Is Business Central v29 the End of Traditional MRP Planning?
What if I told you that the biggest feature in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central version 29 isn't just basic AI assistance...
It's the very real possibility that Microsoft could eventually eliminate MRP as we know it.
For over fifty years, ERP systems have relied on the exact same manual workflow:
- Safety Stock configuration
- Reorder Points setup
- Lead Times monitoring
- Planning Parameters tuning
The system runs calculations, and then human planners have to do the heavy lifting to figure out what to actually execute.
The Shift to Agentic ERP
Microsoft is already laying the groundwork by introducing autonomous agents directly into Business Central. We are seeing major investments in:
- Autonomous Sales Order Agents
- Automated Payables Agents
- Flexible Agent Designer capabilities
- Broader agentic ERP automation across supply chains
As we head into Directions EMEA 2026, this raises fundamental questions for manufacturing and supply chain leaders:
- What happens when a Purchasing Agent doesn't just draft purchase orders, but actively decides what to buy?
- What happens when a Manufacturing Agent doesn't just suggest production schedules, but actively optimises factory output in real time?
What No-MRP Planning Looks Like in Practice
Instead of running a manual Planning Worksheet every Monday morning to catch inventory shortfalls, autonomous agents work continuously behind the scenes:
- No Planning Worksheets to wade through manually.
- No delayed batch MRP runs that rely on outdated snapshots.
- No static, rigid parameters that fail when lead times drift or demand spikes.
- Just dynamic business outcomes driving real-time execution.
Practical Example: An autonomous agent detects a 3-day transit delay from a key supplier due to port congestion. Rather than waiting for a planner to run MRP, the agent automatically evaluates live factory capacity, shifts secondary work center schedules in Business Central, and places a micro-order with a local backup supplier to keep production running without downtime.
Informed Speculation: What Lies Ahead
To be clear, Microsoft has not formally announced the deprecation of traditional MRP modules. This is informed speculation based on the trajectory of agentic ERP and AI architecture investments currently underway.
However, if this direction holds, it will represent the most significant evolution in manufacturing and supply chain management since MRP was first introduced.
Prepare Your Supply Chain for the Future
I'm Andrew Burn from ERP365.
Join us after Directions EMEA 2026 as we explore whether BC29 marks the beginning of the end for traditional ERP planning. Because the future might not just be better MRP—the future might be no MRP at all.
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Book a strategy session with our team to evaluate your current setup and prepare for agentic ERP workflows.
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