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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

Infor LN & Baan Tip of the Week: What is the LN Report Designer and what is required to use it?

Kathy Barthelt 0 1430 Article rating: 5.0

The main purpose of the Report Designer is to enable changes to the design of a 4GL application report, without modifying the standard report or using an external reporting solution. The changes are stored as personalizations. Therefore, the effort that is required to implement changes, after the standard is updated, is reduced.

You can also generate new reports that are based on a selection of fields from the application data model. These reports are generated in the extensibility package. You can personalize these reports in the Report Designer, or modify them in LN Studio.

  • The Report Designer is available with LN 10.5 and later.
  • Enterprise Server 10.6 is required.
  • The Report Designer is only supported in LN UI.

Note:  On LN 10.5 you must re-compile the reports once with Enterprise Server 10.6 to enable them for the Report Designer.

OTTO - On-Time Ordering: Q&A with an MIS Manager from a metal fabrication manufacturer

George Moroses 0 429 Article rating: 5.0

OTTO  A Q&A with an MIS Manager from a metal fabrication manufacturer:

1. How difficult was it to initially install OTTO?

"We loaded OTTO on our AS/400 on a Friday morning and demonstrated OTTO's capabilities with our own data that afternoon. That really impressed me from an IS perspective because it was so easy to load and run."

2. Would you install it on a test system or on the production system?

"We installed on the production system in order to use live data. OTTO resides outside of the ERP system and builds its own databases so it is not detrimental to any other system."

3. How difficult was it to implement OTTO, was there a negative impact on daily operations?

"Some reports were being used on the first day of the evaluation. There was only positive impact on our operation. For example, shortages in our final assembly area were eliminated within 30 days of the demonstration."

4. Comments?

"I was greatly surprised OTTO fit so well with our operation. OTTO has worked well in our company (we substantially increased on time shipments at the same time our business was seeing a 3 fold increase), but each company has to judge for themselves how well OTTO fits in with their organization."

Contact us to learn how OTTO can help your company!

Analytics Dashboard News: What is a CFOs Biggest Concern?

Crossroads RMC 0 388 Article rating: 5.0

If you ask CFOs about their biggest concerns, most of them will tell you that increasing cash flow is a high priority.

In order to succeed at this, you have to keep an eye on your accounts receivable. Many companies, however, do not have the means or data to find out where they currently stand.

What if you could have that information at your fingertips?

Learn more about Analytics Dashboard for Infor LN/Baan >

Learn more about Analytics Dashboard for Infor LX/BPCS/M3 >

Your Enterprise Resource Planning software lies at the heart of your business

Infor LX & BPCS

George Moroses 0 12277 Article rating: 5.0

How Infor LX & BPCS is utilized is critical to operating a stable, well understood and effective business system. Knowing the current state of your system will enable you to make decisions to either better utilize your current ERP version or upgrade.

Crossroads RMC’s Utilization Review helps you flush out issues and areas for improvement. Our findings have resulted in minor procedural changes to a full reimplementation, or system upgrade to Infor LX.

If your business requirements and your resources have undergone major change since your original implementation, it is time to take a look at your ERP system to see if it is being utilized properly. The Crossroads RMC Utilization Review is designed to work with your people to identify the best way to apply the powerful capabilities within the Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Financial modules within the LX/BPCS software to best suit the needs of your business, not only today, but in years to come.

Learn more>

Infor LX & BPCS Tip of the Week: How do I restrict over-shipments to customers - LX 8.4?

George Moroses 0 1289 Article rating: 5.0

This enhancement prevents over-allocations and resulting overshipments to customers. Attempted over-shipments can present an error message to the user, or there is an option to automatically adjust the user’s request to the allowed quantity.

Since over-shipments result from over-allocations, Infor LX provides an optional validation during the four processes where a user can attempt to over-allocate. Note: Infor LX never over-allocates or over-ships; this always results from a user’s action. This enhancement provides three options regarding over-allocations and over-shipments:

  • Continue current process with warning message.
  • Show error message.
  • Automatically change allocation quantity to match quantity available for shipment.

If the over-ship quantity change is acceptable, internal procedures may require that the order quantity be revised so that pricing, promotions, credit checking, load planning, and other processes reflect the actual quantity.

The programs or areas impacted include:

  • ORD820D, Order Entry System Parameters
  • ORD720D2, Order Allocations
  • ORD725D, Order Entry Allocations
  • ORD570D5, Pick Confirm Inventory Confirmation
  • ORD700D2 / ORD700DA / ORD710B, Order Line Validation

Your Enterprise Resource Planning software lies at the heart of your business

Friedman | MAPICS | XA and more

George Moroses 0 24216 Article rating: 5.0

How your ERP is utilized is critical to operating a stable, well understood and effective business system. Knowing the current state of your system will enable you to make decisions to either better utilize your current ERP version or upgrade.

Crossroads RMC’s Utilization Review helps you flush out issues and areas for improvement. Our findings have resulted in minor procedural changes to a full reimplementation, or system upgrade.

If your business requirements and your resources have undergone a major change since your original implementation, it is time to take a look at your ERP system to see if it is being utilized properly. The Crossroads RMC Utilization Review is designed to work with your people to identify the best way to apply the powerful capabilities within the Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Financial modules within your ERP software to best suit the needs of your business, not only today, but in years to come.

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

An ERP System Review is NOT a Report Card

It's a no-judgment-review - we promise!

report card C minusWe all remember our school days and the nervousness that we felt when it came time to get our grades. Even if we were doing well, we were still nervous. Sometimes we experienced that same nervousness when it came time for a performance review on our job. Nervousness…sometimes dread…knowing that our performance was not what we wanted it to be, or others expected it to be. 

Somehow I think the feelings that we felt in our past often find ways to creep into our present. I have seen this recently when I suggested an ERP system review to one of our customers. They immediately became flustered and thought about every possible problem that they knew existed within the software and how they were currently using it. I asked them to consider the purpose of the ERP system review.

An ERP Utilization Review will:

  • Document how your company is using your ERP system (or a particular aspect of the system) and to what extent the system meets the needs of the business.
  • Identify challenges encountered using the software.
  • Create opportunities for improving business processes and generating additional value.
  • Identify potential risks and areas that need improvement.


key hole to the futureSo, if the result of ERP system review is to establish a path forward for growth based on current status, then why doesn’t every company take advantage of it? I think for some, the answer lies in the feelings of nervousness and dread still stuck in the recesses of our brains.

An ERP system review or more specifically a utilization review is NOT a personal report card, or performance review showing how well a particular individual does his/hers/their job, nor is it an attack on the team that implemented the software. 

As they say, hindsight is 20/20. What we view now to be a less than ideal implementation methodology may have been absolutely appropriate at the time the software was originally deployed. The software has likely matured and the skillsets of the individuals responsible for the system have likely matured as well. In some cases, those resources are no longer with the company, leaving those that remain with no back story as to how and why implementation decisions were made.

Instead of viewing the ERP utilization review as a reason to find fault in previous decisions, think of it as discovering untapped potential – both of the ERP system and the people who use it. Viewing an ERP utilization review in this way puts a positive spin on it and allows us to challenge ourselves to identify opportunities for growth far greater than anything we imagined before. This means not only moving our businesses forward faster but also advancing the strength of the company as individuals and as a team.

What untapped potential lies within your company?

Consider a utilization review of your entire ERP system, or just a part of it like Finance, Technology, Materials Management, Order Processing, or Shop Floor Control. You just might be surprised at what greatness can be achieved… far greater than anyone could have imagined.  

Get a free phone consultation button

800.762.2077

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Kathy Barthelt

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