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Get Business Class and Field Names for Landmark Applications

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When setting up Landmark queries for IPA or Spreadsheet Designer, it helps to know which business class and field you are working with.  You can get these values in any Landmark application form (web-based or in Rich Client) by typing ctrl+shift and clicking on the field.

Watch for five supply chain ERP trends in 2020

2019 saw a technology craze that significantly improved the way we do business. Looking ahead in 2020, Kayla Matthews at Freight Waves explores the positive outlook for enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to help your supply chain run smoothly. Matthews predicts the follow 5 trends to boost ERP and supply chain logistics in the coming year and beyond.

  1. A growing realization that ERP systems and associated technologies cut costs – Matthews believes that in 2020, as supply chain professionals continue to look for ways to reduce costs and compensate for an insufficient labor force, many will investigate whether 2020 is the right time to connect complementing technologies to their ERP systems.
  2. Greater emphasis on using ERP software to keep customers satisfied – ERP is implemented because of the desire for a firm to improve business performance. As we move into 2020, expect more supply chain businesses to see a link between using ERP systems and keeping their customers satisfied.
  3. Artificial intelligence coming to ERP software – Artificial intelligence (AI) is excellent for removing some of the manual, time-consuming tasks. AI also applies to supply chain professionals due to its inventory management capabilities. AI is already starting to integrate into some ERP platforms. In 2020, Matthews predicts, more and more ERP platforms will integrate AI into their software.
  4. More companies integrating the IoT into their ERP platforms – 2020 will likely include an increase in companies using Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and ensuring the respective data gets factored into the information shown in an ERP interface. Some supply chain leaders put IoT equipment on their trucks. This approach allows for tracking the vehicles in real-time and predicting the demand for sales.
  5. Increased attempts to combine blockchain with ERP software – Blockchain technology became widely known for its connection to cryptocurrency. It’s proved itself to be useful in other sectors such as supply chain. Blockchain provides a higher level of transparency that can improve ethical sourcing in the supply chain, cut down on fraud and more.

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6 technology trends shaping the innovation platform

With 5G disrupting today’s mobile network platform and providing widespread global coverage, Erik Ekudden at Ericsson.com believes that this network platform is the gateway to greater innovative trends in the near future. With 5G’s predictive success, Ekudden forecasts other trends that the future of technology may take us. He predicts the interplay of these technology trends will be the catalyst for global transformation. According to Ekudden, the six trends to watch in the year ahead are:

  • The Internet of Skills
  • Cyber-physical systems
  • Distributed compute and storage
  • Ubiquitous radio access
  • Security assurance
  • Zero-touch networks

The first two trends, he explains, are about demanding use cases, while the final four are about technologies that are evolving the network platform. In his article, Ekudden explained, “Distributed compute and storage is a new addition in 2019. The other five trends have been part of our trend analysis for the last few years. In this year’s article, I build on last year’s conclusions and provide more context about our vision of the future network platform.”

 

Read the 2019 technology trends in full to find out more about how these six trends are transforming our world.

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Transitioning Open Receipts from one ERP to another

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There are things to consider when transitioning your open receipts from one ERP to another:

  1. How old are the receipts before you will not move them to the new ERP?
  2. Are the POs still open for the open Receipts?
  3. Is there a new PO number that needs to be used for cross referencing purposes in the new ERP?
  4. How about the vendor number – did it change in the new ERP?
  5. What about your item numbers? – Do you need a cross reference between the old and new item numbers?

How The ‘Silo Effect’ Is Hurting Cross Team Collaboration

The term “silo effect” when used in the workplace, is a term that describes the occurrence when separate departments or teams within an organization don’t have a system to communicate effectively with each other. Because of this, productivity suffers. Despite that technology is an effective tool for communication and collaboration in the workplace, the silo effect is still a problem to some teams. Lauren at Trello shares how the silo effect is hurting cross team collaboration and what we can do to fix it.

