MPV Systems ‘made-to-measure’ software reflects the unique business processes within a client’s enterprise.

Occasionally, I design applications or parts of an application that are not specific to a particular enterprise and may also be valuable to other clients.

These ‘commercial’ solutions are essentially ready-to-go with only small changes required to accommodate database connectivity.

Demonstrations of solutions are available upon request. Please send an email to info@mpvsystems.com

Commercial Solutions for Users of Infor Visual ERP

Name	Video	Solution Type	Department	Platform	Release Date
FIFO Express	Watch Video	CDM (Client-Defined Module)	Finance	MS Office	March 2005
Abstract: FE is a BPS (Business Process Streamlining) Windows application that replaces the lightweight Standard Costs tool provided in Infor Visual ERP; it streamlines the task of maintaining Part standard costs with a rich set of advanced features including a fully configurable dynamic search filter for sub-grouping and sorting Parts to be reviewed, dbl-click drill down on receipt records to display all related historical receipt transactions, one-click display of cost history log by Part; one-click export to Excel; auto recalculation on single Parts or the entire record set and one-click price updating. All updates are logged to ensure that historical costs and prices are properly maintained.

Name	Video	Solution Type	Department	Platform/Technology	Release Date
Inventory Express	Coming Soon	CDM (Client-Defined Module)	Production/Planning	dotNET 2.0, Visual Studio – C#	November 2007
Abstract: IE is a Windows Forms application for managing inventory going to and from jobs in Visual Mfg ERP. It complements the Visual’s built-in Inventory Entry window. This application streamlines the issuing of traceable and non-traceable inventory to work orders. A single interface allows the user to quickly select an individual work order. Three separate data grids on the interface display open material requirements, existing transactions and available Lot IDs in warehouse locations that are open. (Non-traceable items are also displayed). The user can create a series of ‘pending’ issues, release or modify these and delete or return transactions.

Solution Examples for Users of Infor Visual ERP

Name	ROI	COST	Solution Class	Department	Platform	Release Date
EDC – Phase 2	$100,000 Net	11,000	BPS (Process Streamlining)	Engineering	MS Access/SQL Server	Spring 2006
Client Profile	$15 Million. Custom builder of heavy equipment winches and drags
Opportunities	The need to prevent and correct inconsistent naming and numbering of Part IDs and thereby improve both Search and data integrity was the initial project objective. Subsequently in 2006 a second phase was added to extend advanced Search features into the Windows file system and implement a new class of engineering masters called TBOMS (temporary bills of material) that exist outside of the ERP systems database.
Abstract	EDC is a Custom Windows Forms application that complements the client’s Part Maintenance ERP window. Initially EDC was a Part Creation Helper that implemented business specific rules and conventions for numbering and describing new Parts in a consistent and uniform way. The program implements a series of wizards to control the creation of a Part’s ID, Description and various UDF entries according to key features. As the company’s Part database was cleaned up and started to become more searchable, the developer was asked to add enhanced Search functionality. Through 2006 and 2007 functions for recursively drilling into and cross referencing engineering masters, work orders and their requirements have been added. Windows API calls and Regular Expressions have also been added to extend search directly into the network file system. The application now includes a new object for creating and storing Temporary Bill of Materials (TBOM) to support the engineering department’s requirement for a separate class of Engineering Masters.
Customer Comments	EDC is the LANTEC Data tool that contributes directly to making a very clean part database that does not need much management.  EDC makes it easier to do the job right the first time by allowing us (LANTEC Engineering Team) to take advantage of a large body of historical part information.  It does this by making searches very easy to do and then once a target item is found, EDC allows that target to become essentially a template for new item creation.  The re-use of existing part information like this creates a cycle where the database becomes easier to search, easier to create entries, and so on.   While EDC has many other convenience/automation features and tools, this I believe, is the core feature that makes EDC the tool of choice for us.
Technologies	Client/Server architecture developed on the MS Office platform using VBA bas and class modules in MS Access with an ADO connection to a SQL Server database.

Name	ROI	Cost	Solution Class	Department	Platform/Technology	Release Date
NestLINK – Upload	$35,000 Net - Upload	$9,000 (incl. maintenance)	Systems Integration	Production/Planning	MS Access/SQL Server	October 2004
Client Profile	$25 Million. Custom builder of heavy equipment attachments for earth moving machinery.
Opportunities	Eliminating redundant data entry in a key business processes that coupled two separate information systems was the initial opportunity for integration identified by the client. 45 minutes was being invested on a daily basis to manually enter redundant job information into the burn table application. It was realized that this time could be recovered if the information was transferred electronically between the systems. After the initial objective was accomplished a subsequent opportunity for improving costing and inventory accuracy by was identified. Because the cost of manually posting the transactions in the actual cost inventory system would have exceeded $35,000 per year, the company had been issuing “estimated” inventory quantities in an effort to hold the cost of data entry to $12,000 per year. Accounting for the variance between the estimated and actual inventory issued required frequent cycle counting and the job costing system would always have some measure of inaccuracy built in.
Abstract	NestLINK is a systems integration application that marshals work order requirements bi-directionally between the Infor Visual ERP system and SigmaNEST burn table software. The program is can be run autonomously from a script in the Windows Task Scheduler or through controls on its console. To upload material requirements from the ERP database to the burn table database the application checks for released work orders with open material requirements; it applies a series of filters to ensure that only eligible orders are forwarded and appends additional plate requirement specifications; it then populates the database tables in SigmaNEST and logs the records. These Requirements are further validated and any exception notifications are automatically emailed to the appropriate department. To download processed requirements from SigmaNEST to the ERP database and issue them to WIP, the application polls the burn table database for finished items that are ready to be issued back to their sources of demand in the ERP system. The program then sets up new co-product work orders in the ERP and issues the plate used to burn the material requirements. It then receives the burnt requirements as co-products. The final steps issue the new supply back out to the work orders from which the demand originated and adds labour tickets to capture burden costs.
Valuation	The initial development cost of the upload module was $5,800 with an additional $3,000 budgeted for maintenance and upgrades over the 5 year lifespan of the Solution in the company’s two facilities. An ROI of $35,000 Net was calculated based the manual processing time required before the solution was implemented.
Solution Profile	The optimization strategy was to integrate the two systems with a bridging/middleware application to automate the data exchange. The project was divided into two phases to manage the Upload and Download processes separately. The Upload process was implemented during the third quarter of 2004. The second phase download process was developed subsequently through second half of 2006. Several new features and enhancement were implemented through the course of 2007.
Technologies	Client/Server architecture developed on the MS Office platform using VBA bas and class modules in MS Access with an ADO connection on two SQL Server databases

