the start date from which the timesheet is to be created. As well as the number of periods.

Using the timesheets, the resource can record and submit for your projects, the corresponding project tasks and the times for the corresponding period.

Further information on this topic can be found in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central1 Helpsite.

Project Management#

Projects in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central¹ are dynamic business transactions that extend over a longer period of time. These can be planned, controlled and invoiced in detail with the help of activities and budgets.

You can track the use of working hours, machine running times and material for individual projects. This is managed via project tasks and their associated project plan lines, via which the expenses and revenues are managed.

A project consists of a three-tier structure:

The development of a project can thus be traced down to the smallest detail.

In addition, with the help of integrated invoicing in the Accounts Receivable & Sales and Accounts Payable & Purchasing modules, all related revenues and expenses are recorded.

The project structure and its processes are shown in a diagram below:

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Project facility#

Establishment projects#

In the "Project setup" the necessary settings for the later project creation and implementation are made.

In the following the fields are explained to you on the basis of the table below:

Inforegister General#

Inforegister numbering#

Inforegister plant engineering#

The switch takes into account the following tables:

• purchase Row
• FA line
• FA Components
• Stock transfer
• Assembly order
• Assembly order items

Information register production#

Inforegister Logistics#

Inforegister Outlook ToDos#

Inforegister Commitment#

Inforegister Version comparison#

Project accounts#

In the projects for plant construction, consumption and sales postings are displayed on a project chart of accounts, which is used for project controlling. The selection of the corresponding project accounts is controlled via the project account setup.

Project Chart of Accounts#

The project chart of accounts is used for project controlling and contains all sales and cost accounts that are to be used for a differentiated project view. The project chart of accounts is not dependent on the FIBU chart of accounts.

In the "Account type" field you can choose between five options:

After you have set up the project account, select "Actions" > "Indent Chart of Accounts" in the ribbon. Then select the "Yes" option in the message window.

Project account setup#

The procedure is almost identical to setting up the posting matrix in the financial accounting area.

The project account setup determines the project accounts to which consumption and revenues are posted or budgeted in plant engineering. The project account setup is a matrix that defines the consumption and sales accounts for product posting groups. Here, the setup can be controlled by the project type and/or the activity type. Each project item is assigned either a consumption account or a sales account depending on its item type (consumption or sales). When determining the project account, the field contents of the project item are used.

Project Roles#

The project roles define in the later projects which role (e.g. project manager) the resource takes in the respective project.

To define the project roles in advance, call them up via the user search. Via "New" in the menu ribbon you can create a new project role with the help of the table below.

Service type#

It is important for the later task planning in the projects to set up the activity types. To do this, call up the activity types via the user search.

Via "New" in the menu ribbon you can define a new service type with the help of the table below.

Project types#

When creating a new project, you can define the type of project by assigning a "project type". Here you can already enter some data such as a project template, order type or similar.

To define the project types in advance, call up the project types via the user search. Via "New" in the menu ribbon you can define a new project type with the help of the table below.

Project breakdown#

The project structure helps you to enter and maintain your project tasks quickly and efficiently with predefined numbering.

Call up the "Project outline" via the user search.

Via "New" you can create a new project outline using the table and procedure below.

To define the outline for the created dataset, call up the "Outline structure" menu item via the ribbon.

Project Document Text Template#

For easy editing/creation of the document texts in the projects, you can define project text templates in which you specify how and when which data record is to be printed in which document.

To do this, call up the "Project document templates" via the user search.

Via "New" you can create a new project document template using the table below.

Project planning#

In the following, you will be introduced to project planning. It will be shown how a project can be structured and how plan values can be stored.

Project Assistant#

For a quick and easy creation of a project KUMAVISION factory365 offers a wizard for project creation.

For this, it is first necessary that the user has assigned the role center "Project Manager" in the user customization.

On the start page of the "Project Manager" role center, the "New Project" call is located in the activities area.

After clicking on the call, the wizard will be started.

Creation progress#

The "Creation progress" screen is used for the navigation/status overview of the project wizard.

This is divided into four sub-areas with their respective statuses:

• Copy project
• General project data
• Sale to data
• Invoice to data

Furthermore, the current processing step with the overall progress status is displayed.

In the lower area of the mask you have the following selection options:

Copy project#

General project data#

Sale to data#

If you have gone through the project wizard and have filled in all the necessary fields with the corresponding data, you can create the project by clicking on "Create project".

The project map will be opened for you after creation in order to be able to enter further information. Alternatively, you can close the project map.

Project map#

Inforegister General#

On the "General" info tab, the general data of the project are defined first. These are explained in more detail below:

Inforegister Tasks#

On the "Tasks" info tab, the project tasks that are/will be planned in the project are first defined. This is the first "rough planning" for the project.

Task breakdown#

The task outline is used for the systematic and clear presentation of the project tasks and enables a uniform structure across the projects by means of predefined outline structures. The task outline is assigned to the project in the "Task outline" field in the project map. Using the following functions, you can insert the task outline into the project task lines.

Insert Outline Structure Function#

You can call up the "Insert Outline Structure" function on the respective project card via the ribbon. This function inserts a completely new outline structure at the end of the structure details.

Insert outline structure to postable" function#

You can call up the "Insert outline structure up to bookable" function on the respective project card via the ribbon. This function inserts an outline structure up to and including the first bookable outline structure.

Project tasks#

If you have previously inserted an outline structure in the project task rows, you have the option to insert a new row below an outline structure level via the [...] Assist button.

The system inserts a new line with the position numbering and description of the layers above.

Now enter the project tasks that occur / are planned in the project using the table below.

Engage/disengage#

The function Project Tasks Move In and Move Out only works with defined task breakdown in the project map as well as project task type Account.

You can call up the "Engage/disengage" functions via the "Tasks" info tab using the "Line" menu selection.

Indent:
When the function "Indent" is called, the current line is indented one level down and bracketed by a from-sum and a to-sum line.

The description of the indented line is assigned to the from/to sum line. The new project task gets the description from the default. The already entered plan lines are also assigned to the new line.

Disengage
When the Move function is called, the current line is moved up one level. If it is not the last position of the task block, the next number of the upper range is used. If it is the last position, the task block is deleted and the task number is assigned to the from total.

Task numbering
Task determination is based on the outline structure and depends on the current position and project task type of the row.

If a line is inserted between existing positions, the system inserts a continuing line to the upper line.

If a line is inserted at the bottom, the next project task number is inserted based on the top line.

Document texts Project tasks#

You can describe a project task in detail using a long text. This long text is printed on the documents you define.

To define a document text for a task, first select the desired task line in the "Tasks" info tab.

Using the "Line" menu selection on the "Tasks" info tab, you then select the "Document text" menu item.

You can now decide whether you want to enter a pre-text or a post-text for the line.

The project document text map opens.

Call up the "Format Editor" via the menu ribbon and enter your desired text in the editor text field. After confirming the entry with "OK", your text will be displayed in the "Preview" field.

Using the fields below, you can define on which documents the text should be displayed.

The reports listed here print the project texts depending on the "Show additional text" switch:

• Project plan lines
• Project analysis
• Budget comparison project
• Account proposal project
• Project offer

Create tasks#

Via "Create tasks" you can create tasks or Outlook tasks such as a meeting invitation.

When you create a task, a project task is created for you in the background. The project task is created within the From task you selected.

You can create the tasks in the project area using the Tasks call in the Project Map, Project Tasks as well as from the Project Team.

