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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

Analytics Dashboard: Reports are great, but only provide a snapshots of a specific moment

Don’t you need to know what’s happening right NOW?

Crossroads RMC 0 33607 Article rating: 5.0

Get up-to-date views of your data, graphs, charts, you name it!

All the way YOU want it!  All without touching your ERP!

Learn how Analytics Dashboard for Infor LN & Baan works in your unique environment.
Learn how Analytics Dashboard for Infor LX, BPCS, & M3 works in your unique environment.

The Top 5 Benefits of a Manufacturing Execution System (MES)

by PlanetTogether

Anthony Etzel 0 35018 Article rating: 5.0

MES provides the right information at the right time to show the floor manager how to optimize current conditions to improve production output.

Need 5 more reasons why you should invest in an MES system?
Read the full article by PlanetTogether:

https://www.planettogether.com/blog/the-top-5-advantages-of-a-manufacturing-execution-system

Clearly, an MES does more than simply track the amount of product coming off of your production lines. Improving your facility's efficiency begins with accurately recording production, material usage, and personnel time. Crossroads MES accomplishes this feat with ease and precision.

Infor LX & BPCS Tip of the Week: Trim Leading Zero

George Moroses 0 54041 Article rating: 5.0

In LX 8.4, an enhancement has been included to allow for the expanded Company fields to have the leading zero truncated.

To trim leading zeros, CEA515B is called during macro resolution to trim the leading zero based on the position in the Zero Trim file (GZT). The Zero Trim file contains all the company number fields currently defined in the CEA Cross Reference fie (GXM).

This enhancement provides year over year comparison in financial reports and eliminates the need to setup new companies in programs such as Alias Definition. Financial programs trim the leading zero on Company fields, such as Company 010, on subsystem transactions to process as Company 10 during CEA macro resolution. Clients who prefer to retain the Company value as 010 on financial reports can clear the GZT file.

Infor LN & Baan Add-ons: Need a reason why you should barcode your inventory? How about 8 reasons!

Kathy Barthelt 0 32360 Article rating: 5.0

Top Eight Benefits of Barcodes

Barcodes are often overlooked as a method for cutting costs and saving time. A valuable and viable choice for businesses looking to improve efficiency and reduce overhead, barcodes are both cost-effective and reliable.

Crossroads RMC offers RMClabel which can be tied to any data collection system, or run stand-alone. Create barcode labels with 1D

Infor LN & Baan: Data Collection

Be honest. Does your business REALLY operate in real time?

Kathy Barthelt 0 38058 Article rating: 5.0

Do you have up-to-date real-time information on labor, machine time, and parts consumed? How accurate is your data? Can you get an accurate picture of what is going on across your operations at any time?

If not, Crossroads data collection solution should be considered. By combining sessions, eliminating duplicate entries and using available information to complete a transaction, Web Collect, formerly RMC3 extends the Infor LN and Baan applications to ensure efficiencies and timely information flow and reporting. 

Consulting News: Are you familiar with your Infor LN / Baan System Log?

Kathy Barthelt 0 36291 Article rating: 5.0

Data about the system and the application is stored in a system log. The system data includes information about:

  • The application environment
  • Any reorganization of tables
  • The available free disk space
  • The back-up schedule
  • The user data reports
  • The updates
  • Changes in the system
  • The error messages and solutions

Are you comfortable with reading your ERP system log? Have you checked it lately? Need help interpreting if your system may have a problem? Contact Kathy Barthelt today and one of our expert technical consultants can help to put your mind at ease and make sure your system is running as it should.

Infor LN & Baan Tip of the Week: Warehouse Blocking – LN 10.7

Kathy Barthelt 0 60267 Article rating: 5.0

The functionality to block a warehouse for inbound or outbound transactions has been enhanced. A check for blocks is performed not only during receipt and shipment confirmation, but at multiple stages in the process. In addition, you can specify these blocking options for the inbound and outbound processes:

• No

• Yes

• Interactive

For example, if Blocked for Inbound is set to Yes, no inbound actions are allowed in the warehouse. Consequently, users cannot confirm receipts, generate and put away inbound advice or storage lists, and perform inbound inspections. 

