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

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Infor ERP Tips & News from the Experts

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

And Then There Were None - Short Staffed?

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

Crossroads RMC 0 23304 Article rating: 5.0

So, you implemented your Infor ERP system 5, 10, 15, 20+ years ago, and now there are only a handful of people left from that implementation. Since most of the how and why walked out the door, how much longer can you get by on “tribal knowledge”?  

What’s the best way to proceed? Consider retraining your staff.

Crossroads RMC's consultants have had great success delivering highly impactful, focused training that shows an immediate benefit. Contact us to discuss how we can develop a training plan that is right for your business.

Infor LN & Baan Tip: Latest Porting Set – All Versions of Infor LN & Baan

Kathy Barthelt 0 29513 Article rating: 4.5

Are you on the latest porting set for your version of Infor LN or Baan? Check here to be sure:

VERSIONS: Infor LN, Infor Baan ERP 5.0c, Infor Baan IVc4

LAST MODIFIED ON:
13th Jan, 2021: Updated with 9.3i porting set, see KB 2176336 for this version. Available from LN CE release 2021.01
9th Oct, 2020: Updated with 9.3h porting set, see KB 2158949 for this version. Available from LN CE release 2020.10
9th July, 2020: Updated with 9.3g porting set, see KB 2142625 for this version. Available from LN CE release 2020.07
10th April, 2020....

Infor LX & BPCS Tip: Special Functions

George Moroses 0 21849 Article rating: 5.0

Use F14 from a menu to display the Special Functions screen, SYS50007.
From this pop-up screen you can access the following menu options:

  • JCDA Maintenance (SYS010D)
  • Display Output Queue
  • Display User Output
  • Send Messages
  • Display Messages
  • Display Job Log
  • Display Submitted Jobs
  • Display Remembered Keys
  • Menu Maintenance (SYS147)
  • Menu Print (SYS148)

This menu is only available from the character0based user interface. Infor Webtop users can access programs from the Quick Launch Menu.

Infor LN & Baan Materials Tips: Serialized and Lot Controlled Items

Kathy Barthelt 0 32668 Article rating: 5.0

Serial and Lot are additional characteristics/properties of Items that can be used to uniquely or collectively identify and track the item along with its Item code. Any Item can be made as Serialized and/or Lot controlled by choosing options "Serialized" and "Lot Controlled" in Items-General session under traceability section on the Details tab.

Further in Items-Warehousing data under the Identification tab, you can enable "Lot Tracking", "Lot in Inventory", "Serial Tracking" and "Serial in Inventory" which enables tracking of the Items. You can also define if the Item is "Serial/Lot not in inventory" then where you want to record the serial and lot details in the transactions like "Direct Delivery", "Receipt", "Transfer", "Register during As-Built, Service and Maintenance".

Below are some topics related to Serialized and Lot Controlled Items that will be useful...

How often are you counting your inventory? Are inaccurate counts affecting your ability to satisfy customer orders?

Infor LX | BPCS | Infor LN | Baan

Crossroads RMC 0 24064 Article rating: 5.0

Crossroads RMC Cycle Counting Applications provide:

  • Increased inventory accuracy.
  • The ability to review & approve count before direct update of LN/Baan tables.
  • The elimination of unnecessary re-orders of items with current inventory.
  • Greater ability to satisfy customer orders due to accurate inventory levels.
  • Direct labor cost savings – less staff required for count.
  • Increased productivity during count – counts reduced from weeks to a day.


Learn more about Cycle Counting for Infor LX & BPCS> 

Learn more about Cycle Counting for Infor LN & Baan> 

Infor LX & BPCS Materials Tip: Unique ID Generator / Unique Sequence Number

George Moroses 0 21814 Article rating: 5.0

Serial Number Unique ID Generator - The new Serial Number Unique ID Generator program (INV599B3) is used to generate a unique value that groups a set of serial numbers that should be treated as part of a single, comprehensive set of inventory transactions.

Assign Unique Sequence Number - The new Assign Unique Sequence Number program (SYS046B) is used by any program that posts an inventory transaction, that is, writes an...

Infor LN & Baan Tip: Can You Backflush An Item If Estimated Quantity is Zero?

Kathy Barthelt 0 27204 Article rating: 5.0

Yes, you can backflush an item with an estimated quantity = 0.00 if you haven't already backflushed the order. For example, you had an order with one component, you reported the quantity at the operation or order level and ran the backflush. Now you realize you need another component added. In this example, the order has already been backflushed, so if you were to add a second component, run backflushing, nothing would happen.

Backflushing is based on the 'quantity to backflush' in report operations or report orders complete. When the quantity is backflushed....

