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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

OTTO Q&A from the Director of Planning & Technology at Champion Industries

George Moroses 0 30568 Article rating: 5.0

1.  How difficult is it to initially install OTTO?

Dead easy is the straight answer. We relied on you to install, and you installed in the predicted 1 hour.  

2.  Would you install it on a test system or on the production system?

Production system is another easy answer. I use OTTO as the ideal prototype when talking to business contacts about “add-on” products. It is non-invasive; it only reads data from our ERP files. I know the implementation is 100% safe because no ERP files are ever updated (read corrupted) by OTTO.

3.  How difficult was it to implement OTTO? Was there a negative impact on daily operations?

There is a learning curve involved in using any new tool that has value to add. OTTO implementation is very low on the impact scale, but I would strongly recommend that a prospective client plan on investing in education and practice. OTTO implementation is low impact. No valuable tool is “no impact”.

Click here to learn more about OTTO

Is the Crossroads Analytics Dashboard Product Better than Spreadsheets?

Crossroads RMC 0 33848 Article rating: 5.0

You bet it is!

The Analytics Dashboard allows you to take your data and configure it any way you’d like, all without touching your ERP system! 

Any number of reports can be generated with just a few mouse clicks. In addition, full color graphs are automatically generated to illustrate the data being presented. Paper reports and Excel spreadsheets are dated. With Analytics Dashboard, data is refreshed at the touch of a button. 

Analytics Dashboard for Infor LN & Baan >
Analytics Dashboard for Infor LN, BPCS, & M3 >

MES News: Current trends indicate plants and factories are seeking to improve...

George Moroses 0 36970 Article rating: 5.0

Current trends indicate plants and factories are seeking to improve internal flexibility, implement a common information platform, and deliver real-time information. MES supports a variety of lean concepts on the plant floor, including kanban, waste reduction, load balancing, etc.  It maximizes your existing investment in your ERP system while embracing lean initiatives.  Visit our Crossroads MES page to learn more.

Infor LX & BPCS Tip of the Week: Purge optional during Month/Period End - LX 8.4

George Moroses 0 57602 Article rating: 5.0

For various month/period end programs, the purge function is now optional.

Scope:

INV903, Inventory Month End Close, optionally purges both inventory records as well as customer invoices. Some applications already have a flag or option for purging (for example, ACP900) and other applications are stand-alone. If you do not want to purge, do not run these programs: Order Purge and Close, ORD900, Close Quotes, ORD930, and Delete RMAs, ORD935. Now there are options on whether to purge records during the month end or period end programs.

The Benefits include:

• Flag or option added to allow the user to decide whether to perform month-end function with or without purge.

• Allows for month-end processing without purge.

• Improves efficiency of month-end processing.

Impact:

This enhancement includes these programs or areas:

• INV903, Inventory Month End Close

• ACR900, A/R Period Close

• CST900, PRF900, SFC900 Shop Order Close

• PUR900, Purchasing Month End Close

Johnson Crushers Selects Crossroads RMC for LN 10.6 Data Collection

Kathy Barthelt 0 38029 Article rating: 5.0

Johnson Crushers International (JCI), a global leader in engineering and manufacturing full lines of cone crushers, horizontal and incline vibrating screens and track-mounted, portable and stationary crushing and screening plants, has selected Crossroads RMC’s Data Collection solution for their Infor LN 10.6 implementation. 

JCI’s main objectives with this project are to support their continued growth and enable a continuous improvement effort to drive additional value to the business. In phase 1 of this project, JCI will implement Crossroad RMC’s Labor Reporting and Maintain Receipts data collection applications. Go live is expected to occur in early Q1 of 2020.

Factors to considered when undertaking an ERP implementation or upgrade

Kathy Barthelt 0 38340 Article rating: 5.0

Things to consider when choosing your ERP Implementation Partner:

ERP Partner Value Add:

  • Proven track record
  • References
  • Focused on-time / on budget
  • Strategic partnership with Infor
  • Knowledge of extension products that are available for your ERP
  • Post-implementation – What does the partner bring to the table once the project is complete?

Project Management

  • Does your assigned project manager fit your needs?
  • Past project management experience with the same ERP
  • Project Management methodology
  • Project Plan development and style
  • Does the PM develop a realistic plan with clear objectives, timeline, and responsibilities?

 
Consulting Team Selection​

Need help figuring out if your organization is properly positioned for an implementation or upgrade? Contact Kathy Barthelt today. We can help to ensure that your organization is positioned for success.

  • Does my ERP Implementation partner have the team to support my project?
  • Resume review
  • Interview all candidates
  • Working knowledge of ERP system/version
  • Communication skills
  • Geographic location
    • Relative industry experience
    • Technical Viewpoint
    • Understanding of any enhancements made to your system and what the best approach to streamlining for future releases. Knowing the tools available to accomplish this task.

LN & Baan Tip of the Week: Inventory In Transit Report – 10.7

Kathy Barthelt 0 81373 Article rating: 5.0

A new In Transit Inventory report can be printed in the Print In Transit Inventory (whinr1410m300) session. The report provides an overview of company inventory that is on the move and not stored in a warehouse. This concerns only inventory that is transferred from one warehouse to another. Items that are shipped to, for example, customers or projects, or items that are issued to production lines or service departments are excluded.

The report shows item inventory quantities and values on warehouse transfer orders which are issued at the origin warehouse, but are not yet received in the destination warehouse. These open inter-warehouse transfer orders represent inventory that is loaded on trucks or other means of transport, or located at intermediate pooling points such as harbors and train stations.

The quantities and values are retrieved from the Item-Warehouse-Inventory Transactions and the Inventory Integration Transactions sessions.


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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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