RE: Manual or Guides for to implemetation Bpcs Module's -- BPCS-L

At my "day" job we use UPI manuals http://www.unbeatenpathintl.com/ ... we have several of them ... most of them cost $250.00 each. They tend to cover a cluster of related applications in depth, such as all the modules that influence CST and all the variables that you need to have right for CST to work right ... or same kind of thinking for PLANNING (MRP CAP DRP etc.) or accounting or engineering. But these manuals are not in depth behind BPCS scenes from a programmer perspective, they are end user and application manager guides ... here is what you have to do for BPCS to work right for your company and its business needs. They are also great for explaining to employees who may know ERP but not BPCS how everything fits together. What we have to do to achieve common objectives. What kind of data is readily available. Navigating all the options of various inquiry programs.

If you sign up for UPI classes at your site, everyone in the class will come away with one of these manuals specifically tailored (the examples and step by step) to your company's product structure. The classes are more expensive ... think thousands of dollars cost to the company, but if you can get the budget, the investment is well worth while. You are in Mexico. They can do these classes in Spanish. I assume they can also do these manuals in Spanish. Something to consider when you shopping around for which education is most appropriate to your people.

We also get at NexGen newsletters ... some issues strike a nerve as it were and get great circulation through a corporate department. We supposed to be getting them in the mail, but I get mine by downloading from their web site. http://www.nexgeninfo.com/quarterly.htm

We used to get the Crowe Chizek newsletters that had BPCS tips, but I not seen one in a while. There's other outfits out there ... you need to go after as many as you can then see which you like the most. I think some are great from perspective of what is doable. Several people on this list have mentioned other BPCS documentation they swear by.

I do not have choice of what the company buys, I just make suggestions. On my wish list for future aquisition for me to use: * DS Solutions BPCS Overview Manual http://www.dssolutionsinc.com/OverviewManual.asp because it provides layout of all the files, and what all those fields signify and are used for ... a recurring challenge for us with modifications is to identify fields that are SAFE for new uses and meanings that will not mess up some area of BPCS we not yet using ... for example, if you looking at an end item in INV300, BOM300, SFC300, we identify on the screen what CUSTOMER this is for, because a field was identified that is on those screens that we not using for anything and no harm us populate it. We want to do a whole lot more like that, but I consider having this manual a pre-requisite to effectively implement that kind of thinking. Another reality is that sometimes we manage to get things messed up, and it sure would be nice to have a chain of evidence of all the possibilities ... this manual would short circuit that kind of investigation. I believe it is $350.00 * BPCS Guide for Auditors http://www.unbeatenpathintl.com/audhand.html that lists the gotchas where people often have misconceptions or liable to make mistakes because of those misconceptions about how BPCS works. I think this one is $135.00 * There are some other things I would love for us to have that are not documentation but add on tools and services, such as the BPCS Security Audit and e-BPCS and DISPLAY ACTIVE BPCS JOBS. I will just have to patiently wait until our recession is no longer crippling us, then again start pushing for things such as the CD Rom Juke Box which can have all our engineering drawings on-line for linkage to shop order generation, and inspection on demand, and other neat stuff that is WAY out of current budget considerations. * We do not have AS/Set so it is impractical for me to modify ORD500 and a few other programs. * Given that the 400 is a DATA BASE MACHINE, it also helps to get education and tips in how to make best use of 400 tools, which can best be addressed by the other www.midrange.com lists. If you are brand new to IBM 400 iSeries world, you might want to get the IBM Redbook on BPCS ... we downloaded it from the IBM website and reprinted selected pages. This is highly technical (geeky) and not reccommended for anyone outside of IT. http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg245410.html

When we originally got BPCS from SSA, and when we got various upgrades to new versions, they came with Word documents on diskette that addressed various elements of implementing BPCS. I not consider them good starting places, but there is info there that I have found no place else.

Ok
I know the BPCS DOC.
Can you recommend any manual or guides that I to buy(a few hundred
dollars in high quality explanation)?

Thank you for your help

Cesar Iracheta

-----Original Message-----
From: Al Mac

Yes there are "free" manuals that come with BPCS but they are NOT very
good
... actually getting BPCS and keeping it can be very expensive, as other

threads here attest, but once you have BPCS properly installed, one of
the
objects is called BPCSDOC consisting of a directory of source objects
describing many many aspects of BPCS in great detail, but poorly
cross-indexed.

Yes there are great manuals or guides for many BPCS areas but they are
NOT
free.

Take your pick ... invest a few hundred dollars in high quality
explanation
that can be used by any and all co-workers ... or print a few door stop
documents that will take you a lot of time to absorb.

For the freebie stuff, get yourself to the BPCS DOC menu and check it
out.
Anyone looking at BPCSDOC for the first time ought to start with
SSALOG00
the BPCS overall Logic Manual.

It your security will not let you access menu DOC, talk to your
installation's BPCS security office about getting copies of the relevant

SSA RUN documents for each of these applications.
It is also practical to get into the HELP screens text of BPCS software,

without actually running the programs involved.  This can be of immense
value in seeing what the programs do, and how to navigate all the
screens
available.

If you know SEU, you can SEARCH BPCSDOC content looking for particular
programs and features.

The only application on your list that I am familiar with is CST.
It is incredibly complex.  Like the recent thread from someone on this
list
asking about the implementation of MRP, a major prerequisite to doing it

right is to get the right education.
I suspect that might also be true for some of the other applications you
list.

For the quality education and documentation that is not free, check the
links on my personal
Find BPCS Documentation Suppliers
http://radio.weblogs.com/0107846/stories/2002/11/08/bpcsDocSources.html

>Hi
>
>Any know if there are manuals or guides free about of the modules: FXA,
>CSH, ARP, CST, CDM.
>
>Please help me, for I get any information about it.
>
>Regards
>
>Cesar Iracheta Mata
>Suelas WYNY, S.A. de C.V.
>Mexico
>Iracheta@xxxxxxxxxxx

-
Al Macintyre  http://www.ryze.com/go/Al9Mac
Find BPCS Documentation Suppliers
http://radio.weblogs.com/0107846/stories/2002/11/08/bpcsDocSources.html
BPCS/400 Computer Janitor at http://www.globalwiretechnologies.com/