In the "Project setup" you define how the project task no. is created via the fields "Step size CRM task", "Separator CRM task" as well as "Counter CRM task". Further information can be found here.

Alternatively, you can also create a task directly from a contact card by entering a project number.

Create activity#

Via "Create activity" you can create activities and/or communications such as telephone calls from Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central¹ and file associated documents. The time defined at this point is transferred to the timesheet.

You can call the "Create activity" function from the project map, project overview, project task, project plan line as well as from the project team map.

Assign the activity type as well as description of the activity. The seller code is determined based on your registration.

In the project fields, specify to which project task the document should be assigned and to which plan item the times should be recorded.

If you have selected the project plan position, the system will create an entry for you in the work time table (the prerequisite for this is the use of working times).

For further information on the topic of "Creating activities", please refer to the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central1 Helpsite.

Milestones#

Milestones serve as intermediate goals within a project. Based on these goals, "smaller stages" can be logged as project progress within a project or dependencies to further milestones or tasks can be defined.

In KUMAVISION factory365 you have the possibility to assign milestones to the project tasks.

Establishment#

In the "Projects setup" you can globally control the behavior for all milestones via the "Milestone behavior" field. You can choose from the following options:

Capture#

A milestone is entered on the respective project card on the "Task" info tab in the respective task line via the "Milestone" field. In the following, the relevant fields on the task line for the identification of a milestone are explained in more detail:

Milestone behavior#

For maintenance start and end date#

The maintenance of start and end date in the project task is checked against a possibly assigned milestone. See also description for milestone date

For care status#

If the status of a milestone is set to completed, the system will ask you whether all associated project tasks should also be set to completed and will also execute this if confirmed.

When care summation#

You can assign the milestone to the project tasks defined in the "Filter criterion" by maintaining the "Total" field.

The same checks or updates are performed as for the assignment via the Belongs to milestone field.

For maintenance project task type#

If the project task type is set to Account, the start and end dates will be processed, with all other settings any milestone information will be deleted.

Cross country skiing articles#

By means of the long run articles a long run planning and administration can be accomplished. Article items with a long procurement time are created as project plan lines in the project. Later, these articles can be used as components in project-related production orders. In this way, the requirements for these long-run items are triggered directly from the project, even without a production order already existing or the position of the component in the production order being known. If the production order is then created and the components are defined in the order, the requirements coverage of the component can be linked directly to the long-run item in the project.

Establishment#

The cross-country items are set up in the project via the project tasks. For this purpose, separate tasks should be created in the project for long-run items. The "Cross-country item" check mark identifies a project task as a task for a cross-country item.

If now for the project task, project plan lines are entered, the items with the type "Article" are automatically provided with the indicator "Long run article".

After the project plan lines have been created for the corresponding long-run items, procurement documents / procurement processes can be triggered for these project plan lines in order to achieve the corresponding coverage of requirements for these long-run items.

Cross-country skiing articles as components in FA and E+D order#

If a long-run item has been defined in the project, it can also be viewed in project-related production orders. In this case, the "Long-run item" label is managed in the FA components in the "Long-run item" field itself.

In order for a component to be recognized as a long-run item in the production order and in the E+D order, the following criteria must be met:

• Project number must be set as project reference in the FA component.
• The article number, variant code and storage location code must match between the project plan line marked as a long-run item and the FA component.

In addition, the quantity that has already been linked / used for this FA component by a long-run item project plan line can be viewed in the "Long-run item linked quantity (base)" field.

The fields "Long-run item" and "Long-run item linked quantity (base)" can also be viewed accordingly in the lines of an E+D order.

Although it is possible to display directly for an FA component or E+D order line whether it is a long-run item, the available quantity of the long-run item cannot be displayed directly. This is due to the fact that it is calculated based on the reservations for the long-run project plan lines, taking into account the due date of the FA component and the planning date of the project plan lines. Further, there is the fact that a long-run article project plan line can serve several FA components, but there can also be several long-run article project plan lines for one article. Therefore, the available quantity of a long-run article is always calculated at runtime. This is done in the "Long-run article overview" screen. This overview can be called from the FA components and E+D order lines respectively.

To do this, call up the cross-country skiing article overview via the "Line" > "Line" > "Cross-country skiing article overview" info tab.

By means of the "Long-run item overview" mask, not only the quantity available for allocations can be viewed. This screen is also used to set or cancel links between FA components and long-run item project plan lines. In this way, the procurement quantity already reserved for the project plan line is transferred to the FA component or, in the case of cancellation, written back from the FA component to the project plan line.

Structure of the cross country skiing article overview#

The "Long-run item overview" screen shows the quantities available for links to the long-run item project plan lines for FA components. Furthermore, this mask offers the possibility to directly set links between FA components and long-run article project plan lines and thus to transfer the already reserved quantity from the project plan line to the FA component. It is also possible to delete these links.

The structure of the cross-country article overview, the individual calls and functions of the mask are described below.

Data areas of the cross country skiing article overview#

Origin address#

In the upper area of the long run article overview, the field "Called from" shows from where the long run article overview was called. E.g. from the FA component, the production order or the project.

Overview post#

The summary items are displayed in the rows area. The overview items are formed on the basis of FA components and project plan lines and are created as main items and sub-items. If the long-run item overview is called up from a production order or E+D order, the main items are created on the basis of FA components. The associated sub-items are created on the basis of the project plan lines, which are possible requirement coverers for these long-run items. If, on the other hand, the long-run article overview is called up from a project, the main items are created on the basis of project plan lines and the sub-items are created by the FA components as possible requirements originators.

Note text#

This area displays a short note text for the selected item. (If a note exists for this item).

Post details#

In the info boxes area, the details of the respective item are displayed. The item origin (FA line / project plan line), the item type (main item / sub-item), item and variant information as well as the due date and the storage location where the item is required are displayed. In addition, the quantity information is displayed here and whether the item is to be considered "Available". The quantity display in the overview items is explained below.

Quantity display in the cross country article overview#

The aim of the long-run item overview is to show how FA components can be covered by the long-run item project plan lines already in the MRP. For this purpose, the quantities of the long-run items must also be displayed accordingly. The display of the quantities in the long-run item overview depends on whether they are main items or sub-items. In addition, there are separate fields for each reference (FA component, project plan line) that represent the quantities. Basically, for each main item, the sum of the sub-items is also calculated.

Example:

If the main item is an FA component, the sum of the quantities of its sub-items (project plan lines) that can be used to cover the requirements of the FA component is also formed for this main item. If the main item is a long-run project plan line, the FA components that could be covered by this project plan line are displayed as sub-items.

Basically, the quantity fields have the following meaning:

Quantity fields FA component

Quantity fields Project plan line

Actions of the cross country skiing article overview#

The mask "Long run article overview" has actions with which the view of the mask can be controlled, but also links between long run article project plan lines and FA components can be created or deleted again. The individual actions are described below:

Setting and deleting long-run article links#

Setting and deleting links between long-run article project plan lines and the corresponding FA components is triggered from the long-run article overview. The actions "Set link" and "Delete link" are used for this purpose.

The setting and deletion of links is explained below on the basis of the call of the cross-country article overview for an FA component. The reason for this is that the setting and deletion of links always starts from the FA component, regardless of how the "Cross-country skiing article overview" screen was called up. Depending on the call, only the filtering of corresponding FA components takes place, which are then processed one after the other, in which the links are set or removed accordingly.