Increase Production by 10-20% - It's Simple!

Developed for Infor LX, BPCS, Infor LN, Baan & Infor M3

Crossroads RMC 0 25483 Article rating: 5.0

Studies show that merely displaying current production data to your workers via a dashboard increases production.

Improve the performance of your shop floor with Analytics Dashboard for Infor LX, BPCS, Infor LN, Baan, and Infor M3. It's simple to use and configure without programming knowledge. Display performance metrics in a grid, graph, chart, or any way that makes sense. learn more>

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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.

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Tips: LN | Baan

Kathy Barthelt

Infor LN & Baan Manufacturing Tip: Performance Problems in Generate Order Planning (cprrp1210m000)

When the Generate Order Planning (cprrp1210m000) session is run it can take minutes to days to finish the process.

The performance of this session depends on many settings, like the number of plan items, the number of orders, but it also depends on hardware and database setup.

Here are some guidelines on how performance can be improved.

  • Be sure you are always on the latest solutions with the planning sessions. We are constantly improving the software to gain more speed in the Enterprise Planning (EP) sessions.
  • The number of planned items is critical. Try to reduce the number of planned items. Is it necessary that all items be planned via EP? For shop floor stock the TPOP or SIC replenish systems are often more suitable.
  • When you use PCS, be sure to close the projects when they are finished. When a PCS project has status Closed, the customized items will not be planned.

It's better to run Remove Plan Items for closed Projects (cprpd1220m000). This session removes the item planning data for customized items of closed projects.

  • If you run EP with the option, Also Generate Item Master Plan and/or Online Update Item Master Plan, consider if you need an Item Master Plan for all plan items. An Item Master Plan is usually meant for global long-term planning. Again this is not very useful for shop floor stock. Reducing the number of master-planned items improves performance.
  • When you use Resource Master Plans; are all your resources really critical? If a work center is not critical do not create a Resource Master Plan for it.
  • When using Item Master Plans and/or Resource Master Plans, set in Scenarios (cprpd4100m000) the total scenario length as short as possible. For example, if your sales order horizon is 2 years, a scenario end date which is 3 years after the current date is sufficient. During the calculations of the Item Master Plan and the Resource Master, all periods defined in the scenario are checked and calculated. So if you have the end date of the scenario on 2038, EP will do the calculations (for every master-planned item) until 2038.

Defining a rolling scenario will keep your scenario length constant and you don’t have to worry that you run beyond your scenario's end date.

  • Updating the pegging relations has a serious impact on the EP performance. In EP Parameters (cprpd0100m000) you can set the Pegging Horizon in days. Keep this horizon as short as possible. The Update Signals by Item/Planner option also has some impact, but less than the pegging.
  • EP uses the so-called phase numbers to detect the lowest level in which an item is used within a BOM structure or in a supplying relation. If the phase numbers are not ‘up-to-date’, EP will correct the phase numbers during the planning. This takes time during the planning run. If there are loops in BOMs or in supplying relations, this recalculation has a big impact on the performance. Therefore you could run Compute Phase Numbers (cprpd6200m000) on a regular basis. For example once a month. Always run this session with the Generate Report option selected. If loops are detected these are reported. Be sure to solve all the reported errors.
  • When unexpected results occur, especially when the data is imported from external packages, always check the number of records in tables cprpd100 and cprpd120. The number of records should match! Remark: From 10.4 onwards the table cprpd120 has become obsolete so this point not applicable anymore.
  • The number of calendars also impacts planning performance. Then for every warehouse, work center, or BP, and so on, a different calendar is defined. Planning has to read all of these calendars from start to end. This can have a huge impact on performance.
    • If you link a calendar to a work center or warehouse, avoid defining a new calendar for every work center/warehouse. Try to link the same calendar to more than one department.
    • Define the start of the calendar close to the start date of the scenario. For example, the current date is 01-07-2014, the start date of the scenario is 365 days in the past. So a start date for your calendar could be 01-07-2012.
    • Define the end date of the calendar not too far in the future. Depending on the end date of the scenario you could use 5 years ahead.  For example, the current date is 01-07-2014, the end date of the scenario is 3 years in the future. So an end date for your calendar could be 01-07-2022. Do not define an end date past 19-01-2038, which is the last UTC date Infor LN can handle.

Also, the interaction with the database can have a big impact on performance. 
A commonly used way to improve the total run time of the EP run is to start the session in parallel processing. 
See also Knowledge Base Article 22881401 Performance, Tracing and tuning Guide, for more details.

These guidelines are just some hints, and a good starting point because performance is a complex issue.

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