RE: Input for BPCS Manufacturing Module

        I was thinking of recommending that since he seems to be  going
around MRP, he bring the desired production into BPCS as planned shop
orders, and then release BPCS shop orders from those.

        That requires (among other things) routings, bills of material,
perhaps Facilities Planning files and various files like Machine centers,
etc. to support the shop orders. Sounds like Item Master would already exist
in BPCS for the orders and Purchasing function.

        Dick Bailey
        MCFA
                -----Original Message-----
                From:   MacWheel99@aol.com [mailto:MacWheel99@aol.com]
                Sent:   Sunday, August 27, 2000 11:47 PM
                To:     BPCS-L@midrange.com
                Subject:        Re: Input for BPCS Manufacturing Module

                Start with the on-line documentation.  Poorly organized &
poorly indexed, it 
                does have several key pieces of information you need to
know.

                One is that to implement a particular module, you have to do
other particular 
                modules as prerequisites, so now you have a high level flow
chart of what 
                overall steps are needed.

                Similarly is a sequence of populating files.

                For example MBM has Bill of Materials - parent items use how
many child 
                items, but before tacking that you gotta populate your IIM -
Item Master File.

                There are also some diagrams of different kinds of
manufacturing models - 
                which model are you - this serves as an additional guide how
to make the 
                whole thing work.

                We are on 405 CD with an almost closed loop.  Our business
is extremely 
                volatile with many customers on JIT in which when they say
jump, we had 
                better deliver in 7 days or a competitor will get the
business.

                The Customer Orders drive the Material Requirements Planning
which uses the 
                Bill of Materials & from this we launch Factory Orders that
reprint our 
                Routings (FRT file data copied to FOD for each particular
shop order) with 
                additional description notes spelling out step by step how
to manufacture the 
                parts.  The MRP also tells the Purchasing Department what
items to order on 
                what schedule to make the shop orders & as the inventory is
used & consumed 
                there are transactions tracking the whole thing.  We also
have re-supply 
                orders since we have more than one factory & there are parts
we make in-house 
                that are used at all the factories.

                We do have some summary reports driven off the customer
orders & on-hand 
                inventory that ignore the MRP reality.

                What makes sense for you depends on the complexity of the
parts you are 
                making.

                If you are on AS/400 & the system you are now using that you
want to copy the 
                data from is also on AS/400, may I suggest you look at the
software product 
                FILE TRACK http://www.outlookcomputing.com which we used in
our BPCS 
                conversion.  It permits you to play jig saw puzzle ... move
this field from 
                this file to that file, change this field structure based on
current 
                contents, logic based on contents of several related files
to build 
                replacement fields.  Not only can it handle incredibly
complicated logic, you 
                can have non-technical people keying in some of the
specifications if you are 
                in a time crunch needing technical people very focused.

                > From: atohkvc@netvigator.com (Victor Chan)
                >  
                >  We are in BPCS version 6.0.02 Cum Mar98 C/S, and we use
only the Accounts 
                > and Order Processing modules.
                >   
                >  Current Operation
                >    1.. We capture the Sales, Stock, Purchase information
from BPCS, after 
                > going thru our own Inventory Management System, we
generate the listing for 
                > products required to be produced by our plant monthly
(this listing has the 
                > item code and quantity required for each product to be
produced). 
                >    2.. With refer to this list, our plant will use their
own Manufacturing 
                > System to produce accordingly.
                >  
                >  What We Want
                >  
                >  If we want to keep the Step 1 (i.e. generating the
product request listing 
                > by ourselves) and switch to use BPCS's Manufacturing
Modules for Step 2, 
                > which area you think we have to pay more attention to ?
                >  
                >  In other words, can we upload our list of "Product
Request for Production" 
                > to BPCS's manufacturing modules ?  Which table(s) are used
to store the 
                item 
                > code and quantity required for each product to be produced
?
                >  
                >  Thanks in advance for your advice.
                >  
                >  Best Regards,
                >  
                >  Victor
                >  Atofina Hong Kong

                Al Macintyre  ©¿©
                MIS Manager Green Screen Programmer & Computer Janitor of
BPCS 405 CD Rel-02 
                running on AS/400 V4R3 http://www.cen-elec.com Central
Industries of 
                Indiana--->Quality manufacturer of wire harnesses and
electrical 
                sub-assemblies
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