Technology Evaluation Centers Inc. Request for Information/Proposal Requirements Research
Instructions
Rating Legend Format
● The top of the RFI tab contains six response columns. ● TEC analysts developed the RFI based on past experience and research into the widest and deepest range of possible requirements. 3RD Response Explanation SUP Supported as delivered "out-of-the-box" MOD Supported via modifications (screen configurations, reports, GUI tailoring, etc) Supported via a third party solution Supported via customization (changes to source code) Will be supported in a future release Not supported 0 to 10, where 10 is most important
Priorities
Must Have = 10 Very Important = 8 Important = 6 Nice to Have = 4 Not Important = 2 No Need = 0 Note this file contains multiple sheets (tabs). This sheet contains instructions only. Click the tabs at the bottom of the window to access the criteria.
CST FUT NS Priority
Mandatory Yes, only for "must-have" factors
RFI Example Vendor Responses
● Complete the RFI worksheet by placing an X in the appropriate column for each criterion. ● The Xs must represent the current state of a product or service. 1 1.1 1.1.1 1.1.1.1 1.1.1.2 1.1.1.3 1.1.1.4 1.1.1.5 1.1.1.6 Hierarchy Module 1 Category of Module 1 Subcategory of Category 1 Criterion 1 Criterion 2 Criterion 3 Criterion 4 Criterion 5 Criterion 6 Criterion
© Technology Evaluation Centers Inc. 2007. This document may only be used for internal purposes. Reproduction and
User Responses
● Use the Priority column to indicate how important a particular criterion or entire group of criteria (module or category) is for your organization. ● The Mandatory column is useful for indicating absolute requirements. Note that a "Yes" would mean a vendor/provider fails if it does not support that criterion or group of criteria. It is often useful to use "No" as the general default response and only change to a "Yes" for an absolutely critical item. Don't forget to indicate your priorities and mandatory requirements for modules, categories, subcategories, and criteria.
RFI Example
Priority (0-10) 8 4 10 1 6 4 10 8 8 Mandatory (Y/N) N N N N Y N N N Y X X X X X X SUP MOD 3RD CST FUT NS
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Technology Evaluation Centers Inc. ERP for Distribution Industries Requirements Research Criteria Worksheet
Hierarchy 1 1.1 Financials General Ledger Criteria
Priority Mandatory SUP MOD 3RD CST (0-10) (Y/N)
1.1.1 1.1.1.1 1.1.1.2 1.1.1.3
Parameters and Structuring Fiscal calendar is defined by the user Calendar periods are defined by the user Multiple calendars
1.1.1.4 1.1.1.5 1.1.1.6 1.1.1.7 1.1.1.8 1.1.1.9 1.1.1.10
Multi-entity financial reporting Twelve or thirteen fiscal months Fiscal quarterly periods can be defined as 4-4-5, 5-4-4, or 4-5-4 Organization of calendar periods determined by the user Calendar may be organized in a variety of ways, supporting 999 periods in a financial year Open any number of fiscal years or calendar periods at the same time Companies with different regional presences may set a default currency for the financial division of each region
1.1.1.11 1.1.1.12 1.1.1.13 1.1.1.14
Distinguishes A/P transactions (of the same type) from different entities Each entity's ledger can have its own calendar and chart of accounts Each entity's ledger can have its own accounting periods opened and closed Tracks items in the G/L and sub-ledger by quantity and value (in whichever currency is used)
1.1.1.15
Maintains unit and dollar amount postings in GL and subledgers
1.1.1.16
1.1.1.17
1.1.1.18
User-defined criteria for system purges for general ledger transactions, journal vouchers, and accounts payable data based on the number of years or months of data required to maintain--each purge type has its own unique criteria Sub-ledgers closed out prior to performing a purge. The closeout process sets all financial account balances in the sub-ledger to zero by posting an equal and offsetting transaction Specifies a key and rules to have the system automatically purge all records related to the key throughout the system--sub-ledger accounts, sub-ledger transactions, tables, rates Automatic check to ensure that prior to deleting a financial record, the account balance must have been "closed out" (i.e., nets to zero) Translation of balance sheet accounts including the ability to have a default rate (spot) that can be overridden on an exception basis (historic), on an account-byaccount basis - do not want to set up a rate for every balance sheet account - the override rates will differ ledger to ledger Automatically inserts actual account balances into the elapsed month's bucket in a future forecast file at the end of each accounting period when the system rolls into the next period Prevents roll from one accounting period to the next unless the last job run is the financial statements Audit log required for any changes to table information that may contain rates and information used by the system in any way; log contains before and after, change, date, and user identification Flexible general ledger key with multiple levels