Setting links#

When setting a long-run article link for a FA component line, the system checks whether this component corresponds to a long-run article in project plan lines. For this purpose, the system checks whether the component has a project reference and whether these project plan lines marked as long-run articles have the same article / variant / storage location combination. If this is the case, the corresponding project plan lines are used as possible default lines. In this case, the planning date of the project plan lines is filtered so that they are before or the same as the due date of the component. The date filtering is important so that the requirement-covering documents for the project plan line can also be used for the FA component line. The link can now be set until the FA component "open quantity" is 0 (zero) or there is no more available quantity in the filtered long run item project plan lines.

The link is set with the "Set Link" function for the FA component line.

After the link has been set, a corresponding "long-run article link item" is also created. This item records which FA component was linked to which project plan line with which quantity. The fields "Linked quantity (base)" in the FA component and the project plan line are also calculated on the basis of these items.

The linking items can also be viewed in the cross-country article overview.

The link transfers the reservation (proportionate to the linked quantity) from the project plan line to the FA component. This also results in a direct link of the requirement-covering document (e.g. a purchase order) with the FA component.

However, the link also has a direct effect on the project plan line. In order to reduce the demand for the long-run article for the project accordingly and to minimize redundancy of the demand between the FA component and the project plan line, the quantity of the project plan line itself is also reduced.

Delete shortcuts#

The deletion of link items has two integrated steps. Firstly, resetting the existing link according to the long-run item link. The other is the transfer of the reservation without the long-run item link.

In the first stage, using the long-run article link items, the link is undone by moving the reservation in the amount of the linked quantity from the FA component to the project plan line listed in the item.

In the second stage, the system checks whether there is still a reserved quantity for the FA component beyond the link. I.e. after deleting the link, there is still a "Reserved quantity" for the FA component, which may have been set by manual reservations. If this is the case, the reservation is also transferred to the first matching project plan line. The aim of this transfer is to always concentrate the existing requirement coverage for the long-run items of a project at the long-run item project plan lines. If the surplus reservation quantity were only cancelled in this way, it would then be available for other projects/consumption. However, the transfer ensures that the demand cover remains reserved for the project.

The link for the FA component is deleted again using the "Delete link" function.

By deleting the link, the long-run article link item is deleted and therefore the linked quantity in the FA component and the corresponding project plan line is also reduced / set to 0 (zero).

Furthermore, the "Open quantity (base)" is also set high again in the FA component, since there is no longer any requirement coverage for the remaining quantity of the FA component.

On the other hand, the quantity and the available quantity in the project plan line and the available quantity in the project plan line are set high. As a result, the reservation on the demand cover passes from the FA component to the project plan line and the demand cover is still available to the project.

Calls of the cross-country skiing articles overview from the production and project#

As described in previous sections, the long-run article overview can be called for FA components and project plan lines. However, it can also be called for FA lines, production orders as well as project tasks and the entire project.

This section describes the calls and explains the structure of the summary items per call.

Call for FA components / E+D order lines of the MRP type "warehouse part#

The "Long-run item overview" screen can be called up for FA components and E+D order lines of the MRP type "Stock item" using the action "Long-run item overview".

In both cases, the long-run article overview for the respective referenced FA component is called.

Here you can now view the possible, requirements-covering long-run article project plan lines for the component and create or delete a link between the FA component and the project plan line.

The individual actions for this can be taken from the previous section.

Call for FA lines / E+D order lines of the MRP type "Production part#

The "Long-run item overview" screen can be called up for FA lines and E+D order lines of the MRP type "Production part" using the action "Long-run item overview".

In both cases, the long-run article overview is called for the referenced FA line.

The FA components of the respective FA line that have been identified as long-run items are displayed as the main items in this call.

As a sub-item, the project plan lines are shown for the respective FA components, which can serve as requirement cover if necessary.

If the actions "Set link" or "Delete link" are used for a FA line, the displayed FA components are run through one after the other and the selected functionality is performed for the individual FA component.

Call for a production order / E+D order#

The "Long-run item overview" screen can be called up for an entire production order or an E+D order.

In both cases, the long run article overview for the referenced production order is called. In the case of the E+D order, it is the production order that is listed in the header of the E+D order.

All FA components of the production order that have been identified as long-run items are displayed as main items in this call.

As a sub-item, the project plan lines are shown for the respective FA components, which can serve as requirement cover if necessary.

If the actions "Set link" or "Delete link" are used for the entire production order, the displayed FA components are run through one after the other and the selected functionality is performed for the individual FA component.

Call for a project plan line#

The "Long-run item overview" screen can also be called up for a project plan line. For this purpose, the respective project plan line must be marked as "Long-run item".

In the called cross-country article overview, the corresponding project plan line is displayed as the caller.

The corresponding project plan line is displayed as the main item in this overview. The FA components that could be covered by this project plan line are displayed as sub-items for this project plan line.

If the actions "Set link" or "Delete link" are executed from this view, they do not refer to the project plan line as the main item, but to the individual FA components as sub-items. I.e. the individual FA components are gone through one after the other and the selected action is executed there for each individual component. The assignment of the long-run item therefore always takes place from the view of the component.

Call for a project task#

The "Long-run item overview" screen can also be called up for a project task. For this purpose, the respective project task must be marked as "Long-run item".

In the cross-country item overview, the corresponding project task is displayed as the caller.

As main items, the corresponding project plan lines for this task are displayed in this overview, which are marked as "long-run items". For each main item, the respective FA components that could be covered by this project plan line are then displayed as sub-items.

If the actions "Set link" or "Delete link" are executed from this view, they do not refer to the project plan lines as main items, but to the individual FA components as sub-items. I.e. the individual FA components are gone through one after the other and the selected action is executed there for each individual component. The assignment of the long-run item is therefore always done from the component's point of view.

Call for entire project#

The "Cross-country item overview" mask can also be called up for an entire project.

In the cross-country article overview, the corresponding project is displayed as the caller.

All project plan lines for this project that are marked as "long-run items" are displayed as main items in this overview. For each main item, the respective FA components that could be covered by this project plan line are then displayed as sub-items.

If the actions "Set link" or "Delete link" are executed from this view, they do not refer to the project plan lines as main items, but to the individual FA components as sub-items. I.e. the individual FA components are gone through one after the other and the selected action is executed there for each individual component. The assignment of the long-run item is therefore always done from the component's point of view.

Handling of long-run article links#

This section describes the handling of long-run article links for different actions in the processing of production orders / E+D orders and in the project.

Within the framework of production order / E+D order processing#

Separating and reintegrating separate production orders#

In E+D orders, individual subassemblies can be outsourced to separate production orders or reintegrated from a separate production order. In this case, the noted requirements coverage (reservations) is also outsourced or reintegrated. Therefore, the long-run article link items are also outsourced or reintegrated with the separate production order.

Deleting an FA component#

When an FA component is deleted, the system checks whether it is a long-run item. If this is the case and there are reservation items for the FA component, the reservation is transferred to the corresponding long-run item project plan line before the component is deleted.

For more information, see the section "Deleting cross-country article links".

Deleting a production order/ individual FA lines#

When deleting the entire production order or individual production order lines, the system checks for the entire production order or the corresponding production order line whether it contains components that are marked as long-run items. If this is the case, the reservations are transferred to the corresponding long-run article project plan lines before these components are deleted.

For more information, see the section "Deleting an FA component".

