SOPs Made Easy with Dynamics AX Task Recorder!
Posted on: September 25, 2015 | By: Jarrod Kraemer | Microsoft Dynamics AX/365
Developing new SOPs is an essential yet time consuming process for an organization implementing a new ERP solution. Losing resource availability to tedious SOP development can be especially inconvenient in the midst of an ERP implementation. Hours upon hours of valuable time can be spent taking screen shots, cropping screen shots, determining how to word your documents, and formatting your documents. Here’s the good news, with Microsoft Dynamics AX Task Recorder all of these time consuming tasks can be eliminated!
Dynamics AX Task Recorder is a tool that helps you document AX business processes via Microsoft Word, Excel, and even through video. Later in this blog I will demonstrate how easy it is to create an SOP using task recorder. The process simply involves pressing record and performing a function in Dynamics AX as normal. Once you have completed a process you simply end the recording and a step by step procedure is created within Microsoft Word and saved to a directory location specified by you! The tool also allows you to apply document templates, so that all documents you create from task recorder can employ a predetermined SOP format unique to your organization. Since these documents are created using Microsoft Word, there is no limit to the editing or rework that you may want to do with them in the future. In addition to your SOP word document, a video will be created to go along with it for your organization’s more visual learners.
Let’s take a look at how this thing actually works and how easy it is to use!
1. Open Microsoft Dynamics AX
2. In the upper left corner click on the file menu and select Tools > Task Recorder.
3. The task recorder tool will pop up on your screen, it looks like the image below.
4. Once you have chosen the framework and industry that you would like to create an SOP for select New Node, name the node appropriately for the process you are recording, add a description, and choose the module that you will be operating in. (For example I have chosen the process of creating a new customer and therefore will operate in the customer module.)
5. Click Save and the new node will appear under the parent node.
6. Make sure that you are in the Area Page that you will be recording a process for (for example for Customer I need to navigate to the Accounts Receivable area page). Select the node that you just created, and click Start to begin creating your SOP. You will know that you are recording because the stop button will now be available.
7. Take all of the steps necessary in AX to complete the process that you are recording, and when you have completed the process click stop.
8. Once you click stop a Word document will be created and saved to the folder that you have specified for you to view and edit if necessary.
Voila, you now have an SOP! Here is an example of what a step produced with task recorder looks like in a Word document:
Using task recorder to create your organization’s SOPs is truly as easy as it gets. For any additional information on how to use Dynamics AX Task Recorder please feel free to reach out to us at info@loganconsulting.com or (312) 345-8817.
All the best!
Logan Consulting
www.loganconsulting.com