1.1.1.19
1.1.1.20
1.1.1.21
1.1.1.22
1.1.1.23
1.1.1.24
1.1.1.25
Exception reporting with drill down capabilities
1.1.1.26
Provision for use of standards that can be automatically propagated throughout the system to the various ledgers Integration with ADP electronic transmission of payroll data
1.1.1.27
1.1.1.28
Automatic year-end rolling of balances in sub-ledgers and general ledger control accounts
1.1.1.29 1.1.1.30 1.1.1.31 1.1.1.32 1.1.1.33 1.1.1.34
Automatic linking and posting of control accounts from related sub-ledger accounts Processes jobs in edit and update mode Jobs required to include error and warning messages on reports Reports to include a control report that lists pages on which errors and warnings have occurred User-defined controls to allow specific jobs to update multiple times in a period Table master functionality--sets parameters in a table, has jobs read the table, and creates postings or reports accordingly User-defined field names for tables Method for verifying keying to ensure only appropriate records updated Archiving of transaction history as well as purge from active files Chart of Accounts Structure
1.1.1.35 1.1.1.36 1.1.1.37 1.1.2
1.1.3 1.1.4 1.1.5
This category contains 45 criteria below it. Ledger Development and Management This category contains 14 criteria below it. Enterprise Reporting Structure This category contains 15 criteria below it. Journal Entry and Reporting
1.1.6
This category contains 44 criteria below it. Journal Vouchers
1.1.7 1.1.8 1.1.9 1.1.10 1.1.11 1.2
This category contains 41 criteria below it. Controls for Ledgers This category contains 7 criteria below it. Multicurrency Capabilities This category contains 24 criteria below it. Online Inquiry Reporting This category contains 9 criteria below it. Report Writing Capabilities This category contains 65 criteria below it. Variable Analysis This category contains 3 criteria below it. Accounts Payable (A/P)
1.3
This category contains 245 criteria below it. Fixed Assets
1.4
This category contains 94 criteria below it. Cost Accounting
1.5
This category contains 48 criteria below it. Cash Management
1.6
This category contains 13 criteria below it. Budgeting
This category contains 70 criteria below it.
1.7
Accounts Receivable
1.8
This category contains 111 criteria below it. Financial Reporting
1.9
This category contains 37 criteria below it. Pricing and Discounting
2
This category contains 77 criteria below it. Human Resources
2.1
Personnel Management
2.1.1 2.1.1.1 2.1.1.2 2.1.1.3 2.1.1.4
Recruitment Management Hiring personnel may access parameters for requisitions Searches for eligible applicants and employees based on job requirements, online Lists the postings, position, disposition, disposition date, and applicable codes of a position Tracks applicants using personal data, skill set, academic qualifications, training, and test results
2.1.1.5
Information about applicants' progression
2.1.1.6 2.1.1.7 2.1.1.8 2.1.2 2.1.3 2.1.4 2.1.5 2.1.6 2.1.7 2.2
Internet recruiting and tracking of skills inventory Resume scanning capabilities. Import resumes from the Internet or e-mail Profile of Personnel This category contains 8 criteria below it. Job Position and Wage Profiles This category contains 13 criteria below it. Career Development and Training This category contains 11 criteria below it. Budgeting and Cost Control This category contains 4 criteria below it. Government and Compliance Reporting This category contains 6 criteria below it. Employment History and Personnel Reporting This category contains 8 criteria below it. Benefits
2.3
This category contains 26 criteria below it. Payroll
2.4
This category contains 76 criteria below it. Employee Self-Service
2.5
This category contains 22 criteria below it. Data Warehousing
2.6
This category contains 13 criteria below it. Health and Safety
2.7 3 3.1 3.1.1
This category contains 11 criteria below it. Workforce Management This category contains 165 criteria below it. Process Management Conformance Reporting Hazardous Material Reporting
3.1.1.1 3.1.1.2 3.1.1.3 3.1.1.4 3.1.1.5 3.1.1.6 3.1.1.7 3.1.1.8 3.1.1.9 3.1.1.10 3.1.1.11 3.1.1.12 3.1.1.13 3.1.1.14 3.1.1.15 3.1.1.16 3.1.2 3.2 3.3