Reducing the quantity in an FA component#

If an FA component is marked as "long-running" and a quantity reservation exists for this component, then the existing reservation is converted to a long-running article project plan line before the quantity is reduced. After the reduction of the quantity, the system restores the reservation for the FA component according to the following scheme:

If the new "Expected quantity (base)" is smaller than the originally reserved quantity, then the reservation is only made according to the new "Expected quantity (base)". If, on the other hand, the new "Expected quantity (base)" still exceeds the originally reserved quantity, the reservation is set back to the originally reserved quantity.

This ensures that after the quantity reduction, the portion of the reservation that is no longer needed is assigned to a corresponding project long-runner and the component retains its reservation again up to the maximum previously reserved quantity.

Cancellation of the reservation from a FA component#

If an FA component is marked as a "long-run item", it is not possible to cancel the reservation for this component manually (call the reservation reversal directly from the FA component). This is due to the fact that reservations for long-run items in the production order are not simply cancelled and made available again for all consumptions, but are moved to the corresponding long-run item project plan lines. As a result, the reserved requirements coverers still remain linked to the project.

The cancellation of the reservation for a FA component that is marked as a long-run item is therefore aborted by an error message. Instead, the "Delete link" function in the "Long-run item overview" is to be used to transfer the existing reservation to a corresponding long-run item project plan line.

If the reservation was transferred to the project plan line, it can be cancelled there for the respective project plan line. This then represents a conscious decision, so that the reserved requirement cover for the long-run article is to be decoupled from the project.

Cancellation of the reservation from the demand deck#

If an FA component is marked as a "long-run item" and has a reservation for the requirement cover, the reservation cannot be cancelled directly from the FA component.

However, it is possible to cancel the reservation from the demand-covering document. This is due to the fact that changes to the requirement-covering document must be possible. E.g. if the planned delivery date cannot be met.

If a reservation is cancelled in a requirement-covering document that references an FA component for a long-run item, the long-run item link for this component is also adjusted accordingly.

Consumption posting of a FA component#

After posting the consumption for a FA component that is marked as a "long-run item", the long-run item link is adjusted to the reserved quantity again. This is due to the fact that the reserved quantity may be consumed with the consumption posting (reservation to stock). Therefore, the long-run article link must also be reduced accordingly.

Status change in the production order#

When status changes are made in the production order, the long-run article links for this production order must also be taken into account accordingly. There are two options that must be taken into account:

Change from "Firmly Planned" to "Released":
With this status change, the long-run article link items must also be moved from the firmly planned production order to the released production order in parallel with the reservations.

Change from "Released" to "Finished":
If a production order is terminated, all remaining (unused) reservations for long-run items that are linked to the production order are distributed again to the corresponding long-run item project plan lines and are thus still available in the project.

In the context of editing project plan lines#

When editing project plan lines that are marked as "long-run items", the system must perform appropriate checks and actions with regard to long-run item links (long-run item link items). These are described below.

Creating book sheets for cross-country article project plan lines#

It is not possible to create project book sheets for project plan lines that are marked as "long-running items". This is prevented by a corresponding error message. The purpose of this is that project plan lines for long-run items must not be posted. A project plan line for long-run items offers the possibility to generate requirements in advance for parts that are needed during production and have a long procurement time. It serves the long-run article only as a trigger of the procurement, the actual consumption takes place as a component in the production order.

Booking cross country article project plan lines#

Posting project plan lines that are marked as "long-run items" is not permitted. A project plan line for long-run items offers the possibility to generate requirements in advance for parts that are needed during production and have a long procurement time. It therefore only serves as a trigger for procurement, the actual consumption of the component takes place in the production order.

Deleting long-run article project plan lines with link items#

If a project plan line that is marked as a "long-run article" is deleted, the long-run article links of this project plan line to the corresponding FA components are also deleted. However, the reservation that has already been transferred to the requirements planner remains in the FA components. If it was the only long-run article project plan line for the article / variant / storage location combination, then the "Long-run article" check mark is also removed from the corresponding FA components, since there is no longer a reference to a long-run article in the project.

Project plan lines#

In the project plan lines you can define the "detailed planning" for the project. Per project task line you have the possibility to define which items, resources and expense financial accounting items should be used.

To do this, first select the desired project task line and then call up the project plan lines via the "Tasks" info tab.

Define the project plan line using the table below.

Document texts project plan lines#

You can describe a project plan line in detail using a long text. This long text is printed on the documents you define.

Call up the project plan lines via the desired project task using the call of the same name on the "Tasks" info tab.

Select the project plan line for which you want to enter a document text. Then call up the "Document texts" menu selection via the ribbon. You can now decide whether you want to enter a pre- or post-text for the line.

The entry of the pre- or post-texts is done in the same way as for the tasks. Further information can be found in the section "Document texts for tasks".

The reports listed here print the project texts depending on the "Show additional text" switch:

Project plan lines Project analysis Budget comparison project Account proposal project *Project offer

Distribute plan quantity#

It often happens that tasks take longer than one working day, for a more accurate resource planning it is now necessary to distribute the estimated hours over the working days.

To distribute the planned quantity, call up the "Distribute planned quantity" function via the menu ribbon.

The Distribute Planned Set screen opens where you can specify the following distribution criteria:

Confirm your entry with "OK" to distribute the planned quantities.

The daily residual amount is calculated as follows:

Resource capacity * Quantity in order (Proj.) * Quantity in assembly order * Quantity in service order * FA time requirement Remaining quantity available for the day

If the line to be distributed is a budget and billable line, the line will be split into a budget and billable line in the course of quantity distribution. The billing line item is inserted before the original line item.

FA Calculation#

The calculation in KUMAVISION factory365 has been extended so that also project plan lines can be calculated. New cost prices can be calculated and taken over, however, deviating from the calculation for sales, no sales prices.

Establishment#

Call up the "Evaluation & costing setup" via the user search. Via the info tab "General" you have the possibility to set up the costing on project plan lines in the field "Cost E+D order (project)".

The following selection options are available to you:

Preparation of a calculation#

A prerequisite for creating a cost estimate is that a project plan line has the type "Article" and the procurement method "Simulated".

To create the cost estimate, call up the function "Calculate production cost estimate" for the desired project plan line via the menu ribbon > "Actions" > "Functions" > "Costing".

Through the costing, a simulated FA is set up and a costing is performed depending on the setup, the FA is then also displayed or the costing result is taken over as the cost price for the project plan line.

The calculation can be checked via the "Calculation tracking lines" action.

Transfer of the calculation into a sales quotation#

If a project plan line is transferred to a quotation, a cost estimate existing for the project plan line is automatically linked to this quotation line as well.

From the quotation, you can view the reference to the simulated FA of the project plan line. To do this, select the "Functions" menu item via the "Line" info tab and execute the "Costing tracking lines" function.

Post calculation#

If the cost estimate has to be changed subsequently or a new costing run has been carried out, the newly calculated cost price can be adopted again in the costing proposals using the "Adopt costing proposal (preferred)" function. The price is also adopted in any existing sales document.

Addition in simulated production order#

Simulated production orders additionally have the identifier "FA used in calculation" on the info tab "General". This indicates whether the respective production order is used in one or more calculations.

A lookup on the identifier will display the "Calculation Tracking Lines (Sales + Project)" overview.

If a calculation is linked in project and sales in parallel, only the information for the project plan line is displayed in the "Calculation tracking lines (sales + project)" overview, as this is the leading document.

Information register booking#

Status#

The course of a project is largely determined by the status. The individual options are described in detail below:

Planning:
In this project phase you can perform preliminary calculations. In addition, the project structure can be defined, i.e. you can define project tasks as well as associated project plan lines. No bookings can be made yet.

