What's New: Manufacturing Analytics (2025 release wave 2)
Manufacturing analytics in Business Central 2025 release wave 2 (version 27.0): the PowerBI app for manufacturing now shows all capacity measures in one unit of measure chosen in manufacturing setup. Manufacturing reports get Excel and Word layouts plus in-client help and teaching tips linked to Microsoft Learn. Six updated and two new reports were postponed from 26.2 and now ship in 27.0 along with three more, and the landing page at aka.ms/bc-manufacturing-analytics collects related resources.
- Introduction and investment rationale
- Manufacturing modernization themes
- PowerBI app improvements and capacity units
- Built-in reports modernization approach
- Report discoverability and in-client help
- Updated and new reports released in version 27.0
- Resources and learning materials
Overview
The video covers Microsoft’s investment in manufacturing analytics for Business Central. It explains the modernization themes, the changes to the PowerBI app, and how built-in manufacturing reports are being modernized with Excel and Word layouts.
The PowerBI app now shows every capacity-related measure in a universal unit of measure selected in manufacturing setup. Six updated and two new reports ship in version 27.0, after a delay from 26.2. The video also covers teaching tips, the in-client help pane with Microsoft Learn links, and the landing page at aka.ms/bc-manufacturing-analytics.
Key points
- The PowerBI app for manufacturing shows all capacity measures in a universal unit of measure chosen in Business Central manufacturing setup.
- Install or update the PowerBI app separately from the built-in reports.
- Manufacturing and analytics reports offer Excel layouts alongside legacy layouts, so end users can filter, sort, and change layouts without customization. Word layouts are also available.
- Six updated and two new manufacturing reports ship in version 27.0, including Where Used (Top Level), Quantity Explosion of Bill of Material, and Production Order List. They were originally planned for 26.2.
- Three more reports beyond the originally planned eight are mentioned.
- Report request pages show teaching tips, and an in-client help pane links to Microsoft Learn articles for each report.
- The landing page aka.ms/bc-manufacturing-analytics covers personas, use cases, and resources.
Features
| Feature | Status | At |
|---|---|---|
| PowerBI app for manufacturing | status not stated, demoed | 0:33 |
| Excel layouts for manufacturing reports | status not stated, demoed | 3:25 |
| In-client help and teaching tips for reports | status not stated, demoed | 3:43 |
| Manufacturing reports with modernized layouts | status not stated, demoed | 6:19 |
| Manufacturing analytics landing page | status not stated | 7:12 |
AL objects mentioned
As heard in the captions. A name that matches one object page by exact type and name links to it; the others stay as named.
- report “Where Used Top Level” at 4:03
- report “Quantity Explosion of Bill of Material” at 6:41
- report “Production Order List” at 7:01
Not found in BC28-30: report “Where Used Top Level”, report “Quantity Explosion of Bill of Material”, report “Production Order List”.
Quotes
- 0:17 “using both reports and business intelligence can really help you get a better understanding of your performance and waste in your production processes”
- 2:04 “every measures every number you see in the app now show data in a universal unit of measure for capacity that you choose inside”
- 3:25 “we have chosen Excel and Word as the layout options for manufacturing and analytics reports”
- 6:31 “We needed to postpone that until version 27.0”
- 7:01 “So all the reports that we postponed plus three new is what you get here in version 27.0.”
Disclaimers in the video
- 6:31 subject-to-change: They were supposed to ship in 26.2 uh for some reasons I don’t have to talk about here. We needed to postpone that until version 27.0.