Automatic generation of material safety data sheets Automatically generates MSDS when formulas change Calculates a safe mix of hazardous materials for a formula Comment field for specified raw materials Hazardous materials threshold ranges are based on component percentages and tolerance ranges Hazardous materials can be located by expanding formulas Prints customized labels containing product and hazardous data Conflicting hazard statements are identified and prioritized Printed forms contain customer information Forms include emergency response procedures Receives information on hazardous material from batch history file Library of common hazard statements MSDS forms can be printed to conform to regional regulation formats and language Print transportation information Chemical list and where-used documents conform to SA/RA (US) reporting and worksheets requirements Labeling can be user-defined Quality Testing and Regulatory Compliance This category contains 4 criteria below it. Material Management This category contains 16 criteria below it. Product Costing This category contains 58 criteria below it.
3.4
Distribution Control
4 4.1 4.1.1
This category contains 69 criteria below it. Inventory Management Inventory Management--Online Requirements Provide inquiry and reporting capability for inventory transactions by item number, location, and transaction type. Provide reporting capability by item number (all transactions since last cycle count) Provide inquiry and reporting capability for inventory status by item number and serial number Provide inquiry and reporting capability for slow moving and obsolete inventory Provide inquiry and reporting capability for negative balance inventory and flagging upon this condition occurring Provide inquiry and reporting capability for shortages and backorders Provide capability to track items by lot or serial number Visibility and management of remote site or distributed inventories and rotable spares System must be capable of managing harmonized part number information and integrating or maintaining harmonized information with third party (e.g.. freight forwarder) Multi-currency capability Vendor cross reference (infinite number of vendor pt. numbers) with wild-card search capability Internal cross-reference to vendor part numbers Inventory fields that accept part numbers and product configuration codes. Product configuration codes would allow logic behind randomly generated part numbers. On-line request for requisition generation and approval. Electronic "drop ship" capability between buyer/planner and vendors. Buyer/planner should have access to vendors' "on hand" information, launch order with "ship to" information Bar coding of individual parts as received prior to warehousing, real time scanning, and inventory updates at picking, and real time scanning at shipping. Ability to label and track country of origin on parts and in operating system.
4.1.2 4.1.3 4.1.4 4.1.5
4.1.6 4.1.7 4.1.8 4.1.9
4.1.10 4.1.11 4.1.12 4.1.13
4.1.14 4.1.15
4.1.16
4.1.17
4.1.18 4.2 4.3 4.4
Ability to structure material to a buy item, supporting ECN control capabilities Processing Requirements This category contains 21 criteria below it. Data Requirements This category contains 8 criteria below it. Reporting and Interfacing Requirements (Inventory Management) This category contains 9 criteria below it. Forecasting This category contains 49 criteria below it. Reservations and Allocations This category contains 24 criteria below it. Available-to-Promise (ATP)
4.5 4.6 4.7
4.8 4.9
This category contains 10 criteria below it. Customer Service and Returned Goods Handling This category contains 29 criteria below it. Inbound and Assembly Coordination or Multi-site Staging
5
This category contains 9 criteria below it. Purchasing Management
5.1 5.1.1 5.1.2 5.1.3 5.1.4 5.1.5 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6
Profile of Suppliers Suppliers may have more than one address Store e-mail addresses, web sites, and fax numbers in vendor profiles Vendor shipment process with terms and acceptance requirements for reception Vendor group for miscellaneous purposes Identifier for approved vendors Rating of Suppliers This category contains 5 criteria below it. Requisitions and Quotations This category contains 10 criteria below it. Purchase Orders (POs) This category contains 37 criteria below it. Vendor Contracts and Agreements This category contains 5 criteria below it. Procurement Reporting and Online Reporting This category contains 17 criteria below it.
