Materially speaking about time

The elusive billable hours and the hours that the customer will challenge are siblings. The hours you don’t bill, and the hours the client won’t pay for, are the twins that reduce your utilization rate and keep your profits low. Let’s tackle the second one for just a sec.

 

When it comes to “Time and Materials,” the client wants to know that each hour was used to his benefit, even if he was not around to evaluate each and every hour. This is his right. It is up to the professional consultant who touts his specialized services to be productive and give the client a quality consulting hour, provide engineering skills, planning acumen, or trouble-shooting expertise, and let him know about it quickly and effectively. But how is this done?

 

I have noticed, after more than two decades of providing oversight to consultants, that the highly skilled and highly educated professional consultant imagines that somehow the client will know and appreciate all the hours put into a project. And this can be the case, nonetheless, what happens when a project’s timeline slips and the hours of trouble-shooting and problem solving need to be justified? The hours are all meticulously listed on the invoice, but does the client know exactly how valuable those hours were?  

 

Time tracking can be a headache for any highly-focused consultant. Engineers and programmers can be so immersed in their work that recording and submitting their billable time is left to the very last minute, literally! They need something to JOGG them into reporting their time. This problem is so pervasive that there are innumerable computer programs, self-help books on time management, and now mobile applications to help the overloaded professional.

 

The Holy Grail is a solution that conveys the projected scheduled hours directly to your phone or mobile device, and after a quick input from you, the activity is recorded, assigned to the right project phase, and linked to the right account in the accounting system. Then, at the end of the day, the client’s project manager receives a report for his approval and the resulting response is then forwarded effortlessly to the SharePoint server where other stakeholders are able to review the day’s progress. The data then flows into the company billing system where the hours are totaled up ready for the next invoicing period.

 

All of the following activities – time keeping, task completion, project management, supervision, approvals, billing and cash flow - are all part of normal Professional Service activities that if executed smoothly, make for best practices in the profession.

 

So, the question now is not “what’s in your wallet?” but rather, “what’s on your phone/mobile device?”

 

 

 

Find Solugenix at Booth #120 at the AXUG Summit 2011.

 

 

For a limited time, Solugenix is offering Free for one year:

 

• 5 users pack of JOGG with all 4 applications free for one year ($3000 value)
• 4 applications include Time Sheet Entry, Time Sheet Approval, Expense Entry & Expense Approval
• You pay a Server installation fee of $500 ($500 discount off the normal install price)

 

Offer Expires Friday, November 11th, 2011.

Master Scheduling and Kanban Orders Knowledge Sharing and Networking at the AXUG Missouri Regional Chapter Meeting in March

The March Missouri AXUG (AX User Group) regional chapter meeting will focus on the topics of master scheduling and kanban orders for lean manufacturing.

The chapter will host Dr. Scott Hamilton who will discuss typical S&OP scenarios – such as make-to-stock, make-to-order and engineer-to-order products – and explain the AX capabilities for modeling the game plans for these scenarios on the master scheduling side. The kanban orders for lean manufacturing topic promises to explain typical lean manufacturing scenarios and the AX capabilities for modeling these scenarios with kanban orders.

The March 9 meeting shapes up as an insightful meeting for master schedulers and indviduals responsible for sales and operations planning, lean manufacturing initiatives and supply chain management.

AXUG welcomes all users to attend, regardless of AXUG membership. Check out the event page for further detals.

The Significance of Lot Attributes for Chemical Manufacturers Using Microsoft Dynamics AX

Chief Solutions Architect for Solugenix Corporation, Scott Hamilton writes extensively about lot (batch) attributes. In chemical manufacturing, lot attributes are used extensively and the actual value of a lot attribute may be used to support several critical business needs from generating a certificate of analysis to reserving a  specific lot that meets customer specifications.

Scott has analyzed the significance of lot attributes within the various contexts and explains the solution approaches within Dynamics AX illustrating with a case study of cobalt products.

Note: Dynamics AX employs the term "batch" rather than "lot" because the term "lot id" applies to an internally-assigned identifier for inventory transactions. Therefore, Scott has used the term "batch" throughout his article instead of "lot".

Foundation of Batch Tracking Information
Batch tracking provides the foundation for handling batch-related information such as batch attributes.  As part of the item master information within Dynamics AX, users indicate whether an item requires batch tracking as well as the policies about how and when the internal batch numbers are assigned.

One or more batch attributes can be assigned to a batch-controlled item, and actual values recorded against the batch numbers for the item.  The actual values can then be used when searching for applicable batches, such as searching for and reserving an applicable batch during sales order entry.  Examples of a batch attribute depend on the material and industry, such as an impurity percentage for an inorganic chemical or the active ingredient percentage for a drug. 

Setup Information for Batch Attributes
The setup information con­sists of the definition of a batch attribute and the assignment of batch attributes to an item. As an optional step, users can specify a customer's requirements for an item's batch attributes, so that the information can be used as part of batch attribute searching during order entry.

