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BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: The 3 Secrets to Improving Your MO (Manufacturing Optimization)

Anthony Etzel 0 30801 Article rating: No rating
  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. Publish your numbers, and explain to people how what they do affects the company as a whole and its success/failure. Once they see the numbers, employees quite often start to modify their behavior for the better.

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

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

Anthony Etzel 0 35692 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 Some processes may be outdated and costing you time and money, while others are extremely efficient.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!

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

Kathy Barthelt 0 72836 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!

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Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Operational Inefficiencies

Kathy Barthelt 0 77841 Article rating: No rating
Two big sources of inefficiencies in manufacturing are paper and spreadsheets. Think of how long it takes you to get paper based data into the hands of those who can do something valuable with the data.
 
  • Is the information captured correctly?
  • Can everyone access the information?
  • Is this an accurate representation of what’s going on across all operations?

Make your shop floor paperless and put systems in place that talk to one another and automatically pull and push data to and from your ERP so that you can look in one place for all the information you need to run your business effectively.

  

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

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BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Shop Order Status Codes

Anthony Etzel 0 32055 Article rating: 3.0

Shop Order status codes have been improved to provide a more comprehensive view of the life cycle of a shop order.

In addition to the previously existing ‘Shop Order Status Code’, the Production Status Code has been added. This code is designed to indicate progress and completion levels of each shop order.  Valid codes are:

‘blank’ - no completed items

25 - a partial quantity has been reported

35 - the quantity reported is equal to or greater than the order quantity

  

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

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BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Notes Maintenance Enhancements

Anthony Etzel 0 32676 Article rating: No rating

The Notes Maintenance feature enhancement is made up note programs that are accessible from a central location. The Note Text Maintenance (SYS555), Note Type Maintenance (SYS553) and Multi Language Notes Maintenance (SYS556) programs are all available as menu options. 

The Notes Maintenance feature provides a way to create, revise, delete, and copy note text that are categorized by note types. The print options in Notes Maintenance permit a user to define documents for which the note is intended. This includes base LX documents and custom documents. In addition, the notes program provides a way to define notes by assigning document types.

LX Notes allows the user to go to one location and customize print options, specify user documents, manage multi language notes and manage user-based note security through the defined Security Template program.

  

Optimize Your Manufacturing Today!

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Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Are you still using handwritten tickets for your inventory?

Kathy Barthelt 0 78149 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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Crossroads RMC and The Lake Companies Announce a Strategic Partnership to Provide Shop Floor Dashboards as an Extension of Shop-Trak for Syteline / CloudSuite Industrial

Crossroads RMC 0 13571 Article rating: No rating

Crossroads RMC, a top provider of consulting and software solutions for Infor discrete and process manufacturers and The Lake Companies, a premier Infor SyteLine Solution Provider, today announce a new strategic partnership. The partnership will combine Crossroads RMC's deep knowledge of machine integration and manufacturing optimization with The Lake Companies’ manufacturing execution expertise.

Together, Crossroads RMC and The Lake Companies will deliver a complete and comprehensive shop floor management solution which will integrate seamlessly with SyteLine / CloudSuite Industrial.

“We’re excited to provide Direct Machine Integration capabilities to Shop-Trak via our NextTrack Dashboard module. Our partnership with The Lake Companies will help SyteLine customers move into the future by leveraging this technology.” Said Rich Grilli, President of Crossroads RMC.

To date, over 1000+ sites worldwide have benefitted from Crossroads RMC’s and The Lake Companies’ products and services. Together both companies will be co-innovating to deliver solutions to meet the challenges of manufacturers in the areas of big data, robotics, and more.

 

About Crossroads RMC

Crossroads RMC offers a complete and comprehensive set of software solutions to support manufacturing optimization. Our solutions focus on delivering real-time visibility and control over your entire operation. With over 30 years of experience, Crossroads RMC has become a trusted advisor and technology partner for manufacturers across the globe.  

About The Lake Companies

The Lake Companies is a fully authorized Gold Channel Partner for Infor’s Syteline ERP (CloudSuite Industrial). In its mission to hel

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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: Infor LN & Baan Tips, Services News, Operations

Infor LN & Baan OPERATIONS Tip: MPS Planned vs. MRP Planned

When deciding what items should be MPS (Master Production Schedule) planned and what items should be MRP (Material Requirements Planning) planned, it's crucial to understand the nature of the items and their demand sources. Here's a breakdown:

  • Master Scheduled Items:

    • Master Scheduled Items are typically finished goods or service items.
    • These items receive their requirements from both Independent and Dependent demand sources.
       

  • Independent Demand:

    • Independent demand cannot be calculated from higher-level demand in the product structure.
    • It is driven by forecasts or actual customer orders, primarily applicable to Finished Goods or Service parts sold to customers.
       

  • Dependent Demand:

    • Dependent demand is derived from higher-level demand in the product structure.
    • It includes components, raw materials, and sub-assemblies.
    • Dependent demand items are not typically part of Master Production Scheduling (MPS).
       

  • Service Parts:

    • Service parts can have both independent demand from forecasts or customer orders and dependent demand from higher-level demand if they are used in sub-assemblies or other products.
       

  • Cumulative Lead Time:

    • Cumulative Lead Time is a concept used in MPS.
    • It combines the fixed lead time and variable lead time required to produce a product.
    • It represents the longest path through a Bill-of-Materials (BOM).
    • Your ERP system will calculate the cumulative lead time (Critical Path) based on MPS setup options.
       

  • Infor LN Approach:

    • Infor LN does not differentiate between MPS and MRP planning.
    • It uses Enterprise Planning (EP) with one set of planned orders.
    • While you can set up items and generate orders at plan levels, it's not always necessary.
    • In theory, you could treat plan level 1 similar to MPS items.
       

  • Defining Independent Demand in LN:

    • In LN terms, independent demand is demand not related to other planned items.
    • Dependent demand comes from related planned items higher up in the BOM structure.
       

  • COLT (Cumulative Order Lead Time):

    • COLT exists in the purchase and manufactured planned items.
    • It considers non-critical and critical lead times based on components marked as critical.
    • Once calculated, COLT can be used to update the order and planning horizons of a planned item.

Relevant Sessions:

In Baan IV:

  • Maintain Item Data (tiitm0101m000)
  • Generate MPS (timps3201m000)
  • Maintain Master Production Schedule (timps3101m000)
  • Display Planned Inventory Movements by Item (timrp1510m000)
  • Display Planned MRP Purchase Orders (timrp1521m000)

In Baan V:

  • Plan Item Data (cprpd1500m000)
  • Item Master Plan (cprmp2101m000)
  • Time-Phased Overview (cprrp0520m000)

In Infor LN:

  • Item – Planning (cprpd1100m000)
  • Item Master Plan (cprmp2101m000) - Same as Master MPS if used


For more information and assistance, you can contact Crossroads RMC at 800.762.2077 or via email at solutions@crossroadsrmc.com.

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