Integrations and interfaces
Integrations and interfaces for Business Central
Stable data flows across shop floor, logistics, quality, and finance - built so an interface can be evidenced, not just observed to work.
Business Central is rarely the only system that matters. Production data arrives from MES or shop-floor equipment, quality results from LIMS or a QMS, movements from a warehouse system, and postings leave for a consolidation or DATEV. Each of those hand-offs is a point where data can be silently altered, delayed, or lost.
In a regulated estate an interface is not plumbing - it is a data path with the same integrity expectations as the systems at either end. ALCOA+ does not stop at a system boundary, and an inspector asking how a batch record reached the ERP is asking about the interface. We design and build these connections so that behaviour under failure is defined, and so the evidence exists before someone asks for it.
What we cover
Interface design and build
The connection itself: API-first where Business Central supports it, with failure behaviour decided rather than discovered.
Data integrity across the boundary
The controls that make a transferred record defensible, not just present.
Qualification and change control
Interfaces treated as validated objects, with the evidence and the change process that implies.
Interface design and build
- Business Central APIs and AL extensions, Azure integration services, and file or middleware paths where a system leaves no other option
- Error handling, retry, and idempotency defined up front - what happens on a duplicate or a partial message is a design decision, not an incident
- Interface specifications that state the contract, so a change on either side is a visible change rather than a surprise
Data integrity across the boundary
- ALCOA+ applied across the hand-off: attribution, timestamps, and completeness preserved rather than reconstructed
- Audit trail continuity so a record's history survives the crossing between systems
- Reconciliation and gap detection, so a missing message surfaces as an alert instead of a year-end discrepancy
Qualification and change control
- Interface qualification proportionate to the GxP relevance of the data crossing it
- Change control covering both ends, including supplier-driven changes you do not schedule
- Documentation your quality function can present, rather than knowledge held by whoever built it
How we deliver
- We map the data flows before proposing any technology. Most interface problems are unclear ownership of a field, not a missing connector.
- Built and handed over with source control and deployment as part of the delivery, so the interface is maintainable by someone other than us.
- Honest about what should not be integrated. A scheduled export that a human checks is sometimes the correct answer in a GxP context.
- Senior involvement throughout. The people who design the interface are the people who build it.
Related reading
- ALCOA+ Principles and Business Central - Data Integrity in Regulated ERP
- Batch and Lot Management in Business Central - A Guide for Regulated Manufacturers
- Audit Readiness Checklist for Business Central in Regulated Industries
Have an interface you cannot fully account for?
If data arrives in Business Central by a route nobody has documented, or an integration works but could not be evidenced in an audit, we offer a focused discussion to map the flows and establish what needs qualifying.