Recording Actual Values for Batch Attributes
The actual value for an item's batch attribute can be recorded after creation of an internal batch number.  The actual value may be recorded during the receiving or production processing, or at a subsequent time.  When the batch attribute reflects an integer or fraction, Dynamics AX will provide a warning or prevent entry (based on the tolerance policy) when the actual value exceeds the minimum or maximum.

The actual values for the attributes of a specific batch can be used in a certificate of analysis.  They can also be used as the basis for assigning a batch disposition code that enforces restrictions on material usage, such as preventing usage for production or sales orders.

Batch Attribute Searching Logic
You can search for an appropriate batch of inventory based on actual values of the item's batch attributes.  This is termed a batch attribute search. After defining the search criteria, the search information can be saved in a template with a user-defined name so that it can be easily reused.

Batch Attribute Searching During Sales Order Processing 
A critical issue for many chemical manufacturers involves the reservation of an applicable batch during sales order processing.  During order entry a batch attribute search can be manually initiated to find and reserve an applicable batch.  The search criteria will be automatically populated by the customer-specific item attri­butes (if specified), along with their values for a required minimum and maxi­mum.  Alternatively, the search criteria can be automatically populated by viewing and then selecting a previously shipped batch, reflecting situa­tions in which the customer wants the same criteria on a new sales order.  Use of the search criteria will result in a displayed list of applicable batches that meet the customer's requirements, so that the applicable batch can be reserved.


The regulatory requirements in chemical manufacturing often involve batch tracking from raw materials to finished items.  As part of the batch-related information, batch attributes for specific batches of purchased and manufactured materials can be recorded.  The actual value of a batch attribute may be used for several purposes, such as reserving a specific batch that meets customer specifications on a sales order line.

The full content of this article including the case study and detailed explanation of the various contexts is available on the Solugenix website.

Managing Process Manufacturing using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 - Complimentary Book Copy

Managing Process Manufacturing using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, the latest book from Scott Hamilton and one of his many works on process manufacturing industries, provides answers for companies at different implementation stages, such as evaluating system fit or accelerating the learning process.

The book employs an anchor-and-adjustment learning strategy. For example, the explanation of each business process (such as sales order processing) starts with a basic model reflecting dominant business practices, which then provides a framework for explaining major variations. The book builds on several years of the author’s prior research and field experience with several hundred firms.  It is a great resource for individuals implementing or considering Microsoft Dynamics AX as their ERP system as well as those looking to accelerate the learning process post-implementation.

Solugenix Corporation is now making the book available to interested process manufacturing companies. You can visit the corporate website to sign up for a free copy.

How to Use Dynamics AX for Quality Management Concerns in Chemical Manufacturing

In his newly released article, Scott Hamilton, takes a look at quality management concerns for chemical manufacturing companies and how Dynamics AX can address the range of quality concerns within the supply chain.

Scott has written extensively on lot (batch) attributes and in this article, he details quality concerns from batch number assignment policies to identification of expired batches and the Dynamics AX out-of-the-box functionality for addressing those concerns. He takes a structured approach of categorizing the AX capabilities in several groups as those pertain to specific quality concerns of chemical manufacturers. He explores the following groups of capabilities: item and recipe definition, lot tracking, purchasing and production and sales. Scott's analysis of those capabilities goes into further depth in a separate white paper on quality management.

The full content of this article is available on MSDynamicsWorld.com.

Microsoft Dynamics AX vs. SAP - part 3

The implementation process

When an SAP salesperson is sitting across the table from a potential customer, he or she is focused on one thing: selling that customer an SAP product. The implementation of that product is someone else's problem. The SAP salesperson receives no compensation for the professional services necessary to implement the software; therefore it is the last thing he or she is concerned about. A different firm is brought in to help the company implement its new SAP software product, and the implementation firm takes no responsibility for what specific SAP products were purchased.

Conversely, when a company evaluates Microsoft Dynamics AX as an ERP solution it works with a certified Microsoft Dynamics AX Partner. This one partner company is responsible for both selling a customer the correct products to fit its business needs, and for the implementation and ongoing support of the system. These partners are domain experts in the customer's field of business, and have undergone rigorous training in the Dynamics AX applications and technology. Typically, they also have many customers who run their businesses on Dynamics AX.

Microsoft offers a larger and more robust service and solution provider ecosystem than SAP. A 2005 study by Framingham, Mass.-based IDC titled "Worldwide Software Channel Program 2005 Vendor Profiles" favorably positions the Microsoft Partner Program as a leader among the top 25 software vendors worldwide. There are 1,300 solution and service providers available globally with deep skills and dedicated resources. This gives customers a greater choice when selecting a business partner that will take responsibility for the important initiative of implementing and supporting its ERP solution.

Ultimately it's about the best solution for your business

A new ERP solution can be a terrific tool to help support a company's success today and in the future. When selecting an ERP tool for your business, the most important element to remember is to select a tool that best supports your unique value proposition. As a business grows the value proposition can quite possibly change. It is just as important that your ERP tool has the flexibility to change as your business changes.