How Business Central Supports the Growth of Manufacturing Businesses

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September 23, 2025 Business

When you’re running a manufacturing business, there’s a lot to juggle. Inventory levels, supply chain delays, shop floor operations, customer orders, and everything in between. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is built to bring all of that together in one place, giving you the visibility and control to grow with confidence.

Simply having an ERP system is not enough, you need one that’s flexible enough to match your processes, scale with your growth, and make complex things feel a bit simpler.

One Platform for All Your Operations

Manufacturers often rely on a mix of disconnected systems to run things, one for accounting, one for inventory, maybe another for production tracking. This kind of setup works until it doesn’t. That’s where Business Central makes a big difference.

It brings your operations into a single, unified system. This means:

You can see real-time inventory levels without chasing spreadsheets.
Finance and operations teams work from the same data set.
Production orders link directly to demand forecasts and inventory availability.
Your reporting becomes quicker and far more reliable.

When you’ve got everything under one roof, you spend less time fixing issues and more time scaling up.

Built-in Manufacturing Capabilities

Business Central comes with features designed specifically for manufacturers. These aren’t just bolt-ons, they’re baked right into the platform, which keeps things streamlined and consistent.

Here’s a quick look at some of the built-in tools that manufacturing businesses find most valuable:

Production Orders: Create and manage production orders, track progress, and adjust as needed.
Bill of Materials (BOM): Set up detailed multi-level BOMs, including component quantities, versions, and costs.
Routing Management: Define the steps and work centres involved in producing a product.
Capacity Planning: Monitor and adjust workload across machines or work centres to avoid bottlenecks.
Inventory and Warehouse Management: Track materials across multiple locations and automate replenishment when stock gets low.

These tools make it easier to plan, produce, and ship products on time, and they’re built to support both simple and complex manufacturing operations.

Real-Time Data to Make Better Decisions

One of the biggest roadblocks to growth is not knowing what’s happening until it’s too late. Business Central helps manufacturers avoid that by putting accurate, up-to-date data right at your fingertips.

With built-in dashboards and Power BI integration, you can:

Spot supply chain delays before they impact delivery times
Track production costs in real time and reduce waste
Monitor machine downtime or underperformance
Forecast demand and plan capacity based on actual trends

It’s not just about having data. It’s about having it early enough to act on it, which is what makes a difference when you’re trying to grow efficiently.

From Microsoft Navision to Modern ERP

If you’ve ever used Microsoft Navision, you might recognise some familiar functionality inside Business Central. That’s because Business Central is the modern evolution of Navision, rebuilt for the cloud, rebranded, and reengineered to be more scalable and flexible.

It still offers the core manufacturing and financial features that made Navision popular but wrapped in a more intuitive, cloud-based system. So if you’re using Navision and wondering what’s next, Business Central is your natural upgrade path.

Helps You Scale Without Starting Over

Many smaller manufacturers start with basic accounting software and spreadsheets. That might work in the beginning, but it becomes a blocker once your team grows or your orders start stacking up.

Business Central is cloud-based and modular, which means:

You can start with what you need and add more functionality as your business expands.
There’s no major replatforming or painful migrations when it’s time to scale up.
It integrates with other Microsoft tools like Teams, Outlook, Excel, and Power Platform, so your team can stick with the tools they already know.

The system adapts to you, not the other way around. And that’s key when you’re trying to grow without constantly reinventing the wheel.

Strong Inventory and Supply Chain Control

Inventory accuracy can make or break a manufacturing business. Too much stock, and you’re tying up capital. Too little, and you’re delaying shipments. Business Central gives you tighter control over both ends of the spectrum.

Here’s what manufacturers get when it comes to managing inventory and supply chain:

Automatic Reordering: Set reorder points and lead times to make sure you don’t run out of key materials.
Vendor Management: Track vendor performance, pricing agreements, and expected lead times.
Demand Forecasting: Use sales history to predict future demand and plan procurement accordingly.
Multiple Location Management: View and manage inventory across warehouses, production sites, and stores.

These capabilities are built to help you deliver faster, reduce holding costs, and keep customers happy.

Support for Discrete and Process Manufacturing

Not all manufacturing looks the same. Whether you’re building engines, mixing chemicals, or assembling electronics, Business Central can be configured to suit your production style.

It supports:

Discrete Manufacturing: For businesses producing distinct items like machinery or electronics.
Process Manufacturing (with extensions): For those dealing with formulas, expiry dates, and variable yields, such as in food, chemicals, or pharmaceuticals.

And because it’s customisable with add-ons from AppSource and partner-built solutions, you can tailor the system even further to your specific industry needs.

Simplified Compliance and Traceability

Manufacturers operating in regulated industries need tight controls and traceability. Business Central helps with both, without adding unnecessary admin overhead.

With proper setup, you can:

Track raw materials from supplier to finished goods
Create and store certificates of compliance
Set quality checkpoints in your production process
Keep full audit trails for every transaction

This is especially useful for industries like food production, medical devices, or aerospace, where proving quality and compliance isn’t optional.

Automates the Repetitive Stuff

Business Central makes it easier to automate those day-to-day manual tasks that take up time but don’t add much value.

You can automate things like:

Generating purchase orders based on sales forecasts
Sending alerts when raw materials are running low
Posting finished production orders to inventory
Invoicing customers the second goods are shipped

It’s not about replacing people, it’s about giving your team more time to work on the stuff that actually drives growth.

Grows With You, Without Growing Your Overhead

As you scale, Business Central helps you avoid that common trap where more complexity means more systems, more admin, and more cost.

Here’s why manufacturers find it so scalable:

It works out of the box for small teams, but scales easily to hundreds of users.
You can add users, new sites, or even new countries without reconfiguring the whole system.
You only pay for the users and features you actually need.

And if your business expands internationally, Business Central supports multiple currencies, languages, tax rules, and legal entities, so you don’t hit limits when you go global.

How Much Does Business Central Cost?

The cost of Business Central depends on the number of users, the level of functionality you need, and any customisations you plan to implement. It follows a monthly subscription model, with pricing tiers for Essentials and Premium licenses.

You’ll typically pay:

Around £52.80/user/month for the Essentials plan
Around £75.40/user/month for the Premium plan (which includes manufacturing and service management)

It’s also worth noting that there’s a Team Member license available at a lower cost for users who only need light access. For manufacturers, the Premium plan is usually the better fit due to its production and supply chain capabilities.

If you’re still running operations on disconnected systems or legacy software, Business Central might be the move that unlocks your next phase of growth. It’s designed to handle the complexity of manufacturing without slowing you down, and without blowing your budget.