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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

Crossroads MES Released for Windows 10

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Crossroads RMC is pleased to announce the availability of Crossroads MES, V11 for Windows 10. Any customers wishing to upgrade from a previous version to V11 can do so by contacting  support@crossroadsrmc.com. As previously announced, Crossroads MES  is also compatible with tablet PCs running Windows 8.1. Tablet PCs are becoming the clipboard replacement for supervisors and managers to monitor what’s happening on the shop floor.

BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Shop Order Release Date

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The shop order release date is the date that the shop order is scheduled to be released for production.

If you want to use the backward schedule method, make sure the release date is blank and the due date is maintained.

If you maintain the quantity on the shop order and the due date is prior to the system date, the due date and the release date are the same.

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Plan Codes

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In Baan IV, plan items exist within the context of a plan code. A plan code includes only items of the MPS Item item type. Planned orders are independent of a plan code. Users can compare plan codes by means of the Plan Code Performance Comparison (cprmp4504m000) session.

The scenario concept in Infor LN replaces the plan code concept in Baan IV.

In Infor LN, the basic data for plan items is the same for all scenarios. However, users maintain not only the master plan within a scenario, but the planned orders as well.

For example, for each scenario, Users can specify:

  • Special demand for an item.
  • The availability of resources (in the Scenario – Availabilities (cprpd4160m000) session).
  • The sourcing strategies and supply strategies.

Users can compare scenarios by means of the Performance Indicators (cprao2201s000) session.

BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Receiving to Inspection

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If the item being received needs to be inspected prior to being available for use, there are two schools of thought.

The first is to receive the item to a QC hold location. The downside is the item will show up in on hand inventory.

A better method would be to do a PO receipt to inspection. Both Inv500 and Pur550 support this method. Now you have received the item without showing it in inventory. Only the PO quantity in inspection is updated. This method also allows you to create an Inspection Dispatch Report. After the QC process for the item is complete, then the transaction Receipt from Inspection to Stock is processed. That transaction then updates the PO quantity received field and the Item on hand field in inventory.

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Purchase Inquiry

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In Baan IV Purchase Control, the purchase inquiry procedure enables the user to:

  • Request a specific supplier to submit a quotation on the purchase inquiry for the delivery of an item.
  • Compare the prices and discounts of the quotations that are submitted by different suppliers.
  • Copy the inquiry data to a purchase order.


In LN, you can:

  • Request multiple business partners to submit a quotation on a specific request-for-quotation for the delivery of an item.
  • Compare the received quotations based on the following criteria:
  1. Price
  2. Quantity
  3. Vendor rating
  4. Delivery dates
  5. RFQ subjective criteria
  • Copy the quotation data to a purchase order, a purchase contract, or a price book.

BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Shop Order Release Date

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The shop order release date is the date that the shop order is scheduled to be released for production.

If you want to use the backward schedule method, make sure the release date is blank and the due date is maintained.

If you maintain the quantity on the shop order and the due date is prior to the system date, the due date and the release date are the same.

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Plan Codes

Kathy Barthelt 0 66339 Article rating: No rating

In Baan IV, plan items exist within the context of a plan code. A plan code includes only items of the MPS Item item type. Planned orders are independent of a plan code. Users can compare plan codes by means of the Plan Code Performance Comparison (cprmp4504m000) session.

The scenario concept in Infor LN replaces the plan code concept in Baan IV.

In Infor LN, the basic data for plan items is the same for all scenarios. However, users maintain not only the master plan within a scenario, but the planned orders as well.

For example, for each scenario, Users can specify:

  • Special demand for an item.
  • The availability of resources (in the Scenario – Availabilities (cprpd4160m000) session).
  • The sourcing strategies and supply strategies.

Users can compare scenarios by means of the Performance Indicators (cprao2201s000) session.

Filtec Selects Crossroads RMC for Baan Data Collection

Kathy Barthelt 0 32119 Article rating: No rating

Filtec, a leading provider of in-line inspection solutions for the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries, has selected the Web Collect, formerly RMC3 data collection solution from Crossroads RMC for their Baan IV system. Filtec plans to implement Labor Reporting and Report Operations Complete as part of this project with the goal of eliminating manual data entry and gaining better visibility to gap time. The project is scheduled to go live in early November 2015.

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Tips:  LX | BPCS | M3

Tips: LN | Baan

An ERP System Review is NOT a Report Card

It's a no-judgment-review - we promise!

report card C minusWe all remember our school days and the nervousness that we felt when it came time to get our grades. Even if we were doing well, we were still nervous. Sometimes we experienced that same nervousness when it came time for a performance review on our job. Nervousness…sometimes dread…knowing that our performance was not what we wanted it to be, or others expected it to be. 

Somehow I think the feelings that we felt in our past often find ways to creep into our present. I have seen this recently when I suggested an ERP system review to one of our customers. They immediately became flustered and thought about every possible problem that they knew existed within the software and how they were currently using it. I asked them to consider the purpose of the ERP system review.

An ERP Utilization Review will:

  • Document how your company is using your ERP system (or a particular aspect of the system) and to what extent the system meets the needs of the business.
  • Identify challenges encountered using the software.
  • Create opportunities for improving business processes and generating additional value.
  • Identify potential risks and areas that need improvement.


key hole to the futureSo, if the result of ERP system review is to establish a path forward for growth based on current status, then why doesn’t every company take advantage of it? I think for some, the answer lies in the feelings of nervousness and dread still stuck in the recesses of our brains.

An ERP system review or more specifically a utilization review is NOT a personal report card, or performance review showing how well a particular individual does his/hers/their job, nor is it an attack on the team that implemented the software. 

As they say, hindsight is 20/20. What we view now to be a less than ideal implementation methodology may have been absolutely appropriate at the time the software was originally deployed. The software has likely matured and the skillsets of the individuals responsible for the system have likely matured as well. In some cases, those resources are no longer with the company, leaving those that remain with no back story as to how and why implementation decisions were made.

Instead of viewing the ERP utilization review as a reason to find fault in previous decisions, think of it as discovering untapped potential – both of the ERP system and the people who use it. Viewing an ERP utilization review in this way puts a positive spin on it and allows us to challenge ourselves to identify opportunities for growth far greater than anything we imagined before. This means not only moving our businesses forward faster but also advancing the strength of the company as individuals and as a team.

What untapped potential lies within your company?

Consider a utilization review of your entire ERP system, or just a part of it like Finance, Technology, Materials Management, Order Processing, or Shop Floor Control. You just might be surprised at what greatness can be achieved… far greater than anyone could have imagined.  

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Kathy Barthelt

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