Please Wait a Moment
X

Infor LX Tips, Infor LN Tips, BPCS Tips, Baan Tips, Infor M3 Tips & Infor ERP News

Crossroads Connections

Infor ERP Tips & News from the Experts

Infor LX | Infor LN | BPCS | Baan | Infor M3

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Advantages / Disadvantages of Virtualization

Kathy Barthelt 0 143321 Article rating: 5.0

I know a lot of our customers are considering virtualization projects. I came across this, and thought it might be useful:

The advantages of virtualization include the following:

• You get more out of your existing resources. Pool common infrastructure resources and break the legacy “one application to one server” model with server consolidation.

• You can reduce datacenter costs by reducing your physical infrastructure and improving your server to admin ratio. Fewer servers and related IT hardware means reduced real estate and reduced power and cooling requirements. With better management tools, you can improve your server to admin ratio so personnel requirements are reduced.

• You can increase the availability of hardware and applications for improved business continuity.

• Securely back up and migrate entire virtual environments with no service interruptions. Eliminate planned downtime and recover immediately from unplanned issues.

 

• Gain operational flexibility. Respond to market changes with dynamic resource management, faster server provisioning, and improved application deployment.

The disadvantages of virtualization include the following:

• Virtualization adds overhead to the CPU, memory, IO, and network.

• Virtualization adds an additional layer to the hardware and software stack. Therefore, additional complexity is introduced in the following circumstances:

  • When sizing the physical server.
  • When planning VM capacity.
  • When planning multiple VMs on the same physical server.
  • When investigating performance issues.

 

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Setting Up Interest Invoicing

Kathy Barthelt 0 107630 Article rating: No rating

You can set up interest invoicing in Accounts Receivable and in the General Ledger.

To set up interest invoicing, use these sessions:

Invoice-to Business Partner (tccom4112s000)
For invoice-to business partners for which you want to raise interest invoices, select the Charge Interest checkbox.

Mapping Scheme (tfgld4573m000)
Use this session to define the mapping of the Interest Invoice / Revenues Analysis integration document type.

Interest Percentages (tfacr5102m000)
Use this session to define the interest percentages for each financial business-partner group, and for different periods of days.

Interest Invoice Related Data (tfacr5101s000)
Use this session to define whether interest must be calculated on unpaid invoices, partly paid invoices, interest invoices, and/or fully paid invoices. You can also indicate that LN must take advance payments, unallocated payments, and credit notes into account for the generation of interest invoices.

Optionally, set conditions
Example: LN only generates an interest invoice advice entry if these conditions are met: The total of all advice entries in one currency is higher than the allowed minimum amount of an interest invoice defined in the Minimum Amount for Interest Invoice field.

The invoice is overdue for a greater number of days than the number of days defined in the Minimum Days for Interest Invoice field.

FSB North America Streamlines Their Shipping on Infor LN with RMCship

Kathy Barthelt 0 24553 Article rating: 5.0

FSB North America, a leading producer of high quality electrified and mechanical locking devices, has selected the RMCship solution from Crossroads RMC to streamline their shipping process on Infor LN and the integration with FedEx® and UPS Worldship™. Using Web Collect formerly RMCship for shipping increases accuracy by eliminating manual steps, streamlines operations, and process steps, and improves customer satisfaction.

BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Vendor Evaluation

Anthony Etzel 0 44497 Article rating: No rating

Want to ensure that you have the materials you need when you need them?Want to gain insight into your ability to fulfill current and future orders timely? 

Consider implementing a method of evaluating your suppliers. A good understanding of your suppliers’ capabilities and past performance allows you to better plan and deliver orders on time to your customers. 

Some ERP systems have built in features to track supplier performance data. Reports can also be written to gather the information you need.  By whatever means you can achieve it, getting those results could be eye opening and very meaningful to your business.

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Vendor Evaluation

Kathy Barthelt 0 78453 Article rating: No rating

Want to ensure that you have the materials you need when you need them?

Want to gain insight into your ability to fulfill current and future orders timely? 

