Please Wait a Moment
X

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

Resources Infor ERP Tips & News

Crossroads Connections

Infor ERP Tips & News from the Experts

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

Subscribe to newsletter

Crossroads RMC
/ Categories: Infor ERP Utilization Review, Consulting, Finance, Manufacturing, Operations, Technology

Mitigating Risk With Your Infor ERP

Infor LX | BPCS | Infor LN | Baan

MARCH… "in like a lion and out like a lamb"

Problems = Risk

Boy, it sure seems like we’ve seen our fair share of March “LIONS” over the past few years, wouldn’t you agree? Those lions have manifested mostly as external global problems outside of the control of any given person or manufacturing operation. As we know, problems = risk.

So, how do businesses respond to risk, specifically when it comes to their ERP system? We all deal with risks in our jobs every day. It is our response to the risk that makes all the difference. Creating short-term, midterm, and long-term response strategies ensure that a company can not only handle a fast-changing situation or emergency but also make the investments needed to seize opportunities and become more resilient.

To create these response strategies, manufacturers should examine:

  • How did we get here?
  • Where are we now?
  • Where are we headed?
  • What to do about it?

In order to really dig into each of these areas, our customers have successfully partnered with us to review a particular part of their business that they feel is at risk and sometimes have asked us to review everything…soup to nuts. This review is done through an ERP Utilization Review. In this review, we can dig into such things as:

  • How does data flow from one department to another?
  • Are we relying on outdated processes and procedures?
  • Do we understand why we do what we do?
  • Can we eliminate or streamline processes to become more efficient?
  • Are we making bad business decisions because one department doesn’t have access to real-time data or data from another department?
  • Are we losing money because we can’t track our costs accurately?


Or more specifically by department...

Finance:

  • Do I have the right visibility into our ERP data to be able to do proper financial planning, forecasting, and reporting?
  • Can I reduce the amount of time it takes to do a monthly close?
  • Is my ERP system covering all of my tax compliance requirements?
  • Are we losing money because we can’t track our costs accurately?
  • Do we understand why we do what we do?
  • Can we eliminate or streamline processes to become more efficient?

Manufacturing:

  • Is there a way to gain better real-time visibility into my operations?
  • Can we increase OEE?
  • Are we accurately capturing our time and labor on the shop floor?
  • Are we properly planning to maximize our production efficiency?
  • Do we understand why we do what we do?
  • Can we automate some of our processes to become more efficient?

Materials:

  • Do we have full visibility into our supply chain?
  • Is planning negatively impacted because of how we communicate with our suppliers?
  • Are we managing our inventory properly?
  • Are we able to fully analyze our sales in order to maximize profitability?
  • Do we understand why we do what we do?
  • Can we eliminate or streamline processes to become more efficient?


Why live with risk one moment longer than you need to? Whether your Infor ERP investment was made one year ago or twenty, your business deserves the opportunity to maximize the investment that was made and put the strategies in place that will allow your business to mitigate risk and thrive no matter what “LIONS” try to stand in your way.

Crossroads RMC offers a variety of Infor ERP Utilization Reviews allowing companies to achieve a greater return on their Infor ERP investment, maximize efficiency and improve overall employee satisfaction.

Utilization Review for Infor LX (ERP LX)
Utilization Review for BPCS
Utilization Review for Infor LN (ERP LN)
Utilization Review for Baan

Learn more about our Types of Utilization Reviews:

Infor LX (ERP LX) & BPCS

  • Manufacturing Application Utilization Review
  • Financial Utilization Review
  • Supply Chain Utilization Review
  • IBM i Infrastructure Performance Review
     

Infor LN (ERP LN) & Baan

  • Automotive Exchange / ION Utilization Review
  • Technical Systems Utilization Review
  • MRP Utilization Review
  • Supply Chain Utilization Review
  • Finance Utilization Review
  • Utilization ReviewManufacturing 


Visit our Utilization Review FAQ section for Infor LX (ERP LX) & BPCS.
Visit our Utilization Review FAQ section for Infor LN (ERP LN) & Baan.

Previous Article Infor LN & Baan Tip: LN Order Management - Generating Purchase Receipts
Next Article Infor LX & BPCS Tip: How Items Are Selected for a Cycle Count
Print
18537 Rate this article:
5.0
Crossroads RMC

Crossroads RMCCrossroads RMC

Other posts by Crossroads RMC
Contact author

Theme picker

Contact author

Please solve captcha
x

Tips:  LX | BPCS | M3

What items should be MPS planned, and what items should be MRP planned…

Master Scheduled Items are those items that are finished goods, or service items, that receive their requirements either specifically from Independent demand, or both Dependent and Independent demand.

  • Independent Demand is demand that cannot be calculated from higher level demand in the product structure, and therefore must be either a forecast or an actual customer order (Finished Goods or Service parts sold to customers).
  • Dependent demand is derived from higher level demand in the product structure. Dependent demand includes components, raw materials, and sub-assemblies. (these are not normally Master Scheduled Items).
  • Service Parts may have both independent demand from forecast and/or customer orders, as well as dependent demand from higher level demand if that item is also used in other sub-assemblies or products.
  • Cumulative Lead Time is a concept used in Master Production Scheduling (MPS) that combines the “fixed” lead time, and the “variable” lead time needed to produce the product. It is the longest path through a given Bill-of-material. Based on the MPS setup options, Infor/ERP LX will calculate cumulative lead time (also called “the Critical Path”) for you (use the “indented BOM” display in BOM300 and find the item with the longest lead time “L/T”). Note: You may have to use Action 21, Line Detail, to see the “L/T” lead time for each item.
Read more

This is unfortunately becoming a common occurrence in today’s digital society and we are hearing about these sort of attacks quite frequently.

There are a few dos and don’ts when it comes to ransomware as recommended by Norton 360:   

  1. Do not pay the ransom. It only encourages and funds these attackers. Even if the ransom is paid, there is no guarantee that you will be able to regain access to your files.
  2. Restore any impacted files from a known good backup. Restoration of your files from a backup is the fastest way to regain access to your data.
  3. Do not provide personal information when answering an email, unsolicited phone call, text message or instant message. Phishers will try to trick employees into installing malware, or gain intelligence for attacks by claiming to be from IT. Be sure to contact your IT department if you or your coworkers receive suspicious calls.
  4. Use reputable antivirus software and a firewall. Maintaining a strong firewall and keeping your security software up to date are critical. It’s important to use antivirus software from a reputable company because of all the fake software out there.
  5. Do employ content scanning and filtering on your mail servers. Inbound e-mails should be scanned for known threats and should block any attachment types that could pose a threat.
  6. Do make sure that all systems and software are up-to-date with relevant patches. Exploit kits hosted on compromised websites are commonly used to spread malware. Regular patching of vulnerable software is necessary to help prevent infection.
  7. If traveling, alert your IT department beforehand, especially if you’re going to be using public wireless Internet. Make sure you use a trustworthy Virtual Private Network (VPN) when accessing public Wi-Fi like Norton Secure VPN.
Read more
First5758596062646566Last

Theme picker

Tips: LN | Baan

All actions required for converting, validating, matching, and posting electronically received bank statements can be performed within a single session:

  • Bank Statement Workbench (tfcmg5610m100)
  • Bank Statement (tfcmg5610m000)

Alternatively, you can use the sequence of electronic bank statement sessions outlined below.

Steps to Process Electronic Bank Statements:

Read more
12345678910Last

Theme picker

Categories