Microsoft and Western Computer are teaming up for an executive briefing that could reshape how manufacturing and distribution businesses think about their ERP future. The event, “Navigate Forward: Business Central & The AI Advantage,” lands on June 17, 2026, at Microsoft’s Downers Grove, Illinois office—and it’s laser-focused on the industries that form the backbone of the economy.

This isn’t another generic tech webinar. It’s a hands-on look at Dynamics 365 Business Central, Microsoft’s all-in-one cloud ERP, and the artificial intelligence engine driving it: Copilot. For companies still running on the aging Dynamics NAV platform, the clock is ticking. Mainstream support for NAV 2018 ended in January 2023, and even NAV 2023’s life cycle is finite. The message is clear: Modernize or risk falling behind.

The NAV Dilemma: A Legacy Platform Running Out of Road

Dynamics NAV served its purpose for decades. It powered small-to-midsize manufacturers, distributors, and service companies with on-premise financial management, supply chain, and inventory capabilities. But the ERP landscape has changed. Modern businesses need real-time data, remote access, and seamless integration with the broader Microsoft ecosystem—things NAV was never built to deliver natively.

Extended support for some NAV versions offers breathing room, but it’s a costly patch. Customizations break more often, security vulnerabilities widen, and compliance headaches mount. Meanwhile, competitors are moving to cloud-native solutions that leverage AI for routine tasks. The question isn’t if you’ll migrate, but when—and the June 17 event aims to make that answer “now.”

Western Computer, a top-tier Microsoft partner with over two decades of NAV and Business Central expertise, will walk attendees through the migration path. They’ll demystify data migration, custom code translation to AL, and how to preserve years of intellectual property while leaping to a modern platform. Expect real-world case studies: manufacturers who cut order-processing time by 40%, distributors who slashed inventory carrying costs by using predictive analytics, and field service firms that turned technicians into mobile-connected assets.

Business Central: The Cloud ERP That Grows With You

Dynamics 365 Business Central isn’t just “NAV in the cloud.” It’s a complete reimagination built on Microsoft’s Power Platform and Azure. The interface will feel familiar to long-time NAV users—role centers, pages, and the core financial logic remain—but everything else is elevated.

  • Financial Management: AI-driven cash flow forecasting, automated bank reconciliations, and real-time consolidation across entities. Copilot drafts payment reminder emails based on payment behavior.
  • Supply Chain: Intelligent inventory replenishment suggests optimal order quantities by analyzing historical demand and seasonality. Supplier risk assessments pull from external data sources.
  • Manufacturing: Production scheduling with machine learning, quality-control alerts triggered by IoT sensors, and real-time shop floor reporting.
  • Project Management: Resource planning that suggests staffing based on skills and availability, with Copilot generating project status reports in seconds.

Because Business Central lives in the Microsoft cloud, it integrates natively with Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Insights, Power BI, and Office. That means a shop floor manager can see a live production dashboard in Teams, reply to a customer’s email from the order screen, and let Copilot summarize the sales pipeline—all without switching apps.

Copilot: The AI Advantage In Action

Microsoft’s Copilot stack is more than a chatbot. In Business Central, it acts as an intelligent assistant woven into daily workflows. For manufacturing and distribution professionals, this translates to:

  • Conversational Analytics: Ask “Which product lines had the highest margin last quarter?” and get an instant chart with drill-down capability.
  • Automated Document Processing: Copilot reads PDFs and emails from suppliers, extracts key fields, and creates purchase orders—reducing data entry errors and freeing up AP teams.
  • Supply Chain Resilience: When a shipment is delayed, Copilot proactively suggests alternative suppliers and recalculates delivery commitments, then generates a personalized customer communication.
  • Shop Floor Assistance: Technicians can query equipment histories, check part availability, and log work orders using natural language on a mobile device.

All of this runs on enterprise-grade security and compliance. Data stays within the tenant; Microsoft doesn’t use your data to train models. For regulated industries, that’s non-negotiable.

Event Deep Dive: What To Expect On June 17

Western Computer’s “Navigate Forward” briefing will start at 9:00 AM CT and run until early afternoon, with a working lunch included. The agenda is built to address both strategic and tactical concerns:

  • Keynote: The Future of ERP for Manufacturing & Distribution – A Microsoft director will lay out the roadmap for Business Central, including upcoming Copilot enhancements and industry-specific features.
  • Live Demo: Migrating from NAV to Business Central – Western Computer’s technical team will walk through a migration tool, showing how data comes across and how customizations are refactored. They’ll also cover common pitfalls and the steps to validate a successful cutover.
  • Customer Panel – Three companies that recently made the jump share unfiltered experiences: what they underestimated, where the first ROI appeared, and advice for those in the audience.
  • Copilot Labs – Hands-on stations where attendees can test Copilot scenarios with their own sample data (provided in advance). This is the moment to see how AI interprets your unique processes.
  • ROI Workshop – A facilitated session that helps each attendee build a back-of-the-envelope business case for migration, factoring in licensing, implementation, and operational savings.

