Vicinity Blog

BI360

Spotlight on Solver’s BI360 Business Intelligence Solutions

In this article, we’ll discuss financial report writing, budgeting and forecasting demand specific to the manufacturing industry that can be met by today’s premier BI solutions, like Solver’s BI360. In the modern era of business, Business Intelligence (BI) analytics are solidifying their place in decision-making processes, utilizing company data to plan for the future. However, if your…

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Excel Report Builder

Making Intelligent Decisions with Your Data

Using Excel Report Builder with Microsoft Dynamics GP Imagine making an ERP report such as “Inventory Stock Status” available to be viewed and formatted in Excel… All a user needs to do is open Excel and there is the data refreshed in real time. All of this done from the comfort of Excel. Microsoft Dynamics GP Excel Report Builder…

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excel pivot tables

Business Intelligence for Beginners: Excel Pivot Tables

Excel Pivot Tables By utilizing Business Intelligence (BI), manufacturing operations will have increased visibility, improved efficiency, and most importantly the ability to turn data into actionable information. So let’s begin by looking at your options for bringing BI into your manufacturing organization. The most basic way to begin with BI is Excel Pivot Tables. This is a free tool that…

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Couple of people working at a dairy factory pasteurizing the milk - food proccessing concepts

Evolution of Production Scheduling for the Process Manufacturer

From my perspective, companies evolve into their production scheduling process as their business evolves. Attempting to implement a complex master production schedule model when a company is beginning to automate their ERP manufacturing process is often a mistake. The key is to take a realistic view of what stage the company is in and grow…

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Manage Material Cost

Increase Profits by Managing Material Costs

In previous articles, we talked about how to increase profits using batch manufacturing software. The next in our series is to increase profits by managing material costs. Read how to increase manufacturing profits by managing material costs using batch manufacturing software.

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increase batch yields

Going Green – Increase Batch Yields

Increase Batch Yields to Consume Fewer Raw Materials Per Finished Goods Produced. You would be amazed at how few companies actually look at their yield analysis by formula over time. It is more common than not that a company looking back at production over the past six months will find certain formulas or processes that…

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Manufacturing Software

10 Reasons Manufacturing Software Projects Fail

Every project, no matter the size, has a certain level of risk – the bigger the project, the bigger the risk. The best way to manage project risk is to understand the causes of project failure. In the 1990’s, I read an article that resulted from a study commissioned by APICS. The article spoke about how…

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manufacturing schedule

How Can You Improve Your Manufacturing Schedule?

Every formula manufacturer performs some level of scheduling. Without a schedule or a plan, no plant could function for very long. Based on our experience at Vicinity most of the schedules are manual in nature. However, as a manufacturing company keeps growing, the manual processes become burdensome and a drag on the manufacturing process. Generally, you…

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batchmaster

Will the Real BatchMaster Please Stand Up?

From 1985 through 2000, BatchMaster software ruled the roost when it came to batch manufacturing software. Especially for the paint industry. So, what happened to the product and where does it stand today? BatchMaster is currently offered in two flavors. BatchMaster Enterprise by eWorkplace (renamed to BatchMaster Software Corporation out of India) and BatchMaster Platinum by Sage (renamed…

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batch manufacturing software

Increase Profits with Batch Manufacturing Software

One of the most overlooked sources of profit in a formula manufacturing organization is in the existing business processes. There is much attention spent on gaining new sales or adding new products. However, little energy is focused on existing practices. A crucial element to the success of any company is adding new sales.  However, immediate…

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