On-Demand Webinar: Pennent Mill Manager: A Guided Path Forward for Feed Mill Manager Customers

Summary

Pennent Mill Manager is Datacor’s next-generation feed ERP, built to run the mill and connect to the accounting system you choose. On October 20, Clayton Sachs, SVP of Strategy at Datacor; Jamie Mesmer, Lead Solutions Engineer; and Taylor Truckey, Senior Account Manager, walked Feed Mill Manager customers through the move to Pennent Mill Manager and Datacor Accounting. They covered the Microsoft Dynamics GP timeline and the migration process, and they answered attendee questions. The full recording is available above.

How Is Pennent Mill Manager Different from Feed Mill Manager?

Pennent Mill Manager is ERP agnostic. Feed Mill Manager is built on Microsoft Dynamics GP and cannot be separated from it. That independence changes how the mill runs:

• Real-time inventory. Sales orders, manufacturing orders, and shipments stay linked but post at their own stages. Inventory updates the moment a batch or shipment posts, not when the invoice catches up.

• Pricing. Each site keeps its own ingredient costs, with as many cost buckets as you need, such as market, replacement, and standard. Customer price lists carry effective and expiration dates, so changes can be scheduled ahead of time.

• MRP. The system recommends purchase orders, transfers between mills, and manufacturing orders, and your team approves each one before anything is created.

• Integrations. Formulation tools such as Ara and Brill still connect. Modern API connections are available, and flat-file integrations remain supported for batching systems that need them.

• Upgrades. Upgrades on the modern .NET platform take about an hour.

What Does Dynamics GP End of Support Mean for Feed Mill Manager Customers?

Microsoft will end product support and updates for Dynamics GP on December 31, 2029, and will end security patches on April 30, 2031. Datacor will continue to support GP beyond 2029 with in-house expertise.

The 2031 security deadline is the date that matters most. Planning now leaves time for a phased transition instead of a rushed one.

Customers have two accounting paths:

• Datacor Accounting. This browser-based option is built to work hand in hand with Pennent Mill Manager. It imports vendor invoices automatically, creates customer invoices from posted shipments, applies payments from bank feeds, and provides live dashboards.

• Another accounting platform. Pennent Mill Manager connects to the platform you already run or the one you choose next.

How Does the Migration from Feed Mill Manager to Pennent Mill Manager Work?

The migration follows a guided, phased plan that starts with a personalized scoping assessment.

1. Scoping. Your account manager and a solution engineer review your current setup.

2. Data preparation. An implementation specialist helps you clean up historical data, migrating only active formulas, ingredients, and customers.

3. Configuration, testing, and training. Training is role-based and uses your own data.

4. Cutover. Go-live is timed to your slow season.

5. Hypercare. Your implementation team stays engaged after go-live.

Customers do not have to leave GP right away. Many run Pennent Mill Manager with GP today and move their accounting later.

Plan Your Path Forward with Pennent Mill Manager

The first step is a conversation about your mill, your timeline, and your accounting options. Contact your account manager to schedule a call and an interactive demo.