Infor Provides New Features in ERP XA for Discrete Manufacturers

October 15, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

Enhancements to Infor ERP XA version 7.8 include improved system speed, inventory management processes and service and maintenance procedures for IT professionals.

"Infor ERP XA is a comprehensive system that helps streamline critical manufacturing processes, such as master production scheduling, inventory management, order processing, material requirements planning, detailed lot tracking and production reporting," said Kevin Piotrowski, director, discrete industry and product marketing, Infor.

"With the latest version of XA, the system functions faster and is easier to service, lowering the total cost of ownership for companies in the discrete manufacturing industry," he said.

Infor said ERP XA 7.8 uses an IBM query engine, SQE, which increases the system's speed of data retrieval and improves performance across the board.

The enhanced version also automatically updates financials by type: accounts receivable, accounts payable, general ledger and cash. This reduces time by eliminating the step required to look up the transaction category, Infor said.

In addition, the new version uses a companion field to update the currency decimal point for various foreign monies, which previously had to be done separately and required additional time.

Enhancements to Infor ERP XA improve inventory management processes and associated accounting practices, according to Infor. Manufacturers can receive inventory using advanced shipping notice (ASN) in addition to purchase order.

The system features capabilities to manage the process of inventory transfer across distances, providing global companies the visibility to consider inventories from all operations as part of the production process.

To provide companies' accounting departments a transparent view of actual assets, XA now tracks inventory in transit and records it as an asset.

Previously, systems maintained only the assets that were currently on hand, disregarding the goods being shipped from one location to another, or before a customer's receipt.

IT professionals can use new features in ERP XA 7.8 to service and maintain the software system. IT can now move from server to server, send server-related messages to users and route new logons to underused servers.

When maintenance is required, technicians can place FIX servers in remote offices, which reduces the need for bandwidth during maintenance and upgrades.

In addition, ERP XA 7.8 includes a product upgrade feature that analyzes any customizations that have been made to determine how updates to the software will affect any code changes.

Source: Infor.