Ryan: Welcome to the deep dive. If you’re running your warehouse On Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you probably know that feeling. You hit peak velocity, or maybe you hit the bottleneck stopping you from reaching it.
Emma: Yeah, and often that bottleneck, it’s the scanning itself. I mean, Business Central is designed to be, you know, incredibly meticulous about traceability. It tracks every item, record every lot number, every serial number perfectly. And that’s fantastic for accountability, no question.
Ryan: But that meticulous tracking, it turns into real friction when order volumes shoot up. Or maybe when you’re dealing with those complex mixed pallets.
Emma: Exactly. Those moments where you need to shift a whole load of goods fast. But the system is making you scan what, dozens, sometimes hundreds of individual barcodes just to validate one single movement. It really is. That’s the operational drag. Just picture receiving, say one inbound pallet. Maybe it has five different items, 30 different lots. Maybe 10 things need serial numbers captured to get that into Business Central accurately. You’re physically handling and scanning at least, what, 45 separate barcodes, maybe typing in data too, before you can post the receipt.
Ryan: That doesn’t just chew up time. It feels like a huge window for errors right at the start of the whole process.
Emma: Absolutely. What’s meant to be like gold standard traceability ends up being an anchor just slowing the whole warehouse down. And it’s not just a basic warehousing thing either. Even folks using BC’s advanced warehousing features, they find they still don’t really have a native, accurate way to see things at a consolidated container level.
Ryan: So you know what moved and where it went.
Emma: Yeah, but you don’t have that quick single scan method to say which container it all traveled in together.
Ryan: Ah, okay. That lack of container context, that’s the speed limit.
Emma: That’s the core of it.
Ryan: Got it. So our mission today is pretty straightforward. We’re diving deep into license plating. It’s the solution designed to fix this whole multi item, complex container movement headache specifically for the business central world. Okay, let’s unpack this then. Cause we can’t really talk about, you know, super fast container movement if the ground underneath is shaky. Right. You need the basics sorted first. So what needs to be in place?
Emma: Yeah, that foundation is absolutely critical. You can’t build speed on chaos. And the research is pretty clear. The license plating solution, well, it needs a prerequisite App called Warehouse Insight.
Ryan: Warehouse Insight. Okay, so that’s more than just like plugging in a scanner. It sounds like it’s the bridge, the interface that lets mobile devices talk properly and accurately with Business Central.
Emma: Precisely. Think of Warehouse Insight as like specialized middleware just for the mobile side. Business Central itself. Its architecture is great for posting transactions, but it’s standard APIs. They aren’t really built for that intense, rapid fire real time data flood you get when workers are scanning constantly out on the floor.
Ryan: Ah, okay, so it’s not just about reading the barcode. It’s making sure every single scan instantly creates a valid transaction and updates the inventory in real time without, you know, bogging down the system or causing delays.
Emma: Exactly. Warehouse Insight provides that really robust layer, gets rid of the paper pick list, the manual data entry, all that stuff. Right, so by putting that mobile foundation in first, you really lock down the accuracy. Every scan is validated, confirmed, recorded instantly. Once you have that real time visibility and frankly that discipline, then you can start talking about layering on the speed of license plating.
Ryan: Okay, makes sense. Foundation first. So once that’s solid, then we bring in the main event, the license plating app itself. Building on Warehouse Insight, and the key concept here is the license plate number, the lpn.
Emma: The lpn? Yeah, that’s the core idea for efficiency. It’s basically a unique ID generated by the system that stands for a specific container. Could be a big pallet, could be a reusable tote, even a small box. The LPN is the digital twin, the identity for everything packed inside it.
Ryan: Okay, so this is the big operational shift, isn’t it? Before, if you moved a pallet with say five boxes and each box had 10 serial tracked items, right. You were scanning 50 items plus five boxes. 55 scans, maybe. Plus some typing.
Emma: Yeah, easily. Now with this, you scan one LPN label stuck on the outside of that pallet. Just one scan, and instantly the system records all the linked items, their lots, their serial numbers, everything straight into Business Central.
