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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

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Top 10 Survival Tips For Manufacturers

by Guy Morgan / IndustryWeek

Kathy Barthelt 0 80121 Article rating: No rating

Under intense cost pressures, quality is at risk at many manufacturers. These 10 tips can help you survive the competitive challenges ahead.

  1. Maintain your focus. Make a decision about the kind of company you are and stick with it. 
  2. Reinvent your products regularly. Suppliers who sharply differentiate their products fare the best. 
  3. Maximize your productivity and increase your speed through enhanced product and process design. Lean manufacturing focuses on production and its associated costs from a component's conception.

BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Real Time Access to Your Data

Anthony Etzel 0 44478 Article rating: No rating

Poor performance indicators make for poor outcomes.

Companies today continue to tolerate and accept how labor and production information is recorded, and the reliability on that information is questionable. In addition to collecting labor and production information, there are many other pieces of information manually recorded from the shop floor.

A critical element of information for productivity throughput would be to examine how much time the work center or machine was actually up and running. Downtime is another critical element of data that is usually manually recorded along with a reason identifying what caused production to stop. If this information is not provided on a timely and accurate basis, then what good is it anyway? Forms are filled out, data may or may not be keyed to a spreadsheet, the forms are sorted and filed, but is anybody really looking at the information that was recorded? Think about the amount of time it takes to manage the manual collection of information from your shop floor. 

What would real time access to data mean to your organization?
The benefits:

  1. Real Time Production Visibility
  2. Reduced Paperwork Load
  3. Downtime and Scrap Visibility
  4. WIP Inventory Visibility
  5. Improve Efficiency, Capacity Utilization

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Real Time Access to Your Data

Kathy Barthelt 0 82431 Article rating: No rating

Poor performance indicators make for poor outcomes.

Companies today continue to tolerate and accept how labor and production information is recorded, and the reliability on that information is questionable. In addition to collecting labor and production information, there are many other pieces of information manually recorded from the shop floor.

A critical element of information for productivity throughput would be to examine how much time the work center or machine was actually up and running. Downtime is another critical element of data that is usually manually recorded along with a reason identifying what caused production to stop. If this information is not provided on a timely and accurate basis, then what good is it anyway? Forms are filled out, data may or may not be keyed to a spreadsheet, the forms are sorted and filed, but is anybody really looking at the information that was recorded? Think about the amount of time it takes to manage the manual collection of information from your shop floor. 

What would real time access to data mean to your organization?
The benefits:

  1. Real Time Production Visibility
  2. Reduced Paperwork Load
  3. Downtime and Scrap Visibility
  4. WIP Inventory Visibility
  5. Improve Efficiency, Capacity Utilization

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: January - Time to Reflect and Plan

Anthony Etzel 0 52748 Article rating: No rating

Happy New Year! January is always a great time to reflect on the prior year – what went well, and what didn’t. It is also the obvious time to plan for the coming year – what do I want to accomplish and how can I best achieve my goals?

As the saying goes, “you can’t improve what you can’t measure”, so if you haven’t already, it is time to start putting processes, procedures and programs in place within your company to measure how well each department is doing against their objectives. Start to analyze your numbers and publish them internally. Where are you at currently? Where do you want to be? Seeing both sets of numbers pushes employees to hit those targets. Do this now, and you’ll be seeing positive results before you know it!  

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: January - Time to Reflect and Plan

Kathy Barthelt 0 81981 Article rating: No rating

Happy New Year! January is always a great time to reflect on the prior year – what went well, and what didn’t. It is also the obvious time to plan for the coming year – what do I want to accomplish and how can I best achieve my goals?

As the saying goes, “you can’t improve what you can’t measure”, so if you haven’t already, it is time to start putting processes, procedures and programs in place within your company to measure how well each department is doing against their objectives. Start to analyze your numbers and publish them internally. Where are you at currently? Where do you want to be? Seeing both sets of numbers pushes employees to hit those targets. Do this now, and you’ll be seeing positive results before you know it!  

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

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Tips:  LX | BPCS | M3

Tips: LN | Baan

Is Your ERP Environment Ready for What's Next?

For many manufacturers, ERP has been the foundation of their business for years. It manages orders, inventory, production, purchasing, and financials. But as technology and business demands continue to evolve, many organizations are beginning to ask a different question:

Is our ERP environment ready for what's next?

For some, that conversation includes cloud migration. For others, it's about integration, visibility, analytics, or supporting future growth.

The good news is that modernization doesn't have to start with a major migration project.

Start with the Business, Not the Technology

One of the biggest misconceptions about modernization is that it begins with selecting a new platform.

In reality, the most successful projects begin by understanding the business challenges you're trying to solve.

Questions worth asking include:

  • Are systems connected and sharing information efficiently?

  • Where are manual processes creating delays?

  • Does reporting provide the visibility needed to make timely decisions?

  • Can the current environment support future growth?

The answers often reveal opportunities that can deliver value immediately, regardless of whether cloud migration is part of the long-term strategy.
 

Modernization Is a Journey

Many manufacturers take a phased approach to modernization.

Some begin by improving integrations between systems.

Others focus on reporting and analytics to improve visibility and decision-making.

Some explore cloud-based services while continuing to leverage their existing ERP investment.

The goal isn't simply to move applications to a new platform. It's to create a more connected, scalable environment that supports the business for years to come.
 

Planning Your Cloud Journey

As cloud adoption continues to grow, many organizations are evaluating what a migration path might look like.

Infor's Leap program was created to help customers take a structured approach to cloud modernization through readiness planning, industry best practices, and a defined migration framework.

Whether a move is months away or several years down the road, understanding the available options can help organizations make informed decisions and reduce risk.
 

Where Crossroads RMC Fits In

Every manufacturer's environment is different.

That's why the first step isn't choosing a cloud platform. It's understanding your business processes, integrations, reporting requirements, and long-term objectives.

At Crossroads RMC, we help manufacturers evaluate their current environment, identify opportunities for improvement, and develop a roadmap that aligns technology investments with business goals.

Sometimes that roadmap includes cloud migration.

Sometimes it starts with integration, analytics, or process improvements.

The important thing is having a plan.
 

Final Thoughts

Modernization looks different for every organization. For some, it's cloud migration. For others, it's improving integrations, analytics, or business processes.

The important thing is having a roadmap that aligns technology investments with business goals.

If you're evaluating what's next for your ERP environment, we'd be happy to share what we're seeing and help you explore your options.

Start the conversation

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