The Top Manufacturing Capabilities in Business Central 2025 Wave 1
Each new Business Central release brings a flood of updates, and it’s not always easy to find what matters most. In the 2025 Wave 1 Release, one of the biggest wins (in my opinion) is the ability to attach documents directly to production records like BOMs, routings, and production orders, eliminating the need to have separate document locations. You’ll also find improvements like multi-line BOM entry, side-by-side BOM comparisons, better planning tools, and enhanced reporting with customizable Excel layouts and deeper Power BI integration. This post cuts through the clutter and focuses just on the manufacturing updates — so you can get up to speed without digging through all the release notes.
The Ability to Add Documents to Production Orders
One of the most impactful changes in the 2025 Wave 1 Release is the ability to add Build Records and other supporting documents directly to production orders in Business Central. For end-users, this solves a long-standing pain point — having to track down forms and documentation stored outside the system, often in disconnected folders or separate platforms. These documents are critical for understanding what actually happened during production, from quality checks to deviations and approvals. Now, with everything tied directly to the production order, users can easily reference the full history in one place, dramatically improving traceability, reducing errors, and making audits or process reviews far more efficient. This change brings true cohesion to production recordkeeping and eliminates one of the biggest workflow headaches manufacturers have faced for years.
To find this feature, start by navigating to Production Orders (type doesn’t matter). You’ll notice that there is a new FactBox window available that shows “Documents” – similar to how you would see it on a Purchase or Sales Order:
Adding a file is as easy as clicking in the drop-down:
And you’re presented with the same interface as a normal document upload:
This allows you to upload any documentation needed for a particular production order, and it can always be retrieved from the “Finished Production Orders” section.
This feature also enables documents on the Routings and Production BOMs in Business Central!
Reopening a Production Order
In past versions of Business Central, once a production order was finished, there was no way to reopen it— making simple corrections nearly impossible. With 2025 Wave 1, you can now reopen production orders, allowing users to fix errors, add missing details, or update documentation without workarounds. This new flexibility ensures more accurate records and smoother manufacturing operations. Although keeping in mind that you are only able to reopen a finished production order once!
While this might seem simple, it’s a great enhancement to Production Orders.
These two updates — document attachments on production records and the ability to reopen finished production orders — are a big step forward for manufacturers using Business Central. They directly address common frustrations that many teams have dealt with for years: disconnected documentation and the inability to fix simple errors after an order is closed. With these improvements, manufacturers can now maintain more complete, accurate, and accessible production histories, streamline corrections, and reduce reliance on external systems or messy workarounds. It’s a clear sign that Microsoft is listening to its manufacturing users and making meaningful changes where it counts.
