Manufacturers across fabricated metal, process manufacturing, and industrial machinery are operating in an environment that looks very different than it did even a decade ago, particularly as many organizations evaluate modern manufacturing ERP solutions. Ask almost any operations leader and they will tell you the same thing: production schedules are tighter, product configurations are more complex, and supply chains remain difficult to predict.
Many manufacturers are also discovering that the systems supporting their operations were never designed for this level of complexity. Keeping production aligned often requires manual workarounds, disconnected reporting, or extra coordination between teams just to maintain visibility across purchasing, inventory, and financial performance.
In many industry conversations, this shift is described as preparing for the “factory of the future.” Before exploring what that means in practice, it helps to define the term.
🏭 What is the Factory of the Future?
The factory of the future is a manufacturing environment where systems and production data are digitally connected, giving teams real-time visibility into operations and enabling faster, more informed decisions.
The idea of the factory of the future is not about adopting new technology just because it is new. For many manufacturers, it reflects a practical need to operate with better visibility and coordination as production environments become more complex.
In many operations, critical information about production, materials, and costs still lives in separate systems or spreadsheets. Teams may rely on manual updates or delayed reports just to understand what is happening across the shop floor and the broader operation.
When leaders cannot easily see how production, inventory, purchasing, and financial performance are aligning, responding to issues becomes more difficult. Small disruptions can ripple through the operation before anyone has a clear picture of what changed.
In short, manufacturers care about the factory of the future because better visibility across operations makes it easier to respond to change, maintain efficiency, and support long-term growth.
Many manufacturers rely on ERP systems that were implemented years ago, while others are still managing key operational processes through spreadsheets or disconnected tools. In both cases, multiple small inefficiencies accumulate as operations grow more complex, creating a lack of visibility that makes it harder for teams to respond quickly when conditions change.
These limitations tend to appear in several operational challenges:
Production data, inventory levels, purchasing activity, and financial reporting often exist in separate systems. When these systems do not communicate effectively, teams rely on spreadsheets or manual updates to keep information aligned.
While these workarounds may keep operations moving, they can also make it difficult to understand what is happening across the business at any given moment. When information is fragmented, leaders may struggle to see how production activity, material availability, and costs are truly aligning.
As operational complexity increases, manual processes often expand alongside it. Teams may track production updates in spreadsheets, reconcile inventory manually, or build reports by pulling information from multiple systems.
These processes require time and coordination, which can slow decision-making. By the time leadership teams have a complete picture of operational performance, the conditions on the shop floor may have already changed.
Many manufacturers still rely on legacy ERP systems that were implemented years ago. While these platforms may continue to support basic financial processes, they often struggle to integrate with modern manufacturing tools, analytics platforms, or advanced planning technologies.
As manufacturers explore new ways to improve efficiency and visibility, legacy systems can become a barrier to modernization rather than a foundation for it.
Preparing for the factory of the future often begins with connecting the systems that run core operations. In many organizations, however, manufacturers adopt multiple tools over time to solve specific problems, which can eventually create a patchwork of systems across the operation. When production, inventory, purchasing, and financial data live in separate tools, it becomes harder for teams to see what is happening across the business.
Modern manufacturing ERP systems such as Acumatica Manufacturing Edition often serve as the backbone of this environment, particularly platforms designed specifically for manufacturers. By bringing operational and financial data into a unified platform, ERP helps teams maintain a consistent view of production activity, materials, and costs.
When these areas are connected within the same system, leaders can better understand how decisions in one part of the operation affect the rest of the business. This kind of visibility is a key goal of manufacturing modernization, helping manufacturers respond more quickly to changes and manage operations more effectively.
Manufacturing modernization is typically a gradual process. Many manufacturers begin by evaluating how well their current systems support production, planning, and financial visibility as operations become more complex.
Rather than focusing only on individual technology investments, it is often more valuable to step back and assess how effectively existing systems support coordination across the business.
This evaluation often starts with a few key questions:
Answering these questions helps manufacturers identify where modernization efforts will have the greatest operational impact. In many cases, the goal is not simply replacing one system with another but creating an environment where operational data is connected and decisions can be made with greater clarity.
