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Infor LX Tips, Infor LN Tips, BPCS Tips, Baan Tips, Infor M3 Tips & Infor ERP News

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Infor ERP Tips & News from the Experts

Infor LX | Infor LN | BPCS | Baan | Infor M3

Infor News You Can Use: Driving Digital Product Passport Compliance

Crossroads RMC 0 834 Article rating: 5.0

Prepare for Digital Product Passport Compliance with Expert Insight from Lora Cecere
Founder, Supply Chain Insights

With the EU Digital Product Passport (DPP) set to launch in 2027 for initial industries—batteries, consumer electronics, and textiles (footwear and apparel)—businesses are beginning to confront a rapidly evolving compliance landscape. Yet with many requirements still undefined, confusion is widespread.

Lora Cecere's latest research helps organizations cut through the uncertainty by offering actionable insights and a clear, customer-centric, outside-in approach to DPP readiness.

Key Highlights:

  • Start with the Customer in Mind
    Align compliance efforts with market demands to drive growth and gain a competitive advantage.

  • Break Down Silos
    Cross-functional collaboration—across sustainability, supply chain, procurement, and policy is essential for success.

  • Clarify Compliance
    Understand the core elements that define DPP compliance and the practical steps needed to achieve it.

  • Learn from Diverse Approaches
    See how companies are navigating DPP differently, with no one-size-fits-all path to readiness.

  • Adopt GS1 Standards
    Address the existing gap in the implementation of critical global standards for traceability and product information.

Build the capabilities your organization needs today to meet the demands of tomorrow—with a forward-looking, customer-first strategy.

👉 [Access the full research here

5 WARNING SIGNS Your Disconnected Business Systems Are Costing You Money

Crossroads RMC 0 833 Article rating: 5.0
  1. You Can’t Track Project Costs in Real-Time
    If you're waiting until after a project wraps up to find out whether it was profitable, that’s a major red flag. Without real-time cost tracking, you're making critical decisions in the dark.

  2. Quoting and Estimating Are Slow, Manual, or Inconsistent
    Does it take hours—or even days—to build a custom quote because you're pulling information from multiple systems? That lost time translates directly into lost sales opportunities.

  3. You Rely on Spreadsheets for Critical Operations
    Spreadsheets are useful—until they’re not. Issues like version control problems, accidental overwrites, and human error can lead to costly mistakes.

  4. Scheduling and Inventory Management Are Disconnected from Financials
    If your production and finance teams aren’t working from the same data, it’s only a matter of time before you face delays, stockouts, or budget overruns.

  5. You Don’t Have a Real-Time View of Project Profitability
    Without live costing tied directly to jobs, small losses can accumulate unnoticed, until it's too late.

Disconnected data refers to information stored outside your core business systems, like your ERP. While this data has value, a lack of integration causes inefficiencies and misalignment across your organization, often more than you realize.

The Cost of Disconnected Data...

Infor LN & Baan Tips & Tricks for TECHNOLOGY: Authorization and Security - LN REST APIs

Kathy Barthelt 0 1176 Article rating: 5.0

In typical LN REST API integrations, permissions and authorizations are not implemented or rarely used. To ensure smooth data exchange and avoid errors, it is recommended to disable the authorization and security settings.

Recommendation:

  • In the Authorization and Security Parameters session (tcsec0100m000):

    • Clear the Authorization and Security Enabled check box.

    • Clear all check boxes under Authorization Enable for on the Enabling tab.

Why This Matters:

  • Enabling authorization and security without proper setup can lead to errors and blocked transactions during integration.

  • For example, work center permissions may interfere with:

    • Creating new shifts

    • Booking machine hours

    • Read more

Infor LN & Baan Tips & Tricks for OPERATIONS: Copy Customized Product Structure to Standard Structure (tipcs2232m000)

Kathy Barthelt 0 765 Article rating: 5.0

This functionality allows you to copy the product structure of a customized item to a standard item.

Note: When a customized structure is copied to a standard structure, the Customized check box in the Items session (tcibd0501m000) is cleared.

Item Types:

  • Standard Items: Identified by a regular item code.

  • Segmented Items: Consist of a project code segment and an item base segment (i.e., the customized item’s item code). Segments are defined in the Item Code Segmentation session (tcibd0500m000).

Only components valid for the specified Effectivity Unit will be copied.

Copy Options:

  • Target Routing Code
    Enter the code of the standard routing to which the customized structure should be copied.

