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There is now a MAPICS enhancement solution available that addresses these communication problems. American Viking Enterprises of Florida, Inc., (AVE), provides a solution in their Bill of Material Reference Number, Comments and Cross Reference Item Number (AVEM01) enhancement. This enhancement to the MAPICS Product Data Management (PDM) application is designed to improve internal communications and increase efficiency for MAPICS users. AVEM01 is available for all versions of MAPICS; AS/400 MAPICS DB Year 2000 and all MAPICS XA Releases. This enhancement provides additional functions for production and engineering departments that assist in managing bills of material. The enhancement utilizes a reference or bubble number to assist in identifying a parent/component relationship, and provides free-form comments. The free-form comments are stored with the bill of material and printed on the standard MAPICS Single Level Bill of Material reports and the Shop packet Worksheet. Inclusion of comments on MAPICS reports that are used by the product assemblers creates the communication line between the assemblers and those involved with product creation and development. There are several other features that assist in improving productivity and communications in the Product Data Management area:
Most of the functions contained in the Bill of Material Reference Number, Comments and Cross Reference Item Number enhancement are executed from a main menu on the AS/400, The programs are included in features and functions of MAPICS DB Year 2000 and all MAPICS XA Releases. Functions provide for the entry and maintenance of free form comments, and allow the MAPICS Bill of Material reports to be produced in sequences other than those provided in MAPICS. The enhancements to MAPICS include the addition of a six-character field, designated Reference Number, for use as a "bubble number" or a "component designator" that identifies a specific parent/component relationship, and an Item Cross Reference field that can contain an alternate number for an item. The product allows an unlimited number of 48-character comments to be maintained for each parent/component relationship (Figure 1 and Figure 2). Printing on both the Single level Bill of Material Reports and the Shop Packet Worksheets, the additional comments can be used as a means of communication between the engineering, production and assembly departments. Companies have products that are difficult to assemble or that require special handling can add comments or special instructions from the developing engineers. Companies can be better prepared for component shortages, or delays due to unexpected visits by Underwriters Laboratory (UL) representatives (comment lines can be used to list a component's UL approved substitutes). The Bill of Material Reference Number, Comments and Cross Reference Item Numbers provides a six-character, alpha-numeric field (Reference Number) for use as a "bubble number" or a "component designator". A separate reference number can be used to uniquely identify each parent/component relationship. This Reference Number is printed on both the Single Level Bill of Material and Shop Packet worksheets. Another helpful feature in the product is the Item Cross Reference field that may be assigned to an item (Figure 3). The Item Cross Reference is displayed in Item Master Inquiry and printed on the Item Master Report, Shop Packet Review, Stock Status Review and Single Level Bill of Material. The Item Cross Reference field offers many uses. For example, marketing item numbers can be compared with manufacturing item numbers, or preferred vendor item numbers can be compared with component item numbers. For companies moving to MAPICS from a previous numbering system, the Item Cross Reference field could be used to contain the item number from the former system. This number would then be displayed and printed, together with the new number, for convenience and ease of reference. Additional features provided within AVEM01 allow MAPICS users to more effectively analyze component usages within assemblies. Enhancements to the Single Level Bill of Material report provided by Reference Number (or Bubble Number) within assembly. This feature is especially helpful when previously developed assemblies have been altered by adding extra components, as the new components can be listed together with their other related designators, rather than out of sequence ate the end of the report. Users also have the option to select any special form types for output and the number of copies to be produced. These features prove especially useful when preparing multiple copies of data on 8-1/2 x 11 forms for distribution at staff meetings. After selecting the sequencing method and report option the user is then presented with an opportunity to select up to fifteen assemblies and their optional "S" numbers (select numbers used within MAPICS Features and Options) to be printed on the Single Level Bill of Material report. This is a time-saving feature because standard MAPICS requires users to generate individual reports for each assembly desired. The added "S" number selection allows MAPICS users to generate Bill of Material reports reflecting the customer ordered options, rather than the generic MAPICS Bill of Material. (Figure 4) illustrates the resulting Single Level Bill of material with Phantom Item Blow thru report generated in Reference Number Sequence. The report contains component Reference Number and the Item Cross Reference Number together with the free-form comments for use by product assemblers and shop floor personnel. System Summary AVE's Bill of Material Reference Number, Comments and Cross Reference Item Number enhancement (AVEM01) was specifically designed for those manufacturing operations needing to bridge the communications gap between product developers and shop floor assemblers. AVEM01 provides this necessary communications link, and enhances the MAPICS Bill of Material reporting functions. As in all AVE enhancements, care is take to minimize any modifications to MAPICS. On MAPICS DB Year 2000 and all MAPICS XA Releases for AVEM01, the enhancement library is simply placed above the MAPICS program library preventing any modifications in the MAPICS program library. The files are placed in the specified MAPICS file library so they will be backed up with the daily MAPICS file save. As with all AVE MAPICS DB Year 2000 and all MAPICS XA Releases of enhancements, multiple environments are supported. The MAPICS prerequisites for installation are Inventory Management (IM) and Product Data Management (PDM). There are no operational changes to the processing of MAPICS. The Bill of Material Reference Number, Comments and Cross Reference Item Number is an invaluable tool in bridging the communication gap between those who develop and those who assemble components and finished goods.
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