Manufacturing modernization is not only about adopting new technologies. It is about ensuring that the systems supporting production, inventory, purchasing, and financial operations can work together to provide the visibility leaders need to manage increasingly complex operations.
And the first step in preparing for the factory of the future begins with an honest evaluation about how well current systems support coordination and decision-making across the business.
The factory of the future is a manufacturing environment where production systems, operational data, and reporting are digitally connected. This connectivity gives teams real‑time visibility into operations and supports faster, more informed decision‑making across planning, production, and financial management.
The factory of the future matters because manufacturing operations have become more complex. Tighter production schedules, greater product variation, and ongoing supply chain disruption make it harder to manage operations with disconnected systems. Better visibility and coordination help manufacturers respond to change and maintain efficiency as conditions evolve.
Common signs include reliance on spreadsheets to reconcile data, delayed reporting, manual coordination between teams, and difficulty understanding how production, inventory, purchasing, and financial performance align. These issues often signal that systems were not designed to support current operational complexity.
When production, inventory, purchasing, and financial data live in separate systems, teams lack a consistent view of operations. This fragmentation slows decision‑making, increases manual effort, and makes it harder for leaders to respond quickly when conditions change on the shop floor or in the supply chain.
ERP systems play a central role by connecting core operational and financial data within a unified platform. Modern manufacturing ERP solutions help manufacturers maintain visibility across production, materials, and costs, creating a more stable foundation for modernization and long‑term growth.
Manufacturers often begin by evaluating their operational readiness. This includes assessing whether leadership has real‑time visibility into performance, whether systems are connected across departments, and whether current tools can support future growth and modernization initiatives.
Several factors are contributing to this growing imbalance, making inventory harder to plan and manage effectively. As inventory spreads across locations, even small planning gaps begin to impact performance and margins.
Inventory planning becomes more difficult when the signals used to guide decisions are less consistent. Seasonal patterns shift, buying behaviour changes more quickly, and external factors can influence what inventory is needed and when.
Many distributors are finding that traditional forecasting methods struggle to keep pace with these changing conditions. When planning relies on historical patterns alone, inventory decisions often reflect what has already happened rather than what is likely to happen next.
Without stronger forecasting and planning tools, this can lead to misaligned inventory levels, making it harder to maintain balance across locations and respond to change.
As distributors expand across warehouses, branches, or regions, maintaining a clear view of inventorbecomes more complex. Without centralized visibility, inventory data can become fragmented, making it harder to understand what is available, where it is located, and how it should be allocated across the network.
Acumatica highlights how limited visibility across inventory and orders can lead to misaligned replenishment decisions. This is particularly true in multi-location environments where inventory data is not fully connected.
When inventory planning is limited or inconsistent, purchasing often becomes reactive. Teams respond to shortages by ordering more, only to find themselves overstocked when conditions change.
This pattern is common in environments where planning is still managed through spreadsheets or disconnected systems. As Acumatica notes, reactive replenishment often results in both excess inventory and missed sales opportunities, rather than resolving the underlying imbalance.
Customers expect consistent product availability and fast fulfillment. Even small gaps in inventory planning can impact fill rates, lead times, and overall service levels.
Acumatica emphasizes that improving inventory visibility, replenishment strategies, and planning processes is critical to maintaining service levels as expectations continue to increase.
For many distributors, planning hasn’t deliberately changed, but how decisions get made day to day has.
As operations become more complex and inventory is spread across locations, planning activities often move out of structured systems and into manual workarounds. Forecasts get adjusted in spreadsheets, purchasing decisions are made based on recent shortages, and teams rely on quick fixes to keep orders moving.
Over time, this creates a disconnect between inventory data and planning decisions. Instead of following a consistent forecasting and replenishment process, teams begin reacting to what just happened rather than planning ahead.
For distributors looking to move beyond reactive planning, the goal isn’t just to adopt tools. It’s to create a more consistent approach to inventory planning and replenishment.
