Tanguy Materials Chooses Infor CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise to Rationalise its Management Systems

Infor recently announced that French building materials company Tanguy Materials has chosen to implement Infor CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise to equip itself with the right tools to accelerate the digitalization of its services and meet the challenges and opportunities of a constantly evolving market. Tanguy Materials is a family-owned group that has been developing in the trade and production of building materials industry for three generations (since 1925). About 30 years ago, the group extended its scope and reorganized itself around 17 subsidiaries. Today, it has more than 950 employees for a turnover in 2019 of more than 250 million euros. Per the press release, Tanguy’s goal was to harmonize and centralize three enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and the 70 user interfaces around a single, modern and scalable management system. Infor has a proven track record of successfu deployments in other market players, including Tanguy’s competitors. On a functional level, the solution was a good fit for the company’s issues such as inventory management, supply chain management and pricing. The cloud option offers real advantages in terms of flexibility and scalability on demand, while respecting the company’s needs and financial capacities.

 

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Six ways to lift ERP Lockdown and avoid innovation recession

One of the greatest challenges for businesses during this lockdown is managing the trade-offs between risk and reward. In the same way that we will learn to live with COVID-19 by adjusting our day to day lives, Owen Pettiford believes the same can be done with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to get the right balance between control and innovation.  In his Diginomica article, Pettiford shares six ways you can start to lift your ERP Lockdown:

Knowledge of ERP End to End Processes. Critical to opening the lockdown of any system is knowledge about how that system runs. Organisations who want flexibility and innovation must reclaim this knowledge and manage it in house.

Flexible Run Contracts. Running ERP systems is a commodity task and one that is commonly outsourced. These outsourcing arrangements come with legal contracts that have definitions of the services to be provided and cannot be defined in the wrong way or it can encourage a “no change” mentality to ensure that Service Levels are maintained.

Knowledge of New Capabilities. One of the interesting features of IT in general is the continuous stream of new capabilities that evolve. Each one follows a hype curve and delivers different value to different industries. Having a team looking at these capabilities and the ones your ERP vendor is baking into your system is key to making sure you catch and exploit each of these waves.

Elastic Infrastructure. The processing capacity of systems has increase many times over, but often ERP systems are locked into infrastructure that was sized and designed years ago. Understanding the modern capabilities to expand and reduce capacity is key to removing “performance” as a lockdown reason.

Tools that provide automation and managed access. Instead of keeping systems safe from overload by locking them down the most flexible ERP solutions now implement real-time monitoring and automation strategies that allow software to flex capacity and throttle demand to agreed SLAs. These solutions mean that the system can be open and guarded at the same time.

DevOps Approach. The catch is that successful DevOps is built on top of the other 5 capabilities listed above as without them DevOps will not deliver its benefits.

 

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Guide to different types of CRM

At its core, customer relationship management (CRM) software offers a practical easy-to-use platform for every business. CRM manages all aspects of a business’s interaction with current and potential customers. Regardless of the type of CRM, all such systems come with basic functionalities, such as a database, dashboards for tracking metrics, and sales and marketing tools. The American Journal of Transportation identifies three fundamental types of CRMs with different functionalities and purpose:

Operational CRM – Operational CRM provides business processes that require no creative human oversight are practically the easiest to automate. While streamlining or fully automating processes is their primary function, many aspects of operational CRM can be further customized for more specific roles.

Analytical CRM – Analytical CRM software seeks to analyze the aforementioned customer touch points and apply optimal models to such data. It can analyze past consumer trends and reliably predict future ones, in addition to factors such as product availability and sales activity.

Collaborative CRM – Collaborative CRM platforms specialize in optimizing communication and collaboration across a company’s teams. It serves as a means of synchronously sharing key customer interaction data to relevant teams, enhancing response times and quality and improving customer satisfaction. This allows a company to maximize profitability from its operations.

 

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How to setup a temporary requisition approver user to start and end at a certain date

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  1. Login into Lawson Landmark via Richclient or the cloud-based Process Server Administrator.
  2. In PSA, go to Configuration >> User Configuration >> Users
  3. Select the user we will be adding the filter to then under User Tasks, select create a new filter. (this will be a backup or temporary filter for the user)
  4. Now create the new task (a new tab may open in your browser):
  5. Type in task name and description, save:
  6. Back under user task, select the newly created filter, select the dates you want and save. For our example today is 3/20/2020, we will be setting the date in the future to activate for 3/23/2020 to 3/27/2020:
  7. Now select your new temporary filter and add your filter keys in which you want to approve for:

That’s all there is to it, this filter will enable on 3/23/2020 and disabled again on 3/27/2020 and is useful for users that take time off and need someone to cover them.

Five ERP Features You’ll See Soon

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) has evolved from a once stiff notion to a more nimble process. This is all thanks to the advancement of resources, especially cloud technology. Moving to the cloud opens up more flexibility for businesses to use this software more efficiently. Toolbox.com shares five ERP features in the works that we should be seeing very soon.

  1. Robust Usage-Based Model Support. “Companies across industries are increasingly looking to develop long-tail subscription revenues by supplementing their main product or service with ongoing services,” notes Jonathan Gross, managing director of ERP consultancy, Pemeco Consulting.
  2. Automation Driven by AI. With AI, businesses can automate a much higher degree of their processes because discovery and setup largely are handled by the system.
  3. AI-driven Bots that Understand Natural Language. Voice is a big trend right now, and many experts predict the revolutionary power of being able to talk to business systems and have them carry out tasks or reply with actionable data. Think Siri or Alexa for industry.
  4. Easier Direct-to-Digital Interfaces. A fully digital business benefits ERP makers, since that raises the utility of the ERP systems that serve as the digital nerve-center for a business.
  5. Natural Inclusion of Experience Data in Business Processes. The feedback loop is getting stronger for businesses because most firms are awash in both customer and operational data.

