Purging Benefits Data

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Every time an employee makes a benefits change, a new record is stored in the benefits table.  Additionally, a new record is stored in the employee’s deduction master table for each deduction related to that benefit.  If these records are allowed to accumulate unchecked, this can slow down payroll processing and even cause errors.  The larger the benefits and deductions table become, the slower payroll batch jobs will run.  These batch jobs, such as PR140, loop through each record in these benefits and deductions tables so that the correct deductions are applied.  Some of these batch jobs have a limit of the number of records allowed, so if an employee has deductions that exceed that limit, the job will error out.  Also, traversing through these records can greatly slow down processing.

To help alleviate these issues, we recommend running the BN430 benefits purge program periodically.  When you are processing payroll, if you see an error similar to “26 20591 PRDED-DED-TABLE must be increased; Cur size 0500”, chances are you have an employee with too many benefits changes, and need to run the BN430.  But, before you receive this error, you should make the benefits purge part of a normal maintenance process.  Ideally, payroll users would make this part of the payroll process each pay period, and choose a “Purge Through Date” corresponding to your company’s record retention period.Purging-Benefits-Data

Restaurant Execs Invest in Technology

Restaurant executives are turning to technology to improve overall efficiency. After being surveyed in hospitality technology, they have adopted many customer-facing technologies. Many have adopted loyalty programs, comprehensive mobile experiences , personalized offerings, and tableside ordering – all of which can help restaurants better reach customers and make their overall experience more satisfying. Restaurant execs are also turning to predicative analytics and Internet of Things (IoT). Though these technologies are still new, some have begun harnessing the power of them. Few also said they were focusing on other new types of technologies, such as augmented reality (AR) and wearables. Technology can help increase sales, and the use of it in a restaurant provides a competitive advantage.

 

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Companies see 5G technology as game changer

 

Next generation 5G technology is making its way through the digital age and almost every industry is ready for it.  “With 5G, industries will have connectivity that is customized for their requirements and the agility to move quickly to meet customer needs and be innovative,” said Rima Qureshi, Chief Strategy Officer, Ericsson in a statement. The auto industry’s ever growing “smart car” innovations will look to utilize enhanced GPS with instant traffic and map updates with 5G technology.  Public safety organizations expect 5G to provide added safety and security. Probably the most popular among the crowd is the media and gaming industry, expecting 5G to provide high quality experiences in gaming, video and other media. Our digital age is ready for the breakthrough of 5G technology.

 

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Get Creative with CRM

As technology has advanced, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has evolved to assist businesses with the capability of targeting customers and vetting other potential opportunities. CRMs are capable of completing more tasks than most people may be aware of. Here are a few ways businesses can utilize CRM outside of sales and extract creative value for business:

  • Keeping Customers Happy
  • Assisting in Marketing
  • Bringing in New Talent

With the emerging digital world and the need for CRM to be ever present in business, we must think outside the box and utilize this tool to its full potential.

 

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4 Ways Procurement Has to Change in the Postmodern ERP Era

Brian Utley, Periscope Holdings, presents game-changing realizations about what government organizations expect from modern procurement functions and digital investments in this Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) technological age.  Below are ways procurement has to change how we operate in today’s “postmodern ERP era”:

  1. We can no longer think tactically
  2. Cost savings can’t just come from the supplier side
  3. We’ve officially entered the postmodern ERP era, which means more concrete decision making
  4. Integration is the key to securing any return on investment for any technology implementations

Procurement technology modernization is necessary. It is expected to simplify the purchasing process, protect taxpayer dollars and ensure fair competition.

 

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5 Skills to Look for When You Hire a Data Scientist

Leigh Martin, Senior Director, Dynamic Science Labs, Infor discusses how big data analytics have gone mainstream, with the demand for people with the right skills to turn data into insights is scarce. Martin shares 5 skills that define a successful data scientist in any business setting.

  1. Great data scientists are good at applying the scientific method to business problems.
  2. Data scientists are engaged in earning the trust of the business throughout the life of the project and beyond.
  3. Great data scientists know how to translate the language of the business to the language of IT and the other way around.
  4. Successful data scientists know how to engage with business users.
  5. Great data scientists always push the envelope of the science of data analysis, and constantly learn, experiment and explore new information.

 

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Infor Completes Acquisition of Starmount

Infor announced the completion of their acquisition of Starmount, a modern store systems provider serving large and mid-market retailers with point-of-sale, mobile shopping assistant, and store inventory management products along with cross-channel customer interactions. The acquisition will be a great asset to accelerate delivery of Infor CloudSuite Retail. With the struggle to force outdated software to meet new retail industry demands, Infor’s CloudSuite Retail will address these issues by providing modern, cloud-based software services. Infor is heavily investing in products that achieve converged commerce for retailers, the next step after omni-channel in which retailers use a single selling system for all consumer interactions.

