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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 30549 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 33843 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 57600 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 38028 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
/ Categories: Infor LN & Baan Tips

Infor LN & Baan Tips & Tricks for EXECUTIVES

FINANCE TIP:

Cash Forecast Reports and Inquiries

To produce the cash flow forecast, the combined information from the following is used:

  • Customer and supplier accounts
  • Open sales and purchase orders
  • Purchase quotations
  • Purchase requisitions
  • Standing orders
  • Projects
  • Financial budgets

You can use the bank balances of the bank relations that are maintained in the Bank Relations (tfcmg0510m000) session, to generate the reports with details of cash inflows and outflows of the company for a specified period of time.

You can also manually specify the Opening Balance for the cash forecast. Use the sessions below to print and generate the reports:

  • Cash Forecast Summary by Date Range/Currency (tfcmg3518s000)
  • Print Cash Forecast Details by Date Range/Currency (tfcmg3412m000)
  • Print Cash Forecast Summary by Period/Currency (tfcmg3410m000)
  • Cash Forecast Summary by Date/Currency (tfcmg3519s000)
  • Print Detailed Cash Forecast in Cash Forecast Currency (tfcmg3413m000)
  • Cash Forecast Components by Date/Currency (tfcmg3520m000)
  • Print Forecast Components by Date/Currency (tfcmg3420m000)

OPERATIONS TIP:

Deleting Purchase Orders:

  • If Finances is implemented, we recommend that you do not delete order data in a fiscal year that has not yet been fully closed. This is because the GRINYA process uses information that would be deleted by this action. For best results, check whether the logistical balance for non-invoiced receipts matches the balance of the GRINYA accounts for the periods up to which you want to delete purchase order data.
  • When a purchase order is canceled, you can only delete the purchase order and the related tables. If only a purchase order line is canceled, the line can be deleted and archived.

You cannot delete a purchase order (line) if:

  • The linked warehouse order is closed but cannot be removed.
  • The purchase order is linked to a PCS project that is not yet archived. When the PCS project is archived, the purchase data is also archived and you can delete the purchase order.
  • A consignment replenishment order is not yet consumed completely.
  • The invoice is yet to be completely matched and approved.
  • The invoice amount is not yet inserted as turnover history.
  • The sales order or service order that is linked to the purchase order line, and for which an internal invoice must be sent from the purchase office to the sales office or service office, is not yet invoiced. In this case, you cannot delete the purchase order line before the sales order or service order is invoiced.

TECHNOLOGY TIP:

Application Personalization

Users can personalize sessions and apply special formatting to the data displayed in sessions. The personalizations and formatting settings that are specified by the users are stored on the LN server. Administrators can maintain these settings.

  • Session personalizations

    Users can personalize sessions in various ways. users can, for example, hide fields, change labels, customize the toolbar, and move fields to another tab. Administrators can maintain the personalizations defined by the users. For example, an administrator can export personalizations to an XML file, import personalizations from an XML file, and copy personalizations to another user, to a DEM role, or to a company number.

  • Report personalizations

    You can use the Report Designer (ttstppersrep) to personalize the layouts and style of reports, without modifying the standard reports or using an external reporting solution. The changes are stored as personalizations.

    You can also generate new reports that are based on a selection of fields from the application data model. These reports are generated in the extensibility package. You can personalize these reports in the Report Designer (ttstppersrep), or modify them in Infor LN Studio.

    For details, see the Infor LN Report Designer Development Guide
     
  • Conditional formatting

    users can define conditions to apply special formatting to the data displayed in LN sessions. The users can define multiple conditions per session and different types of formatting, such as a specific color for particular fields or rows, and a warning symbol for particular rows. Administrators can maintain the formatting settings specified by the users and can define system-wide formatting settings.

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Kathy Barthelt

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