Ryan: Wow.
Emma: The payoff is huge. And it’s simple. One scan, one transaction, but you still get full traceability. You’ve basically bundled up dozens of item transactions into one single event, all tied to that lpm.
Ryan: Okay, this is where it gets really interesting because, you know, theory is one thing, but let’s see how this plays out day to day. Can we walk through the life of a container using this?
Emma: Yeah, absolutely. Let’s start right where the pressure is often highest. The receiving dock. Remember that example, the mix pallet? 45 different things needing confirmation.
Ryan: Yeah, the one that took maybe 15 minutes of careful scanning before.
Emma: Right. With license plating. Maybe the vendor already put an LPN on it. Or maybe you print one right there when it arrives. The forklift driver scans that single LPN on the pallet. Boom.
Ryan: Just one scan?
Emma: One scan. The system instantly checks the expected items, confirms the quantities, updates, inventory in BC, all linked to that LPN. That receiving process, it goes from 15 minutes down to, I don’t know, maybe 30 seconds.
Ryan: Okay, but hold on. Printing all these LPN labels, isn’t that just moving the work, Swapping scanning time for labeling time? Is it really faster overall?
Emma: That’s a fair question. And it actually highlights the strategic value. The time it takes to print and stick on one LPM label. It’s tiny compared to the time saved by every single move of that container afterwards.
Ryan: Oh, okay.
Emma: You print the label once, maybe at receiving, maybe during manufacturing. But then it gets scanned over and over. Put away internal moves, cycle counts, picking, shipping. The ROI on printing that single label just keeps growing.
Ryan: That makes a lot of sense. Okay, so the pallet’s received, it’s got its lpn. Let’s move it into the warehouse. Put away simple.
Emma: Forklift operator scans the LPN on the pallet, scans the destination bin. Two scans. That’s it.
Ryan: And the system knows everything inside.
Emma: Knows everything. Records the movement of all 45 items instantly, accurately. No chance of losing track of one serial number in the shuffle.
Ryan: Okay, nice. Now, flip side. Picking and shipping.
Emma: Yeah.
Ryan: Let’s say you need five different LPNs to fill an order, right?
Emma: The picker gets directed to the LPN’s location, scans the LPN, confirms they’ve got the right container. And because that LPN is the key, the system confirms all the contents are picked for that shipment. One action.
Ryan: And when that pallet gets to the.
Emma: Shipping dock, often the LPN integrates directly with the carrier systems.
Ryan: Oh, interesting. That sounds like a big deal, keeping that ID consistent even when it leaves your building. How does that work usually?
Emma: Well, once the order’s packed and the LPN is confirmed, the system can often print out a single combined label. It’s got the LPN barcode and the carrier’s shipping label info.
Ryan: Ah, clip.
Emma: So the carrier just scans that one label, and all the contents identified by that LPN are logged for their tracking system. So if a customer pauls later asking, where’s my stuff? No, you’re tracking the physical container, not trying to piece together 20 different item lines.
Ryan: That’s much cleaner. And what about internal stuff? Like audits, quality control, returns, especially if you need solid compliance trails for traceability.
Emma: The LPN becomes like your central lookup key. If you find a bad batch or need to do a recall, you don’t have to sift through endless transaction lines anymore.
Ryan: Right.
Emma: You just search by the LPN involved and instantly the system shows you the whole history. When it arrived, where it moved inside, where, which orders it went out on, which carrier took it. Hours of audit digging turns into a few seconds of searching.
Ryan: Okay, so pulling this all together, this is clearly more than just a little tweak. Looking across the research, what are the big strategic wins that keep coming up?
Emma: Yeah, when you look at the impact for business central users, it really boils down to about five key things. Five pillars. First, obviously is speed. We’ve seen it. One scan replaces potentially dozens, accelerates everything.
Ryan: Second, has to be accuracy.
Emma: Right.
Ryan: Dealing with that human error potential.
Emma: Exactly. Because everything item, lot, serial is digitally tied to that LPN right from the start. The risk of someone keying something wrong later or scanning the wrong thing during a move, it drops massively. No more miskeyed serials or mixed up lots during picking.