Offer:
The project is offered to a customer. Preliminary calculations are also possible at this stage. You can also change the structure and budget of the project. Postings cannot be made.

Open (=order):
Expenses from purchasing as well as from time recording are now recordable and postable. With the posting of sales invoices and credit notes, project revenues can be posted to the project. Postings are only possible in this phase.

Completed:
You can no longer change the project structure and budgets. This status is used to perform recalculations The real costs of a project can be compared with the budgeted amounts. Completed projects can no longer be posted.

Inforegister Invoice and Shipping#

The Invoice and Shipping Inforegister is used to provide billing and shipping information about the customer.

Inforegister dates#

Foreign Trade Information Register#

Inforegister WIP and revenue recognition#

Inforegister Forecast & Commitment#

On this Inforegister the Forecast & Obligo information of the project is presented. At this point, the Inforegister is mentioned for the sake of completeness.

For further information, please refer to the section "Forecast & Commitments".

Project scheduling#

With the help of project scheduling, you have the option of creating a rough schedule at any point in the project. Scheduling can be defined at project level, project task level and project plan line level. Forward, backward and midpoint scheduling is possible.

Procedure#

Project tasks using predecessor and successor structure#

Project tasks can be related by means of predecessors/successors. To create a predecessor/successor structure, click on the number in the "Predecessor/successor" field of the respective project task line. The "Project task dependencies" page opens on which you can assign the predecessors/successors to the project task via "New" in the "Project task dependencies" selection field.

Set project task duration#

Use the "Duration" field to specify the expected duration of the respective project task. You can enter T = day(s),WT = weekday(s),W = week(s),M = month(s),Q = quarter(s) or Y = year(s), L = the current time unit based on the date.

Scheduling#

The "Project scheduling" function in the ribbon allows you to calculate the planned start date and the planned end date of the project tasks based on the predecessor and successor structure and the duration of the project task.

When you execute the function, the "Project scheduling" option window opens.

Confirm your selection to perform the calculation.

Procedure Termination direction#

Forward scheduling

Starting from the scheduling fixed point, all project tasks are scheduled as follows:

Project task planned start date + duration = planned end date
Planned end date of predecessor = planned start date of successor tasks

Backward scheduling

Starting from the scheduling fixed point, all project tasks are scheduled as follows:

Project task planned end date - duration = planned start date
Planned start date successor = planned end date of predecessor

Center point scheduling

Starting from the scheduling fixed point (only possible for project tasks), all successors are scheduled forwards and all predecessors are scheduled backwards.

Project tasks of the From total type receive the earliest planned start date of the subordinate tasks of the Booking type as the planned start date and the latest planned end date of the subordinate tasks of the Booking type as the planned end date.

Only the self-contained predecessor and successor structure is calculated for a midpoint termination.

Project storage location#

For the correct representation of the transfer of risk, goods are transferred from their production site to the construction site or to the customer and not delivered directly and thus consumed. The project is then debited upon acceptance by means of a deliberate consumption posting.

For this purpose, a project storage location is always created for a project. This can be a storage location for several projects or a storage location explicitly for one project.

In the latter case, a new storage location is created based on the "Sales to customer no.".

Establishment#

In the "Projects setup" you can control whether you want to create one project storage location per project or use one storage location for multiple projects.

Project storage location per project:

If you decide to automate the creation of project storage locations per project, you also have the option to store a storage location template from which the necessary facilities for the newly created project storage location will be preset. The following facilities are copied from the template storage location:

• Storage bins,
• Stock posting facility,
• Stock transfer routes,
• storage location map (register)

Project storage location for multiple projects:
If you decide not to automate the creation of a project storage location, you have the option to store an existing storage location that will be used by default for the projects.

Manual plant#

In addition to the automatic creation of a project storage location, you also have the option to manually create a project storage location per project.

To create a project storage location, click on the project map in the "Associated" > "Setup" > "Create project storage location" ribbon.

If the function is executed, a query opens where you can decide whether you want to use the number for the storage location from the number series from the Projects setup, or assign a manual number.

Stock data#

When creating an article item in the project plan line, in the case of the storage location found, a stockkeeping data card is directly created in the background for the article and the corresponding project warehouse.

In the project plan line, the procurement method can then be defined directly on the inventory data card via the "Procurement method" field.

If the procurement method "Stock transfer" is selected, a stock transfer route is directly created in the background according to the settings in the "Project setup" for the standard warehouse.

Project Team#

A project team can be defined for each project. The definition takes place on the project card in the menu ribbon under "Project team".

Create the project team members using the table below:

Risk Management#

Risk management allows you to calculate, monitor and counteract project risks. Using the task management within the risk line, you can define preventive measures.

To calculate and monitor the project risks, call up the "Risk management" via the menu ribbon. The corresponding fields are explained in more detail below:

Project effort#

In the following, the individual areas are explained in more detail, through which the project, effort and consumption can be assigned.

Thus, on the one hand, the expenses of the resources are recorded in the form of working hours, and on the other hand, article consumption is recorded via stock or project purchasing.

This results in the actual values of a project. Subsequently, these actual values are compared with the planned values.

Personnel / benefit expenses#

The implementation of projects includes consumption as well as sales. Project consumption primarily includes the expenditure of resources. Resources can be employees, machines and subcontractors.

Resource expenditures are always made in the resource base unit via the timesheet. All person resources should have this code as the base unit on the resource card.

Record timesheet#

Using the time sheet, the resources can record their expenses with a corresponding description on the projects. For each resource, the time sheet must have been created beforehand for the corresponding period. For more information, see "Creating timesheets" or the Microsoft Dynamics Business Central™ Helpsite (F1).

Release of the transmitted working times#

The submitted working times of the employees are then approved by the timesheet approver.

To release the transferred working times, call up "Time sheet for manager" via the user search.

The time sheet for manager card opens on which the transferred working times are listed. Via the menu ribbon you have the possibility to approve or reject the transmitted working times via the calls "Approve"/"Reject".

Further information on this topic can be found in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central1 Helpsite.

Project book sheet#

The time sheet is used to record the project time consumption. To ensure that the projects are also debited with the posted project time items, i.e. the project time items are transferred to so-called project items, the posted time consumptions must be entered via the project book.sheet.

The project posting sheet is used to post project items of all types. For example, material from the warehouse can also be posted here as project consumption. At this point, only the transfer of project items from the project time items will be discussed.

The menu item "Suggest project book. sheet lines" creates an input mask in which the filters for the retrieval can be set specifically.

This function is used to retrieve project time items that have not yet been transferred to project items. As a rule, each project manager retrieves the project time items for which he is responsible. For this purpose, each individual project can be edited or the "Responsible" filter can be used.

The call fills the project book.sheet with all necessary data from the project time item. One book.sheet line is created per project time item.

After updating, the project book sheet is empty again and the corresponding project items have been created.

External resources#

External resources can be purchased via purchasing documents.

For external resources, a vendor can be specified on the resource card. This creditor is the invoicing party, e.g. a personnel service provider. In the case of a freelancer, the freelancer must be created as a resource and as a vendor and linked accordingly.

If an external resource is entered in the project plan lines, this vendor is transferred to the field of the same name in the project plan line. Thus, a cost price determination can be carried out specifically for the combination resource / vendor. Also a creation of a purchase order of the external resource from the project plan line takes place with the creditor of the project plan line.

In addition to cost prices, sales prices and purchase prices can also be defined for external resources.