Every company has different departments working for their own supervisors. While these different teams don’t communicate on a daily basis, it’s important that the management does. It’s the only way a company can function with all these moving parts. as Lauren describes, sometimes silos can develop because of differences in opinion or down barriers between department leaders over priorities. This can be alleviated with open and honest meetings. She suggests having meaningful creative collaboration between employees with various skill sets as it is is a great way to facilitate long-term communication within a silo. Giving employees the chance to work closely together on large-scale projects will foster healthy communication across the firm. If you’re company is fast moving or simply too large to have people physically meet in one place, fear not because that’s what the cloud is for. Online chatrooms, forums, task and meeting spaces are a great virtual setup for individuals to collaborate almost as effectively as being in the same room. There are so many tools out there that are specifically designed to facilitate communication between employees wherever they are. Some examples include Google Drive, Google Docs, Slack, Dropbox and Trello meeting boards and other Trello based platforms. Having different and distinct departments is a good thing, but it is also good if these different parts still work together. The bottom line, Lauren explains, is differentiation across departments and teams is a good thing, but sometimes it can also be beneficial to create a mashup of skills and duties.

 

Original article posted by Lauren Marchese at Trello.

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The CRM-ization of Healthcare

Customer relationship management (CRM) has taken over the healthcare sector for quite some time now. According to CRM Buyer, CRM works remarkably well with some aspects of healthcare. Call center tools and techniques proactively remind patients of a pending appointment or to take their medications. Customers are enjoying the ease and convenience of healthcare services with CRM app-integrations and the convenience of having in=person doctor visits at home and/or at various walk-in clinics. A study shows that 94 percent of patients want access to walk-in clinics, 76 percent want in-home visits, and 68 percent want mobile apps for health coaching. This is all possible with CRM. It’s good to note that today a lot of service or information that patients might need doesn’t have to come directly from healthcare providers. CRM has also aided in the medical device area. With wearables transferring real time health information to app-enabled programs and devices, CRM helps patients and doctors stay in the know with their health vitals in real-time. Converting dated healthcare techniques to digitally enabled processes will be more and more the “norm” on healthcare, thanks to the impact of CRM.

 

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Transitioning Open AR from one ERP system to another

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Things to consider:

  1. Do your addresses need to be cleaned up?
  2. Do you have duplicate customers that need to be consolidated?
  3. Do you currently have abbreviations in your addresses that you don’t need in your new system?
  4. OR – do you not have abbreviations in your current ERP and need them in your next one?
    1. Create an abbreviation cross reference to easily make the abbreviations needed
  5. Cleaning up the addresses is often very time consuming and can be expensive when waiting until the last minute paying a consultant to do it. Hire a temp now and get it done early and much less expensive
  6. How much history do you want to bring over to the new ERP system?
  7. If you are moving off Lawson, are you using National Accounts? If so, make sure to apply all open payments at the National Account level unless you are sure the new system will allow this same functionality.
  8. Is there anything special about your AR processing that needs to be considered when moving to a new ERP?

Avoiding the seven stages of ERP grief

As complex as enterprise resource planning (ERP) can be, it’s silly not to have to implement an ERP system for your business. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to ERP systems because each business is different. To be successful, you must do extensive research to find the ERP that’s right for your budget, your business model, and your team. An article on ITProPortal by Claire Mason explains the many steps of ERP grief when implementing this change into your company. Mason shares how to overcome these setbacks so you can continue to be successful with your implementation.