Consider implementing a method of evaluating your suppliers. A good understanding of your suppliers’ capabilities and past performance allows you to better plan and deliver orders on time to your customers. 

Some ERP systems have built in features to track supplier performance data. Reports can also be written to gather the information you need.  By whatever means you can achieve it, getting those results could be eye opening and very meaningful to your business.

BPCS/LX Tip of the Week: Transactions

Anthony Etzel 0 48266 Article rating: No rating

If you opt to summarize transactions, do so after a period of testing so that you can be certain that all models and aliases are working to your satisfaction. When you summarize, consider ‘Summary with Detail’ because this retains the detail transactions in GLH.

Baan/LN Tip of the Week: Creating Product Variants

Kathy Barthelt 0 73982 Article rating: No rating

If you specify a configurable item on the sales order line, you can configure or link a product variant.

An item is configurable if the Configurable check box is selected in the Item - General (tcibd0101s000) session.

Manufactured items with theDefault Supply Sourceset to Assembly in the Item - General (tcibd0101s000) session and Generic items, are always configurable.

Purchased items with the Purchase Schedule in Use check box selected in the Item - General (tcibd0101s000) session, can be configurable.

First929394959799100101Last

Tips:  LX | BPCS | M3

Tips: LN | Baan

Infor LX & BPCS: Why You Need MES

You know your plant better than anyone, and most likely you'd admit that there is room for improvement. Perhaps too many defects are causing costly issues down the road, or maybe your production is behind and orders are shipping late? Do you know what needs to be improved? Do you know about the root causes of the problems that you’re experiencing? Is it fair to say, you don’t know what you don’t know … yet?

MES helps you dig into the problem and better yet, SOLVES the problem!

What Is MES and How Does It Work?

Many companies still enter data manually or share work instructions on paper. Most of them, however, know there’s a better way to organize the mass of activity happening on the plant floor. MES provides visibility to that activity as well as the underlying data and uses that data to improve how that activity is done and makes it repeatable. MES connects multiple sites, integrates with equipment, and raises the effectiveness of business applications all to better optimize operations.

The 3 Pillars of MES:

  1. Establishing a plan and staying on schedule. The system takes your input — production shifts/times, production goals, etc. — and calculates the rate at which you need to complete production in order to meet customer demand. Operators see real-time progress on dashboard graphics, knowing the progress at every moment.
  2. Enforcing a repeatable process. Knowing your process is being followed exactly as defined provides the ultimate peace of mind. Every target, from fastening to product routing, is achieved just as you defined it time after time.
  3. Creating a rich data set. Capturing data is one thing; being able to act on that data is really the key to driving improvement initiatives. Use your analytics, explore your data set, and identify and solve your hidden inefficiencies.

All three of these MES pillars are used to help you reach productivity and quality goals by:

  • Solving production scheduling challenges
  • Discovering and sharing your best operators’ insights
  • Uncovering inefficiencies in your process and fixing them
  • Reducing the exhausting task of putting out fires
  • Establishing a continuous improvement philosophy
  • Increasing operator engagement and dedication

And if you need another reason... according to Forbes.com, MES ranks in the Top 5 Key Areas to Affect How Goods Are Made in 2023 - Five Predictions For Manufacturing And Logistics In 2023.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/02/13/five-predictions-for-manufacturing-and-logistics-in-2023/?sh=1155863f1f76

So, what's next? Work with Crossroads RMC, an experienced MES partner who has seen situations just like yours and who has guided companies in your position. And best of all, Crossroads RMC doesn’t just know MES, we have a team of experts who are knowledgeable about manufacturing best practices, your Infor ERP, and MES and can bring all of that knowledge together to help you formulate the right plan for your company’s success.

Contact Anthony Etzel at Crossroads RMC today. He can provide you with a free MES ROI calculator to give you some concrete numbers to help you see what MES can do for your business. 800.762.2077

Print
28342 Rate this article:
5.0
George Moroses

George MorosesGeorge Moroses

Other posts by George Moroses

Contact author

x

Categories