Inventory planning typically involves three core activities: forecasting needs, planning replenishment based on inventory levels and lead times, and maintaining visibility across locations. When supported by connected systems, these processes help improve fill rates and reduce excess inventory.
With a shared view of inventory, orders, and planning decisions, teams can move away from manual workarounds. Acumatica Distribution Edition supports this shift with a more structured, system-driven approach:
Rather than reacting to shortages, teams use inventory levels, usage patterns, and lead times to guide replenishment. This keeps purchasing decisions aligned with real needs instead of short-term urgency.
Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP) helps coordinate inventory movement across locations. By factoring in inventory levels, lead times, and planned needs, teams can approach replenishment more proactively and reduce last-minute adjustments.
As operations expand across locations or product lines, planning processes need to scale as well. Acumatica supports planning across multiple sites, helping maintain consistency in how inventory is managed as complexity increases.
Modern distribution systems can improve planning and coordination, but technology alone doesn’t resolve gaps in inventory planning, replenishment, or data visibility.
For many distributors, the most valuable step is to evaluate how inventory planning is currently managed. This includes how inventory data is used, how replenishment decisions are made, and how well systems support visibility across locations and orders.
Taking a structured approach helps identify where processes, data, or systems may be limiting performance. It also ensures that any future investment, whether in ERP or planning tools, aligns with how the business operates.
Inventory imbalances are becoming more common as demand patterns change more quickly and inventory is spread across more locations. Traditional forecasting methods often rely heavily on historical data, which makes it harder to anticipate shifts in buying behavior, lead times, or external disruptions. As complexity increases, even small gaps in planning can result in both overstock and stockouts.
Managing inventory across multiple locations increases the need for accurate, centralized visibility. Without a connected view of inventory, orders, and replenishment needs, data can become fragmented. This makes it harder to understand what inventory is available, where it is needed most, and how to balance supply across the network.
Inventory planning often becomes reactive when teams rely on manual tools like spreadsheets or disconnected systems. When shortages occur, purchasing decisions are made to resolve immediate issues rather than follow a consistent forecasting and replenishment process. Over time, this can create a cycle of urgent decisions that increase both excess inventory and missed sales opportunities.
Customers increasingly expect high fill rates, fast fulfillment, and consistent product availability. Even minor planning gaps can affect service levels and lead times. As expectations rise, distributors need stronger inventory visibility and replenishment strategies to maintain reliability without carrying unnecessary inventory.
Inventory planning and forecasting tools help distributors move from reactive decisions to more proactive planning. By using real usage data, lead times, and inventory levels, teams can make replenishment decisions based on current conditions rather than recent shortages. This supports better alignment between supply and demand across locations.
Fragmented inventory and order visibility isn’t a sign that something is broken. It’s a sign that a distribution business has outgrown the systems that once worked.
As distribution organizations scale, complexity increases. Inventory moves faster. Orders change more often. Fulfillment paths multiply. Without intentional alignment, systems that once supported growth begin operating independently. That separation introduces risk when systems are no longer moving together, even if teams are doing the right things.
For leaders, that risk shows up fast. It hits margins, labor costs, and the time spent managing exceptions instead of making decisions.
This article reframes common distribution pain as misalignment across inventory, orders, and fulfillment — a problem modern ERP systems are designed to solve.
Distribution operates on razor-thin margins. Acumatica’s industry research shows that average profit margins in distribution hover around just 1.8%. At that level, even small breakdowns in inventory accuracy or order execution have an outsized impact. Misaligned systems don’t just create friction. They quietly erode profitability.
When inventory availability, order commitments, and fulfillment reality don’t match, leaders absorb risk in the form of expedited shipping, excess stock, missed commitments, or lost customer trust.
👉Modern ERP platforms are designed to prevent these breakdowns by keeping inventory availability, allocations, and fulfillment activity in sync across the business.
Distribution is dynamic by nature. Inventory moves continuously, and orders change as conditions shift.
Problems arise when systems can’t keep pace together:
Over time, decision-making slows. Leaders make more conservative commitments. Growth feels riskier than it needs to be.
👉 Systems built to keep inventory, orders, and fulfillment aligned reduce exceptions and allow decisions to be made with confidence rather than caution.
