Henning Dierk runs sheet metal production and order planning on Business Central and Beyond Apps
Manufacturing & Warehouse
Order planning, models, warehouse: a sheet metal specialist runs it all in Business Central
Since 1946, Henning Dierk has produced complex sheet metal parts and assemblies in any quantity. Around 60 people, more than 300 customers worldwide, 10 machining centres. Inside its Business Central the shop now works with twelve Beyond Apps — from order planning through technical design models to the warehouse. Three topics were at the centre: order planning, keeping the models in BC, and the simple realisation that, in the end, everything just runs.
The decision: everything in one place
Henning Dierk had a clear goal: order planning, technical models and the warehouse should no longer live in separate tools, but come together in one system.
The system is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. It is extended from the inside, with carefully chosen Beyond Apps from byndit — each for a concrete job: Beyond Scheduler for production planning, Beyond File Manager so technical design models and drawings are kept cleanly in BC and linked to the right place, and Beyond Cues as the cockpit over it all.
Not one big bang, but a construction kit that grows with the shop.
Beyond Cues is basically my own dashboard as managing director: I see the key figures at a glance and always know where we stand. That gives me the confidence to react quickly to a changing market.
Jens Norden
Managing Director · Henning Dierk GmbH
Digital foundation
Why Business Central was the right base
Beyond Apps are not standalone systems, they are extensions inside Business Central. So they are only ever as good as the base they work in - and that base brings what a manufacturing shop needs:
Manufacturing integrated
Production, purchasing, warehouse and finance on one platform — no handover gaps between shop floor and office.
Standard, not a silo
Updates arrive almost automatically — without update fees or software you have to buy separately.
Scales with the order
From a single piece to a full series — every quantity can be mapped and costed cleanly.
Open for Beyond Apps
Extensible via the Microsoft Marketplace, app by app, without breaking the system — the base grows with the shop.
The craft was in choosing the right app for each job — and meshing them so tightly that the result is a shop that always knows where it stands.
Starting point
The challenge
Planning on a whiteboard
Order and production planning lived in people's heads, lists and on the board — hard to share, hard to keep current.
Models scattered
Technical design models and drawings sat in file shares next to the ERP, not inside it — and not on the order.
Warehouse without a live view
Stock, labels and tools without continuous, up-to-date transparency.
Too many manual steps
Price maintenance, collective shipments, certificates: one by one, manual and time-consuming.
Precision you can measure.
From laser cutting to final inspection: every step counts.
Machines at the latest standard.
TRUMPF, DMG, Okuma: 10 machining centres in rhythm.
Solution
Twelve apps, one interplay
Twelve apps from the Beyond construction kit are in use — each for one concrete job, all inside a single Business Central. Four of them carry the daily work, the others step in exactly where they are needed.
Beyond Scheduler
Visual order and production planning: capacity and dates at a glance, by drag and drop.
Beyond Cues
The cockpit: role-based KPI tiles pull the important numbers to the front — the right ones for everyone.
Beyond File Manager
Technical design models, drawings and production data linked to the right place in Business Central, without bloating the database.
Beyond Carts
Request parts decentrally: everyone can raise their own request, keeping the shop agile — purchasing then places the order.
Beyond Barcodes
Item and bin labels on demand, straight out of Business Central — no extra software and no complicated data transfer.
Beyond Inventory Details
All the essential stock information per item at a glance, without tedious filtering.
Beyond Catalog
Tools and item data standardised and searchable — everyone finds the right part.
Beyond Record Search
Search across tables: the right record in seconds instead of digging through folders.
Beyond Reports
Adjust reports and documents in-house instead of commissioning development for every change.
Beyond Certificates
Safety briefings and certificates with expiry dates under control — audits become routine.
Beyond Price Changes
Plan and simulate price changes centrally — before they go live, with full visibility into the impact.
Beyond Price Care
The maintenance logic behind it: validities kept up to date automatically, changes rolled out on schedule.
Voices from the shop
"
I post material and steps right at my station. No slips, no catching up later - it just runs along.
Production & Welding
Henning Dierk GmbH
"
On screen I can see what's coming next. That makes my day at the machine plannable.
Machine operation
Henning Dierk GmbH
"
Order planning, models, warehouse - finally all in one place. That's exactly what we wanted.
Operations management
Henning Dierk GmbH
The whole construction kit in daily use
How the twelve apps mesh in day-to-day operations — grouped by the project's three topics.
Order planning you can see
- Beyond Scheduler plans orders and capacity visually
- Beyond Cues makes the status visible as a cockpit
- Beyond Carts enables decentral demand capture: everyone requests directly, purchasing places the order
- Collective Shipments bundle the outbound deliveries
Models & data in Business Central
- Beyond File Manager links technical design models, drawings and production data to the right place in BC
- Beyond Catalog keeps tools and item data clean
- Beyond Record Search finds the right record in seconds
- Beyond Reports brings reports and documents under control
Warehouse, labels & compliance
- Beyond Barcodes generates item and warehouse labels
- Beyond Inventory Details shows stock levels at a glance
- Beyond Certificates manages safety briefings and certificates
- Beyond Price Changes and Beyond Price Care keep price maintenance in check
Result
A shop that just runs
Order planning, models and warehouse now come together in one system. Or, as they put it in Wattenbek: it runs.
Outlook
From transparency to predictability
With the shared data foundation of Business Central and the Beyond Apps, the next steps almost follow by themselves: forward-looking planning, analytics in Power BI and Copilot-assisted work in the shop.*
Beyond Apps
System for everything
Modifications to the standard
Updates per year
*Illustrative target states - actual effects depend on the starting point and project scope.
Project questions
Which Beyond Apps are in use at Henning Dierk?
Twelve, each for a concrete job: among them Beyond Scheduler (order planning), Beyond Cues (cockpit), Beyond File Manager (models and drawings), Beyond Barcodes, Beyond Catalog, Beyond Record Search, Beyond Certificates, Beyond Price Changes, Beyond Price Care, Beyond Reports, Beyond Carts and Beyond Inventory Details.
How do technical design models and drawings get into Business Central?
Via Beyond File Manager. Models, drawings and production data are stored in the right place (e.g. SharePoint) and linked directly to the order in BC - so everything is visible right where it's needed, without bloating the database.
How does production planning work?
With Beyond Scheduler: orders and capacity are planned visually by drag and drop. Beyond Cues shows the status as a cockpit so everyone sees the numbers that matter to them.
What about warehouse, labels and certificates?
Beyond Barcodes brings labels straight to the handheld, Beyond Inventory Details shows the stock at a glance. Beyond Certificates manages safety briefings and certificates, Beyond Price Changes and Beyond Price Care keep price maintenance in check.
Do you have to roll out all apps at once?
No. The Beyond Apps are a construction kit: app by app, each for a concrete job, all inside one Business Central. That way it can be expanded step by step.
Ready to steer your production digitally?
We're happy to show you in a short demo how Business Central and the right Beyond Apps can work in a manufacturing shop like Henning Dierk.