 

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10 technology trends to watch in the COVID-19 pandemic

According to the World Economic Forum, there following 10 technology trends can help us build a resilient society in this global crisis.

  1. Online Shopping and Robot Deliveries. COVID-19 has transformed online shopping from a nice-to-have to a must-have around the world.
  2. Digital and Contactless Payments. Contactless digital payments, either in the form of cards or e-wallets, are the recommended payment method to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
  3. Remote Work. In addition to preventing the spread of viruses, remote work also saves commute time and provides more flexibility.
  4. Distance Learning. Technologies involved in distant learning are similar to those for remote work and also include virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D printing and artificial-intelligence-enabled robot teachers.
  5. Telehealth. Telehealth can be an effective way to contain the spread of COVID-19 while still providing essential primary care.
  6. Online Entertainment. Although quarantine measures have reduced in-person interactions significantly, human creativity has brought the party online.
  7. Supply Chain 4.0. Heavy reliance on paper-based records, a lack of visibility on data and lack of diversity and flexibility have made existing supply chain system vulnerable to any pandemic.
  8. 3D Printing. 3D printing technology has been deployed to mitigate shocks to the supply chain and export bans on personal protective equipment.
  9. Robotics and Drones. COVID-19 provided a strong push to rollout the usage of robots and research on robotics.
  10. 5G and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). 5G has demonstrated its importance in remote monitoring and healthcare consultation. The adoption of 5G will increase the cost of compatible devices and the cost of data plans.

COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of digital readiness, which allows business and life to continue as usual – as much as possible – during pandemics.

 

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Getting ahead of the EMSS Patch W4 Patch Security Violation

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Infor KB 2096388 recently came out this year (2020) updating Employee Manager Self Service.  In doing so it brought with it an added table that users will not have access to. (Also, for that same KB, a recent notice came out on 3/26/2020 so revisit that article for latest info).

After you’ve applied the EMSS Patch for your version of Lawson. Table PRREGPARM will now be secured from ESS users when accessing their W-4 Tax Withholdings.

To fix this, go into your Lawson security Profile:

Locate your Employee File Table access class, most commonly named EmployeeSSFile.

 

Add a new rule to this class:

Choose “Files” under the “Securable Types” drop down. Expand the + sign next to the PR system code. Scroll down and locate PRREGPARM.  Now select  the check box next to the program, select conditional rule access and click edit as shown below

In the Expression builder editor, write the rule closely to the screenshot below (You may not have an Element Group named COMPEMP or may be using a different element group all together). This secures access to the employees own personal information and no one else. Click the Apply button to save the rule.

 

Leveraging CRM in the Face of COVID-19

Danny Estrada from Destination CRM shares an interesting read on how companies can leverage customer relationship management (CRM) in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Let us break down all three parts of this system:

Customers
According to Estrada, “When your teams are forced to work remotely, CRM can provide access to critical information needed to resolve customer issues. Many CRM platforms now provide internal and external bots, built with AI, that can handle a high volume of self-service requests, get better over time, and free up your overworked staff to focus on more complicated requests.”

Relationships
The next word in the term, relationships, are tested during this pandemic. “Many organizations have had CRM solutions for many years but are now realizing that the accuracy and depth of their contact data is highly degraded.  For instance, marketing departments are now focusing on digital and virtual events, whose effectiveness is diminished when the accuracy on contacts is only 50 percent to 70 percent. These departments are now shifting funds allocated for face-to-face events and travel to tools that will automate and improve CRM data.”

Management
“As all these changes to our business ecosystem impact every company in every industry, one of the biggest challenges leaders face is how to manage their business. Management can only be effective when it has visibility into operations. Without visibility—especially considering the challenges inherent with a newly remote workforce—managers and executives could be forced to allocate resources or create strategies without being able to see the effects of those decisions.”

 

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The Potential of ERP Amid a Pandemic

In the midst of a global pandemic with the COVID-19, or coronavirus disease, many sectors have taken a drastic shift in the business world. According to Automation World, new research indicates that a weakened supply chain is the biggest business disruption related to COVID-19. The virus will have both short- and long-term effects for manufacturers. In the longer term, manufacturers will need to conduct an extensive due diligence process as they need to understand their risk exposure, including the operations of their supplier’s suppliers.  All of this points to the potential of implementing more automation on the plant floor.

 

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How to Mass Copy Lawson Portal Favorites from one user to another

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In Lawson portal, you may have a user with several dozen favorited Lawson forms and a new user coming in will inevitably have a hard time maneuvering the software.  To simplify this process, you can simply copy one users’ favorites to another if you have direct access to the Lawson LSF server folder directory.

 

First login to your LSF server.

 

Go to %LAWDIR%\persistdata\lawson\portal\data\users

 

Locate and open the username of the person you want to copy the favorite URLs from. The format will be in xml Example: username.xml

 

Now Locate the username.xml you want to copy to.

Simply copy and paste from one username.xml to the other username.xml as shown below:

Save the XML file, login to Lawson Portal as an Admin user and clear IOS cache. Notify the user to clear their browser cache as well and to relog into Lawson Portal.  They should now see all the copied Favorites!