Cost of materials#

In addition to the time spent on resources, projects also have material costs. This is managed via articles. The demand is defined and planned in the planning lines. The missing parts are ordered or produced via purchasing or production.

Project Purchasing#

Plant engineering allows you to trigger purchasing documents directly from the project plan lines.

Create purchase request#

Using the "Create purchase request" function, you can send the request to the supplier directly from the project plan line.

The following requirements must be met:

• it is not a position already transferred
• for each line a vendor no. is maintained
• the project is not in the "Locked" status
• if it is an item without a planning date, it must be a comment line

Otherwise, a corresponding message appears.

After a successful check, a window will open where you can make the following decisions:

Confirm your selection with "Ok".

Subsequently, all selected lines marked on the line type "Budget" or "Budget and Invoiceable" are transferred to the purchasing request. In addition, the project no. in the header of the purchasing document is maintained with the project no. from the project from which it was generated. The requested quantity corresponds to the remaining quantity of the project planning line minus the quantity already reserved for it.

The document number of the generated request is displayed in the "Purchasing document number" field. By clicking on the number you can open and view the document.

You can convert the purchase request to a purchase order later in the process. In doing so, the "Purchasing document number" field in the project plan line is adjusted with the number of the purchase order.

If one of the following fields is changed in the project plan line, the system tries to transfer the change to the purchase line as well:

• Description
• Description 2
• Type
• No.
• Work type
• Variants code
• Quantity
• Unit code
• Cost price
• UK price (MW)
• Line discount %
• Planned delivery date
• Storage location
• Stockyard
• Currency code

Create order#

Using the "Create Purchase Order" function, you can directly create a purchase order for the project plan line out.

The following requirements must be met:

• it is not a position already transferred
• for each line a vendor no. is maintained
• the project is not in the "Locked" status
• if it is an item without a planning date, it must be a comment line

Otherwise, a corresponding message appears.

After a successful check, a window will open where you can make the following decisions:

When adding documents, you will not be offered the choice and the outline type of the existing document will be kept. Confirm your selection with "Ok".

Subsequently, all selected lines marked on the line type "Budget" or "Budget and Billable" are transferred to the purchase order. In addition, the project no. in the header of the purchasing document is maintained with the project no. from the project from which it was generated. The quantity to be ordered corresponds to the remaining quantity of the project planning line minus the quantity already reserved for it.

Depending on the maintenance of the field "Reserve", the order line will be created in such a way that the project no. as well as the project task will be taken over from the plan line into the purchase line when reserving "Never". By posting the document, the position is directly debited to the project.

From Reservation "Optional" onwards, the fields (Project no. and Project task) are not filled and the project consumption must be done manually.

The project line type is always set to Budget.

If one of the following fields is changed in the project plan line, the system tries to transfer the change to the purchase line as well:

• Description
• Description 2
• Type
• No.
• Work type
• Variants code
• Quantity
• Unit code
• Cost price
• UK price (MW)
• Line discount %
• Planned delivery date
• Storage location
• Stockyard
• Currency code

Planning proposal#

Alternatively, you can generate the purchase requisition/purchase order conventionally via the planning proposal. To do this, select the "Planning proposal" function via the respective project plan line.

Project manufacturing#

As for project purchasing, plant engineering offers the possibility to trigger the manufacturing or assembly processes directly from the project plan lines. The following options are available for this purpose:

Planning proposal#

Using the "Planning proposal" function, you have the option of generating a production order via the planning proposal.

The production document number is displayed in the "Reserved by" field. By clicking on the number you can open and view the document.

Assembly order#

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central¹ enables an assembly order for an assembly item to be generated from a sales order via the so-called "order assembly". In the course of the sales delivery, the corresponding assembly order is posted in the background.

This functionality has been transferred to plant engineering. This means that you can enter the assembly item directly in a project plan line and generate the assembly order accordingly via the fields "Quantity for order assembly" and "Quantity for order assembly (basis)". The document number of the generated assembly order can be seen in the "Reserved by" field and the document can be called up directly from this point.

If a sales order with the corresponding item already exists in the system, it can be viewed via the fields "Sales document type = order" and "Sales document no. ".

Otherwise, they can be created from the project card via the "Tasks" > "Line" > "Documents" > "Create sales order..." info tab.

As soon as the sales line of the related assembly item is delivered via the order, the assembly order is posted.

Please refer to the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central1 Helpsite for the maintenance and handling of assembly items.

Project accounting#

The sales document forms the commercial basis vis-à-vis the customer. From the project tasks, the sales calculation can be transferred into a quotation and / or order.

General behavior#

Project type#

In the project type, you can set up an order type for the creation of sales documents, if required. This will be used when creating the documents.

Status#

When creating documents, it should be noted that this is only possible from the project tasks / project plan lines if the project has the required status:

1. Quotation can be created only with project status "Quotation" as well as "Order".
2. Order as well as complaint can be created only with project status "Order
3. An offer can only be converted into an order if the project status is "Order".
4. Only project plan lines with the Billing item "Yes" flag (line type "Budget and Billing" as well as "Billing") can be transferred to a sales document.

Document quantity#

The documents can be created from the project plan lines as well as from the project tasks. The system uses the field "Quantity to be transferred to invoice" to determine the quantity of documents (offer, order, invoice, credit note and complaint).

Address data#

The sales header takes over the address data from the project header. This means the sales to information of the project is transferred to the sales to information of the offer or order the same with the invoice to data. The delivery address is derived from the sales to address.

Position numbering#

The item numbering in the sales documents depends on the creation of the plan lines as well as on the task breakdown.

Task planning#

If you have used the task planning, the position number is filled with the planning project task.

Use of the project outline#

The position numbering is based on the project task. The from line has the project task as item no., the plan line supplemented by the extension of the next level of the project outline.

Consecutive numbering#

If there is no project structure, the item number is determined on the basis of the project task no. '.' and the consecutive number. If the maximum length of 20 characters is exceeded, the project task will be shortened so that the sequential number can be added up to the maximum value of 99. When the consecutive number reaches 100, an error message appears.

Order type#

The order type represents whether the order is the initial order or a follow-up order. If, when creating a new sales document, it is determined that a document already exists, the system switches the order type to follow-up order.

Updating the vouchers#

The project is the leading bracket in plant engineering and thus allows updating sales documents from within the project.

An update from the sales documents and thus an indirect change of the project plan by the order department is not possible. However, a maintenance of order specific data such as the assignment of the article tracking is allowed.

The project plan is updated by posting results, which are made by the system in the background.

Posting result depending on the line type#

Please note that only lines with the line type "Billable" and "Budget and Billable" will be included in the sales document.

Billable lines do not create any items in case of deliveries, in case of billing they create a project item with the item type "Sales".

Budgetable and billable lines also generate project items with the item type "Consumption" for deliveries.

Function support#

Below you will find the functional support for VK documents generated from a plant engineering project in tabular form:

Offer for sale#

You can create a sales quotation directly from the project via the project plan lines. The function calls can be found on the one hand on the project map via the "Tasks" info tab and on the other hand via the project plan lines.

If the document creation is triggered from the project plan line, the system tries to transfer all selected project plan lines to the sales quotation.

When creating from the project tasks, all the billable lines of the tasks are transferred to the sales document.

If you want to create a sales quotation for all lines, the "Tasks" info tab can be used to call up the quotation. By means of the row selection you can control which task rows are to be considered.