 

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Scheduling a Process in IPA

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Upload Your Process from IP Designer

  1. Log into IP Designer
  2. Create a new process
  3. Upload the process to your server by clicking the up arrow icon Scheduling a Process in IPA-1, or by clicking:
    1. Tools > Manage Processes > Select Open ProcessScheduling a Process in IPA-2Scheduling a Process in IPA-3
    1. Choose the process you wish to upload, then click OKScheduling a Process in IPA-4
    1. The process now appears in the list. Click “Upload”.Scheduling a Process in IPA-5

Create a Trigger in Rich Client

Now that your process is uploaded to the IPA system, it is time to create a trigger for the process. Once you have created your trigger, you will be able to:

  • Run the process manually
  • Schedule the process
  • Configure the process as part of a File Channel
  • Trigger the process from a Lawson S3 screen
  1. Log into Rich Client
  2. From the Start menu, navigate to Applications > Process Server Administrator > Scheduling > By Process DefinitionScheduling a Process in IPA-6
  1. Click Actions > Create, or click the “blank sheet” icon Run A Process-6Scheduling a Process in IPA-7
  1. Fill in the Process Trigger informationScheduling a Process in IPA-8
    1. Process Name – Click the arrow to search for your newly-uploaded process
    2. Work Title – Important: this field does not appear to be required, but if you do not fill it out, you will receive an error in the scheduler, and the flow will not run

5. Click Save Create a File Channel in IPA-7

6. Once you click Save, you will have an opportunity to add variables that need to be passed into the flow

Scheduling a Process in IPA-9

Run the Process Manually

There may be occasions where you need to run a process ad-hoc. Once you have created your trigger, you will be able to do this.

  1. Log into Rich Client
  2. From the Start menu, navigate to Applications > Process Server Administrator > Scheduling > By Process DefinitionScheduling a Process in IPA-6
  1. Find your Process in the Process Triggers list
  2. Right-click and select Start, or highlight the flow, and select Actions > StartScheduling a Process in IPA-10Scheduling a Process in IPA-7
  1. The process will begin running, and a work unit will generate
  2. To check the status of your process, navigate to Start > Applications > Administration > Workunits > WorkunitsScheduling a Process in IPA-11
  1. Double-click on the workunit to see the resultScheduling a Process in IPA-12

Schedule the Process

  1. Log into Rich Client
  2. From the Start menu, navigate to Applications > Process Server Administrator > Scheduling > By Process DefinitionScheduling a Process in IPA-14
  1. Find your Process in the Process Triggers list
  2. Right-click and select Schedule, or highlight the flow, and select Actions > ScheduleScheduling a Process in IPA-10Scheduling a Process in IPA-7
  1. Fill in the schedule propertiesScheduling a Process in IPA-13
  1. Click Next
  2. Enter the time and date informationScheduling a Process in IPA-15
  1. Click next
  2. Click FinishScheduling a Process in IPA-16
  1. To view or update your schedule, navigate to Start > Applications > Process Server Administrator > My Actions > My Scheduled ActionsScheduling a Process in IPA-17

Scan for Files in IPA

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  1. Open Infor Rich Client Run A Process-1
  2. At the login prompt, enter the Lawson username and passwordRun A Process-2
  3. The canvas is now open. Look in the upper left corner and make sure you are pointing to the prod or test data area (not gen) Run A Process-3
  4. In the upper right corner, click “Start > Applications > Process Server Administrator > Administration > Channels Administrator”Scan for Files in IPA-1
    1. At this point, you can click, HOLD, and drag the “Channels Administrator” link to the canvas. That way, it will create a shortcut on the canvas. Create a File Channel in IPA-4
  5. Once you are in Channels Administrator, click on the File Channels tab, and you should see a list of File Channels that have been set up
  6. Locate the channel for which you wish to scan
  7. Right click on the channel and select “Scan Now”Scan for Files in IPA-2
  1. This will scan the file configured in the Channels Administrator, and kick off any processes that use the files in that directory (the processes are configured in the File Channel Receivers section)

 

Troubleshooting BSI Database Connection during Install

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Your install is successful, but when you log on to the BSI Interface (Screen Print #1) you receive an error (Error Message. Exception is: org.apache.tomcat.dbcp.dbcp.SQLNestedException: Cannot create PoolableConnectionFactory (Login failed for user ‘tf10’. ClientConnectionId:f0509232-la4c-4d22-b118-785e9ba8eee5). See Screen Print #2

You will receive this error if your SQL database is configured with a Named Instance. The Named Instance should be configured with a static port. You should not use the default port (1433) when installing the BSI Client even though your ODBC will connect successfully with the default port. Please see article on assigning a static port for SQL Server named instance: (https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/arvindsh/2012/09/08/how-to-assign-a-static-port-to-a-sql-server-named-instance-and-avoid-a-common-pitfall/)

Screen Print #1

Troubleshooting BSI Database Connection during Install-1

 

Screen Print #2

Troubleshooting BSI Database Connection during Install-2