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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

IDF: Defining the Attributes for a New Object

Anthony Etzel 0 24907 Article rating: 5.0

Attributes are the fields you define in your System i file.

You can begin by building your attribute list in Integrator by synchronizing the object with the host. This process reads the file definition from the System i and builds your list of attributes. The synchronize process will automatically run and read the definitions for the first occurrence of this file name within the library list. You can repeat this process manually multiple times if you change the file definition on the host by using the ‘Synchronize with Host’ option. However, the synchronization process will not recognize changed field names.

Non on key field attributes: The integrator requires a unique key for each object. If the host file already has a key, the synchronization process will automatically identify fields as part of the key as well as add a sequence number to multiple key parts. If the file does not have a unique key, you must either create a keyed logical file or identify the key manually. Key fields are the default sort order for all list views for an object.

Why do you need OTTO? Letā€™s let our customers tell youā€¦

George Moroses 0 21198 Article rating: 5.0

“Our priorities change daily. It’s important to manage the priorities instead of having someone here in the office constantly expediting. We don’t want to run MRP every day, that would just introduce nervousness, all plans and priorities are likely to change and the flood of recommendations would be unmanageable. We run MRP once a week and rely on OTTO to track the constantly shifting priorities day-to-day.”  
Production & Inventory Control Manager, Top U.S. Crane Manufacturer

Learn More About OTTO

Crossroads RMC is proud to announce the release of the following dashboard views that come STANDARD with the LX Analytics Dashboard

George Moroses 0 23222 Article rating: 5.0

Standard Analytics Dashboard Views: 

  • Sales Bookings (ECH)
  • Accounts Receivable (RAR)
  • Accounts Payable (APH)
  • Planned Orders (KFP)
  • Purchasing (HPH)
  • Shop Order Material (FMA)
  • Shop Order Operations (FOD)
  • CEA
  • Order Booking (ECS)
  • Labor History (FLT)
  • Sales History (SIH)
  • Material Status (IIM/ILI)

Click Here to Learn More

If you can't see everything that happens on your shop floor, you are at a competitive disadvantage

Anthony Etzel 0 24542 Article rating: 5.0

If you’re not able to see everything that happens on your shop floor in real-time, you’re at a HUGE competitive disadvantage! Your competitors are running MES. 

Crossroads MES software provides:

  • A user-friendly interface and an easy exchange of information between the shop floor users and your ERP database. 
  • Planners the ability to schedule work to a specific machine or work area. In addition, it allows for work to be re-sequenced and split for better flexibility in scheduling shop floor activities.
  • Factory workers with the ability to receive the work schedule electronically as well as interacting with it by reporting transactional activity.
  • The ability to electronically display Drawing, Process Instructions, and Quality Instructions so you can eliminate, or minimize, the need for some of the paper on the shop floor.
  • The ability to pass shop floor transactional activity to dashboard displays as well as the ERP system. 

Click here to learn more about Crossroads MES 

or Contact Anthony Etzel today to learn more.

Infor LN & Baan Tip of the Week: Job Groups in LN

Kathy Barthelt 0 39979 Article rating: 5.0

In a scenario where performing job A depends on the result of job B, it is hard to decide at what time job A must be scheduled, and how long job B runs. To handle dependent jobs, you can now create a job group. Use the Job Groups (ttaad5140m000) session to create a job group. A job group has a name, with the same characteristics as a job name, and a description. The Status and User of the job group are handled automatically.

After creating the job group, the jobs are added to the group, approximately in the order the jobs must be performed. The first job in the group (with the lowest Group Number) determines the handling of the whole job group, such as execution date and whether the job group is being repeated. If the job group is not repeating, the job group and all non-repeating jobs in the job group are deleted when the job group has run.

The dependencies of the jobs in the job group are also determined. A job in the job group can only depend on a job in the same job group with a lower job number.

You can use the specific options in the Job Groups (ttaad5140m000 andttams5640m000) sessions to change the status of the job group. The job group statuses have the same meaning as the status of the jobs and the same status changes are allowed.

Note: Job groups are only handled by the BSE service Job Scheduler Service.

A/P Payment Update in LX 8.3.4

Anthony Etzel 0 35170 Article rating: 5.0

A/P Payment Update in LX 8.3.4. ACP660B creates a file using a layout required by the bank; the file informs the bank to pay invoices. These conditions must be met to create the file:

  • FIM is an installed product in SYS821  Ā­
  • The user is authorized to FIM in SYS600 Ā­
  • The company is active in FIMCOMIT in SYS105  Ā­
  • The payment type is in BONPAYTP (SYS105)

Infor LX & BPCS Tip of the Week: LX 8.4 Database

Anthony Etzel 0 32127 Article rating: 5.0

The database in LX 8.4 has undergone a significant change from previous versions. The database has been created using SQL DDL language instead of the old DDS language. The newer format allows for LX to take better advantage of advances in IBM database technologies as they move forward. Additionally, LX will be better able to make changes to tables (aka files) in the future without causing very large MR explosions to replace all programs that use a specific table. To ease the impact of this significant change, the LX tables (aka physical files) have new names that are the same as the previous version file names but with a “P” at the end, for example IIM is now IIMP. The old file names now belong to SQL views that looks just like the tables. This change made it easier to upgrade all the LX programs without changing every reference to every file. Many of the logical files remain although some have been replaced by SQL indexes to improve performance.