When systems don’t align, people fill the gaps. That approach doesn’t scale, particularly in an industry where Acumatica research shows labor represents more than half of total operating expenses. Using people to reconcile inventory, orders, and fulfillment data turns misalignment into an ongoing operating cost: labor expense rises, execution slows, workarounds become permanent, to name a few.
👉A unified ERP reduces the need for manual reconciliation by ensuring updates happen once and flow automatically across inventory, orders, and fulfillment processes.
Misalignment often triggers a familiar response: more dashboards, more reports, more manual checks. But leaders don’t need more data. They need data they can rely on.
When inventory, orders, and fulfillment fall out of alignment, added visibility creates more risk than clarity:
👉Alignment, not information volume, is what restores control. That alignment comes from systems designed to treat inventory, orders, and fulfillment as connected processes.
At the leadership level, inventory visibility isn’t about knowing how many units are on hand. It’s about confidence in availability.
As complexity grows, that confidence erodes. Acumatica highlights that advanced inventory controls — including real-time allocation, lot and serial tracking, and expiration-based picking — are not consistently supported across systems.
When inventory data isn’t unified, leaders hedge by carrying extra stock, delaying decisions, and limiting opportunity to protect against uncertainty.
👉Modern ERP platforms address this by unifying inventory controls within a single system, allowing leaders to trust availability across locations without buffers or manual verification.
Most midmarket ERP systems share similar core capabilities. According to Acumatica, ERP applications typically differ by only 10–20% in functionality. Execution and alignment matter more than feature lists.
👉 The real differentiator isn’t what a system can do in isolation. It’s whether inventory, orders, and fulfillment operate together as a single system as complexity increases.
Fragmentation is not the cost of doing business in distribution. It signals that the systems were not designed to scale together.
Leaders who want control set a clear standard:
👉Distribution doesn’t stall because leaders lack insight. It stalls when system misalignment creates uncertainty where clarity is required, and that’s a problem leaders can eliminate.
Acumatica Distribution Edition brings inventory, orders, warehouse activity, and fulfillment into a single operational framework, allowing leaders to make decisions based on real-time conditions instead of delayed reconciliation.
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This article draws insights from the Acumatica Distribution Edition Handbook, which examines how modern distribution organizations manage inventory, orders, and fulfillment as complexity increases.
⬇️ Explore Acumatica Distribution Edition Handbook for a closer look at how leading distributors align inventory, orders, and fulfillment to reduce risk and improve execution.
Wilmar, LLC was founded in 1971. Based in Kent, Washington, Wilmar supplies major retailers as well as distributors throughout North America. By providing quality tools, great service, and innovative packaging and product support, Wilmar has become one of the leading distributors of professional tools in North America.
Trading under the brand names of AirTIGHTTM; Performance ToolTM; Performance TechTM; MechanicsTM; Project ProTM and Northwest TrailTM, Wilmar focuses on providing a superior level of service and quality products that meet their customer’s expectations of product that carries their “Guarantee of Satisfaction”.
HEADQUARTERS
Kent, WA
INDUSTRY
Distribution
SOLUTION
Acumatica Distribution Edition
WEBSITE
www.wilmarcorp.com
When Wilmar’s legacy ERP system began failing, the company faced a critical decision: patch together temporary fixes or find a long-term solution to support growth. With support for their old system gone and instability increasing, it was clear that change was needed.
After exploring multiple ERP options, Wilmar selected Acumatica for its usability and reporting power. “We really liked the usability of the interface, and in particular, the generic inquiries and reporting tools really caught our eye,” said Cantral. “Feature-wise… the reporting stood apart. And being able to do minor customizations ourselves without needing a professional development group… that was a big selling point.
Wilmar partnered with Aktion Associates after being recommended by both Acumatica and a trusted consultant familiar with their legacy system. That marked the beginning of a strong and lasting partnership.
Acumatica offered a flexible foundation tailored to Wilmar’s needs, while Aktion played a key role in aligning the solution with their unique business model. During implementation, the team navigated a significant pivot related to inventory allocations, ensuring the system could support Wilmar’s evolving requirements.
