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Warehouse Receiving for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Warehouse receiving in Warehouse Insight connects your dock directly to Business Central. Workers scan barcodes to confirm receipts against purchase orders, transfer orders, sales return orders, and inventory receipts — and Business Central updates in real time, on the scan. No paper. No clipboard. No catch-up entry at a desk.
At a Glance
- Receive against purchase orders, transfer orders, sales return orders, and inventory receipts — from one device.
- Lot and serial numbers captured in a single scan, with OCR reading of printed carton text for expiry dates.
- Unknown vendor barcodes linked to Business Central items on the spot — no admin follow-up required.
- Photos attached directly to the purchase order in Business Central the moment damage is found.
Key Capabilities
Scan-to-receive against any inbound document type. Warehouse Insight supports all four receiving scenarios in Business Central: purchase orders, transfer orders, sales return orders, and inventory receipts. Workers select the document on their device, scan item barcodes to confirm quantities, and Business Central updates immediately.
Lot and serial number capture at the point of receipt. Lot numbers can be embedded directly in the item barcode or scanned as a separate step. For printed carton labels without a scannable lot barcode, Warehouse Insight supports OCR scanning — the device reads the printed text and captures the lot number and expiry date automatically.
On-the-fly vendor barcode cross-referencing. When a worker scans a barcode that Business Central doesn’t recognize, Warehouse Insight prompts them to link it to a BC item right on the dock. The cross-reference is live in Business Central immediately — no office follow-up, no ticket to IT, no workflow interruption.
Item picture display on scan. When a worker scans an item, the item’s picture from Business Central appears on screen. Workers visually confirm the right product before recording the receipt — a practical check that reduces mis-receives without adding steps.
Photo capture attached to the purchase order. Workers can take photos directly from the device and attach them to the purchase order in Business Central. Damaged goods, mis-shipped items, short counts — all documented at the moment of discovery, with evidence attached to the right record.
Barcode label printing from the device. Print item labels, lot/serial labels, and license plate labels to any Business Central-configured printer — stationary or mobile — without leaving the receiving workflow.
License plate building during inbound. Workers can build license plates during receiving, grouping items into pallets or containers. A single LP scan then moves the entire pallet to its put-away bin — one action for what would otherwise be many.
Configurable posting control. Auto-post on exit, require manual posting, or restrict posting to supervisors only. All posting behavior is configured inside Business Central — no device-side settings to manage separately.
How Warehouse Receiving Works in Warehouse Insight
A worker opens the receiving application on their Android handheld and selects the inbound document — a purchase order, transfer order, sales return order, or inventory receipt. They scan the first item barcode. Warehouse Insight matches it to the open line in Business Central, displays the item picture and expected quantity, and prompts the worker to confirm or adjust. If the item has lot or serial tracking, the lot number is captured at the same step — either from the barcode itself or via a secondary scan or OCR read of the carton text. Once quantities are confirmed, the worker posts the receipt from the device. Business Central updates in real time. The entire process happens on the dock, without paper and without a second entry step at a desktop workstation.
Image placeholderWorkflow / device screenshot
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Image placeholderMobile device with
vendor barcode link prompt
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Why Warehouse Insight Receiving Stands Out
Most warehouse receiving workflows break down at one of two points: when a vendor ships with a barcode your system has never seen before, and when damaged goods show up with no documentation attached to the right record. Warehouse Insight addresses both directly.
When a worker scans an unknown vendor barcode, Warehouse Insight detects the mismatch and immediately prompts them to link it to the correct Business Central item — right on the dock, in the same workflow, without interrupting the receipt. The cross-reference is written to Business Central on the spot and applies to every future receipt of that item from that vendor. This eliminates a daily friction point that typically requires an office worker to track down, identify, and manually configure after the fact.
The photo capture capability attaches images directly to the purchase order in Business Central at the moment damage is found. Workers don’t need to remember to report it later, email a photo, or file a separate claim. The evidence lives on the record where it’s needed — accessible to the purchasing team, the vendor, and the accounting team without any manual routing.
All of this — the document types available, the fields displayed on screen, the lot tracking behavior, the posting controls, which workers can post versus which require supervisor approval — is configured inside Business Central. Nothing to manage outside BC.
Who Uses Warehouse Receiving
Dock workers and receiving associates use this feature as their primary daily tool. They scan every inbound shipment, capture lot numbers, build license plates for pallets, and attach photos when shipments arrive damaged. Warehouse supervisors use the posting controls to enforce a review step before receipts are committed — configuring that restriction in Business Central without touching the device. Purchasing and accounts payable teams benefit from the photo documentation and accurate lot records that receiving workers capture in real time, which reduces the back-and-forth that typically follows a damaged or incorrect delivery.
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dock worker view
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Warehouse Insight receiving works across all three Business Central warehouse configurations: basic, standard, and advanced warehousing. The application adapts to the warehouse setup active on each location — no separate configuration required per tier.
Lot numbers can be captured three ways: embedded in the item barcode itself (so a single scan captures both), scanned as a separate barcode after the item scan, or read via OCR from printed carton text. The OCR option is useful when vendor labels print lot numbers and expiry dates as plain text rather than as a scannable barcode.
Warehouse Insight detects the unknown barcode and immediately prompts the worker to link it to an existing Business Central item. The worker selects the correct item, confirms the link, and the cross-reference is written to Business Central on the spot. All future receipts of that item from that vendor will scan correctly without any additional setup.
Yes. Workers can take photos at any point during the receiving process using the standard Android camera on their device. Photos are uploaded and attached directly to the relevant purchase order in Business Central — accessible to anyone with access to that record, without any manual file transfer or email routing.
Yes. Warehouse Insight supports three posting modes: auto-post on exit, manual post by the worker, and supervisor-only posting. All posting controls are configured inside Business Central, not on the device itself.
Watch the on-demand demo at dmsiworks.com/apps/warehouse-insight#demo, or reach out to your Microsoft Partner to see how Warehouse Insight fits your operation.