Name	ROI	Cost	Solution Class	Department	Platform/Technology	Release Date
PK Expert	$22,000 Net	$35,000 (incl. maintenance)	Process Automation	Production/Planning	MS Access/Oracle	October 2007
Client	$35 Million. Life Sciences supporting stem cell research by providing enabling research tools including specialized media and cell separation products.
Opportunity	$660 per month of labour savings from automation of the time-consuming, complex and error prone process of managing inventory distributions for four sub-classes of traceable parts.
Abstract	PK Expert automates a set of algorithms that optimize the distribution of traceable inventory for several groups of parts known as “PK”. It is a mixed-mode application providing both a CDM (Client-Defined Module) and Process Automation; its custom module enables planners to review system generated distribution outputs and perform related post-processing tasks quickly and efficiently.
Timeline	4 months. The project was started in July 2007 and the software was released in October 2007.
Technology	The Solution uses a Win Forms client-server architecture developed on the MS Office platform using VBA bas and class modules in MS Access with an Oracle database on the backend.

Name	Client	Solution Type	Department	Platform	Architecture
Stembudget	Stemcell Technologies Inc	Stand-alone	Finance	Visual Studio - VB.NET	Web
Abstract: Stembudget is a corporate financial budgeting tool that is fully integrated into the client’s network. Managers can access the program from anywhere in the world through a VPN. The application replaces the client’s stock budget ERP window. This application incorporates automation functions that can quickly build cash distributions based on historical patterns and predefined models. Managers can drill down and quickly access every single invoice, purchase order, receiver or other document that has ever been posted since the day the system went live in 1998. Its spreadsheet style page layout is familiar and powerful allowing each page to show three dimensions of information.

Name	Client	Solution Type	Department	Platform	Architecture
Anti-body Calculator	Stemcell Technologies Inc	Helper	QA	MS Access	Client/Server
Abstract : This application was developed to handle a special class of the client’s products that require calculating volumes based on trace lot concentrations, losses in dispensing and other business specific variables. These products also have special reporting requirements that are handled by the app.

Name	Client	Solution Type	Department	Platform	Architecture
Inventory Lookup	Brunette Industries Ltd	Search, Reporting	Parts & Service	MS Access	Client/Server
Abstract: IL is a Windows Forms application that blends information from several different ERP windows. Users in the client’s Parts and Service department needed advanced one-click search capabilities to quickly access specific Parts information to support telephone sales. Although all of this information was available in the ERP system, accessing it required the user to navigate and search across numerous menus. In addition to bringing all the required information into a single window the application provides a series of one-click related reports across the footer of the single view screen.

Name	Client	Solution Type	Department	Platform	Architecture
Document Print Express	Stemcell Technologies Inc	ERP Replacement/Enhancement	Shipping	MS Access	Client/Server
Abstract: DPE (Document Print Express) is a Windows Forms application that replaces and extends the client’s stock Shipping Entry ERP window. It implements client specific business rules for managing shipments; it provides integrated document management for packing lists, customs documents, MSDS, Product Information Sheets and customer shipment notifications by email and fax; it has built in email messaging, and pdf generation.

Name	Client	Solution Type	Department	Platform	Architecture
MPS Manager	Stemcell Technologies Inc	Automation	Planning	VB Script, MS Access	Client/Server
Abstract: MPS Manager is an autonomous script application that recalculates the master production schedule on a nightly basis. The program is designed to synchronize and adjust the companies master schedule based on updates to its sales forecast and completed work orders. These inputs are run through a series of special algorithms that automatically adjust the schedule. The program is run once each evening immediately prior to the ERP systems scheduler and MRP programs.

Name	Client	Solution Type	Department	Platform	Architecture
COE	Stemcell Technologies Inc	ERP Replacement/Enhancement	Order Processing	MS Access	Client/Server
Abstract: COE (Customer Order Entry) is a Windows Forms application that replaces and enhances the client’s stock Order Entry ERP window. The need for an “intelligent” order entry system was identified shortly after the client’s ERP implementation was complete. The company was growing rapidly and was processing large numbers of orders on a daily basis. The staff required to process orders through the window supplied by the ERP vendor was too great. Management realized that a custom Solution was required to automate the many repetitive tasks, implement business rules and provide the additional Search and Notification capabilities that were consuming most of the processing time.