Sales documents are created at the project customers. For this purpose, the information stored in the project is used. Thus, sales to customer, invoice to customer, the delivery address and the payment terms of the project are used to create the sales documents.

After commissioning, the sales quotation can be converted into an order in the system as usual using the "Create order" function.

Sell order#

If the customer has already ordered the project, you can also create a sales order directly from the project via the project plan lines. The function calls can be found on the one hand on the project map via the "Tasks" info tab and on the other hand via the project plan lines.

If you want to create the sales order over all lines, the call via the "Tasks" info tab is suitable at this point. By means of the row selection you can control which task rows are to be considered.

Sales documents are created at the project customers. For this purpose, the information stored in the project is used. Thus, sales to customer, invoice to customer, the delivery address and the payment terms of the project are used to create the sales documents.

The order processing corresponds to the standard order processing.

Delivery#

Maintain the quantity to be delivered in the "Quantity to be delivered" field. In case of an activated item tracking please maintain the concerned serial no. or batch no. via the item tracking. Item tracking maintenance from the order is the same as item tracking maintenance from the project plan lines.

Invoice#

Maintain the quantity to be invoiced in the "Quantity to invoice" field. Please note that if item tracking is enabled, no item tracking can be specified for the billing case.

Dimension expansion#

For easy evaluation of the projects, the creation as well as assignment of dimensions has been optimized.

Dimension specification by the activity type#

Dimension specifications can be assigned to the activity type, so that when the activity type is selected in the project task, the dimension is assigned to the task.

Project type#

In the project setup you can define that for reporting purposes a dimension Project type is maintained and assigned to the system in parallel to Project type.

Project Chart of Accounts#

For effective project controlling, all project movements can be assigned and evaluated via a separate chart of accounts.

Down payment accounting#

Within financial accounting, KUMAVISION's "Down Payment Accounting" module enables the simple planning, creation and management of down payment invoices. The add-on module is fully integrated into the standard processes of accounts receivable and accounts payable, such as dunning and payment transactions, and can likewise be used for plant engineering in KUMAVISION factory365.

The following adjustments were made for this purpose:

Down payment plan#

The following fields have been added to the down payment plan in KUMAVISION factory365:

You can access the down payment plan for projects as well as project tasks via Down payment plan in the project card.

By maintaining the project task, you specify that you want to set the down payment schedule at the project task level.

Down payment plan by milestone#

If you have assigned a milestone for invoice creation in the down payment plan, the down payment invoice is created when the status of the milestone changes to completed.

For more information, see "Down payment accounting".

Forecast & Commitment#

The goal of a project forecast is to determine a preview of the expected costs at the end of the project (Estimate at Completion EAC) as well as the currently achieved project value (Earned Value EV) on the basis of the current project planning, the costs already incurred and the assessment of the project manager.

You can forecast the following areas in KUMAVISION factory365:

• Project
• Project Task,
• Project planning line
• Project task account

In the following, the fields on the "Forecast & Commitments" info tab are first explained in more detail:

When you change the "Forecast MW", the Forecast Argumentation window always opens. In the Forecast Argumentation window you can define or influence the creation of the plan lines. If you exit this window by clicking Cancel, your entry will be discarded. To save the change, you must have maintained the "Argumentation" field.

Establishment#

For the later forecast creation within a project, some settings have to be made in advance. In the following, the facilities for the possible forecast levels are explained in more detail:

Project#

Forcasting at the project level requires the following fields to be set up in the "Projects setup":

Project Task#

Forcasting at the project task level requires the following fields to be set up in the "Projects setup":

In addition, the following fields must be maintained in the "Activity types":

Project plan line#

When forcasting to project plan line, the system uses the values directly from the respective line, therefore no further setup is required.

Project task account#

Forcasting at project task account level requires the following fields to be set up in the "Projects setup" or in the

"Activity types":

In addition, the following fields must be maintained in the "Activity types":

Capture#

You define the level at which you want to make the forecast on the project map on the "Forecast and Commitment Amounts" info tab in the "Forecast on" field.

Project#

You can enter the forecast at the project level on the respective project card, on the "Forecast & Commitment Amounts" info tab in the "Actual Progress %" field.

Project Task#

You can enter the forecast at the project task level on the project card on the "Tasks" info tab or in the project task card (info tab "Lines" > "Line" > "Project task card").

The fields "Actual progress %" and the field "Forecast (MW)" are available for the entry. You can thus maintain the forecast either as a percentage or with an absolute amount. The fields calculate each other.

Project plan line#

You can enter the forecast at the project plan line level in the project plan line as well as in the project task cards on the "Project plan lines" info tab.

The fields "Actual progress %" and the field "Forecast (MW)" are available for the entry. You can thus maintain the forecast either as a percentage or with an absolute amount. The fields calculate each other.

Project account#

You can enter the forecast on a project account of a project task in the project task map on the info tab "Project plan line aggregated by project account".

The fields "Actual progress %" and the field "Forecast (MW)" are available for the entry. You can thus maintain the forecast either as a percentage or with an absolute amount. The fields calculate each other.

Release#

After maintaining your forecast for a project, you can have the deviations resulting from the forecast written to the project, depending on their settings, via the call Associated\Archive\Version Release in the project card.

Please note that the Forecast field is cumulative:

Project controlling#

In this section, the possibilities of project controlling are presented. It will be discussed how project results with multi-level contribution margin accounting can be presented in the Projects module with the help of the project chart of accounts. In addition, the project information that can be called up immediately is presented.

Project controlling is basically based on budgeted and actual values. The realization should correspond to the planned values. In order to be able to manage the project properly and promptly, a comprehensive evaluation of the planned values and the actual values incurred, related to the stored time periods, is immensely important. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central¹ offers this evaluation.

The project items show the actual values that are charged to the project from daily work. These are usually goods or time postings. The plan values are defined via the project tasks and its project plan lines. This enables a target/actual comparison of certain cost types. On the basis of this project chart of accounts, evaluation schemas can be formed, with which, combined with correspondingly generated column layouts, specific information can be formed from the values. The procedure corresponds to the account evaluation in the financial accounting area.

Data basis and structure#

The creation of the project account framework is fundamental for project controlling via Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central¹. This contains the most important areas (cost types and revenue types) that are important for the company for the evaluation of projects. The level of detail of the accounts can be freely selected. Thus, a very compact or also a very elaborate project chart of accounts can be the basis.

Based on this, the project items or plan values are formed. These items are combined using a project account scheme.

Project chart of accounts and project account setup#

All project entries can be posted to project accounts via the project account setup, similar to the G/L items in financial accounting. This enables evaluation possibilities to an undreamt-of extent.

The project account and the project chart of accounts have already been explained in the section "Project setup", so only the project account setup will be discussed in detail here.

Project account determination is based on the combination of product posting group, project type and activity type. Each combination is assigned a consumption and sales account from the project chart of accounts.

The information is used to determine the respective project account as follows:

With the above information can be e.g.

• the resource expenditure for project management on research projects with internal resources
• the cost of small materials for assembly on site
• the travel times of external employees on major projects
  can be determined.
  

Depending on what is to be evaluated later, the project chart of accounts and especially the matrix must be set up accordingly.

Project items = actual values#

With each posting where a project is addressed, the system creates a project item. Project items form the basis for project settlements (expense items) and reflect the revenues of these settlements (revenue items). Project valuation is also built on the project item.

For project controlling, the project item provides all ACTUAL information from consumption and from sales.

As soon as a project booking is made, a project account is assigned to the resulting project items via the matrix mentioned above. In this way, actual consumption and actual sales can be used directly for project controlling.