  • Copy Product Structure
    Choose whether to:

    • Copy the entire structure

    • Copy only the first level

    • Perform the copy interactively

  • Reference Date
    Only parts of the product structure valid on this date will be copied.

  • Copy E-Item Relationships
    If selected, related E-item records will be copied.

  • Copy All Components and Effectivity Statements
    If selected, unit effectivity is copied to the standard structure. You can specify the unit.
    Exceptions related to routings and operations (that meet date effectivity) are also copied.

  • Alternative Material
    If selected, alternative BOM components are included in the copy.

  • Use-Up Material
    If selected, use-up materials from BOM components are included.

Infor LN & Baan Tips & Tricks for FINANCE: Rebuild History for Account Matching (tfgld1218m000)

Kathy Barthelt 0 893 Article rating: 5.0

Use this session to rebuild the ledger account history for account matching. This is particularly useful if you’ve recently defined a ledger account, on which transactions already exist, as a matchable account.

You can specify the fiscal year and period for which you want to rebuild the account matching history.

Note: This session can also be used to remove unmatched transactions if you decide to stop performing account matching for a specific ledger account.

Field Information

Selection Range

  • Use Job Reference Date
    If selected, Infor LN uses the Job Reference Date as the basis for rebuilding history data.

  • Job Reference Date
    Specifies the date and time used for the rebuild process.
    Enabled only if "Use Job Reference Date" is selected.

  • Financial Company
    The financial company for which you want to rebuild a ledger account history.

  • Ledger Account
    The specific ledger account to rebuild.

  • Fiscal Year
    The fiscal year for which you want to rebuild the ledger account matching history.


     

Infor LX/BPCS Tips & Tricks for FINANCE: Override Warning in Invoice Entry PO Costing

George Moroses 0 1301 Article rating: 5.0

Improves control over PO costing changes during invoice entry by replacing passive warnings with an intentional override action.

  • In ACP500D3 (Invoice Entry PO Costing), users previously could unintentionally accept changes by pressing ENTER, even when quantity to cost or amount to cost values had changed.

  • A new “F14 to Override” warning message replaces the old message:
    “Details have changed. Press enter again to accept data.”
    This ensures users acknowledge and confirm significant changes explicitly.

New System Parameter:

  • “Apply GRN Costing Tolerance for PO Costing” (optional):

    • Within tolerance: Displays the original message —
      “Details have changed. Press enter again to accept data.”

    • Outside tolerance: Triggers the new override requirement —
      “F14 to Override”

Benefits:

  • Enhances oversight and reduces unintentional cost acceptance.

  • Enables better control of PO costs when invoice details differ from expectations.

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Tips:  LX | BPCS | M3

Enhances purchase order efficiency by automatically calculating the Vendor Delivery Date based on user input.

  • When a purchase order line is created, the user enters the item, order quantity, and Due Date.

  • LX automatically calculates the Vendor Delivery Date, adding buffer time for quality control, testing, and inspection activities.

  • If the Due Date is revised, an informational message prompts the user to review and potentially update the Vendor Delivery Date.

Enhancements:

  • A new PUR820 system parameter enables automatic recalculation of the Vendor Delivery Date.

  • Instead of a manual reminder, PUR500 now issues a message: “Vendor Delivery Date recalculated,” showing the updated date.

Benefits:

  • Eliminates the need to manually review and update the Vendor Delivery Date.

  • Removes the need to delete and recreate PO lines to trigger automatic date calculation.

Enables integration between LX and Infor OS Federation Services (IFS) to automate user provisioning.

  • Bi-directional user synchronization between Infor OS and LX:

    • Infor OS user creation or changes automatically create or update users in LX.

    • IBM i user profiles can be created if needed.

    • Updates to SYS600 user data are reflected in Infor OS.

  • Security Role Integration:

    • LX Security Roles and Units are published as IFS Security Roles via SyncSecurityRoleMaster BODs.

    • LX receives inbound SyncSecurityUserMaster BODs from IFS to create or update user records in SYS600.

    • SYS600 Exit Points trigger ProcessSecurityUserMaster BODs to request user creation or updates in IFS on behalf of LX.

Available Versions: 8.3.5, 8.4.1, 8.4.2

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Tips: LN | Baan

Kathy Barthelt

Infor LN & Baan Tips & Tricks for TECHNOLOGY: Archiving Concept

Companies are developing procedures for entering data into an ERP system and for archiving manuals, drawings, specs, and other hard-copy documents. However, in many cases there is no defined procedures to store historical electronic data. Archiving electronic data should be an integral part of your business processes. 

