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

Crossroads Connections

Infor ERP Tips & News from the Experts

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

How Do I Determine If MES Is Right For My Business?

George Moroses 0 36467 Article rating: 5.0

There are certain key questions that must be answered to determine whether or not an MES system would benefit your organization: 

  • How do you analyze OEE?
  • Is there an opportunity to reduce WIP inventory, indirect labor, downtime, waste or scrap?
  • What is the cost and impact of producing and distributing shop paper including drawings and work instructions?
  • Would you like to go paperless on your shop floor?
  • How are your continuous improvement initiatives tied to your ERP?
  • Is Management requesting real time production status reporting via dashboards or drilldown reports?
  • What different “islands of automation” exist on your shop floor?

The answers to each of these questions could have a significant impact on the profitability of your business. Want to quantify your results? Contact George Moroses today to schedule your FREE MES ROI Analysis.

Consulting News: How comprehensive is the Crossroads RMC ERP business audit & how does it work?

George Moroses 0 43503 Article rating: 5.0

Our Infor LX Practice just finished a Supply Chain and Manufacturing audit for one of our customers. During that engagement, several areas of the business were identified that could benefit from additional training and consulting support. 

Areas of significance were:

  • Purchasing
  • Customer Service
  • Billing
  • Inventory
  • Costing
  • Bills of Materials and Routings
  • Material Requirements Planning
  • Shop Floor Control

Several manual procedures and “tribal knowledge” systems were discovered. The evaluation was done by two consultants who spent time with key users during two onsite visits. The next step in the process will involve working with the client to prioritize the list of items identified and develop a strategic plan focused on growth and efficiency.

Infor LX & BPCS Tip of the Week: Order processing enhancement – LX 8.4

George Moroses 0 63381 Article rating: 5.0

Restrict Over-shipments to Customers

  • System parameter option controls when over shipments are allowed

Options to:

  • Continue current process with warning message
  • Give error message
  • Automatically correct to quantity available for shipment
     
  • Option to revise the order quantity so that pricing, promotions, credit checking load planning and other processes reflect the actual quantity
  • Allows better control of exceptions for over shipments
  • Ensures that pricing, promotions are correctly based on actual order quantity

About 65% of the world’s population are visual learners. This extends into the ERP software realm, too.

Infor LN & Baan

Kathy Barthelt 0 81367 Article rating: 5.0

Graphical representation makes complex concepts—like the intricacies of an ERP system—more universal, relatable and easy to understand.

ERP dashboards gather and visualize critical metrics from across the organization, offering insight into the performance, outlook and interconnectivity of business processes.

By setting up ERP dashboards that illustrate key metrics and compellingly communicate operational performance, key stakeholders will have a clear picture of the health of the business—and make better, more informed business decisions as a result.

The Crossroads Analytics Dashboard has preconfigured views for all of the following:

 Infor LN & Baan
  • Accounts Payable
  • Accounts Receivable
  • Journal
  • Booked Sales
  • Invoiced Sales
  • Production
  • Receipts
  • Purchase Orders
  • Inventory

To learn more visit our Analytic Dashboard webpage.

Data Collection: Are you able to perform a full cycle count of your inventory in one day?

Kathy Barthelt 0 41462 Article rating: 5.0

Cycle Counting Benefits:

  • Overall increased inventory accuracy
  • Increased accuracy of count
  • Ability to review and approve count before direct update of Baan / Infor LN tables
  • Elimination of unnecessary re-orders of items with current inventory
  • Greater ability to satisfy customer orders due to greater visibility to accurate inventory levels
  • Direct labor cost savings – less staff required for count
  • Increased productivity during count

Some of our customers counts used to take weeks. They can now complete a count of their entire inventory in one day. One of our LN customers just told us that they recently wrapped up a cycle count using our software and said it was the first time ever that they completed a count without one complaint or mistake!

Contact us today to learn more - 800.762.2077

Integration News: Crossroads RMC has developed an integration from Baan IV to Modula OnePick for Grindmaster Corporation

Kathy Barthelt 0 36286 Article rating: 5.0

One Pick is a Modula Lift automatic vertical warehouse with a special picking bay equipped to provide expedited picking and a high level of pick accuracy. With this system, Grindmaster is able to save floor space, store items safely, automate inventory management, track items, save picking time and prevent picking errors. Go live for this solution is expected in Q1 2020.

IDF News: IDF Maintenance

George Moroses 0 40520 Article rating: 5.0

The Infor Development Framework (IDF) provides two options that you can use to review information about jobs that are in the job queue or underway at the workstations and change the status of unattached jobs or review detailed information for specific unattached jobs.

                Option 5 – Job Status Maintenance: Use this option to review information about jobs that are in the job queue or underway at the workstations. You can also delete records of jobs in the Job Activity (JOBACT) file.

                Option 6 – Unattached Job Status Maintenance: Use this option to change the status of an unattached job. You can also review detail information for a selected unattached job.

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Tips:  LX | BPCS | M3

Tips: LN | Baan

Kathy Barthelt

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

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 demand that cannot be calculated from higher-level demand in the product structure, and therefore must be either a forecast or an actual customer order (Finished Goods or Service parts sold to customers).
  • Dependent demand is derived from higher-level demand in the product structure. Dependent demand includes components, raw materials, and sub-assemblies. (these are not normally Master Scheduled Items).
  • Service Parts may have both independent demand from forecast and/or customer orders, as well as dependent demand from higher-level demand if that item is also used in other sub-assemblies or products.
  • Cumulative Lead Time is a concept used in Master Production Scheduling (MPS) that combines the “fixed” lead time, and the “variable” lead time needed to produce the product. It is the longest path through a given Bill-of-material. Based on the MPS setup options, your ERP will calculate cumulative lead time (also called “the Critical Path”) for you.

Infor LN does not differentiate between the two. Here, it is simply an enterprise planning EP with one set of planned orders. It is possible to set up items and generate orders at plan levels, but not necessary. In theory, you could make plan level 1 similar to MPS items.

Another way of defining independent demand in LN terms is that it is demand not related to other planned items. Dependent demand comes from related planned items above in the BOM structure.

COLT still exists both in purchase and manufactured planned items. It has both non-critical and critical lead times based on components set as critical. Once calculated it can be used to update the order and planning horizons of a plan item.

Relevant Sessions:

In Baan IV
Maintain Item Data tiitem0101m000
Generate MPS timps3201m000
Maintain Master Production Schedule timps3101m000
Display Planned Inventory Movements by Item timrp1510m000
Display Planned MRP Purchase Orders timrp1521m000

In Baan V
Plan Item Data cprpd1500m000
Item Master Plan cprmp2101m000
Time-Phased Overview cprrp0520m000

In Infor LN
Item – Planning cprpd1100m000
Item Master Plan cprmp2101m000 (same as Master MPS above if used)

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Kathy Barthelt

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