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Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Are You Still Using Handwritten Tickets for Your Inventory?

Kathy Barthelt 0 49598 Article rating: No rating

This method of inventory tracking is slow, and prone to human error.

Putting a simple barcode system in place speeds up the process of tracking inventory movements, reduces the likelihood of mistakes, and creates a recorded history of the who/what/where that can provide valuable insight to those who make critical business decisions for your business.

Not sure where to start? Contact us and we’d be happy to help you take the first step.

  

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

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BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Why Would You Buy a BMW, But Use a Scooter?

Anthony Etzel 0 32585 Article rating: No rating

Congratulations! You bought that shiny, new car! It has all the features you can possibly want and goes a million miles an hour. It can take you anywhere your heart desires…….but you rely on a manual scooter to get you around. You know, the kind you had when you were a kid…BEFORE you could drive…before you could afford the BMW. Make sense? Uh... no.

You’d never do this, right? So, why are you doing this with the ERP system that runs your business? Why are you relying on spreadsheets and separate little Access databases to record and store the information that is the most critical to your business when you have an ERP system that is meant for this? Why continue to plod along at a snail's pace when you have the tools to take your business to the next level?

Your ERP system is your BMW. Use it. See what it can do for you. Think you’ve used it to its potential? Unlikely. We’ve helped customers breathe new life into their EXISTING ERP version all by unlocking functionality for them that was already there and ready to use! We’ve also helped by offering add-ons to the ERP that can make your productivity skyrocket.

Ask us how. We’ve got an extra set of keys to the BMW in case you lost yours.

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

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Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Why Would You Buy a BMW, But Use a Scooter?

Kathy Barthelt 0 73597 Article rating: No rating

Congratulations! You bought that shiny, new car! It has all the features you can possibly want and goes a million miles an hour. It can take you anywhere your heart desires…….but you rely on a manual scooter to get you around. You know, the kind you had when you were a kid…BEFORE you could drive…before you could afford the BMW. Make sense? Uh... no.

You’d never do this, right? So, why are you doing this with the ERP system that runs your business? Why are you relying on spreadsheets and separate little Access databases to record and store the information that is the most critical to your business when you have an ERP system that is meant for this? Why continue to plod along at a snail's pace when you have the tools to take your business to the next level?

Your ERP system is your BMW. Use it. See what it can do for you. Think you’ve used it to its potential? Unlikely. We’ve helped customers breathe new life into their EXISTING ERP version all by unlocking functionality for them that was already there and ready to use! We’ve also helped by offering add-ons to the ERP that can make your productivity skyrocket.

Ask us how. We’ve got an extra set of keys to the BMW in case you lost yours.

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

Read more

BPCS/LX TIP OF THE WEEK: 6 POWERFUL STEPS TO WIN WITH AUTOMATION:

Anthony Etzel 0 32146 Article rating: No rating
  1. Eliminate paper shop packet and distribution of the paperwork to the shop floor.     
  2. Eliminate manual (paper-based) recording activities and the need to key in the transactions.
  3. Easy electronic scheduling by sequence and changing job priorities.
  4. Evaluate differences using actual times compared to standards.
  5. Improve data accuracy and eliminate the need to chase and fix errors.
  6. Practice real-time data reporting to monitor efficiencies and identify problems as they occur.
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Baan/LN Tip of the Week: 6 Powerful Steps to Win With Automation:

Kathy Barthelt 0 73086 Article rating: No rating
  1. Eliminate paper shop packet and distribution of the paperwork to the shop floor.  
  2. Eliminate manual (paper-based) recording activities and the need to key in the transactions.
  3. Easy electronic scheduling by sequence and changing job priorities.
  4. Evaluate differences using actual times compared to standards.
  5. Improve data accuracy and eliminate the need to chase and fix errors.
  6. Practice real-time data reporting to monitor efficiencies and identify problems as they occur.
Read more

