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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

IDF: Defining the Attributes for a New Object

Anthony Etzel 0 30041 Article rating: 5.0

Attributes are the fields you define in your System i file.

You can begin by building your attribute list in Integrator by synchronizing the object with the host. This process reads the file definition from the System i and builds your list of attributes. The synchronize process will automatically run and read the definitions for the first occurrence of this file name within the library list. You can repeat this process manually multiple times if you change the file definition on the host by using the ‘Synchronize with Host’ option. However, the synchronization process will not recognize changed field names.

Non on key field attributes: The integrator requires a unique key for each object. If the host file already has a key, the synchronization process will automatically identify fields as part of the key as well as add a sequence number to multiple key parts. If the file does not have a unique key, you must either create a keyed logical file or identify the key manually. Key fields are the default sort order for all list views for an object.

Why do you need OTTO? Let’s let our customers tell you…

George Moroses 0 25956 Article rating: 5.0

“Our priorities change daily. It’s important to manage the priorities instead of having someone here in the office constantly expediting. We don’t want to run MRP every day, that would just introduce nervousness, all plans and priorities are likely to change and the flood of recommendations would be unmanageable. We run MRP once a week and rely on OTTO to track the constantly shifting priorities day-to-day.”  
Production & Inventory Control Manager, Top U.S. Crane Manufacturer

Learn More About OTTO

Crossroads RMC is proud to announce the release of the following dashboard views that come STANDARD with the LX Analytics Dashboard

George Moroses 0 29715 Article rating: 5.0

Standard Analytics Dashboard Views: 

  • Sales Bookings (ECH)
  • Accounts Receivable (RAR)
  • Accounts Payable (APH)
  • Planned Orders (KFP)
  • Purchasing (HPH)
  • Shop Order Material (FMA)
  • Shop Order Operations (FOD)
  • CEA
  • Order Booking (ECS)
  • Labor History (FLT)
  • Sales History (SIH)
  • Material Status (IIM/ILI)

Click Here to Learn More

If you can't see everything that happens on your shop floor, you are at a competitive disadvantage

Anthony Etzel 0 31115 Article rating: 5.0

If you’re not able to see everything that happens on your shop floor in real-time, you’re at a HUGE competitive disadvantage! Your competitors are running MES. 

Crossroads MES software provides:

  • A user-friendly interface and an easy exchange of information between the shop floor users and your ERP database. 
  • Planners the ability to schedule work to a specific machine or work area. In addition, it allows for work to be re-sequenced and split for better flexibility in scheduling shop floor activities.
  • Factory workers with the ability to receive the work schedule electronically as well as interacting with it by reporting transactional activity.
  • The ability to electronically display Drawing, Process Instructions, and Quality Instructions so you can eliminate, or minimize, the need for some of the paper on the shop floor.
  • The ability to pass shop floor transactional activity to dashboard displays as well as the ERP system. 

Click here to learn more about Crossroads MES 

or Contact Anthony Etzel today to learn more.

Infor LN & Baan Tip of the Week: Job Groups in LN

Kathy Barthelt 0 79538 Article rating: 5.0

In a scenario where performing job A depends on the result of job B, it is hard to decide at what time job A must be scheduled, and how long job B runs. To handle dependent jobs, you can now create a job group. Use the Job Groups (ttaad5140m000) session to create a job group. A job group has a name, with the same characteristics as a job name, and a description. The Status and User of the job group are handled automatically.

After creating the job group, the jobs are added to the group, approximately in the order the jobs must be performed. The first job in the group (with the lowest Group Number) determines the handling of the whole job group, such as execution date and whether the job group is being repeated. If the job group is not repeating, the job group and all non-repeating jobs in the job group are deleted when the job group has run.

The dependencies of the jobs in the job group are also determined. A job in the job group can only depend on a job in the same job group with a lower job number.

You can use the specific options in the Job Groups (ttaad5140m000 andttams5640m000) sessions to change the status of the job group. The job group statuses have the same meaning as the status of the jobs and the same status changes are allowed.

Note: Job groups are only handled by the BSE service Job Scheduler Service.

A/P Payment Update in LX 8.3.4

Anthony Etzel 0 41935 Article rating: 5.0

A/P Payment Update in LX 8.3.4. ACP660B creates a file using a layout required by the bank; the file informs the bank to pay invoices. These conditions must be met to create the file:

  • FIM is an installed product in SYS821  ­
  • The user is authorized to FIM in SYS600 ­
  • The company is active in FIMCOMIT in SYS105  ­
  • The payment type is in BONPAYTP (SYS105)

Infor LX & BPCS Tip of the Week: LX 8.4 Database

Anthony Etzel 0 57389 Article rating: 5.0

The database in LX 8.4 has undergone a significant change from previous versions. The database has been created using SQL DDL language instead of the old DDS language. The newer format allows for LX to take better advantage of advances in IBM database technologies as they move forward. Additionally, LX will be better able to make changes to tables (aka files) in the future without causing very large MR explosions to replace all programs that use a specific table. To ease the impact of this significant change, the LX tables (aka physical files) have new names that are the same as the previous version file names but with a “P” at the end, for example IIM is now IIMP. The old file names now belong to SQL views that looks just like the tables. This change made it easier to upgrade all the LX programs without changing every reference to every file. Many of the logical files remain although some have been replaced by SQL indexes to improve performance.

Crossroads RMC is Proud to Announce Product Certification for Baan IV to Avalara!

Kathy Barthelt 0 40502 Article rating: 5.0

Crossroads RMC is pleased to announce that our Baan IV integration to AvaTax has officially been certified by Avalara! This means that all Baan IV, Baan V and Infor LN customers now have an automated solution for sales and use tax!

AvaTax provides sales and use tax calculations in real time including rate determination, returning filing, remittance and exemption certificate management. 


Want to learn more? Please contact Kathy Barthelt for more details
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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

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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