The seven stages of ERP grief

  1. Shock – You find out your ERP system isn’t supporting the latest innovative technology. You make think you’re behind, but believe it or not, you’ve got competitors in the same boat. technology is always changing so don’t worry if you haven’t yet caught up. That’s what upgrades are for and your ERP vendors will assist with upgrades.
  2. Denial – ERP projects are often daunting. You might find that your staff is taking shortcuts, processes are inefficient, inconsistencies creep in and ultimately you lose productivity, and your view of the entire picture. All of this costs money, and if you don’t want to waste any more than you need, address the situations and make some change.
  3. Desolation – ERP can get very complicated very fast. The best way to solve this is to think deeply about what outcomes you want to see from an ERP system in your organisation.
  4. Bargaining – Nothing comes cheap, but don’t be deceived by high prices meaning high quality. You need patience and planning for this stage. This is a 10-15 year purchase – it will take time to get the right buy-in.
  5. Reflection – ERP implementations have a high first-time failure rate. IF you chose wrong, you run the risk of disappointed staff and wasted money. However, if you get it right, you will be behind the best version of your business. You’ll create a flexible, scalable and agile platform, with an efficient and innovative culture.
  6. Working through – What exactly do you want from your ERP solution? Employees are your biggest source of information – ask them what would make their lives easier and what their issues are. They can tell you what clients’ issues are relating to the how the processes are run in your business.
  7. Acceptance – You’ve made a match with an ERP provider, now the real work begins. You must now appoint a system administrator, clean your data before migrating to your new system, train your staff. and work on a strategy that will utilize your ERP to it’s maximum potential.

By knowing the stages of “grief” in ERP implementation, you can better prepare your team on how to handle these obstacles so you can experience the return on investment from your ERP solution.

 

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SQL Server Copy Database Wizard

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An alternative to a SQL database backup & restore is to use the Copy Database Wizard in SQL Server.

Right-click on the database, and select Copy. The source and destination can reside on different servers. You can opt to copy without taking the source database online. It will take longer, but it doesn’t require downtime. You can also copy to an existing database if you select the option to drop the database before adding if it exists. This tool is especially useful if you are trying to copy data from a new version of SQL Server to an older version such as 2008. We have come across that configuration many times in Lawson PROD to DEV environments.

Storm To Perform: The 4 Stages Of Team Productivity

What makes companies like Apple or NASA successful? It’s the people behind it – teams. Group development theory claims that team dynamics play a big part in pushing people toward success. Leah Ryder at Trello explains how maximum productivity will allow teams to work at high levels for more successful outcomes. She takes the main ideas from group development theory -forming, storming, norming and performing – and walks us through 4 stages of successful team productivity.

 

Stage 1: Forming A Real Live Team

First meetings are all about first impressions. We figure out our dynamics, how the team will approach the given situation and decide our team leaders and approach. Getting comfortable with one another is the goal here as it can lead to closer connections, better communication, and a better-flowing dynamic. Ryder shares that in order to get to real productivity, teams need to move past the small talk and be ready to engage on a more real level, potential conflict and all.

 

Stage 2: Storming Into Authentic Connections

No matter how sturdy you form your team in the first stage, there will at some point be a roadblock.  Whether it’s a missed deadline, grueling hours, or an imperfect launch, some team members may no longer be enthusiastic about the work. This is where storming happens, but it;s not usually the best feeling in the world. There will be conflict, sub-grouping, or discontent from private frustration to straight confrontation. If teams can’t identify the issues, communicate constructively, and work to resolve them, they will get stuck at this stage. Ryder suggests using these situations to reevaluate and reassign tasks. The key to this is to emphasize positive intent, especially from the leader. Trying different tactics to promote teamwork or finding common ground or resolving concerns is the best way to get past the storming stage.

 

Stage 3: Norming Out The Kinks

If your team can make it past the storming stage, you’re already proving to be a potentially successful group. The norming stage takes observation, identification, and action on things that are working (and not working). Teams in this stage are constantly working out things like communication preferences, recognition of achievements, and workflows. Leaders and team members alike are building trust, understanding, and support with their peers and these attributes will help teams towards the right path to success.

 

Stage 4: Performing At Peak Productivity

The performing stage is the nirvana of synergy. Team dynamics are good and team performance is really good. This doesn’t mean there’s no more conflict. It just means teams at this stage are better at handling conflict and resolving situations faster. Ryder explains that the best thing a leader can do here is to empower team members to get everything they need to be the most productive and innovative as possible. They should also celebrate milestones and validate great team work.

 

It is important to note, as Ryder concludes, that just because your team is grooving, you shouldn’t stop investing attention into team development. It’s always possible to revert back to an earlier stage when factors change, or a team member withdraws from the group effort for personal or interpersonal reasons.

 

Original Post by Leah Ryder at Trello

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