That customization not only enabled Wilmar to achieve a successful go-live, but it also proved so impactful that it was later incorporated into Acumatica’s core product—demonstrating how forward-thinking solutions can influence the broader platform. Aktion additionally worked to develop Wilmar’s initial EDI integration and inventory solutions, both critical to day-to-day operations.
What set Aktion apart for Wilmar was their partnership-driven approach. “It’s not so much individual stories, it’s more the approach,” Cantral emphasized. “Aktion’s been very open to letting us manage things ourselves, which is really important to us. Anytime we do need help, they’re at the ready with suggestions or technical resources. It’s more like a collaboration. They’ve really understood our business over the years.” This balance, self-sufficiency with expert support, has given Wilmar confidence and agility. “I like that they’ve worked with us, not just pitched us a product. That’s made all the difference.”
Today, Wilmar continues to thrive with Acumatica and Aktion as trusted partners. The company recently expanded through acquisition and is migrating the new business from NetSuite to Acumatica. Cantral sees Acumatica’s flexibility as critical to this effort.
“Acumatica, for better or for worse, gives me a lot of options,” he said. “It’s almost overwhelming, just the amount of options we have for integration as we merge another company’s processes into ours. But having that flexibility means we can find the right fit for our business.”
The wider Acumatica community has also recognized Wilmar’s achievements. In 2024, the company was named Acumatica Distribution Customer of the Year, reflecting its innovation and excellence in leveraging the platform. Cantral has been named an Acumatica MVP three times, most recently in 2025, underscoring his leadership and deep expertise within the ecosystem. For Cantral, Wilmar’s success with Acumatica comes down to both the platform’s openness and his team’s willingness to adapt. “Having access to the database on the back end lets me see what’s happening under the hood. I can write custom SQL queries to cover any gaps and not have to guess how things work,” he said. “And Acumatica makes it easy to play with different processes; it’s not a monumental project just to try out a feature.”
With a proven ERP foundation and a trusted partner in Aktion, Wilmar is well-positioned for continued growth and innovation.
If you’re wondering what kind of impact a modern, cloud‑based ERP could have on your organization, Aktion brings the industry expertise, honest guidance, and technical depth to help you get there.
We help you build the operational backbone that supports your next stage of growth.
In today’s fast-paced business environment, your ERP system should help you scale—not slow you down. For many organizations using Microsoft Dynamics GP/SL, they have reached their limits. While it may have worked well in the past, its aging architecture and lack of true cloud capabilities are prompting companies to look for a more modern solution.
That solution is Acumatica.
Built for the cloud from the ground up, Acumatica offers the flexibility, scalability, and long-term value that Dynamics GP/SL simply can’t match.
What Makes Acumatica Different?
Unlike GP/SL, Acumatica is a true cloud ERP. That means you can access the system from any browser, on any device, without the need for remote desktop tools or third-party hosting. There’s no complex infrastructure to manage—just fast, secure access wherever your team works.
Built to Grow with You
Acumatica uses a resource-based pricing model, which means you’re not charged by the number of users. Whether you have 5 or 500 employees, the cost remains based on usage—not headcount. This makes it a future-ready option for companies planning for growth.
Easier and Less Costly Customization
With Acumatica, you’re working with widely used technologies. That makes it easier—and more affordable—to customize your ERP or integrate it with other platforms. Dynamics GP/SL, by contrast, relies on proprietary tools that often require specialized developers and increase costs over time.
Fewer Add-ons. More Built-In Value.
Acumatica comes with a wide range of features out of the box, including modules for payroll, document management, field service, and warehouse management. Many of these capabilities require third-party add-ons in GP/SL, adding cost and complexity. With Acumatica, everything is integrated, streamlined, and accessible from day one.
Planning an ERP Upgrade?
If your organization is still running on Dynamics GP/SL, it’s time to evaluate whether it’s still supporting your goals—or holding you back. Acumatica offers a modern, scalable, and cost-effective ERP platform that meets the needs of growing businesses across industries.
