The XA Update and Solve Problems Conference! ** Description of the Sessions by Topic and Room **

Transcription

1 The XA Update and Solve Problems Conference! ** Description of the Sessions by Topic and Room ** GENERAL and TECHNICAL Topics and Sessions in the Grand Room 8:30 9:50 Main Tent Sessions (for All Attendees) - What s Happening with XA? This is an overview of where the XA product is at today, the organization behind it, and where it appears to be headed. - Net-Link Demo and What You Need to Know Net-Link is a browser (web) based interface for XA. It doesn t have all the capabilities of Power-Link, which is a client (PC-based) application, but Infor is expanding the capabilities of Net-Link to match those of Power-Link. A key component of this interface is System i Workspace. Many companies still have green screens in use because these applications may be extremely useful and valuable for the company. In addition, some functionality in XA may require a green screen, though that is a small percentage of the XA product. System i Workspace is a tool that converts the green screens to a web (browser) screen in order to work with Net-Link. System i Workspace also allows you to organize Favorites so that you can keep your most popular applications organized on your screen how you d like them to appear. XA Development is focused on Net-Link as the strategic interface for the future of XA. See how this works. - Customer Presentations Sharing Great Ideas of Successful Projects This conference is about solving business problems. Customers will share some of the problems they had and then talk about the projects they implemented to deal with those problems. With these projects they increased efficiencies and streamlined business processes. Learn how other companies greatly improved their on-time rate for manufacturing orders, saved time by automating office tasks and communication with vendors and customers, greatly improved their quoting process, and solved problems to increase business performance in other ways. 1

2 10:00 Rational Development Tools Are you a programmer still living in the stone-ages using SEU? It s time to modernize your development skills. The modern developer tools are in Rational Developer for IBM. Come see two tools packaged in RDi. The first is Remote Systems Explorer and the second is Data Studio. See how RSE can boost your productivity by 20% and probably more. RSE is not free, so in addition to showing you RSE, we will provide you with some ROI tips. Data Studio is a free IBM DB2 development tool. We will show you the SQL interface which will also help your productivity in RSE. RDi WILL make you a better developer, so come check out how you can Invest in yourself with RDi. 10:25 iaccess/windows 10 This session will cover the new version of Client Access, including things like new buttons, spool file, IFS, SQL, green screen updates, and transfers. 12:00 Lunch and What You Know But Can t Explain The Value Delivered by IBM Power Systems Enjoy a great lunch in the Grand Room and hear a brief presentation on why the IBM Power System is the most functional, solid, innovative and virus-free computer system ever built for business. The IBM Power System is the brains behind Watson, the Jeopardy champion, and the system is now being used for many different applications, from medical diagnosis to chef s menus. But also learn how the Power System has the LOWEST TOTAL COST OF COMPUTING that means value and money to your company. 3:00 Main Tent Sessions in the Grand Room (for ALL Attendees) - The XA Roadmap The development plan for XA includes many features, such as increasing the functionality of Net-Link, strengthening XA security, integrating XA with Infor Operation Services, adding BIRST as a new Business Intelligence and Dashboarding tool, providing improved conversion tools for moving to Enterprise Financials, and other topics. This session will highlight the plan for XA. - Enterprise Financials in Real-World Implementations Enterprise Financials is one of the biggest development projects for XA in over a decade. Substantial changes have been made to these applications, which delayed their implementation. Customers are now implementing Enterprise Financials. What have been the results? How are customers doing with these new applications? What are the considerations before you consider the move? Get a real perspective from a specialist on Enterprise Financials who has done multiple implementations and migrations with different companies. - XA Round-table and Q&A with Infor Ask your questions to the XA Product Manager and Infor executives. 2

3 REPORTING & UPDATING Detail Sessions in the Hauenstein Room 10:00 Applications with Excel and Integrator All companies need outside-the-box applications for processes that take too much time or just don t work efficiently. Almost everyone uses Excel with every application of an ERP system. It is powerful, well-known, and full of functionality. Likewise, Power-Link increases user efficiency and helps users get at data quickly. What are some actual mini applications that can streamline processes using Excel and Integrator? Attend this mini-session to see such applications or get ideas for creating your own. 10:25 Using Power-Link Workspaces There is a great feature of Power-Link called workspaces. What is this and how can it be used by a user to tailor their work environment to match their needs and preferences? See how to do this by using Power-Link Workspaces. 11:00 Upgrading to Release 9.2 What Should Be Your Path? Your path to upgrading to Release 9.2 is unique to your situation. Have you already created an XA Release 9.2 environment and installed R9.2, or do you need to do an initial installation? Are you using Accounting Management or IFM? Do you plan to move to Enterprise Financials? If so, just Enterprise AP and AR? Will you continue to use IFM General Ledger? (There may be good reasons to do so.) What are the latest PCM updates and how will those affect your upgrade timing and decisions? These are just a few of the key questions that you need to consider when creating your plan and path for R :25 Year-end XA Status Check It s almost December 31. What should be your checklist for the year-end? Get some tips and techniques in this session. 1:00 Getting Data with Excel and Power-Link Excel and Power-Link are two common ways for users to get the report data or information they need, and also in a format that they like. This session will highlight two popular ways that users get their own information. Many people use Excel for getting at data, primarily the Excel feature called MS Query. This can be used as a Report Writing tool to directly access XA files (not use downloads). See an overview of using this powerful tool with your XA system to create inquiries and reports. Likewise, users get at information all sorts of ways using Power-Link. See some of the various uses of the Power-Link architecture and how it can be a real productivity tool for users. 3

4 2:00 Enterprise Integrator for the Non-programmer The Enterprise Integrator is a fantastic tool to create applications with the XA Power-Link look and feel. And Enterprise Integrator is not just for programmers. You can use several features and functions which do not require programming, such as change column headings and field names, create your own field edits, and use logical fields, discreet domains, and relationships to other files. Come and see how you, too, can take advantage of the Enterprise Integrator to create your own data or information to use with XA

5 MANAGEMENT & SYSTEMS Detail Sessions in the Pfeiffer Room 10:00 IBM Power System i Update The IBM Power System is the brains behind Watson, the Jeopardy champion (and the system being used for so many different applications, from medical diagnosis to chef s menus). The Power 8 Systems extended the computing power and capabilities of the Power Systems, and Power 9 and 10 are being worked on, and the plan goes out for over a decade. Get updated on these incredible systems and the System i Operating System. John Bizon from IBM will provide an update and Roadmap on the Power Systems. 10:25 Out-sourcing Your Hardware Infrastructure Have you ever considered running your System i, , network, and total infrastructure from the cloud? SIS is a complete Managed Solutions Center for Cloud and Managed Services, Platform Hosting, and Backup and Recovery. If you d like to learn more about out-sourcing your I/T infrastructure, check out this session! 11:00 Material Logistics: Multi-Site Planning, Execution, and Logistics Many companies need to plan and execute the demand/supply relationship between many sites, plants, and warehouses. Moreover, specific rules may define what plant builds and/or supplies other plants, warehouses, or customers. Customer AND inter-site fulfillment are key functions built-into this Power-Link application. It provides flexible and streamlined ways of handling multi-site and inter-site demand and supply issues, including automatic drop-ships from the most efficient plant or warehouse based on customer location, available stock, and currency. This session will be covered by a multi-site logistics expert who has implemented Material Logistics around the world. 11:25 Electronic Kanban for XA in Power-Link This is a feature-rich kanban solution called Electronic KanBan. E-Kanban automatically generates orders such as purchase orders, manufacturing orders, repetitive schedules, and warehouse transfers. Electronic KanBan can be configured to backflush labor and allocations, as well as perform notifications when a kanban transaction is signaled. Electronic KanBan is flexible and can be tailored at a system and bin level. It also performs bin sizing calculations and allows for the suspension of bins or the elimination of bins for discontinued items. Electronic KanBan is easy to install, configure, and use. It offers a fast and effective way to implement a visual-based pull system for XA, and it all runs with the XA Power-Link interface. 5

6 1:00 BIRST: Business Intelligence and Report Writing System BI (Business Intelligence) Systems have been the rage for the last several years as technology has improved and data storage has become cheap. These systems offer very powerful analytics, Key Performance Indicators, dashboards, and unique insights into your business via volumes of data in your system. However, a real BI system is NOT a plug n play system. Data definitions and vaults need to be established for true BI, and this is a key function of BIRST. However, powerful report writing can also be done with much less effort than setting up complex BI data vaults. BIRST Pro is a relational tool that allows you to do report writing and key analytics in a fraction of the time of setting up a full BI system. Attend this session to understand what BIRST could do for you. 1:25 Program/Project Cost Management System with XA Gain control of your programs or projects and know the exact status of your project costs. Replace user-maintained spreadsheets or other islands of information. How? By using your Infor XA system and the web-based, fully integrated Program/Project Cost Management System. Use customizable workflows and electronic forms for required project approvals. This system will allow Program Managers to see their critical project data via a single portal system with customized electronic forms while also gaining access to project financial information pulled directly from XA for project income and spend. Give your Program Managers real-time access to the information they need. In addition, use this information to realize where you stand against the budget for the program or project. This system can be used stand-alone with XA. However, when used with the Electronic Requisition Approval System, you have a system that gives you more control of expenditures and also more visibility to the status of what Program Managers and financial approvers are working on. 6

7 2:00 Electronic Requisition Approvals for MRO Items and Capital Projects Thousands of users utilize this system every day as a procurement approval strategy and method that incorporates their own company s rules and workflows into the requisition/purchasing process. In addition, such approval processes can also be used for CAPITAL PROJECTS. Save a lot of time and money in Procurement. Control your MRO, spot buys and capital project spend all in the same place. Are you tracking project expenditures in spreadsheets or waiting until the monthly financial reports come out? Do you need signatures on (RFA) Requests for authorization? Do you need to get (RFQ) requests for quotes to suppliers easily? Are you trying to get suppliers to fill out detailed quotes for materials or components for contracts? This web based procurement suite can help. The system enforces limits of authority rules and stops spend based on real-time budget calculation even when requisitions are in multiple currencies. If you are working around your current systems to control your procurement, this Electronic Requisition System ties those systems together for better management and control. Moreover, it does not consume XA licenses, so let all users in the company input and track their requisitions electronically. Identify requisitions by Expense Type, Location, Dept, or Project and Dollar Amount. 2:30 The Web Forms System for XA Electronic Forms and Automated Messaging Automatically electronic forms and messages from XA and other systems. Send forms to customers and suppliers without first printing them to the spool queue! Choose from the many standard forms, such as PURCHASE ORDERS, ORDER ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, ADVANCED SHIP NOTICES, INVOICES, PAST DUE NOTICES, A/R STATEMENTS, PRO FORMA INVOICES, or create your own custom forms. The Web/Forms Automation System is an easy, inexpensive, and AUTOMATED system that creates and sends messages and/or electronic forms based on data in XA, SQL, Microsoft Access, or other sources. New! Now the Web Forms System is married to the world s most famous open source report writer. Create and send automated reports to customers, suppliers or internally. Tired of printing and distributing reports, but you still want to control the information that goes out? The Web Forms System sets up a separate database for each report and keeps a history of everything. Need to compare that same report from a year ago? No problem. Use your as your distribution system and send your reports in HTML, PDF, and other file formats on a schedule from hourly to monthly. 7

