Add-ons for Food and Beverage Manufacturers: what to know before you install in Business Central

Add-ons for Food and Beverage Manufacturers: What to Know Before You Install in Business Central

Going live with Business Central is a milestone, not a finish line. For food and beverage manufacturers, it’s just the beginning of a larger journey toward digital maturity.

Whether it’s enhancing lot traceability, automating labeling, or gaining real-time production visibility, Business Central add-ons can unlock critical functionality. But these benefits come with a caveat: choosing the wrong app can disrupt operations, compromise compliance, or even corrupt your data.

What are Business Central add-ons?

Add-ons (also known as extensions or apps) are modular solutions that extend the out-of-the-box capabilities of Business Central. For food manufacturers, these can include tools that support:

• Catch weight and variable unit of measure
• Recipe and formula management
• Quality assurance and non-conformance workflows
• Nutritional analysis and allergen tracking
• EDI integration and scan-and-pack logistics

These apps are commonly found on Microsoft AppSource, a marketplace that includes over 7,000 listings from Microsoft and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). However, Microsoft no longer validates AppSource apps, which means the responsibility of evaluation is now yours.

Why this matters more in food and beverage

The stakes are high. According to the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), the average cost of a food recall is $10 million in direct costs alone, not including lost sales and brand damage. Inadequate traceability, mislabeling, and data errors are often root causes.

Key Evaluation Criteria

Before installing an add-on in your food and beverage environment, ask the following:

Is it industry-specific?

Generic apps can fall short. Look for tools that:

• Support lot traceability and recall readiness
• Handle catch weight or dual UOM
• Integrate cleanly with warehouse scanning, EDI, and labeling systems

Is it actively maintained?

• When was the last update?
• Is it compatible with the current BC wave release?
• Are future enhancements planned?

What do reviews say?

AppSource displays reviews, but quantity isn’t everything. Dig into:

• Recency of reviews
• Relevance to food manufacturing use cases
• Mentions of support responsiveness and performance

How strong is the development quality?

Ask if the add-on:

• Follows Microsoft AL development best practices
• Uses standard extension patterns
• Comes with clear documentation and upgrade paths

The free app trap

Free apps may look appealing when you’re trying to move fast or keep costs low. But they often lack:

• Support teams or service-level agreements
• Compatibility testing for new BC versions
• Clear ownership or escalation paths

In food manufacturing, where maintaining uptime and accuracy is crucial, even minor disruptions can ripple through the supply chain. A free app that causes errors during a recall, labeling run, or production shift can cost far more than a paid, supported solution.

The case for expert guidance

You don’t have to navigate this alone. DynamicsFoodERP is backed by Liberty Grove Software, the team behind its industry-specific capabilities and carefully vetted ecosystem of extensions. Liberty Grove is the team that vets, implements, and supports the add-ons that power these capabilities. With decades of experience in food and beverage ERP, Liberty Grove helps clients:

• Evaluate and select proven extensions
• Identify gaps in industry workflows
• Ensure upgrade compatibility and support

We’ve also curated and developed our own add-ons to fill the gaps specific to food and beverage:

• Shelf life and expiration date tracking
• Yield variance capture and analysis
• Nutritional label generation from ingredient data

Explore our vetted solutions: https://libertygrove.com/microsoft-dynamics/addons/

Power BI apps: a complement, not a shortcut

Some add-ons provide reporting and analysis capabilities via Power BI apps. Microsoft offers plug-and-play dashboards for Finance, Manufacturing, and Telemetry. Many of these are helpful, but not industry-specific.

Use these tools to complement your operational apps, but don’t rely on them to deliver the domain-specific controls required by food regulators, auditors, or your QA department.

Final word: add-ons can be powerful if chosen carefully

For more industry-specific ERP insights and tools, visit www.dynamicsfooderp.com. Business Central is designed to be extensible, but with great flexibility comes great responsibility. In food and beverage, the consequences of a bad app choice aren’t just technical. They can be financial, reputational, and regulatory.

Looking for add-ons that are built to meet food and beverage standards? Liberty Grove Software helps ensure your Business Central environment is equipped with the right tools. Get in touch to find the best fit for your business.