At Aktion, we help companies make the move from GP/SL to Acumatica with minimal disruption and maximum return. Our experienced team can guide you through the full process—from evaluation to implementation. If you have questions or want to discuss this transition further, feel free to contact Aktion .
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Join this webinar to learn how this powerful integration with Acumatica can set your business up for the future and help you effortlessly streamline your workflows.
Discover how Acumatica Distribution Edition can transform your distribution operations in our webinar. This powerful cloud ERP solution is designed to help you streamline inventory management, automate order processing, and gain real-time insights to drive smarter business decisions.
In this session, you’ll get a clear overview of the key features that can help you improve supply chain efficiency, enhance customer satisfaction, and make data-driven decisions with confidence.
Webinar Highlights:
The Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains) and SL (Solomon) end of life and support is a subject that has gained significant attention in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) industry. This translates to the discontinuation of essential security updates, technical assistance, and bug resolution, leaving your business exposed and impeding its capacity for growth. The pressing issue of transitioning to newer, more agile systems is at the forefront of this support end.
For GP and SL users, this presents a crucial decision: migrate to a new ERP system or risk falling behind. While Microsoft suggests Dynamics 365 Business Central as a replacement, there’s another powerful contender in the arena – Acumatica.
Why Acumatica Shines as the Future-Proof Choice:
The sunsetting of Microsoft Dynamics GP and SL marks a pivotal moment in the ERP landscape. Businesses are increasingly turning to Acumatica for its modern architecture, cloud-native design, and unparalleled flexibility. As companies embark on the journey to digitize and streamline their operations, Acumatica emerges as a robust choice that not only meets but exceeds the expectations of the modern business environment.
If you have questions or want to discuss this transition further, feel free to contact Aktion . We’re here to assist you in making informed decisions for the success of your business.
Keep your Acumatica ERP solution up-to-date with Acumatica’s Always Current Program. With the Acumatica Always Current Program, users can access the latest updates, features, and enhancements of the Acumatica ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system.
This program provides customers with continuous updates to Acumatica software, such as new functionality, bug fixes, security updates, and regulatory compliance updates. Always Current ensures that customers have access to the latest version of the software without having to undergo time-consuming and expensive upgrades. Staying current will decrease maintenance costs and improve system functionality.
The Always Current Program upgrades Acumatica customers to the most recent version of their software on a scheduled upgrade date. Additionally, they will automatically receive software updates on a fixed quarterly schedule. The scheduled upgrade date will be set at the onset of the contract.
A notification will be sent to customers 120 days before the upgrade takes place. The notification will provide the customer with details of the upgrade plan. It is recommended that customers prepare their staff with a timeframe and schedule for testing.
The Always Current Program will complete the upgrade in two phases. The first step is to set up a testing version so that any additional tasks can be accomplished. As soon as the testing period is completed, Acumatica will seek approval from the customer, and the official upgrade will take place.
Acumatica SaaS customers qualify for Always Current based on their Acumatica edition. Currently, this program is not available to private cloud customers (PCS and PCP).
To reduce potential upgrade issues, the program limits the types of customizations installed.
Customers in this program can only install ISV solutions compatible with the Always Current Program. As a result, they will be able to deliver their solutions on or before the deadline for upgrades or updates.
As well as continuous software updates, the Always Current program also includes access to Acumatica’s support team, which can assist with any issues or questions.
A major advantage of the Acumatica Always Current program is that it enables businesses to stay up-to-date with their ERP software and ensure that they are getting the most out of their investment.
Our team recently presented an overview of the Always Current Program. To learn more about the details and the process, watch the recording here. Contact our support team for more information about Acumatica Always Current.
If you have your own custom code extensions or common libraries that are generic enough for sharing across Acumatica modules, customization projects, or even instances; this solution is also a great option for reusing your own Acumatica custom extended libraries by creating NuGet packages for them.