The venue at Microsoft’s Downers Grove office is designed for collaboration, with breakout rooms for one-on-one consultations. Attendees should bring a laptop if they want to participate in labs; Wi-Fi and power will be abundant.

Who Should Be In The Room

The event is tailored for decision-makers at mid-market manufacturing and distribution companies currently running Dynamics NAV, or those evaluating a new ERP. Ideal attendees include:

  • CFOs and Financial Controllers who need faster closes and better reporting
  • VPs of Operations/Supply Chain wrestling with inventory blind spots
  • IT Directors responsible for maintaining legacy systems
  • Business Owners looking for a competitive edge with AI

Western Computer emphasizes that teams are welcome—ERP decisions affect every department, and seeing reactions firsthand can accelerate internal alignment.

Registration is free but limited to 60 seats. Interested parties should contact Western Computer directly or visit their events page; a confirmation email will include a pre-event survey to tailor the Copilot labs to each attendee’s role.

Why 2026 Is The Tipping Point

By mid-2026, several factors converge to make migration urgent:

  1. Support Expirations: Many NAV 2015 through 2018 instances are already past mainstream support, and extended support is ending or costly. Even NAV 2023 users face a narrowing window.
  2. AI Maturation: Microsoft’s Copilot capabilities have matured from novelty to necessity. Competitors are using AI to cut order-to-cash cycles; laggards will soon find margin pressure insurmountable.
  3. Cloud-First Ecosystem: Microsoft continues to invest exclusively in cloud services. New features (like Copilot) never appear in NAV. Integration with Power Apps, Power Automate, and the broader Dataverse is cloud-dependent.
  4. Labor Constraints: With skilled trades and warehouse workers in short supply, AI assistance can amplify the existing workforce. Copilot’s ability to handle repetitive tasks lets humans focus on exceptions and customer relationships.

Western Computer’s track record adds weight. The partner has handled hundreds of migrations, many for multi-national manufacturers with complex intercompany postings. Their methodology includes an automated assessment tool that scans a NAV system to estimate migration effort, so businesses walk into the event with a rough timeline tailored to their environment.

Beyond Business Central: The Intelligence Platform

The event will also touch on adjacent Microsoft solutions that maximize Business Central’s value:

  • Power BI and Fabric: Unified analytics that combine ERP data with CRM, web traffic, and IoT streams, then surface insights via Copilot. A VP of Operations can ask, “What was our on-time delivery rate last month by region?” and get a visual answer within seconds.
  • Dynamics 365 Sales Insights: Copilot monitors sales emails and suggests when a deal might slip, pulling in related supply chain constraints. Sales and operations finally share a single source of truth.
  • Power Automate Process Mining: Discover inefficiencies in purchase-to-pay or order-to-ship processes before they’re coded into the new system. The tool visualizes process deviations and recommends Copilot-powered workflows to fix them.

Western Computer consultants will be available for mini-assessments after the labs, providing a starting point for a full digital transformation roadmap.

Practical Considerations For The Migration Journey

No sugarcoating: migrating from NAV requires planning. Attendees will learn the phases:

  1. Assessment: Using the automated scanner, understand your current NAV footprint—code units, reports, pages, and integrations.
  2. Rationalization: Decide which customizations to retire, which to replace with standard features or apps from AppSource, and which to redevelop. Copilot can sometimes replace custom reporting logic.
  3. Data Migration: Cleanse and map data, validate in a sandbox environment. Business Central’s data migration tools simplify the heavy lifting, but historical data often needs governance.
  4. Parallel Testing: Run NAV and Business Central side-by-side for at least one month-end close to build confidence.
  5. Cutover & Training: A structured cutover plan minimizes downtime. Training with Copilot means users learn the assistant as they learn the interface, reducing the learning curve.

Western Computer will share a sample project plan and highlight which steps offer the biggest time savings with their accelerators.

The Bottom Line

“Navigate Forward: Business Central & The AI Advantage” is more than a product demo. It’s a strategic session for companies that understand the risk of standing still in a world that’s accelerating. With Microsoft’s stamp of approval and Western Computer’s deep implementation know-how, the event promises to turn generative AI from a buzzword into a balance-sheet asset.

If your business still runs on Dynamics NAV, mark June 17 on the calendar. The path to a modern, AI-driven ERP starts in Downers Grove.

For registration details, visit Western Computer’s website or reach out to your account representative.