Ryan: Okay. And the next two seem like core warehouse goals.
Emma: Yeah.
Ryan: Control and just knowing what’s going on.
Emma: Absolutely. Third pillar is visibility. Warehouse insight gives you real time visibility. Sure. But LPNs add that precise container level detail, you know exactly what’s on pallet 1234, even if it’s holding 15 different things.
Ryan: Got it.
Emma: And fourth is traceability. You get that complete end to end audit trail right from receiving all the way to delivery, and it persists, that LPN stays meaningful. And the fifth one, flexibility. Because it’s one consistent system applied everywhere. Receiving, put away moves, picking, shipping. It’s holistic, less training needed, consistent data across the board.
Ryan: This definitely feels like the next step in warehouse maturity for B.C. users. You’re moving from just tracking items to really controlling containers at high speed. So strategically, what does this really unlock for a business? It’s more than just a faster scan, isn’t it?
Emma: Oh, absolutely. It’s about building a platform that can actually handle serious growth. When you combine license plating with that solid warehouse insight foundation you’re setting yourself up for. For high velocity operations that can scale. If you’re expecting, you know, a huge jump in order volume, this is how you manage it without just throwing more bodies at the problem.
Ryan: And that LPN identifier, because it sticks around, becomes this universal key for hooking into other tools too. Right. I heard it can extend beyond just the four walls of the warehouse.
Emma: It definitely can. And that’s where the strategic value gets really interesting. That LPN ID follows the shipment out the door. The research specifically mentions integrations with other tools like Dynamic Ship. So when that LPN gets scanned at the shipping dock, Dynamic Ship can automatically pull all the weight and content details from the lpn. Do the rate shopping, print the manifest.
Ryan: Ah, so you skip manually typing package details into the carrier software.
Emma: Exactly. And you can stretch it even further into the last mile with apps for proof of delivery. The driver scans the LPN on the delivered pallet or box, and that confirmation can flow right back into business central. It confirms the physical container arrived, not just that a shipment was dropped off. It turns that physical ID into a digital key across the whole operation.
Ryan: That really does sound like end to end supply chain thinking. But okay, reality check time. This sounds powerful. Almost like something for advanced manufacturing. Who shouldn’t be jumping into license plating just yet. This isn’t just a magic barcode sticker, right?
Emma: No, absolutely not. And that’s a crucial point. The research is really clear on this. License plating is not the tool you use to fix a messy warehouse.
Ryan: It’s.
Emma: It’s described as a structured enhancement. Meaning it needs discipline. It’s built for operations that already have their basic processes nailed down. They’ve got accurate inventory counts, they manage their bins and locations properly. And critically, they’re already running successfully on that warehouse insight foundation.
Ryan: Right? So if your cycle counts are all over the place or your pickers are constantly grabbing the wrong things, fix that first.
Emma: Exactly. Fix the foundation first. License plating accelerates good processes. It would only accelerate chaotic processes into faster chaos. It’s an accelerator, not a repair kit.
Ryan: Got it. Scanning really shouldn’t be the bottleneck. And with something like license plating, that simple scan action actually becomes a competitive advantage. Turning those time consuming multi step moves into single super efficient transactions.
Emma: It really is the next evolution in warehouse control. You shift focus from micromanaging every single item to strategically managing whole containers you can actually identify.
Ryan: So maybe the final thought, we leave everyone with something that goes beyond just the speed improvements. Think about the long term strategic edge you gain just by linking that physical container id, that persistent LPN to the digital history right across your entire supply chain. From the second goods arrive through your internal handling, linking out to the carrier and all the way to getting that delivery confirmation scan. How much value is there in compliance assurance? Better customer service, maybe fewer disputes just from having that unbreakable end to end traceability tied to the physical thing.
Emma: That’s a powerful question. And if you want to dig deeper into the specifics, the applications we talked about, resources like lp4dynamics.com are a good starting point.
Ryan: Excellent. Well, thank you for joining us for this deep dive into container intelligence. Catch you next time.