5.7 6
On-line Requirements This category contains 7 criteria below it. Quality Management
6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 6.22 6.23 6.24 6.25 6.26 6.27
Defective or excess material return processing must update on-hand Damaged material--corrective action and failure analysis available to vendor on-line Flags need to perform inspection of a specific item or a supplier's items Receives items and records as “inventory on hold” when quality inspection is pending Identifies items awaiting or in process of inspection through an online query Validates inspection disposition using criteria that specify inspection process Tracks material inspection dispositions Tracks and reports on non-dispositioned rejects Tracks quantity rejected at inspection Assigns codes to reject descriptions Tracks unresolved rejections Processes material receipts which have failed inspection Corrective actions can be initiated, and processed, and tracked Tracks items for which there is no disposition, or which are rejected pending vendor approval Tracks items awaiting rework order Tracks items for which use is conditional on QA statement of acceptable variance Tracks items awaiting return shipment to vendor Provides aggregate supplier quality data Transactions related to material returns to vendors can be performed online Tracks customer-rejected items awaiting disposition from original supplier Automatically updates schedule information for items returned to suppliers Lists authorized alternatives for substitution-approved items Lists authorized vendors for each item Prints document identifying point of return and justification Prints debit memo as part of return-to-supplier process Recalculates average item cost Quality data on-line
6.28
Requirements grouping using collection plans
6.29 7
Quality document linkage with product master within PDM Sales Management
7.1 7.1.1 7.1.2 7.1.3 7.1.4 7.1.5 7.1.6
7.1.7 7.1.8 7.1.9 7.1.10 7.1.11 7.1.12
7.1.13 7.1.14
7.1.15 7.1.16 7.1.17 7.1.18 7.1.19
On-line Requirements (Sales Management) Accommodate an order type for a new order or quote Accommodate a status field indicating either a quote or a customer order for a new order or quote Create an order from a quote with a reference back to the quote, for a new order or quote Create an order from only selected lines of the quote Decrease the amount quoted Allow for customer account and sales order status online by customer name or number or by sales order number Process and print a special message or memo (at least 300 characters) on the following: 1) Invoice 2) Sales order or quote 3) Bill of lading Validate order dates/MRP dates Accommodate, primarily for the sales order, a customer requested ship date, a due date, and a company expected ship date Process change orders easily, "pegging" these change orders to the original sales order Change prices easily, including limiting price override capability so that only the sales manager can use it beyond a certain percent of list price Automatically change all the prices by a certain percent or dollar amount Override capability to the automatic pricing Accommodate multiple ship-to addresses for each bill-to address Link each sales order to the appropriate shipping facility (i.e. production facility, etc.) Allow sorting and printing each of the booking, billing, backlog, and backorder reports by sales order number Allow sorting and printing each of the booking, billing, backlog, and backorder reports by customer name Allow sorting and printing each of the booking, billing, backlog, and backorder reports by customer code
7.1.20 7.1.21
7.1.22 7.1.23 7.1.24
7.1.25 7.1.26 7.1.27 7.1.28 7.1.29 7.1.30 7.1.31 7.1.32 7.1.33 7.1.34 7.1.35 7.1.36
7.1.37 7.1.38 7.1.39 7.1.40 7.1.41
Allow sorting and printing each of the booking, billing, backlog, and backorder reports by product category Allow sorting and printing each of the booking, billing, backlog, and backorder reports by part number Allow sorting and printing each of the booking, billing, backlog, and backorder reports by representative/sales person Allow sorting and printing each of the booking, billing, backlog, and backorder reports by region Allow sorting and printing each of the booking, billing, backlog, and backorder reports by company Allow sorting and printing each of the booking, billing, backlog, and backorder reports by distribution center Provide on-line order history file displaying past orders for the customer Provide on-line invoice history file displaying past customer invoices Allow for on-line production status inquiry by customer purchase order number and customer code Allow for customer master file inquiry that displays the billing address for a customer Allow for customer master file inquiry that displays the shipping address (multiple) for a customer Allow for customer master file inquiry that displays the credit standing for a customer Allow for customer master file inquiry that displays the billing and shipping terms for a customer Allow for customer master file inquiry that displays the special instructions for a customer Support a competitive information system whereby competitive quotes are entered from the field and reported centrally Provide a management summary report showing on-time shipments Calculate split commissions automatically Apply sales tax automatically Create a backorder for under shipped or unshipped lines Provide the ability to allocate inventory to customers based on a customer priority code in the customer master record Quotes and sales orders are viewable by salespersons (direct or agent) that are involved (commission structure) Reporting and Interfacing Requirements (Sales Management) This category contains 49 criteria below it.
