John Soules Foods Consolidates Core HR and Payroll with Infor

Infor recently announced that John Soules Foods’ had a successful go-live and consolidation of its payroll and human resources systems. Working alongside Infor partner Bails, John Soules Foods has implemented key cloud-based Infor Global Human Resources (HR) applications, which migrated more than 1,200 employees with facilities in multiple states, and successfully paid them with the first paycheck of 2021.  Per the press release, Infor’s new multi-tenant payroll solution will help provide in-house payroll processing capabilities to help manage back-end payroll processes, including employment tax filing, wage payments, wage garnishments, and other value-added services. John Soules Foods was looking to consolidate multiple HR and payroll systems and chose Infor to consolidate applications across multiple states with the goals of better and faster reporting. It would also help reduce bottom-line expenses associated with maintaining a large support architecture. Infor HR applications can help nurture top talent, engage employees, and foster a community aligned to an organization’s mission. The app suite also offers complete in-house payroll processing capabilities, with multiple options for service partners to help manage value-added and compliance payroll processes, including employment tax filing, wage payments, wage garnishments, and more. With Infor HR successfully implemented, John Soules Foods can increase communication between HR systems and have more operational control across their entire business.

 

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How to get the Thick Client Identity name in Lawson

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With Lawsons ever growing list of identity types, it may be difficult to identify the Thick Client identity field.

Example of identities:

To find out what the Thick Client Identity is open up your browser and type this URL (you may need to login first):

Examples:

https://<lsf-organization-domain>:1447/ssoconfig/SSOCfgInfoServlet

With made up organization

https://lsfserver.someorg.com:1447/ssoconfig/SSOCfgInfoServlet

Look at the PRIMARYSERVICE name to get the thick client service identity.

3 ways AI improves CRM

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems have fast become invaluable tools in running business operations. However, manually updating CRMs can quickly add up work because of the always-connected, fast changing world we live in. This is where the collaboration of artificial intelligence (AI) with your CRM system thrives. Jody Glidden, founder and CEO of B2B relationship intelligence service and data management platform Introhive, shares an article on inforworld.com how the power of AI can liberate organizations from manual processes connected to their CRM system. Below are three key advantages AI brings to CRM systems based on Glidden’s experience at Introhive.

Better customer engagement – “AI technology greatly assists with customer service and support functions. Chat and email bots ensure that customers get quick answers and direction. New AI technologies analyze voice and text in real time to help agents most effectively serve prospective and existing clients. If an employee can be freed from the more time-consuming administrative responsibilities of their role, they can focus on the more meaningful aspects of their jobs: creative thinking, problem solving, and client support. Improved employee satisfaction and retention tends to follow.”

Keener sales insights – “Having a centralized record of clean customer sales data and communications means better sales forecasting and clearer insights into how deals were won or lost. AI integration ensures that your CRM captures customer data in the desired format using document, image, and speech recognition technologies. High-quality customer data and accurate, AI-driven predictions also have important implications for how teams are organized to manage various accounts. Utilizing an AI application is effectively like giving a data scientist to each staff member to make sense of disparate business data that would otherwise be lost or delayed in analysis.”

Smarter social networking – “While new technologies are often criticized for making social interactions less authentic, I’ve long championed the power that technology has to strengthen connections and relationships, especially in business,” says Glidden. “Introhive specializes in AI-driven relationship intelligence to better understand one’s client base and branching networks of prospective clients and referrals. AI integrations mine CRM platforms for transactional data, social contacts, and communication history. This information is then collected, grouped, analyzed, and distributed automatically so teams have insights about best engagement practices with customers, vendors, and other stakeholders.”

Glidden further notes that as companies emerge from the pandemic and try to capitalize on virtual networking, there will be a greater adoption of AI integrations across businesses, especially within the CRM market.

 

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The Foundation Of A Successful Digital Transformation Is In The Cloud

The global pandemic of 2020 was a wake up call for essentially everyone. Enterprises were challenged to adapt to sudden changes or risk becoming another “Covid casualty” as they say. Business continuity and sustainability was the key to staying afloat. Many companies took this as an opportunity to begin their digital transformation (DT) journey. Having the ability to digitize, automate and integrate processes enables a company to adapt to a changing market quicker. Enterprises who embrace DT would not have to worry about losing relevance or becoming obsolete from their competition. While launching a DT is no easy feat, the transition is a worthy investment. Jon Roskill, Forbes Councils Member and CEO at Acumatica, shares an article on Forbes explaining how the foundation of a successful digital transformation is in the Cloud. Migrating to a cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is a great place to begin.  Roskill shares the benefits of migrating to the cloud below:

Cost Savings
“One of the biggest benefits of a cloud-based ERP is that it saves money. Users don’t have to dedicate resources to maintaining or updating infrastructure such as hardware or data servers. Companies can reduce spending on IT support since the data center itself will handle maintenance. Users only pay for the services needed, so every dollar is serving their goals.”

