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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

BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Indirect Labor Reporting

Anthony Etzel 0 80540 Article rating: No rating
In the Shop Floor Control Module, you have the ability to key in both direct labor and indirect labor. However you want to establish specific types (reasons) for the indirect labor. The SFC600 labor entry program shows a reason code field, but it is designed for reject quantity and machine downtime reasons, not indirect labor reasons.

There is a way around this. With an MES solution you have the ability to setup and report indirect time against a specific reason code.

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Configuring Items in Infor LN

Kathy Barthelt 0 90533 Article rating: No rating

In Infor LN, the configuration of a generic item not always results into a customized item. Configured items can now be customized items as well as standard items. If users configure items without PCS projects, standard items are generated instead of customized items.

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Optionally Include Tax Amounts In Order Balance

Kathy Barthelt 0 79240 Article rating: No rating
In Baan IV, the order balance amount always includes the tax amount. Consequently, the tax amount must be recalculated every time an order line is modified in order to update the balance correctly. If the tax provider is activated, this requires an API call for every re-calculation of tax.

In Infor LN, users can select or clear the new Include Tax in Order Balance check box in the COM Parameters (tccom0000s000) session to indicate whether users want to include tax amounts in the order balance amount. This parameter has an effect on various sessions in Order Management.

BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Shop Order Status

Anthony Etzel 0 83887 Article rating: No rating

You can see the status of the Shop Order when using SFC300 Shop Order Inquiry. You want to be sure that your shop orders are at the correct status in order to report against them.

The following are the shop order status codes:

04 = The Shop order has been entered.

05 = The Shop order has been released and printed.

14 = The Shop order has been released, but not printed. If a shop order is at this status, you have released it and it is not printed due to a system failure, or the order has been put on hold.

XX = The Shop order is closed.

BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Work Center & Machine Locations

Anthony Etzel 0 85557 Article rating: 4.0
For either file, you must specify a valid location code as defined in the Location Master File.

If the machine master locations are blank, then the work center locations are used. There are cases where you may want to do a combination between the two in defining the locations.

Let’s say the end item has one operation. The operation is at work center 510 and Machine A is in the work center. You have locations setup in both the Work center file and the Machine master File. You report 100 complete at the work center without specifying the machine.

In this case, the inventory will be processed based on the locations defined in the work center file. If the transaction included the machine number, then the locations in the machine file would be used.

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: What could go wrong with GRINYA?

Kathy Barthelt 0 80266 Article rating: No rating
One common GRINYA issue would be incorrectly entered Integration Setups.

Check the Baan/LN manual for recommended Integration setups. If such a mistake were to occur, it is important to know for what period of time the Integration was in error. It is recommended that the Integrations Setup tables be audited either through Baan or Database Auditing. Corrections can be quickly calculated when an exact timeframe can be determined.

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Differentiating An Item By Supplier - LN

Kathy Barthelt 0 78922 Article rating: No rating

In LN, you can differentiate between items at various suppliers:

  • Locations (warehouses),
  • Purpose (planning, purchase)
  • Origin (supplier, warehouse)

Example

An item is supplied by two different suppliers. Supplier A ships in lots of 100 pieces due to how the item is packed. Supplier B ships the goods in units of 60 pieces.

You can define specific parameters for each supplier. The following sessions can be used to define these characteristics:
 
  • Items - Planning (cprpd1100m000)
  • Check Item Data by Warehouse (whwmd2210m000)
  • Item Supplier Plan (cpvmi0530m000)
These sessions define entities that have an n-to-1 relationship with the general item data.

 

BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Inventory Control

Anthony Etzel 0 89553 Article rating: No rating

In Infor LX you need to determine how inventory will be moved in and out of warehouse storage locations, and which of the following transactions to use for inventory control:


  • A transfer transaction can be used to move inventory from one warehouse location to another warehouse location.
  • A production receipt transaction is used to add inventory to a warehouse location.
  • A material issue or backflush is used to reduce inventory from a warehouse location.
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Tips:  LX | BPCS | M3

Tips: LN | Baan

Kathy Barthelt

Infor LN & Baan Tips & Tricks for TECHNOLOGY: Data Sharing Methods (Advantages and Disadvantages)

Depending on the multicompany scenario you choose, an implementation team must decide whether or not tables must be logically linked or if data must be synchronized in another way to achieve availability of data across various companies. 

There are 3 ways in which data may be shared among companies. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of each:

  1. Logical Table Linking - If two companies use the same physical data, the physical table exists, or is used, in only one company: the physical company. Each piece occurs only once: one instance of the same data. If the term logical table linking is used, users from multiple companies use a single physical instance of the data. If the company tables are on the same server, this can be accomplished by logical table linking. Access to specific data can be restricted, if required.

    • Advantages: Logical Table Linking takes place in real time; therefore, the moment a record is created or modified in one company, a record becomes available in all other linked companies as well. The setup and maintenance of logical table linking is easier than the setup and maintenance of data replication. Logical table linking is extremely reliable because this type of linking is independent of network connections and user interventions. 

    • Disadvantages: Table sharing implies that all attributes for a record are the same in all companies. Therefore, suppose you share the item table and, for a particular item in a company, the product class is XXX. In this case, in all other companies, the product class for this item must be XXX as well.

  2. Data Replication - In this situation, each company has exactly the same data, but each company has a unique copy of the data. The same piece of data exists in multiple (physical) places: multiple instances of the same data. The process to copy the data is called data replication.

    • Advantages: Rather than using table sharing by means of the logical linking of tables, you can replicate the content of tables between companies. The advantage is that, on company level, some (non-key) attributes of a record can differ by company. For example, if the bills of materials are replicated instead of shared, for each company, you can link a different warehouse to the bill of material. As a result, the bills of materials can be the same across all companies and only the warehouses differ. Using replication, you can also make only a subset of the records available in other companies. For example, if you replicate items between companies, in a sales company, for example, by means of the item group, you can only make end items available. In addition, you can replicate only a subset of items, for example, depending on the item group. Note that replication also requires that the referenced tables are replicated or shared.

    • Disadvantages: Replication is not in real time, and therefore, for processes that require real-time integrated data as the financial integration processes, replication is not an option. For replication, you also must take into account the sequence in which you replicate. First, you must replicate the child tables and then the parent tables, and therefore first the business partners and then the purchase contracts. During the replication process, the data must be frozen. This point is of particular importance if the replication process takes a lot of time.

  3. Manual Syncronization - If only a small number of records are the same between some companies, you can enter, maintain, and keep the records synchronized manually. Note that the more dynamic data is, the more difficult this process is. This solution is strictly procedural. Therefore, depending on the discipline of the users, the solution is error sensitive: data can be forgotten, updated too late, or typing errors may occur.

  • Advantages - The main advantage is the flexibility so that only the data that really must be shared can be kept synchronized. By manually keeping data synchronized, not all attributes of a record need to have the same value.

  • Disadvantages - The main disadvantage is that this method depends on user interaction. Therefore, the method depends on the user’s time - because the method is not a real time procedure and the user may forget to update the data - and users can make mistakes.

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