Announcing demand planning + Microsoft Copilot capabilities in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management

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Overview

On October 31, 2023 Microsoft announced the public preview of the new demand planning capabilities in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management. The functionality introduces more advanced forecasting and analysis tools to allow planners to generate more accurate forecasts and drive better business decision making. The interface is based on Power Platform and allows for no-code, easy configuration to begin generating and reviewing forecasts seamlessly using data from Dynamics 365 and other external sources.

Microsoft also announced Microsoft Copilot enhancement in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management that will be available in public preview starting November 15, 2023. The new Copilot capabilities will provide users/teams with help in the flow of work through natural language conversations and enable them to take action to mitigate a disruption. These enhancements will help improve the user experience and increase user adoption across the system, which is ideal in scenarios where customers are migrating from on-prem ERP systems to the cloud. This will also reduce the time to onboard new employees on Dynamics 365. New Copilot capabilities for enhancing inventory visibility using natural language queries will help businesses promise orders with improved accuracy.

Details

Demand planning

In the current global supply chain, it is more important than ever for businesses to be able to accurately predict future demand and use that data to inform business decision making. Demand planning provides enhanced capabilities for companies to improve their planning processes, including the following features:

• Ease of implementation: with a no-code interface, users can quickly import and transform data from multiple sources, define the methods of forecast generation, and compare outputs – all in just a few minutes of configuration. Public Preview includes an out-of-the-box integration with Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management data entities that can be adjusted to the business requirements.
• AI-infused forecasting: connectors to Azure Machine Learning allow businesses to develop custom algorithms to increase forecast accuracy according to their unique scenarios. Planners can also choose from a standard list of forecasting models or automatically select the best fitting model.
• Improved reporting and analysis: planners can view multiple forecasts, historical data, and other time series all in the same form. They can do what-if analysis in real time, collaborate with other contributors via the Teams add-in, and use the native visual cues to drive discussions and decisions

With these capabilities, stakeholders from sales, finance, marketing, and operations will be able to adapt quickly to demand shifts and make the right decisions to reduce waste, increase efficiencies, and drive sustainability. Demand planning is in Public Preview starting October 31, 2023.

Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management customers can get started immediately by enabling demand planning directly in feature management. The Demand planning capabilities can also be installed from the Power Platform admin center, listed in the ‘Dynamics 365 apps’ under ‘Resources’.

Microsoft Copilot in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management enhancements

Microsoft Copilot in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management enables supply chain teams to take actions based on insights with conversational help while in the flow of work. This ensures an increase in productivity and improved collaboration among employees across the supply chain and other cross-functional teams. Training and user adoption are often major expenses in software implementations. With Copilot powered in-product help, businesses can save time and increase user adoption in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management. Users can get answers, insights, and solutions without leaving their browser tab, which will enhance their user experience and boost their productivity. This feature will be in Public Preview on November 15, 2023, and users can activate it in feature management.

The inventory visibility add-in for Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management allows businesses to have a real time view of on hand inventory across all their business applications. Now, with Copilot, users can use natural language to query on hand inventory and look up products in inventory visibility and use the information to drive action within the business, such as creating a sales order from with Copilot. These capabilities can also be embedded in third-party apps or websites so consumers can benefit from the same features. This functionality will be available in Public Preview starting November 15. 2023.

 FAQ

Review the below FAQ to prepare for customer questions and meetings:

What is the pricing for the new capabilities?

The pricing and business model is still being finalized and will be shared in time for GA (General Availability).

How will existing customers get access to the new demand planning and Copilot capabilities?

The new capabilities can be enabled directly from Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management with feature management. The Demand planning app can also be installed from the Power Platform admin center, listed in the ‘Dynamics 365 apps’ under ‘Resources’.

How can new customers (customers new to Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management) preview and try the new demand planning and Copilot capabilities?

New customers can contact Microsoft to learn more. Microsoft sales teams are also able to demonstrate the solution and initiate a POC with the customer as part of the sales process as next steps.

How do these features differ from other supply chain solutions in the market?

The new demand planning and Copilot capabilities in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management are part of Microsoft’s ERP portfolio. These new capabilities are available when customers purchase Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management. The marketplace for supply chain solutions is crowded with best of breed offerings for demand planning, and Microsoft is not trying to compete with the best of breed vendors. The belief at Microsoft is that ERP systems need to evolve from mere systems of transaction to systems of reasoning, offering their users prescriptive actions that they can take in their functional areas to accelerate growth. This is where the new Copilot and demand planning capabilities play an important role in making Dynamics 365 your system of reasoning compared to other ERP solutions in the market.

Are these features new to the market? Or is this a response to competitor offerings?

The announced Copilot capabilities are new to the market, and Microsoft is leading the competition on this front. Demand planning is a mature space and Microsoft’s latest innovation in this space is revolutionizing how planners would perform planning by anchoring on flexibility, simplicity, collaboration speed and intelligence.

Why is Microsoft ending the preview period for Supply Chain Center?

Generative AI and Microsoft Copilot have opened the door for Microsoft to reimagine how workers and employees engage with their everyday tools and workflows. Empowering workers is no longer just about building new workspaces to work from, like control towers or command centers, but rather about how to surface relevant information and enable quicker decision making in the flow of work. Copilot is redefining the art of the possible and with that, Microsoft is setting out to revolutionize how ERP workers engage with technology every day. Given this, Microsoft is ending their preview for Microsoft Supply Chain on October 31, 2023. Going forward, Microsoft will be mainstreaming these data management and integration capabilities into the Microsoft Power Platform, enabling customers and their partners to use the full capabilities of the platform for a wider range of use cases.

Call to Action

Familiarize yourself with the announcement and new assets to accelerate Supply Chain opportunities/deals:

• Read the official blog announcement
• Read the above FAQ to understand the impact of these changes to customers and prepare for customer questions
• Review the demand planning home page and review the installation guide for information on the auto installation process as well as who to contact for any questions
• Bookmark the Supply Chain Partner Hub Page to access resources and assets
• Ask questions in the Business Applications Microsoft Partner Community