No More Data Silos
“Typically, one of the ultimate goals of a DT journey is to eliminate company data redundancies and silos. Modern cloud-based ERP solutions can help gather, store and analyze data within a single platform. This way, company leaders get better and more accurate business insights from the data, while also increasing the speed and ease of data retrieval.”

Easy Access From Any Location
“With a cloud-based ERP solution, there’s no need for employees to be in the office to access the system. They can simply log in from wherever they are – on the road, at the office, or at home. The power of this flexibility is incredibly valuable and allows companies to manage critical operations from remote locations.”

Emergency And Disaster Protection
“A good cloud ERP comes with data preparedness and redundancy in case of an emergency. Emergencies resulting in setbacks can be complex regardless of the business climate. But after the challenging year-plus most companies just weathered, emergencies can be especially detrimental. Protecting your business from unforeseen disasters may be the push that many once-reluctant companies need to begin their DT journey.”

Adopting to a cloud-based ERP solution is just the first step in your DT journey, says Roskill. He notes that the best businesses understand that DT is an ongoing effort with companies continually fine-tuning their business processes to make them more efficient and drive growth.

 

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How to properly stop and start IPA Grid via console command

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Stopping IPA Grid from running scheduled flows ensures no users can run any jobs that could attempt to trigger IPA flows. Here is how to properly stop IPA Grid via console command:

  1. Open a command prompt window and navigate to the landmark install directory
  2. Type Enter.cmd and press Enter (Enter.cmd is the default batch filename, this will initialize Lawson environment commands)
  3. Type adminlaw and press Enter (this will stop everything and not allow it to restart)

 

Starting IPA Grid back up is simple:

  1. Complete steps 1 and 2 from above (if you previously closed the command window)
  2. Verify the LSF server, websphere, and security is on and running
  3. Type startlaw to start the IPA Grid

That’s all to it, good luck!

Polttimo Group Aiming to Harvest Business Data with Infor

Infor recently announced that Finnish grain, malting and food manufacturing company Polttimo has implemented Infor CloudSuite Food & Beverage via multi-tenant cloud platform Amazon Web Services (AWS) across Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Lithuania. The application will help harmonize technology and ways of working leading to better traceability and operational transparency. Per the press release, simplifying processes will improve quality controls and reporting, which will ultimately increase operational efficiency and enable the company to optimize the operating model. Infor CloudSuite Food & Beverage will replace several existing ERP systems and deliver the benefits of standardization to the entire Polttimo Group. Further, Polttimo expects to see an increase in the transparency and subsequent control of key business metrics, better business continuity, improved efficiency and collaboration with stronger quality controls, and preparedness for an evolution towards integrated business planning.

 

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Best Vendor Management Applications

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Managing the recruitment process yourself can make your workload overwhelming. Above all, seasonal positions must be filled promptly. With VMs, you can quickly fill positions and automate the process. Check and respond to applications with ease, without having to sort stacks of resumes. As web-based applications, VMs can have applicants apply online from any agency. [Sources: 3]

 

VMs can help you stay compliant by providing a single location to store all the necessary settings and onboarding documentation. Even if all your employees are in the same office, VMs can provide risk management and keep your business processes compliant, especially if you work with contract workers. [Sources: 3]

 

Managing providers can be a tedious and time-consuming process. Vendor management tools are technological solutions that enable companies to manage their suppliers through frequent collaboration and regular monitoring. They help companies manage costs, track quality and measure third-party performance. [Sources: 7]

 

Here are a few things to consider when investing in supplier management software. A supplier management system is essentially designed to manage and mitigate third-party and fourth-party risks. Here are some of the most important components of a vendors management software solution. [Sources: 6]

 

It is a governance plan that refers to the authority, authorizations and contributors in supplier management. Now that we have covered vendor management, we will cover some best practices for scaling your own vendor management system. These best practices are often coupled with software vendor management platforms to facilitate vendor procurement and management. [Sources: 8]

 

Before we dwell on the specific characteristics, let us talk about the four biggest roles that vendor management systems perform. One way to imagine supplier management software is a more robust version of Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) tools. What an SRM software can achieve is performance, risk assessment, procurement, compliance, etc., just like VMs. Vendor management systems are channels of communication between managers and vendors. [Sources: 1]

 

Organizations must ensure that products and services offered by multiple third-party providers and contractors are safe and comply with all applicable laws, regulations and standards. Vendor Management Software is a process designed to manage and control relationships and agreements between these third parties, control costs, minimize third party risk, and improve service quality. [Sources: 0]

 

Here is a list of some of the best software options that should be considered for vendor management tools and IT services.

With VendorLaunch, which started as a vendor management tool, you also get a contract management module and the ability for the vendor to input their invoices which will all interface to your ERP system once your defined approval process has been completed. . Vendors can set themselves up and maintain their own documents that you need to stay in compliance. You can keep track of anything vendor or contract related in this custom set up system that corresponds to the way your company operates. You also get streamlined tasks and automation options that help you save time and ensure compliance. An audit record is created for every transaction that occurs.

