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

You can benefit from a business process review only if...

You can benefit from a business process review only if...

Infor LX | BPCS | Infor LN | Baan

Did you implement your ERP system 5 years ago… or maybe 20 years ago? At the time, it was like a brand new car… sleek, fast, top-of-the-line, and fuel-efficient. And although it may have needed a few minor “adjustments”, overall you were very pleased. Fast forward to today. Does it still have that new car smell? Does it run as efficiently as it used to? Do you know how to fix a problem when it occurs?

While ERP systems are certainly designed to last, over time, your business changes, your customers’ needs change, employees change and you are left with a system that may run “fine”, but you certainly don’t feel the same way about it as you did when it was brand new.

So the good news is that you CAN restore that “new car smell” with a utilization review, or business process review.

What is a Utilization or Business Process Review and Why Do I Need One?
Simply put, a business process review is an exercise designed to help businesses identify areas of improvement to become more agile, efficient, and streamlined.

Does my organization need a Business Process Review? 

While every company could benefit from conducting a business process review, it's only worth the time and effort if you have a specific problem you're trying to solve or a goal you are trying to achieve. Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, organizations must be ready and willing to make changes. 

That's why a business process review is critical; it helps align processes, define goals, and thoughtfully plan and build solutions that help businesses achieve actual growth.

Our consultant reviews the current usage and related business processes of your entire Infor ERP system, or a particular area like Finance, Manufacturing, Materials Management, or Technology to make recommendations that will reinvigorate your Infor ERP system and those that use it.

Other benefits include:

  • Creating a consistent way of working across the business
  • Automating processes to reduce effort and increase productivity
  • Improving decision-making capability by providing access to real-time, reliable, and accurate information
  • Creating opportunities to improve your customer service levels and response times
  • Increasing your ability to attract and retain quality staff

Your ERP system may require some engine work, or it may just require an oil change and an expert to look everything over to make sure things are running smoothly. Either way – whether this is a project you take on internally or decide that you need some expert guidance from a company like Crossroads RMC, it is worth the time and investment to ensure peak performance.

Business process reviews can be performed 100% remotely via phone or web meeting, or in person – you choose what works best for your team.

Contact Us: 800.762.2077 | solutions@crossroadsrmc.com


 

Previous Article Infor ERP Tip: 57% of Companies Have Experienced Some Type of Cyber Attack
Next Article Crossroads RMC Welcomes Robert Brown!
Print
17362 Rate this article:
5.0
Crossroads RMC

Crossroads RMCCrossroads RMC

Other posts by Crossroads RMC

Theme picker

Contact author

Please solve captcha
x

Tips:  LX | BPCS | M3

TECHNOLOGY: Facility Security Ranges

Previously, a user could complete the Cost Transfer (CST920) process for any range of facilities regardless of their security settings established in SYS600. This enhancement verifies the user security settings set up in SYS600 before processing cost transfers for a range of facilities in CST920. If the user has authority for a facility range, but there are facilities within that range that are not authorized, the program skips those facilities and completes the cost transfer process.

FINANCE: Expiration Date for Quotes and RMAs

A Cancel-by-Date has been added to the Quote Header and RMA Header panels. This optional field can limit how long a quote or authorization to return items for credit is valid.  

For quotes, this enhancement provides an optional end date for the quote. For RMAs, it provides an optional date by which the customer must return the items to receive the credit listed on the RMA.

The Cancel-By-Date prints on the Order Acknowledgement and RMA Acknowledgement to inform the customer of this important limitation to the quote or return authorization. 

An Order Entry user cannot copy the quote to create a new order if the Cancel By Date has caused the quote to expire.

OPERATIONS: Default Split Salesperson to Customer Orders

Sales commissions are based on combinations of the Primary, Split, and Line-Level salesperson and the commission codes defined for the customer and item. You can now define the Split Salesperson in the same master files as the Primary Salesperson. While the Primary Salesperson is mandatory, the Split Salesperson is optional. It defaults during Order Create using the identical hierarchy as Primary Salesperson. Using Split Salesperson provides more flexibility in the calculation of sales commissions. The ability to define a default Split Salesperson improves the accuracy of sales commission qualification and calculation and reduces maintenance and adjustments necessitated by corrections.

Previously, a user could complete the Cost Transfer (CST920) process for any range of facilities regardless of their security settings established in SYS600. This enhancement verifies the user security settings set up in SYS600 before processing cost transfers for a range of facilities in CST920. If the user has authority for a facility range, but there are facilities within that range that are not authorized, the program skips those facilities and completes the cost transfer process.

12345678910Last

Theme picker

Tips: LN | Baan

Who gets involved?
  1. Most commonly Engineering is involved in writing the rules, creating the bills and routings.
  2. Sales or Customer Service determines the questions and the order they are asked in.
  3. Sales or Customer Service determines the rules for the pricing.
  4. Sales, or Customer Service, and Engineering work together in determining the part number, description and text.

What are the steps?

  1. You must start by defining the features and options (questions and answers) and the order in which these are asked. We work this out first using sticky notes and large easel paper. Normally during the process we find that we want to move these questions around. Setting them down on paper makes the process of getting the data into Baan much more efficient. We also then have a record of what decisions were made prior to entering the data. This is normally a joint effort of Engineering and Sales. This is required and must be the first step.
  2. Constraints for features and options. These are the rules for determining what questions are asked and which options are allowed. This is generally done by Engineering or whoever is responsible for the configurator. This is required.
  3. Generic Bill of Material. All possible bill options are entered here and constraints are written to determine which options are selected based on the answers to the questions. This is generally done by Engineering or whoever is responsible for the configurator. This is a required step.
  4. Generic Routing. Similar to the bill of material, but used for generation of the routing steps. This is generally done by Engineering or whoever is responsible for the configurator. This is optional.
  5. Generic Item Data. This consists of creating custom item numbers, descriptions, text, material, size or standard fields in the custom item master. This is generally done by Engineering or whoever is responsible for the configurator though Sales may have some involvement. This is optional.
  6. Generic Pricing. This is used to calculate the selling price based on the answers to the questions. This is normally a responsibility of Sales or whoever determines the pricing. This group is also trained on writing the constraints for this section only. This is optional.
What is it?
The configurator consists of a set of features (questions). The options (answers) to these questions then are used to generate the custom bill of material and routing. These questions may be answered at the time of order entry, prior to order entry (in a project or quote) or after order entry (in the project). The order of the questions need not have any relationship to the bill of materials. The configurator may also calculate the selling price, create a unique “smart” item number, custom description and text. Simple rules are used to interpret the answers.

Who uses the configurator?
Companies whose products have options. The configurator eliminates the need for part numbers for all combinations of options. The configurator ensures that the pricing and bills are correct. The configurator also keeps statistics on the frequency the options are selected.
First151152153154156158159160Last

Theme picker

Categories