If Interactive is set, during a non-automatic warehouse inbound procedure, warnings are displayed which offer the user a choice to either cancel the action or continue. Batch or automatic inbound processes continue, but the corresponding reports and logs make note of the blocking. However, in all scenarios, receipt confirmation is not allowed.

The same rules are applicable for the warehouse outbound procedure steps. The restriction for receipt confirmation also applies to shipment confirmation.

For warehouse transfer orders, not only the ship-from warehouse is checked for outbound process blocks, but also the ship-to warehouse. This prevents situations in which goods get stuck in transit due to inbound procedure blocks that apply to the destination warehouse. Now, the transfer process is already blocked during outbound.

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Tips:  LX | BPCS | M3

Item Facility Master has a new attribute to define the override inspection days lead time CICP.ICINSD.

  • When an item facility has a defined override inspection days lead time, that value will be used instead of the system parameter inspection days lead time.

MRP exception report, MRP200B
Purchase planning report, PUR285B
Purchase order / Requisition maintenance, PUR500D3
Purchase order consolidation / release, PUR640B1
Vendor splits, PUR653B

This enhancement improved the subfile utilized in MRP320D Master Schedule Detail Inquiry -SCR001 by expanding the subfile with data rather than clearing the subfile as user pages. This change provides full support for the WebTop 4.8 Grid decorator.

This enhancement updated the approach used to populate the subfile to allow a deployed Webtop Grid to function correctly. There is no visible or user-impacted change to the way the program functions.

This enhancement provides improved functionality and full support of a Webtop grid applied to the subfile.

Last

Tips: LN | Baan

Don't laugh - the average lifespan of an ERP system is 7-10 years

Don't laugh - the average lifespan of an ERP system is 7-10 years

Don’t laugh! I know, I know…many of our customers say that after 7-10 years they are finally settling in after the implementation! We have seen many a customer stretch out the lifespan of their ERP system to 20+ years. That sounds great for the company’s bank account, but is it good for the business?

An outdated ERP system hurts your business in many ways, not just with slow performance. The best-of-breed functionality is now 2 decades old, and obsolete technology can't leverage newer technology. Lack of integration leads to siloed data that hurts communication and your internal teams feel the pain, and your customers are noticing. Poor visibility into your operations makes it nearly impossible to achieve industry-based regulatory compliance and meet financial auditing requirements. Not to mention the sheer size of Big Data that is being collected today vs. 2 decades ago or the fact that your vendor is no longer supporting your ERP version.

Let’s scrap it all and start over!

Is it that black and white though? There is an ocean between “do nothing” and “replace everything”. Taking incremental steps can give your organization a tremendous amount of benefit without the tremendous price tag that often goes with ERP replacement, but you need to be willing to take the first step. Maybe there is a manufacturing ERP add-on that you know would provide tremendous benefit and improve overall efficiency, or a web portal that you log in to that allows you to communicate with your suppliers, but it has no tie to your purchase orders, or maybe your team would benefit from a review of industry best practices and how that compares to how your ERP system is currently being used. Or at the very least you need to know if your ERP system is still meeting the organization’s needs.

Success will never be a big step in the future. Success is a small step taken just now.” – Jonatan Martensson

Crossroads RMC specializes in helping manufacturers maximize the benefit of “the small step”.  Not sure how Crossroads RMC can optimize your business?

Our Infor ERP Services can optimize your business with the following initiatives and many more:

Infor LX (ERP LX) Services>
Infor LN (ERP LN) Services>
BPCS Services>
Baan Services>

It's time to take the first step today!
800-762-2077  |  solutions@crossroadsrmc.com

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