Introduction
Seasoned developers are probably aware of the benefits of using a package manager tool for installation and updates of packaged reference files and libraries. Such packages contain reusable code that are published to a central repository for consuming by other programs. The advantages to using such a tool is to maintain any common code in a common location, rather than needing to copy the individual files around and maintain their versions separately and manually. There are many public package managers available for different languages, frameworks, and platforms; such as the popular NuGet, npm, Bower, and yarn. This article focuses on the usage of NuGet because it is the standard package manager for Microsoft.NET – the platform used for Acumatica and its customizations.
Since I began developing customizations in Acumatica five years ago, and also coming from a deep .NET and client/server full-stack background, I’ve always wanted the Acumatica common libraries to be available as a package and have wondered why such packages weren’t already readily available. I have long wanted to fill this void myself in order to simplify the referencing of these libraries for our own custom code extension libraries. I recently was able to set this up for our company, Aktion Associates (an Acumatica VAR and Gold Certified Partner), and I’d like to share with you how this can be accomplished.
What is NuGet?
Stepping back for a moment, NuGet is a .NET package manager that’s integrated with Visual Studio.NET – the Microsoft development environment integrated and recommended for use to author code extensions for Acumatica customizations. NuGet is used to create and share reusable packages from a designated public or private host. https://www.nuget.org/ is the main NuGet Gallery repository to which public packages can be published, and from which .NET projects can consume. Popular packages such as Json.NET – a JSON parser and serializer – can be found here, as well as Microsoft.NET framework packages, and many others. Instead of searching the web for an installation program or the specific download file you need for a third-party library, NuGet can be used to retrieve and install the appropriate package of files and the version required simply by selecting it from its public host. NuGet can also be used for packages hosted privately for use internally for yourself or your company. Since Acumatica libraries are not available publicly via nuget.org, this article explains setting up these common libraries as private packages for use in your own customization projects.
There are many more guidelines for using and configuring NuGet that can be found within its documentation found at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget than what is described here.
Using NuGet with Acumatica
To reference a NuGet package in your own customization extended library’s Visual Studio project, open your project in Visual Studio, right-click on the project’s References node in the Solution Explorer, and select the Manage NuGet Packages context menu option. This will open a window like the image in Figure 1, which displays NuGet packages already installed, and those available for install. If you Browse for “Newtonsoft.Json”, for example, from nuget.org, it should display that package in the results. When you select a package, you can then choose a specific version available from the specified package host and install it. That package will then show under your project references and its files can be referenced within your extended code. See Figure 2 for an example of referencing the Json.NET library in a C# Visual Studio project after installing it via NuGet.
Figure 1: NuGet Package Manager in Visual Studio
Figure 2: Referencing Json.NET after installing as a reference
The advantage to referencing libraries via NuGet like this is the simplicity, and allowing it to manage libraries and their versions without needing to do so manually. To then install a newer version of the library, you open the NuGet Package Manager again in Visual Studio from Figure 1, change the version to another available version, and Update. This is how I’d like Acumatica common library references to behave, and which is now possible with the solution outlined below.
Creating a NuGet Package
The first step is to create a NuGet package containing common Acumatica libraries. These common libraries are the most often used when writing a code extension in an external library. They include the following:
I also like to include PX.Data.BQL.Fluent.dll because I prefer using Fluent BQL syntax within code.
The Package Manifest
A NuGet package manifest is created by defining the contents in a .nuspec XML file. The schema for a .nuspec file can be found within its documentation at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/reference/nuspec. The following XML shows an example of the contents of a .nuspec file (e.g. Acumatica.nuspec) for the Acumatica libraries mentioned above.
(Acumatica.nuspec contents)
GIST: https://gist.github.com/tlanzer-aktion/e76f8bc275cc3415344a1183666e59b5
Within this XML, the package is supplied a name (<id>) and a version (<version>), the files to reference in the destination Visual Studio project (<references>), and the source files to include in the package (<files>). Notice in this example that I’m naming the package Acumatica.PX.Main, and I’m including Acumatica build version 22.100.178 of its libraries.
Creating the Package
The next step is to create the package from the .nuspec package manifest. You can download nuget.exe from https://www.nuget.org/downloads, which is a command-line program used to create a NuGet package from a NuGet manifest. On the command line, the syntax to create the example package using nuget.exe is:
nuget pack Acumatica.nuspec -NoPackageAnalysis
This syntax assumes that both nuget.exe and Acumatica.nuspec is accessible within the current path, so if not, the path for one or both should be specified. The resulting package created from the example should be Acumatica.PX.Main.22.100.178.nupkg.
