Deep Dive into Engineering Change Management with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management: Product Lifecycle States

Product Lifecycle and Product Category Details are crucial in creating a successful environment to utilize the capabilities Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management offers within Engineering Change Management. There are three key phases in the product lifecycle.

Key Phases of Products

• Launch: Begins with the market introduction of a new product, driven by innovation or consumer need.
• Product Changes: This phase entails an employee or customer or manufacturer submitting a Change request that the operating company deems is feasible. ​ 
• Product Retirement: This phase entails retiring the product, and thinking of ways to safely and effectively dispose of any obsolete inventory.​ Because this is a never ending cycle, it is important to further clarify the PLC, and create states.  

Dynamics 365 Features for Lifecycle Management

Users can define specific states for products at various lifecycle stages with Dynamics 365, allowing for detailed management through settings like:

• Enabled: Business operations continue normally.
• Blocked: Certain processes are restricted.
• Enabled with Warning: Proceed with caution.

This allows users to assign a lifecycle state to an individual product. When assigned, business processes will either be enabled or blocked, depending on the state. An example of this would be End of Life. This is where the product is in its retirement stages, but there is still inventory left to sell or dispose of. Dynamics 365 allows users to enable Sales Orders, while blocking Purchase and Production orders.

Integrated Processes

Dynamics 365 integrates several key business processes within its product lifecycle management feature, including:

• Sales Orders: Managing customer orders efficiently.
• Sales Quote: Preparing and sending price quotes to customers.
• Item Forecast: Predicting future product demand.
• Purchase Order: Ordering materials or products from suppliers.
• Inventory Transfer: Moving inventory between locations.
• Production Order: Managing the manufacturing process.
• BOM (Bill of Materials) Report as Finished: Finalizing production details.
• Sales Pick List: Preparing items for shipment.
• Return Order: Handling returned products.

These processes are seamlessly managed within the product lifecycle states, ensuring operational efficiency and compliance with business rules.

Dynamics 365’s comprehensive approach to product lifecycle management allows businesses to automate and streamline product introductions, adjustments, and retirements. This not only minimizes manual oversight but also enhances overall operational efficiency and market responsiveness.