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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

May 23, 2018 - Lunch & Learn Webinar for BPCS & LX! - It’s Time to Understand Time

Anthony Etzel 0 19859 Article rating: No rating

 


Lunch & Learn Webinar for BPCS & LX! 
-  It’s Time to Understand Time -

Machine Time  |  Down Time  |  Crew Time  |  Direct Time  |  Indirect Time

So many ways to break down time!
Have you taken the time to understand what these
breakdowns mean and how they impact your business?

Watch the recorded webinar and learn about a fast and efficient
way to capture time from the factory floor.
 

             Click Here to Watch Video (34:41) 

 

 

 

 

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Get Real!

Kathy Barthelt 0 78634 Article rating: No rating

You’ve got an ERP system, so everything should be real time and everyone should have access to information in real time, right? RIGHT?

Why not? Why are there spreadsheets, and separate Access databases off to the side?

Data loses value over time, so why not give everyone up to date, accurate information all the time? Take a look at those silos of information and see how you can eliminate them. Your business will benefit greatly as a result.

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Purchase Order Receive All Processing LX/8.3.5

Anthony Etzel 0 49865 Article rating: No rating

This enhancement to the Purchase Receipts screens; optionally shown with the quantity and weight fields populated with the open value on the purchase order. Previously the user had to manually enter the quantity received or, for a dynamic weight and measure items, the weight received for each line on the purchase order. Now the screens are populated with the open value and if the open value is the same as the value received, the user can simply accept the line.

The Receive All field on the PUR550D1-01 screen determines whether the receipt lines are populated with the open value. A system parameter controls the Receive All default value but the default value can be overridden. If the user specifies 1=Yes in the Receive All field then the PUR550D2-02 screen displays the open quantity or weight for each line. The user can accept the open value for each line. 

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

Anthony Etzel – Featured Speaker at The New England Midrange Users Group Meeting (NEMUG) on May 16, 2018

Anthony Etzel 0 31818 Article rating: No rating

Anthony Etzel, a Solution Executive with Crossroads RMC, will speak at the NEMUG meeting in North Attleboro, MA on May 16th 2018. He will present the History of Shop Floor Control and also talk about current shop floor management technology including Crossroads MES and Analytics Dashboards.


https://www.nemug.com/

BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Gain Efficiency & Save Money – Evaluate Your Production Lines

Anthony Etzel 0 46657 Article rating: No rating

When is the last time you took a hard look at your production lines?

  • How are we moving product through our facility?
  • Do we have work instructions/drawings available where needed?
  • Do we have frequently used inventory available at the line?
  • Where are the bottlenecks?
  • Are processes automated, where possible?

Taking a hard look at your processes and procedures may reveal some interesting results. 

Don’t assume that everyone is doing things the same way. Some may be superstars, and others may need some mentoring. Some processes may be outdated and costing you time and money, while others are extremely efficient. One area of the business may benefit from how others operate. Take the time to review and analyze your findings. Your company may benefit greatly as a result.

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Gain Efficiency & Save Money – Evaluate Your Production Lines

Kathy Barthelt 0 75174 Article rating: No rating

When is the last time you took a hard look at your production lines?

  • How are we moving product through our facility?
  • Do we have work instructions / drawings available where needed?
  • Do we have frequently used inventory available at the line?
  • Where are the bottlenecks?
  • Are processes automated, where possible?

Taking a hard look at your processes and procedures may reveal some interesting results. 

Don’t assume that everyone is doing things the same way. Some may be superstars, and others may need some mentoring. Some processes may be outdated and costing you time and money, while others are extremely efficient. One area of the business may benefit from how others operate. Take the time to review and analyze your findings. Your company may benefit greatly as a result.

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Cost of Goods Sold

Anthony Etzel 0 54494 Article rating: No rating

A major change in LX Release 8.3.5 is the ability to post Cost of Goods Sold Inventory transactions by Cost Bucket. 

This will enable reporting of Cost of Goods Sold on the P&L by Material, Labor and Overhead. 

Up to this point, companies that wished to report at this level had to develop a modification to analyze these transactions and re-book them. This new feature eliminates that need. 

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

Tip of the Week: What is Your M.O.?

Kathy Barthelt 0 80944 Article rating: No rating

I’m not talking “Modus Operandi,” which is a fancy way to say: “what’s your plan to get stuff done”.  I’m talking about Manufacturing Optimization. 

It is all about efficiency, and by that I mean doing more with less. Less labor, less time, less materials, while still delivering a high quality product on time.

The Three Secrets to Improving your MO

1. Identify the key metrics
You need benchmark data so you know what realistic goals are, then track them and publish your performance along with a brief comment from time to time on how things are trending and how you compare with others, particularly your primary competitors. The best thing about this is that it is a system that develops a life of its own.

2. Measure it
Automatically, people start to think about improving things. Then the fun part, stuff begins to improve by itself. Once in place, the system just hums along and the benefits appear, because it has motivated people to think about it, and figure out what they can do to make it better.

3. Communicate it
So if you publish gross profit numbers, explain to people how what they do affects the numbers. Employees tend to start to modify their behavior as a result, and look more critically at whether a given purchase is even necessary.

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

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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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