Additional Package Versions
Now that we have one build version of Acumatica’s common libraries packaged, you can continue creating additional versions as needed or as they are released by Acumatica. To create a new package for the following build version – 22.101.85 – you can repeat the instructions above but replace the version number and include that version of the libraries. You should then end up with a new package named Acumatica.PX.Main.22.101.85.nupkg, and so on.
Setting Up a NuGet Feed
To make a package available for project reference, it needs to be published to a NuGet feed. Since the package is meant for your own consumption, you’ll want to create a private feed for yourself or your organization. A private feed can be a local file share or server, or a remote private hosting service like Azure Artifacts or GitHub Package Registry. At Aktion Associates we use Azure DevOps as our source control repository, so we use Azure Artifacts as our feed host, and this will also be used for examples in this article.
Creating the Feed
To create a NuGet Feed in Azure Artifacts, open the Azure DevOps project in which you want to create a feed and choose Create Feed on the main Artifacts page. The dialog shown in Figure 3 should open. After naming and configuring the feed according to the visibility and scope of your needs, create the feed.
Figure 3: Create New Feed dialog
Publishing to the Feed
Now that you have both a NuGet package and a NuGet feed set up, you can publish the package to the feed. On the main Azure Artifacts page, choose Connect to Feed, then select NuGet.exe as the connection type, and copy the new feed URL shown. Then, on the command line, the syntax to publish the example package using nuget.exe is:
nuget push -Source <feed url> -ApiKey <any string> Acumatica.PX.Main.22.100.178.nupkg
This syntax assumes that both nuget.exe and Acumatica.PX.Main.22.100.178.nupkg is accessible within the current path, so if not, the path for one or both should be specified. The specified package should now be published to the feed and be accessible for referencing according to the configuration of your feed. Figure 4 shows an example private feed and package inside Azure Artifacts after creation and publishing.
Figure 4: Feed created in Azure Artifacts
Using Your NuGet Feed
After publishing your packages to your NuGet feed, you should be able to then reference the package and version from your feed inside your Visual Studio project as described in Using NuGet with Acumatica. In the NuGet Package Manager, add your new package source (i.e. the NuGet feed you created) from the Options dialog opened from the gear icon next to the Package source dropdown. After adding the feed, the published package should display in the list of available packages. Select the package in the list, and then the different published versions should be available in the Version dropdown to choose for installation or update. See Figure 5 for an example of what the Package Manager shows after selecting the package (e.g. Acumatica.PX.Main) in your new NuGet feed.
Figure 5: Selecting a NuGet package and version
Once you choose a package and appropriate version, installing or updating it creates reference to that package’s library versions in your Visual Studio project. See Figure 6 for an example of a C# Visual Studio project after installing the Acumatica.PX.Main NuGet package from a NuGet feed.
Figure 6: Visual Studio project after package installation
Other Acumatica Libraries
You can take this solution further and create additional NuGet packages for other commonly used Acumatica libraries like PX.Api, PX.Caching, PX.Web, etc. and repeat the steps mentioned above for these. Once those packages are created and published to your feed, you will also be able to reference these in the same manner.
Your Own Packages
If you have your own custom code extensions or common libraries that are generic enough for sharing across Acumatica modules, customization projects, or even instances; this solution is also a great option for reusing your own Acumatica custom extended libraries by creating NuGet packages for them. For example, Aktion has our own API custom library which adapts the existing Acumatica API to our own best practices for integration and communication, and we share it across projects via our own private feed.
Summary
I hope you find this solution for setting up a NuGet feed for Acumatica library packages useful, and I’d love to hear from you and how you’ve put it into use or adapted it for your own needs. It does require a bit of maintenance to keep package versions updated in your feed, but the efficiency gained by easily referencing and consuming an appropriate library version for your customizations and upgrade needs is substantial and valuable.
Happy Coding!
