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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 LN & Baan: What are your production orders telling you?

Kathy Barthelt 0 29513 Article rating: 5.0

Measure what you want to improve.

Six simple words, but put together they convey a powerful concept that can transform manufacturing companies. It’s a basic concept that’s hard to argue with: Collect data, see where the data leads you, and make changes that have a positive impact on the data. Repeat often.

If your company is manufacturing a product, you’re more than likely creating manufacturing variances. These variances tell managers where the company is not performing to the standards that were created and agreed to by those responsible in the Engineering, Finance, or Production Departments. There is almost a 100% chance you are creating either favorable or unfavorable manufacturing variances and, quite frankly, none of the variances will ever be favorable because the company is either over-costing or under-costing the production parts.

The data is all there within your ERP system… or at least it should be… provided that you are not tracking production information outside of your ERP system in a spreadsheet.

Analyzing your production orders can help you track down:

Infor LN & Baan Tip: MPS planned vs. MRP planned

Kathy Barthelt 0 65307 Article rating: 3.8

What items should be MPS planned, and what items should be MRP planned…

Master Scheduled Items are those items that are finished goods, or service items, that receive their requirements either specifically from Independent demand, or both Dependent and Independent demand.

  • Independent Demand is...

Get Tax Compliance Right in 2021!

Webinar: February 9, 2021 1:00 PM CST / 2:00 PM EST

Crossroads RMC 0 28864 Article rating: 5.0

We brought in our partners at Avalara to make sure you are up-to-speed on recent sales and use tax changes and ready for those to come in 2021. We’ll cover:

  • The impact of COVID-19 in 2020 and its influence on 2021
  • Why understanding economic nexus and its triggers is more important now than ever
  • New tax obligations resulting from increased marketplace sales
  • The international market and changes to cross-border e-commerce compliance
  • Answers to your questions – live!

Date/Time: February 9, 2021 at 11 AM PST / 1 PM CST / 2 PM EST
Duration: 45 minutes
Cost: Free!

Don’t miss this in-depth review of the 2020 sales tax changes you need to know about in order to have a successful 2021.

Register Today>

What is manual tax compliance costing your business?

Crossroads RMC 0 25589 Article rating: 5.0

Why automate tax compliance?
The better question is: Why burden your business with something so complex and tedious when it can be solved with software in the cloud?

Decrease the high cost and drain on your business
Employee time and expertise are expensive

Without automation, your tax professionals are probably buried in endless tasks that could be offloaded. Every hour spent on tax management is an hour lost on other (more important) parts of your business.

Manual Vs. Automated Tax Management Calculator>

Contact Crossroads RMC to learn how the Avalara - AvaTax integration can benefit your company. 800.762.2077​

What are the biggest struggles manufacturers face with regard to tax compliance?

George Moroses 0 30292 Article rating: 5.0
  • Tracking thousands of SKU numbers that cross taxability rules or vary in taxability based on state
  • Getting the rates right and filing the reports correctly
  • Surviving an audit (which in this business is inevitable)
  • Keeping track of all the smaller jurisdictions and their special districts
  • Ensuring a seamless process that is audit-able
  • Figuring out what is taxable and what isn’t
  • Tracking use tax

As with other manufacturing processes, having a repeatable, consistent process with sales and use tax compliance means automation. Automating sales and use tax compliance with a solution that ensures that consistent, accurate process means a solution that delivers:...

Infor LX & BPCS: What are your production orders telling you?

George Moroses 0 30052 Article rating: 5.0

Measure what you want to improve.

Six simple words, but put together they convey a powerful concept that can transform manufacturing companies. It’s a basic concept that’s hard to argue with: Collect data, see where the data leads you, and make changes that have a positive impact on the data. Repeat often.

If your company is manufacturing a product, you’re more than likely creating manufacturing variances. These variances tell managers...

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Tips:  LX | BPCS | M3

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.

Last

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.  

Get a free phone consultation button

800.762.2077

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Kathy Barthelt

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