Crossroads RMC is Proud to Announce Product Certification for Baan IV to Avalara!

Kathy Barthelt 0 33282 Article rating: 5.0

Crossroads RMC is pleased to announce that our Baan IV integration to AvaTax has officially been certified by Avalara! This means that all Baan IV, Baan V and Infor LN customers now have an automated solution for sales and use tax!

AvaTax provides sales and use tax calculations in real time including rate determination, returning filing, remittance and exemption certificate management. 


Want to learn more? Please contact Kathy Barthelt for more details
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Tips:  LX | BPCS | M3

Previously, Material Requirements Planning (MRP) preferred practices meant that the component's due date was the same as the parent's shop order release date. Because MRP trends have changed, the preference for this due date is the day before the release date of the parent. Although Infor LX already has this functionality in Shop Order Maintenance programs (SFC500), users could not change how due dates were determined for lower-level shop orders in Multi-Level Shop Order Release, SFC530D.

This enhancement provides an additional parameter for Multi-Level Shop Order Release. This parameter allows the user to change how the due date of the child components is determined. The Multi-Level Shop Order Release, SFC5302, has a new parameter for shop orders. The Due Date of Children = Release Date of Prent (Due Date of Children) field allows the user to set the due date determined for multi-level shop orders.

This feature uses different exchange rates in the user's inventory processes by using new macros in Post Inventory to G/L, INV920D. INV920 used macros limited by the Override Exchange Rate parameter set on the book in Book Definition, CEA105D3. If the Override Exchange rate parameter is set to No, the macro uses the Rate Type of the Book. If the Override Exchange parameter is set to Yes, the macro uses the Rate Type of the Order Company. This enhancement provides macros that use the Rate Type of the Order Company. This enhancement provides macros that use the Rate Type of the Warehouse Company, Order Company, or the Book regardless of the Override Exchange Rate parameter in the Book.

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Tips: LN | Baan

Is Your Infor ERP System the Elephant in the Room?

The Infor ERP Elephant in the Room That Must Be Addressed

In a recent survey of Infor ERP customers, we discovered that 50% of respondents said that they did not know whether or not their ERP system had the features and functionality required for their business.  50%....1 out of every 2……not good.

Why is this the case? Well, the causes can be traced back to one of the following reasons:

  • A key-person has retired or left the company and their knowledge left with them.
  • Systems were implemented based on how the previous system worked.
  • Upgrades and implementations were viewed as a “technical upgrade”, meaning that the upgrade was done to get off an old or outdated platform. All the new features and functionality weren't researched so they are unknown and no one could be trained on them.


You may say “So what? Who cares if our team doesn’t know what else is available, or how the rest of the ERP system functions? Does it really matter?” It matters more than you think.

If you rely on an Infor ERP system to get your job done, you need to not only know what sessions to run, what fields are required, and what reports provide results, you also need to understand how the transactions impact the rest of the system. Without that understanding, you are inadvertently creating a departmental silo which can have a negative impact on the performance of the ERP for the rest of the company. 

Not knowing the functionality of the ERP results in limited use of the system as a whole. In my 25 years working with ERP systems, I have seen many cases where a company becomes frustrated with the limitations of the system only to discover that they were only utilizing 10-20% of the ERP system's capabilities. The system didn’t impose the limitation…it was the use of the system, or shall I say the lack of it, that was the culprit.

To be competitive in today’s economy, an ERP system should be able to move in lockstep with a business as its needs change. In order for this to happen, the entire company needs to be willing to change too. Part of this change involves taking advantage of the best practices that are built into the Infor ERP system. If you're not sure how to do that - you are not alone! Fully understanding your Infor ERP requires a team of capable users in each key department of your organization to marry the capabilities of the ERP system with your business objectives. Sounds complicated? Well, it doesn't stop there. Your team of capable users needs to communicate between the key departments to make sure one department's procedures don't handicap any other department. Once this level of understanding and communication is established, decisions can be made to take advantage of the most effective way to minimize costs, increase efficiency, improve quality and deliver the highest level of customer service possible…everything you invested in the Infor ERP system for in the first place, is now unleashed.

Not sure where to start? Crossroads RMC's consultants have this exact expertise and the skills to get you through tough times. Our expertise comes from years of experience, and best practices to evaluate your business processes and identify areas where improvement is needed. Whether you need to increase the return on your ERP investment or have no idea what to do next, our comprehensive ROI business case, cost estimates, benefits, and a plan of action will supply you with the information you need to add value to your business.

Request a free phone consultation>  or contact us to learn how to get started> solutions@crossroadsrmc.com  |  800.762.2077

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