The One-Size-Fits-All Mobile Screen Problem
A forklift operator does not want a forty-line pick list. A receiving clerk staring at an unfamiliar pallet wants to see a picture of the item before recording it. An experienced picker who knows every aisle wants the whole document on screen at once, sorted their own way. A single interface for three different roles provides no options. One of these roles gets what they need, and the other two roles are working around the screen instead of with it.
Fit the View to the Role, Not the Role to the View
Most mobile warehouse software offers one screen layout, so the warehouse adjusts to it instead of the other way around. A dense list slows down the worker who wants one task at a time; a single-task screen frustrates the one who wants to see everything and plan a route. And once that interface is live, changing it usually means a partner engagement or development work, so it rarely gets revisited, even after the device fleet and the workforce have changed shape around it.
One Business Central WMS, Three Views
The fix is three interface views instead of one: Warehouse Insight from Insight Works offers Rich Tile View, Directed Card View, and Compact Grid View, each built for a different role and a different kind of work, and each is set up inside Business Central itself rather than in a separate tool.
What Do the Three Views Actually Show?
| View | Best for | Device | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rich Tile View | Picking, receiving, shipping | Mobile devices | Item picture, description, bin, lot or serial, and quantity, with color rules per row |
| Directed Card View | Step-by-step, one task at a time | Vehicle-mounted tablets, wearables | One record in full detail, with factboxes for comments and the item image |
| Compact Grid View | Experienced workers, long documents | Mobile devices, cart-mounted tablet with Bluetooth scanner | Every line at once in a sortable list, with a footer detail panel |
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- Rich Tile View renders each line as a tile, with an item picture pulled from the item card, next to whatever fields a supervisor chooses. Color rules, also set in Business Central, flag a rush order or an exception before anyone reads a field, catching a wrong item before it gets scanned instead of after. It suits a warehouse with a lot of look-alike items, or newer staff who’ll recognize a picture faster than they’ll read a part number.
- Directed Card View does the opposite: one record, full detail, nothing else competing for attention. Configurable factboxes can carry pick instructions or the item image, and Prev and Next move the worker from line to line, one task at a time by design. It suits a step-by-step process where a worker shouldn’t be looking ahead, like a training environment or a task where skipping a step causes real problems.
- Compact Grid View lists every line at once, sortable by any column, with columns the worker adds or removes themselves. A footer panel carries the rest of the detail for whichever line is selected. It suits a smaller screen and a worker who already knows the layout well enough to plan their own route.
Views Are Assigned in Business Central
In Warehouse Insight, views are assigned at the device configuration level, not per user. Put Rich Tile View on the receiving’s device configuration, Directed Card View on the forklift fleet’s device, and Compact Grid View on the team’s mobile device, and each group gets the right screen without anyone touching a setting on the floor. Field layout, color rules, and factboxes are all managed on those same device configuration and column pages, right alongside the bin and warehouse activity setup a Business Central partner typically configures during implementation. A custom field added through an extension can go straight onto a tile, no separate designer required.
Benefits for both the Warehouse and the Business Central Implementation Partner
For the warehouse floor, the interface finally matches the job: one task at a time for the forklift operator, the full document for the veteran picker, and a screen that just says what’s next for the new hire. For a Microsoft Partner, the win is where the configuration lives. A field, a color rule, a factbox: all changed in Business Central by whoever already administers the rest of the system, which keeps more of a client’s interface requests inside configuration and out of a change order.
These three views are the new interface option in Warehouse Insight, Insight Works’ warehouse management system for Business Central. See Rich Tile View, Directed Card View, and Compact Grid View in more detail on the interface views feature page. If you’re weighing which view fits your forklift fleet, your receiving team, or your pickers, that’s a scoping conversation worth having with your Microsoft Partner.