 

FreshService is a cloud-based IT solution that is touted as easy to set up and use. It contains a contract management module that is integrated with an asset management module in its service desk package. There is a fully functional free trial for 30 days. [Sources: 2]

 

If you have problems managing your supplier documents, contracts, profiles, records and profiles, Gorilla wants to make your life easier. This SaaS solution includes comprehensive vendor profile management and an online collaboration tool that is suitable for companies of all sizes. [Sources: 4]

 

Managed Service Provider (MSP) is a case where companies outsource the entire process to a software provider. It leads to neutrality and leaves room for flexibility in outsourcing management. It allows companies to choose the specific characteristics they want. With this solution, users are managed by a single provider. [Sources: 5]

 

Companies are always looking for solutions that are tailored to their specific business needs. The solution you choose allows you to continue to use your own proven processes and to switch to new processes that meet the expectations of providers. However, vendor management has a learning curve for the acquisition. [Sources: 6]

 

Find cloud SaaS applications to purchase your accounts, personnel costs and data, and manage all your subscriptions in one place. All in one solution that brings together all your providers and uses a cloud SaaS discovery platform. [Sources: 8]

 

Sources:

[0]: https://cloudsmallbusinessservice.com/small-business/best-vendor-management-software.html

[1]: https://www.softwareadvice.com/scm/vendor-management-system-comparison/

[2]: https://www.tek-tools.com/itsm/best-vendor-management-software-for-it

[3]: https://softwareconnect.com/vendor-management/

[4]: https://connecteam.com/top-12-vendor-management-software-solutions-for-2017/

[5]: https://www.selecthub.com/supply-chain-management/vendor-management-software/

[6]: https://www.softwaresuggest.com/us/vendors-management-software

[7]: https://kissflow.com/procurement/vendor-management/top-vendor-management-tools/

[8]: https://zylo.com/blog/vendor-management-guide/

Why Intelligent ERP Systems Are The Secret To Growing A Company’s Competitive Edge

When the pandemic hit us suddenly last year, we were forced to adjust our live personally and professionally. But, now that things seem to be normalizing again, how do we as a society go back to some form of “normal”? While it won’t be the same normal pre-pandemic, it will be as close to normal as we can get. Businesses these days must observe and act on even the slightest changes in consumer behavior and habits to success in this post-pandemic economy. What’s the best way to monitor this change? Intelligent ERP. SAP’s Oliver Schoenborn shares an interesting article on Forbes explaining why intelligent ERP systems are the secret to growing a company’s competitive edge. “Moving from reactive management to proactive management,” says Schoenborn, “businesses facilitate data-driven decision-making using predictive analytics and act on insights with a collaborative network of suppliers, service providers, and employees.” This can happen by developing a core set of new ERP software requirements to help them compete more effectively, grow revenue, and increase agility and resilience. Businesses that have application and business processes embedded with data intelligence, advanced analytics tools, simulated modeling, and guided decision-making allows their employees to reduce the urgency when matters arise and the needs to manually handle redundant tasks. With intelligent ERP, by predicting challenges and solving them before they become customer issues, organizations can focus on more strategic activities, says Schoenborn. As much as we want out pre-pandemic lives to come back, we are always an ever-growing, ever-evolving society. With intelligent ERP, businesses can keep up with our constant changes and behavior patterns.

 

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Aircom Drives into the Cloud with Infor

Aircom Automotive has selected Infor CloudSuite Automotive, running on Amazon Web Services (AWS), to help the automotive supplier expand internationally. Per the press release, choosing Infor provides the company with access to a scalable, complete industry solution that allows it to reduce infrastructure costs. Additionally, the most important goals for this implementation are replacing the current system with a more modern and functional one and implementing proven industry practices to help Aircom expand its business. The Infor cloud solution provides a flexible way to grow the business globally, particularly in China, India and Mexico. This project is being implemented by international Infor alliance partner Merino Consulting Services BV, and will be supported by S&T, an Infor channel partner in Poland. The article also notes that after deployment, the system will initially be used by more than 100 employees in Poland, before it is deployed in other countries.

 

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How to check the delivery history of a specific LBI smart notification over a long period of time

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LBI, or Lawson Business Intelligence, smart notification is a great way to send out reports to users. Often times its good to check which users are getting the report and may have gotten it in the past.

To check this follow the steps below:

  1. Login to your LBI environment and go to Tools Dashboard >> Smart Notifications
  2. Select the Admin tab and click Delivered History

  1. In Delivered Alert History, you can set the dates as you wish to search a window of time, however this will bring back all notifications which can be cumbersome to look through

  1. To filter down on one report, simply click the Search box under Alert ID to locate the ID number.

  1. Type your report name and click search, select the correct one:

  1. Now you should see an Alert ID, click Get Delivered Alert History to see that report only and its recipients:

That’s it! Click Next Page to view the next set of records for longer date ranges.