Generally, archiving is the process of moving historical data from the operational environment to a special archive environment. At home, you might move old bank statements from a closet in your study to a box in the attic. At the office, you might store old hard copies of purchase orders in a room far from your own desk. Just because you no longer need the information in your daily work, does not mean you can dispose of the information. In terms of electronic data in your ERP system, archiving means moving historic data from the operational company to a special archive company; in that way, the historic data will be out of your way and safely stored. To free up disk space on your machine after you have archived the data, you can also move the historic data to an external medium.

Archiving strategy:
Archiving historical data is an irreversible process. After data is moved to the archive company, the data can no longer be uploaded back into the operational company. Archiving has a direct effect on the accessibility and availability of information; therefore, you must define a robust archiving strategy which addresses three major topics: What, When, and Who.

Business requirements:
Your business requirements determine what must be stored and for how long. For example, if you have a warranty situation on your projects for five years, you might be required to keep your project open during this time, or you may keep the project in an archive company. Therefore, if the project must remain open, no project-related information, including orders and integration transactions, can be archived.

Every business manager must decide how long what data must be stored in an operational environment for quick access. Reporting requirements must also be listed.

Legal requirements:
In most countries, legal requirements apply to financial data. Tax authorities may require financial data to be stored for a minimum number of years. Additionally, in specific lines of business such as food and beverages or aerospace, governments maintain specific legal requirements, which impact your archiving strategy.

User requirements:
Users rely on historical information. For example, a customer service employee may need to have shipment information of up to one year in the past to accurately address customer queries. These requirements must also be taken into account when you define what can be archived.

Data to be archived or deleted:
Various parties related to your company use information based on logistical and financial transactions occurring in the past. Before you archive or delete this information, you must investigate the need for the information.

Your ERP system contains standard archiving sessions in all major modules. These sessions are designed to copy historical data to the archive company, and then delete the data from the operational company. 

You have three options in archiving sessions:

  1. Archiving and deleting: Data is transferred to the archive company and then deleted in the operational company.

  2. Deleting: Data is deleted in the operational company, but not archived.

  3. Archiving: Data is transferred to the archive company, but not deleted in the operational company.

Using option 1 or 2 makes archiving irreversible. If you archive only because you want to preview the results, the archiving can be done a number of times.

Usually, in archiving sessions, you can also specify:

  • The date up to which the data must be archived
  • If texts must also be archived
  • If texts that already exist in the archive company must be replaced

In addition to archiving logistical and financial data, you can archive general data. 

Delete sessions:
In all major modules, your ERP system contains delete sessions. These sessions only have delete functionality, no archive functionality. Consequently, they are used to clean up data in the operational company, not to transfer data to the archive company. For more information about these delete sessions, see the "Delete sessions" sections under the various modules. For example, see Delete sessions under Procurement.

After data is deleted using delete sessions, the data is no longer available in the operational company. However, parameter settings may determine whether history data is logged when you remove specific data. If required, you can archive the history using the appropriate archiving session.

When can data be archived?
Based on the answers to the previous question, you can now set a term of retaining relevant historical data in your operational environment, and a term of keeping data available in the archive environment.

Who can archive data?
Because archiving is an irreversible process, a certain risk is involved. For example, what if one of your employees starts up an archiving session by mistake? For this reason, you must determine who is authorized to archive and delete data, and then set up these authorizations with the functionality your ERP system offers.

Because no further changes must be made to archived data, access to the archive company must also be restricted to read-only authorization for most users.

Match strategy with ERP functionality: 
After you list all your requirements, the next step is to verify whether the standard ERP functionality is sufficient to facilitate your needs. Usually, your ERP system provides the functionality to meet all of your needs, but must not force you to compromise. We recommend that you avoid customizing your software, however, because we are looking for long-term operational-data storage, customizations must not be ruled out entirely. An example is the requirement to show, in one report, the data from the operational company and archive company. In the current version, this is not standard functionality, but this can be important to manage your business. What can be even more important, if you are using customized software, is the question of whether the archiving sessions have been included. Do you take into account the fields and tables you have customized? Customized tables and fields may have to be included when performing delete/archive runs.

Archiving plan:
After you define an archiving strategy that suits your requirements, you can define the archiving plan. In this plan, you translate the strategy to a more operational level.

Contact Crossroads RMC— Let's take the next step together to execute your archiving plan.

800.762.2077

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Kathy Barthelt

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