Sarah Moody
3 Nov 2026
Welcome to the November edition of the Source & Connect newsletter.
This month, we look ahead to our end-of-year women’s event in London, revisit Roger Fleury's lessons on planning from our D365 Insights podcast, and set out five problems we solve for manufacturers. We also look at how we vet D365 candidates, and spotlight a placement at the heart of a European rollout.
A Note from the Director
This is my favourite time of year! The house is dressed in autumnal decorations – including caterpillars my son made from leaves! Halloween is over and we’re in the lead-up to Christmas. I love it!
It’s been an incredible year and I can’t wait to end on a high. In October, we supported an important client with a key hire (more on this in our Placement Spotlight) and are helping them build a team around that hire. We also welcomed another manufacturer, this time in the nutrition space, and quickly recommended them to a partner we know for Business Central support.
We’re in talks with several businesses and partners who have pipelines for the new year, so I expect a busy few weeks ahead.
In October, I also went on VOICE FM and was interviewed by the lovely Matthew Treviss on his show, The Business. We chatted about my journey into recruitment, setting up Source & Connect when my son was just nine months old, what digital transformation actually means in plain English, why I'm passionate about championing women in tech, and some of the challenges (and rewards!) of running a business. You can listen here: https://www.voicefmradio.co.uk/on-air/shows/the-business-with-matt-treviss/
We’re also looking forward to our end-of-year women’s event, From Ambition to Action: Your Career in 2027. It takes place on Wednesday 2 December from 6pm at Shoreditch Treehouse, London, and will include networking, a panel of speakers and an interactive workshop from Sally Spicer to kickstart your 2027. We’ll announce the panel very soon, so watch this space! Drinks and canapés will be provided.
This one is not to be missed, so book your tickets now: https://www.ticketsource.com/source-connect/t-rzjeedj
From the Archive: Ep 17 of D365 Insights with Roger Fleury
Roger Fleury began his career as a production engineer, was “co-opted” onto an ERP implementation and has specialised in supply chain planning ever since. More than 30 years on, he is one of the most experienced practitioners working with AX and D365.
Roger’s central point is that planning has to bring everything together. His key lessons:
Planners absorb the pressure. They usually keep things running, so problems stay hidden. Without the right systems and support, the strain reaches the wider business as shortages, expediting, and downtime.
Traditional MRP wasn’t built for today. The 60-year-old concept looks for one perfect answer. Roger once saw master planning produce 30,000 change recommendations over a weekend when nothing had happened.
Plan for variability, not perfection. Inventory buffers absorb the shocks, with a simple red, amber, and green view of what needs attention.
Watch the Excel. Parallel spreadsheets are a warning sign, and they break when volumes change or someone is on holiday.
Knowledge transfer matters most in operations. Configuration that is right on go-live day may be wrong next month, so the business needs internal people who can manage it.
Check your KPIs. Rewarding output alone can mean making more of what you don’t need. Delivery to the customer on time and in full is the measure that counts.
His one takeaway: “If you do the same thing all the time, then don’t expect a different result.”
Five Problems We Solve for Manufacturers
These five problems come up repeatedly in our conversations with planners, production managers, finance leads, and implementation consultants.
The plan nobody trusts. When master planning produces unstable recommendations, planners retreat to spreadsheets. We place MRP specialists and production and manufacturing consultants who configure stable planning, including demand-driven approaches.
Data that’s out of date the moment it’s entered. Stock isn’t posted in real time, and lead times are set once, then forgotten. Our advanced warehousing specialists and data migration consultants ensure your D365 records match the stock you actually hold.
Key users with no time to give. The people who know your business best are the hardest to spare. We provide contract backfill and supply chain consultants, freeing your experts to shape the design.
New software, same old process. Rebuilding what you had with nicer screens is easy. Experienced finance and supply chain consultants challenge that and make the implementation worthwhile.
Costing that doesn’t add up. Bills of materials, routes, and resources all feed product cost. Our finance consultants and finance systems managers connect production to the P&L.
If any of this sounds familiar, we’d be glad to talk, even if you’re not ready to hire.
Behind the Desk: How We Vet D365 Candidates
We’ve worked in the Dynamics 365 space for over 10 years, so we know “D365” on a CV can mean many different things. F&O, SCM, CE and BC are different products, and within SCM a planning specialist isn’t automatically a warehousing or production expert. That understanding shapes every conversation we have with candidates and clients.
We often hear from candidates frustrated by calls from generalist agencies that don’t understand those differences. They’re pitched roles that don’t match their skills by recruiters who can’t tell one module from another. It wastes everyone’s time, and it’s exactly what we set out to avoid.
So how do we vet candidates?
It starts with our network. Many of the people we place come from relationships we’ve built over the last decade. We may have placed them before, or they’ve been strongly recommended by people we trust, so we already know their work and reputation before an interview is booked.
We get to know people, not just CVs. Every candidate is interviewed thoroughly. We look at the modules they’ve worked on and the programmes they’ve delivered, but we also want to understand who they are, how they work and what they want next. Wherever possible, we meet on Teams or in person.
We’re building a more diverse talent pool. Through our women in D365 events, we meet female candidates face to face, and we’re proud to play a part in improving gender diversity in tech.
Here’s what one of our candidates had to say:
“Sarah is an absolute delight to work with. She has worked tirelessly supporting my D365 F&O job search and frequently checks in. Communication is great! I highly recommend working with Sarah. She really gets to know both client and candidates, making great connections.” – D365 F&O Consultant
Placement Spotlight: The Hire at the Heart of a European Rollout
We were brought in on an exclusive, urgent brief for a global food and beverage manufacturer. Our contract team had spent the previous 12 months on its complex D365 implementation, covering F&O Finance and Supply Chain (including MRP) alongside CE, and got the UK live after several earlier attempts had failed. It wasn’t an easy project.
The business now needed a permanent Product Manager to sit at the heart of the operation, leading the UK with a team of Product Owners, then helping to roll D365 out across Europe. The role demanded real depth across F&O, SCM and CE, which is rare in itself, plus the gravitas to handle senior stakeholders and the tact to bring everyone along. The successful candidate also had to be in the office three days a week and able to travel internationally.
Every candidate we shortlisted was excellent, and all came from our trusted network. The successful candidate started at the end of October. We wish her every success and look forward to supporting the next stage of the business’s growth.
Only one person could get the job, but we have four other fantastic candidates who are open to similar niche roles. If your business needs a hire like this, please get in touch.