Down payment plan / payment schedule#

Both options behave the same. The only difference is the data source. While the payment plan is a general payment plan for projects, the down payment plan is a part of the down payment accounting module.

Project account schemeta#

As soon as project plan lines and bookings are formed, projects can be evaluated. How and according to which criteria these projects are evaluated on the basis of this data is mapped in the project account schemes. The thinking and procedure of these project account schemes corresponds completely to the procedure in financial accounting with the account schemes on the basis of the G/L accounts and G/L items there.

To set up the project account schemes, call up the "Project account schemes" via the user search.

Several structures can be defined via the project account schemes, which can be used to throw different views on the project results. E.g. internal projects should be evaluated differently than customer projects. The project account scheme defines the structure of the rows. In the following the setup fields are explained in more detail:

Project account schemes lines#

A report structure is set up in the project account scheme itself, in which the corresponding project accounts are assigned to the individual lines. Totals lines or formulas can also be entered.

The important fields are:

Project account schemes column layout#

When you call the "Set up column layouts" function, the Column layout project page is opened. Among other things, the column layout TARGET - ACTUAL is stored in the database.

Project account schemes matrix#

You can call it up via the menu item "Matrix". It shows you the values resulting from the defined rows of the account scheme and the columns of the column layout.

Archive project versioning and project status#

The project planning in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central¹ is always supplemented and corrected, so that a comparison of different plan statuses is not possible. In the plant engineering solution, you can carry out a versioning of the project planning in order to have access to older planning statuses and to compare two planning statuses with each other.

Project version#

To create a project version, execute the function "Release version" in the respective project via the menu ribbon. The current version of the complete project status has thus been archived and can be viewed via the number of the "Archived versions" field on the "General" info tab or via the menu ribbon under the "Project archive" menu item.

The archived project states contain a complete copy of the project map with the following additional information on the "Version" info tab:

Project structure version#

The project structure version can be viewed via the "Project structure" menu item in the project version ribbon. This corresponds to the project structure at the time of archiving with the additional identifier of the version number.

Project version comparison#

By means of the project version comparison you can compare different project statuses with each other.

Setup#

To be able to use the project version comparison to the full extent, global settings must first be defined on the "Version comparison" info tab in the "Project setup". You can find more information here.

Version comparison field setup#

You can set up the version comparison field setup on the one hand via the "Projects setup" and on the other hand via the project version comparison mask. The difference between these two calls is that the call from the project setup is user-independent (field UserIDFilter = "empty") and the call from the project version comparison is made in relation to the user (field UserIDFilter = "UserID").

In the header of the version comparison field setup, general information is displayed first:

In the lines you can make the actual setup. The individual fields and their meaning are explained in more detail below:

Compare project versions#

You can compare different project versions via the respective project card using the call of the same name located in the menu ribbon.

The header of the project version comparison card contains the following fields:

To compare the versions specified in the header, the "Recalculate" function is executed in the ribbon.

A comparison structure with colored highlighting of the lines is inserted in the main window. The color scheme is similar to the one defined in the project setup .

Leading for the comparison structure is always version left. Means, all lines of the version left are inserted into the version structure under consideration (appropriate coloring) with version right. If there are additional lines in version right, these are also inserted in corresponding representation and position.

If version left has no opposite version for comparison, only version left is inserted.

For a better orientation of the coloring, the legend located in the footer offers you.

In the version details, either the fields of the line or the comparison of the fields, if the line is included in both versions, are displayed to you. Which fields are displayed how in the version details is defined in the version comparison field setup.

System logging#

The activity log items from the purchase and sales document printouts are marked with the project numbers from the header and can be seen from the project via activity log items.

Shipping preparation#

When manufacturing complex articles, the situation can often arise during shipping that the manufactured article has to be disassembled and packed in a manner suitable for shipping. The plant engineering solution offers you the possibility to handle this via the "shipping units". Here, the shipping units are supported in manufacturing and logistics.

Currently 3 different scenarios can be covered by the shipping units, which are described below:

Relocation of components#

An FA is set up whose components are to be transferred to a production warehouse for assembly. The components are grouped into shipping units that are easy to transport. From a released E+D order, these components can be inserted into a stock transfer order.

To do this, select the desired component lines and execute the "Transfer selected shipping units" function.

The system checks that the components to be transferred have already been consumed.

If the appropriately marked components have been consumed, then a transfer order is created that transfers the shipping units from the component storage location to the FA storage location. The "In-Transit Code" is preassigned by the "Preferred Transit Code" field in the project setup when using the plant engineering solution. Otherwise, the first storage location is pre-populated with the "Use as transit storage" identifier.

If the storage locations are subject to goods issue or goods receipt, they can be created and posted according to the standard.

During the posting process, no new item items are created in the background because the components have already been consumed. Through the postings, shipping unit items are formed. These can be used to check the status of the shipping units (opens by the lookup on a shipping unit).

After posting the receipt, the order is completed. The shipping unit can now no longer be shipped because it has already delivered the complete quantity. In addition, it can no longer be assigned to further components.

Shipping units in goods issue#

If a production item is sold, the shipping units stored in the FA can also be inserted in a goods issue. For this purpose, the function "Insert shipping units" can be used in the goods issue.

If the sales line was reserved on a corresponding item line, then the shipping units from this FA will be automatically inserted. If there is no reservation, a selection of items will be opened and the user can decide which item to sell.

After selection, the shipping units belonging to the item are inserted into the goods issue.

If the FA associated with the item is not yet finished, the user must confirm that they wish to continue.

The original line remains, but the quantities are removed, since this item is automatically posted in the background after posting the shipping units. The posting of the goods issue with shipping units is now done as in the standard. After complete posting, the original item is also delivered and can be invoiced.

Shipping preparation#

In the production of complex articles, the situation can often arise in shipping that the manufactured article must be disassembled and packed in a manner suitable for shipping. In connection with the plant engineering solution, it is also possible to use shipping units across FAs within a project. For this purpose, it is necessary that the production orders have a project reference, e.g. that they are generated by MRP in the project.

Project-specific shipping units can now be assigned to these production orders by setting the "Project-specific shipping unit" checkbox in the component lines. This is set for all component lines of the production order.

Now shipping units can be assigned. They are no longer FA-specific, but can be assigned in all FAs that have the corresponding project number.

The assignment can also be assigned from the "Material structure" in the project. Here, all FAs linked to the project plan lines are directly visible. If the corresponding lines are transferred to a sales order, the shipping units can be used in the goods issue. For this purpose, the function "Insert project-specific shipping units" is used in the goods issue. To do this, all lines that belong to FAs that use project-specific shipping units are selected.

The goods issue can then be posted normally. After the shipping units have been fully posted, the original lines are automatically posted in the background and the sales delivery is completed. When inserting the project-specific shipping unit, the system checks whether each FA that uses one of the shipping units is also linked to this goods issue. If this is not the case, the system terminates with an error and points out the FA.

Basic information about shipping units can be found here

Complaint and credit note#

Complaint#

Should the case arise that a customer complains about the delivered goods, the complaint process can be started from within the project.

To do this, select the corresponding project plan line and execute "Create sales complaint" via the menu item.

A window will open where you can make the following decisions:

Confirm your selection with "Ok".

Credit#

Detached from a complaint process, you also have the option to create a value credit note via a project plan line.

To do this, select the corresponding project plan line and call up the menu item "Create sales credit memo".

A window will open where you can make the following decisions: