Infor XA Release 7
An Executive Perspective
Deborah Vermillion
VP Consulting Services deborah.vermillion@cistech.net

Deborah Vermillion
My background started in IT development of custom accounting, inventory and sales system. I have been doing
MAPICS/XA for 20 years, in variety of industries; Automotive-
Nissan, Honda, Toyota suppliers,
Batch-Chemicals, Paper;
Configure to Order, Make to Order
& Stock-Lighting, Electrical and
Large Capital Equipment.
Professional Experience
• MBA, CPIM, CIRM
• IT Development Manager, ERP Project
Manager
• 20 Years XA Experience
MAPICS Experience
• 20 Years implementation and project management experience
• Certifications in EPDM, Production,
Procurement, Inventory, Cost Accounting

Agenda
1. What is XA Release 7?
2. What are the improvements?
3. Is Release 7 ready for You?
4. How do I get there?
5. Summary

What is XA Release 7?
iSeries
Application
Server
Database
NETWORK
Web
Server
DB2/400
HTML
Server
Custom
Definition
Server server iSeries
XML
Server

What is XA Release 7?
Java Architecture Infrastructure
NETWORK
Web
Data
Base

One platform for total enterprise integration
Excel
Thin
Client
Web
Site
Office
W
S
XML Other System
WS HTML XML
Customize
User User
Infor XA
JDBC
Custom System
(SQL Server)
Quality

What is XA Release 7?
Java Architecture User Interface

What is XA Release 7?
Powerful Functional Enhancements
..now and in the future

What is XA Release 7?
Powerful Functional Enhancements
..now and in the future

What is XA Release 7?
New Applications
• Lean Execution and Planning (LEAP)
– Integrates Lean execution with MO’s or REP schedules
 Infor Supply Web
– Electronic Supplier Communications
 Infor Enterprise Asset Management
 Leverage Infor’s Solution Library

Agenda
1. What is XA Release 7?
3. Is Release 7 ready for You?
4. How do I get there?
5. Summary

Implement at your own pace
Integrator SystemLink NetLink
CSM OBPM EPDM PM MM

What are the improvements?
1. Easy Access to Information improves decision making
2. Improved Application Functionality
3. Tailor XA to meet your specific needs
4. Connectivity and collaboration beyond your walls

Easy Access to Information
Quick change
Graph cards
Compound cards
Presentation schemes
Subset tip text
Cascading subsets
Power expand
URL & e-Mail buttons
Attachment count
Column statistics
User definition favorites
Express customization
Logical field tip text
Change templates
Code files delete
Auto logoff
Auto key generation
Open action
Workspaces

Graph Cards
Graph data on a card
– Pie charts, bar charts, stacked bar…
Multiple fields, multiple records
Drill down to supporting data
Customize subsets, sorts, max number

All Available over the Internet

PO P012345 for
$11,283.19 needs approval

2. Improved Application Functionality
R7 Essentials is the platform for enhancing core applications (EPDM,
PM, IFM, etc)
R7 is the platform for integration to Infor
Extensions

Cost Simulation Object

Cost Simulation Object
Results at total item level…
…and by cost element…
…and by summary.

Costed Indented Bill of Material
Summary costs
Cost elements

Purchase Requests
New object on main browser
Ties together requisitions
– Like a header
– Handle requisitions as a group
– Makes entering and tracking requisitions easier
Purchase Request
Buyer: John Doe
Whs: Atlanta
Priority: 1
Contract: 123
REQ ITEM QTY DATE
1 123A 10 Apr 1
2 2546 44 Apr 8
3 5938 48 Apr 8
4 2019 14 Apr 1
5 3876 87 Apr 6

Purchase Requests
From the requisitions
Overall status
All/Some/None
All/Some/None

Purchase Requests

Requisitions
Purchase Request items are requisitions

PO Variance
Define ‘Standard’…
Comparison cards

PO Variance

R7.8 Expanded Process Functionality
Customer Service Management
– End order enhancement
– Split commissions
– Price books
– Reports
– Invoicing from orders or shipments
– Holds – list view gives visibility
– Comments maintenance
– Customer/industry item maintenance
– Contracts/promotions maintenance
– IFM customer maintenance

New End Order
Better Hold
Management
CSM
Reports

Invoicing
• Invoices can now be generated from orders or shipments.
• As a standard host job, the invoices can be e-mailed or stored as text, HTML, and/or PDF documents.

R7.8 Expanded Process Functionality
Enterprise Product Data Management
(non-EPDM environments still the same)
– Maintain kits and kit components
Procurement Management
– Integration with SRM SupplyWEB for electronic communication with vendors.
– Enhanced security for SOX requirements (federal tax ID/Social
Security # has it’s own security and pre-set security for separation of duties)
Cameleon
– De-couples engineering data from line-item entry, speeding up data entry process.
– Configured item descriptions are saved in both CSM and EPDM.
– MO’s can be generated automatically from configured customer orders.

R7.8 Expanded Process Functionality
Materials Management
– New inventory transactions (IS, RC, TW, SA)
– Receiving now has receipt by shipping notice, shipment containers and shipped items (SRM SupplyWEB)
– Visibility and receipt functionality for “in-transit” stock being transferred to another XA warehouse
– Inventory Status and Non-netting Locations
• New field, Inventory Status, added to the Warehouse Location object to classify items to be withheld from certain activities.
– Customer order pick lists – regular & stock pick combined
– Customer order shipments (complete only for now)
– Invoicing

New Inventory Transactions
(Renamed but same designator.
Note Reverse action.)
• Issue Item (IS) – formerly
Miscellaneous issue.
• Receive Item (RC) – formerly Miscellaneous receipt.
• Issue Sales Item (SA) – formerly
Sales Shipment.
• Transfer Item (TW) – formerly
Interwarehouse Transfer, and the related generated
Interwarehouse Issue (IW) and
Interwarehouse Receipt (RW).

SHIPPING FUNCTIONALITY

R7.8 Expanded Process Functionality
IFM
– Maintenance of:
• Entities
• Customer
• Vendors
– New summary levels and analytical functions
– Credit information updated in real time
– Increased length of bank account number to 60 characters to handle bank ID codes and international bank ID codes.

Add/maintain vendors with
IFM
Add/maintain customers with IFM

New IFM Summaries

R7.8 Expanded Process Functionality
Order-Based Production Management
– Application setting controls how users are notified when changing MO quantities with discrete allocations.
Net-Link
– Supports multiple internet browsers
Environment Management
– Includes Product Update feature to analyze and apply
PTF’s, PCM’s and migrations from R6 to R7.

R7.8 Expanded Process Functionality
Integrator
– Imports and exports user code within user exits.
– Publish and subscribe supports notification subsets, including all fields on regular subsets.
– The User Definition and User Preference Administration functions have moved from Integrator to base Power-
Link product.
Translation enhancements
– Add language to user profile and eliminate need for multiple MMLIST records and multiple database copies.
– Install new applications and apply code fixes once without regard to individual languages.

R7.8 Expanded Process Functionality
Link Manager
– Provides enhancements for managing machines, processes and environments.
System-Link
– Calls to host jobs and reports
– Define transactions groups
– Supports conditional blocks in System-Link requests
Performance
– Extra caching of customization data
– Use of System i SQL query engine

IFM – Functions in process
Phase I – “Establishment”
– All table maintenance
• Entities, divisions, ledgers, withholding tables…
– 45% of menu options
Phase II – “Transactions”
– Journal entries
– Cash receipts
– AR Invoices
– AP Invoices
Phase III – “The rest”

Lean Execution and Planning
• Kanban setup and management
• Electronic production/rate boards
• Backflushing with or without an M.O.
• Kanban integration with XA’s shop floor tools
• “drag and drop” M.O. / Kanban scheduling
• and much more….

Lean Execution and Planning

Infor Integration-Enterprise Software Bus
PO ASN
Infor
App 1
Infor
App 2
Infor
App 3
ESB
Enable functions once to interact with the bus
May now interact with any other application enabled for the bus
– Let App 1 = SupplyWEB
– Let App 2 = EAM
– Both can use PO’s in the ERP system

SupplyWEB: Electronic Comm w/Suppliers
Multiple Procurement
Methodologies:
Scheduled Releases
Ship Schedules
Discrete Purchases
One Way eKanban Pull
Signals
Supplier Managed
Inventory (SMI)

World Class Enterprise Asset Management
Asset - Equipment
Work Management
Materials Management
Purchasing Management
Administration Management
Reporting

World Class Enterprise Asset Management
Easy to use
– Pre-set configurations
– Simplified Installation
– Pre-define KPI/Inbox’s
– Low database and server costs
– Simplified User setup
– User defined Hyperlinks for fast data entry
– Financial Integration to XA included

3. Tailor XA to meet your specific needs

3. Tailor XA to meet your specific needs
Purchased Manufactured

Develop Applications

Release Transparency !
This is a big deal!
You plan to be with your ERP system for a long time
A long time = lots of custom project
Everything you customize is “transparent” to the release.
• Customized software but not modified
• No source code changes
• At release time, changes are brought forward and reapplied

4. Connectivity and Collaboration

4. Connectivity and Collaboration
Link business processes outside your 4 walls
Integrate multiple systems
Integrate multiple platforms
Leverage desktop applications

Secure web access to your objects
HTML
Customize
User
Infor XA
Custom business processes
Create objects and deploy over the web

Secure web access to your objects
 Create and deploy objects on the web in minutes
 Navigation, customization, attachments…all automatic
 Note: Enterprise Integrator is required for Net-Link to see new or changed objects.

