Jon Marius Roald
Big bulk data changes in Infor M3 is holding you back, and there are good reasons for that. Luckily, there is a way out.
Data maintenance is for many an ever-living frustration when working with Infor M3. It takes time, it's very manual, it can lead to mistakes, it can be expensive and it creates bottlenecks.
The Excel add-in was one of the first things to come out of the Vince offices, and it really changed people's perspective on what data maintenance in Infor M3 could look like. Product manager Thormod Berger at Vince sum it up in 4 points:
1) Cut down steps
You're familiar with this. Updating large amounts of data takes a long time, and is very prone to making simple mistakes.
In the Vince Excel Add-In, you get a little sidebar within Excel. It lets you export all the relevant data from M3 to Excel, do all your changes and upload back to M3 directly within Excel.
– In the cloud based Excel add-in, you simply do what you need in Excel, press “run” in the Vince sidebar and you’re done, explains Berger.
2) Do it yourself-tools
Bulk data changes in Infor M3 often involves hiring consultants or sending tickets to your IT department. This creates delays and bottlenecks, and mistakes can often slip through.
The Vince Excel add-in lets end-users take control of the whole process, which saves an enormous amount of time and leads to fewer mistakes. It also comes with a workflows builder, which has many positive ripple effects:
– More people can become super users. That means departments can create new workflows and processes without involving IT, cutting down the time from idea to action by a lot, says Berger.
3) Read from folder-feature
Vince’s cloud solution automates data imports as it can read Excel-sheets directly from a specified folder.
For example, if you receive updated prices from your a supplier, you can simply drop the file in the folder, and Vince automatically imports the updated prices into Infor M3, cutting down manual labor and reducing the risk of errors.
– Many QMSs send their results in an Excel sheet. If you’re using our cloud-based solution, you can now drop the QMS report in a folder, and Vince will automatically send the results to Infor M3 via APIs. This also means goods in receipt can be automatically be validated the moment the results come in, elaborates Berger.
4) Unmatched Import Speeds
Performance-wise, the Excel add-in beats manual data maintenance by a mile, particularly due to its ability to handle large data loads much faster, Berger states.
– For example, creating around 30 000 new storage locations would take hours, if not days, using manual processes. With the Excel add-in, it takes about 3 minutes, he says.