Duncan – Out With the Old In With the New… MES

Anthony Etzel 0 18962 Article rating: No rating
Duncan Enterprises, Inc., a leading designer, manufacturer, and distributor of ceramics, arts and crafts, fabric dying and painting products, fashion arts, and home decor DIY products, has selected Crossroads MES to implement throughout all of their shop floor departments and work centers. Through this implementation, Duncan intends to replace their existing Code Soft label software and Shop 2000 Reports. In addition, they expect to eliminate manual tracking of performance measurements and labor. With Crossroads MES, all shop floor paperwork will be distributed in a paperless fashion and all shop floor activities and production receipts will be captured. In addition, real time shop floor status information will be available for reporting across the enterprise.
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Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Transaction Accounts – Commissions

Kathy Barthelt 0 76383 Article rating: No rating

In Baan IV, if a link with Financials exists for commissions and rebates, invoices are created directly in the Commission Control System (CMS) module and posted to Financials. As a result, users must specify the ledger accounts that are used for posting commissions and rebates in the Maintain Commission/Rebate Transaction Accounts (tdcms2101m000) session.

In LN, the Maintain Commission/Rebate Transaction Accounts (tdcms2101m000) session is removed from the Commission Control System (CMS) module, because invoices are no longer created directly in the Commission Control System module.

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BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Vendor Maintenance Security Option for Company or Program

Anthony Etzel 0 38787 Article rating: No rating

The Vendor Maintenance Security option is in the Purchasing System Parameters program(PUR820D). The purpose of this program is to provide an additional security option for VendorMaster Maintenance. To access this program, the user selects the Parameters Generation option from the System Functions menu, SYS500. The user can modify the Vendor Maintenance Security parameter from PUR820D-04 in the Purchasing System Parameters program.This feature provides an additional security parameter for Vendor Master Maintenance.

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

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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.

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Tips: LN | Baan

Kathy Barthelt
/ Categories: Because I Care, Services News, Infor ERP Utilization Review, ERP Utilization Review & Process Improvement Consulting

An ERP System Review is NOT a Report Card

It's a no-judgment-review - we promise!

report card C minusWe all remember our school days and the nervousness that we felt when it came time to get our grades. Even if we were doing well, we were still nervous. Sometimes we experienced that same nervousness when it came time for a performance review on our job. Nervousness…sometimes dread…knowing that our performance was not what we wanted it to be, or others expected it to be. 

Somehow I think the feelings that we felt in our past often find ways to creep into our present. I have seen this recently when I suggested an ERP system review to one of our customers. They immediately became flustered and thought about every possible problem that they knew existed within the software and how they were currently using it. I asked them to consider the purpose of the ERP system review.

An ERP Utilization Review will:

  • Document how your company is using your ERP system (or a particular aspect of the system) and to what extent the system meets the needs of the business.
  • Identify challenges encountered using the software.
  • Create opportunities for improving business processes and generating additional value.
  • Identify potential risks and areas that need improvement.


key hole to the futureSo, if the result of ERP system review is to establish a path forward for growth based on current status, then why doesn’t every company take advantage of it? I think for some, the answer lies in the feelings of nervousness and dread still stuck in the recesses of our brains.

An ERP system review or more specifically a utilization review is NOT a personal report card, or performance review showing how well a particular individual does his/hers/their job, nor is it an attack on the team that implemented the software. 

As they say, hindsight is 20/20. What we view now to be a less than ideal implementation methodology may have been absolutely appropriate at the time the software was originally deployed. The software has likely matured and the skillsets of the individuals responsible for the system have likely matured as well. In some cases, those resources are no longer with the company, leaving those that remain with no back story as to how and why implementation decisions were made.

Instead of viewing the ERP utilization review as a reason to find fault in previous decisions, think of it as discovering untapped potential – both of the ERP system and the people who use it. Viewing an ERP utilization review in this way puts a positive spin on it and allows us to challenge ourselves to identify opportunities for growth far greater than anything we imagined before. This means not only moving our businesses forward faster but also advancing the strength of the company as individuals and as a team.

What untapped potential lies within your company?

Consider a utilization review of your entire ERP system, or just a part of it like Finance, Technology, Materials Management, Order Processing, or Shop Floor Control. You just might be surprised at what greatness can be achieved… far greater than anyone could have imagined.  

Get a free phone consultation button

800.762.2077

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Kathy Barthelt

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