Integrate XA with your web page…
HTML XML
Customize
User
Infor XA
Web pages talk
XML natively
Create web pages that talk
XML to your
ERP system

Integrate XA with your web page…

Integrate with other systems
ERP
Backbone
XML Other System
HTML XML
Customize
User
Infor XA
Other system
– Financial, CRM, shop floor, CAD…
Includes edits, calculated fields, business rules
Honors security

Download/upload bulk data

Integrate with Desktop applications
Office
W
S
XML Other System
Costs
Budgets
Forecasts
Prices
WS HTML XML
Customize
User
Infor XA

Integrate with Desktop applications

Integrate other applications
Office
W
S
XML Other System
Single user interface
WS HTML XML
Customize
User User
Infor XA
JDBC Quality
Departmental System
(SQL Server)

Objects from QA’s system (SQL Server)

One platform for total integration
Office
W
S
XML Other System
Single user interface
WS HTML XML
Customize
User
User
Infor XA
JDBC Quality
Departmental System
(SQL Server)

 Access QA data over the Internet

One platform for total integration
Office
W
S
XML Other System
Single user interface
WS HTML XML
Customize
User User
Infor XA
JDBC Quality
Departmental System
(SQL Server)

Agenda
1. What is XA Release 7?
2. What are the improvements?
4. How do I get there?
5. Summary

Is Release 7 Ready for You?
R7 is implemented on a large scale in large companies
– Polaris, hundreds of users, multiple sites
– Vestas, hundreds of users, multiple sites, multiple countries

Is Release 7 Ready for You?
R7 is implemented on a large scale in mid-sized companies
“XA R7 has provided an integrated business solution for our company. Information flows seamlessly, and via PowerLink, users are able to quickly access real-time information to make business decisions and respond to issues quickly. It has enabled an improvement of our business processes, and is the backbone of running our business.” VP Finance, industrial equipment manufacturer
“XA R7 is a tremendous tool for our business. Users are now able to access key information, without the need for specialized queries and reporting help from IT. The ability and ease of which our people can locate up-to-date data, and export to Excel is extremely valuable.” IT Manager, electronics manufacturer

Is Release 7 Ready for You?
R7 is implemented on a large scale in mid-sized companies
“Finding vital production information, such as customer order and manufacturing order status, is five times faster with XA R7. Once you move to this toolset, you would never want to function without it.” Production Control Manager, Ind Equipment Manufacturer
“ The workbench capability in XA R7 allows us to analyze material and purchase requirements exactly how we want to see them. This type of analysis previously required sometimes hours of digging, but is now easily seen on one screen – without having to go to multiple places in the system!” Materials Manager, Ind Equip Mfr
“We were sold by the ease with which you can customize the PowerLink user interface.
The ability to quickly and easily add custom data files with relationships to XA data, and have those files immediately available in the PowerLink interface is extremely powerful”
IT manager, Wire manufacturer

Agenda
1. What is XA Release 7?
2. What are the improvements?
3. Is Release 7 ready for You?
5. Summary

How do I get there?
1. Define your vision
2. Infrastructure Planning
3. Implement the R7 Platform
4. Deploy the enhancements

Define your Vision
Office
W
S
Single user interface
XML Other System
WS HTML XML
Customize
User User
Infor XA
JDBC Quality
Departmental System
(SQL Server)

Infrastructure Planning
Integrator SystemLink NetLink
CSM OBPM EPDM
R 7 Java
PM MM
R 7 Green Screen

Infrastructure Planning
1. Performance Planning
• Determine Server Requirements
• R7 performance has been tuned
• Offload to PC servers
• Network Considerations
• Client Considerations
• Your affiliate and Infor can help
2. Technical Education
• R7 Infrastructure operations

Implement the R7 Platform
1. If Green Screen only, similar to previous migrations
• Minimal application changes
• Evaluate impact to custom programs
2. With Java applications
• Link Manager Configuration
• Client Deployment

Deploy the Enhancements
1. Existing ‘Browser’ User
• Basic Training on enhancements
2. New Java User/s
• Potential for significant process improvement
• Consulting assistance to develop streamlined processes supported by new tools
3. Project for significant deployment

Summary-Why go to XA 7?
1. My Infrastructure is now ‘nimble’
2. My ‘Enterprise’ is now connected
3. Information is now available
4. My processes are more streamlined
5. My users are more productive
6. Roadblocks (quality, performance) have been removed