8 SPECIALIZED SOLUTIONS Detail Sessions in the Klopcic Room 10:00 The Engineering Change Management System for XA (with Impact Analysis) XA customers have tried many methods to effectively manage Engineering Changes. A complex spreadsheet is most often the tool of choice, but that can t tell you the impact an EC will have on your XA system. It can t give everyone the proper status of an EC when they need it, or tell them when it s expected to be completed. The EC Management System for XA is a workflow and web-based portal to manage your entire EC Management process and help eliminate the problems of obsolete materials and tracking EC costs. This is a web-based system for XA that does not consume XA licenses. It is used to create, monitor, and track all your Engineering Changes, including all related tasks, files and . It provides complete visibility to EC s by Originator, Assignee, Customer, Date Created, EC number, Part Number, Status, and other ways. It presents all tasks, data, documents, dates, changes, and other information so something doesn t get lost or slip through the cracks. EC approvals follow the workflow processes that you define. This system is designed specifically for XA to deal with change issues and deal with them from one web-based portal for quick and easy accessibility. 10:25 The Express Project Management System for XA The Express Project Management System for XA is a web-based portal providing enterprise accessibility for complete Project Management. The system gives visibility to and provides the status of all projects, people, tasks, and resources. It includes Task Management, workflows, automated requisitioning and approvals, a log of meeting notes, s related to the project, open issues, checklists, Phase Gates, resource requirements, project templates, and complete project history. The system is integrated with XA for item and BoM information, supplier information, purchasing information, and other data. It is also integrated with Microsoft Project so that tasks can be created in MS Project and automatically downloaded to the Project Management System. It includes an Update Wizard for quickly and easily updating task status, and can feed back to MS Project to update MS Project tasks. 11:00 The Quotation Management System for XA QUOTING is critical to your business. How do you like your current quotation process? Is it based on spreadsheets and databases that aren t really shared? Instead, use a web-based, collaborative workflow system integrated with XA to prepare estimates and quotes. You can create and track quotes through a defined process, provide accurate costing and B/M information, and incorporate electronic Supplier RFQ s right into the quote! You can use workflows, task management, attachments, and e- mails integrated with the quote. Learn how to simplify and streamline quoting with workflows, cost elements, XA b/m, XA routings, quote revisions, quote options, copy quotes, and even the ability to click one button and electronically send a formatted quote document to a customer. The system electronically keeps history, measures the time it takes to process quotes, and analyzes wins/losses and presents them in graphics and charts. 8

9 11:25 Visibility to and Management of Outside Service Processors via a Web Portal and System-Link Tracking parts that require services outside of your company is complicated: Drop shipments to other suppliers or plants Discrepancies in shipment counts Parts may leave as one part number and return as a different one Confirming which parts suppliers should get paid for and at what price Using XA purchase orders, warehouse locations, BOM and the web, the outside services processing system brings it all together. Once you set up the parts, suppliers can receive and ship parts on the portal by choosing from lists. Suppliers only have choices to make when parts could be routed in two or more different ways. System-Link does all the inventory transactions under the covers. Make your suppliers a valued member of your inventory control team. 1:00 Document Management for XA (with a Special A/P Process) Learn all about Infor's premier Document Management solution for XA. Discover how you can eliminate paper and do away with filing cabinets. If paper handling is a problem, learn how to keep everything electronically stored and tied with your XA system. See how the Payables approval process can be automated and streamlined. From Customer Service, Engineering, Human Resources, or for Legal matters or Permit Requests, see how to use this powerful application across your enterprise. 2:00 COM_Net: An e-business Strategy and FAR More Than Just a Web Storefront What are you trying to achieve with e-business? Do you want more than just a web storefront? What is your strategy? What are your goals? Are you hoping to reduce costs? Increase sales? Have a global presence? Provide both B2B and B2C? Empower the Sales Reps? Increase Customer Service? XA s COM-Net 2 is more than just a web storefront. It s a web-based Sales and Service portal for customers, dealers, distributors, sales reps, and others. It provides both B2B and Business to Consumer capabilities. Think about this: Allow customers to place XA orders via a Web Storefront right from your own web site, including configurations using CPQ, the product configurator! Also do this with an online catalog with credit card support. Allow customers to see their order status, configurations, shipped history, inventory, invoices, and other information via the web. Provide Online Bill Pay to customers. Use the Dashboard to monitor and analyze activity of visitors to your sales portal. Also provide a document portal, and use this portal as a marketing and sales tool, not just a general information web site. COM_Net2 is an integrated system that allows you to implement a complete e-business strategy. 9