7.1.42
7.2
7.3
Pricing and Discounting
7.4 7.5
This category contains 76 criteria below it. Customer Service and Returned Goods Handling This category contains 29 criteria below it. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and ECommerce Requirements
8 8.1
This category contains 14 criteria below it. Supply Chain Management Warehouse Management System (WMS)
8.1.1 8.1.1.1 8.1.1.1.1 8.1.1.1.2 8.1.1.1.3 8.1.1.1.4 8.1.1.1.5 8.1.1.1.6 8.1.1.1.7 8.1.1.1.8 8.1.1.1.9 8.1.1.1.10
Functionality Warehouse Configuration Multiple inventory owners in a single physical warehouse Multiple physical warehouses in a single database Slotting Optimization Support User-defined codes (e.g., adjustment, hold reasons, returns) System supports user-configurable alerts Task interleaving for RF PO receiving Task interleaving for RF ASN receiving Task interleaving for RF putaway Task interleaving for RF picking Task interleaving for RF cycle counting
8.1.1.1.11 8.1.1.1.12 8.1.1.1.13 8.1.1.1.14 8.1.1.1.15 8.1.1.1.16 8.1.1.1.17 8.1.1.1.18 8.1.1.1.19 8.1.1.1.20 8.1.1.1.21 8.1.1.2 8.1.1.3 8.1.1.4 8.1.1.5
Task interleaving for RF replenishment Task interleaving for RF loading Activity tracking for location ID Activity tracking for customer ID Activity tracking for lot or serial ID Activity tracking for license plate ID Activity tracking for part ID Activity tracking for PO ID Activity tracking for sales order ID Activity tracking for user ID Activity tracking for shipping container ID Bin Location Setup This category contains 22 criteria below it. Inventory Control This category contains 18 criteria below it. License Plate Tracking This category contains 9 criteria below it. Receiving
8.1.1.6
This category contains 40 criteria below it. Quality Control
8.1.1.7
This category contains 6 criteria below it. Put-away
8.1.1.8
This category contains 15 criteria below it. Picking
8.1.1.9
This category contains 33 criteria below it. Packing and Shipping
8.1.1.10 8.1.2
This category contains 16 criteria below it. Other Functions This category contains 26 criteria below it. Adaptability This category contains 10 criteria below it.
8.1.3
WMS Technology Configuration
8.2
This category contains 105 criteria below it. Transportation Management System (TMS)
8.3 8.4
This category contains 110 criteria below it. International Trade Logistics (ITL) This category contains 80 criteria below it. Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)
8.5
This category contains 145 criteria below it. Procurement
9 9.1 9.1.1
This category contains 9 criteria below it. Retail and POS Transaction Management Transactions
9.1.1.1 9.1.1.1.1 9.1.1.1.2 9.1.1.1.3 9.1.1.1.4 9.1.1.1.5 9.1.1.1.6 9.1.1.1.7 9.1.1.1.8 9.1.1.1.9 9.1.1.2 9.1.1.3 9.1.1.4 9.1.1.5 9.1.2 9.2
Kits and Combos Item substitution within a kit or combo Kit or combo automatically exploded to the item level when its SKU or UPC is entered Automatically recognizes items within a kit when items entered separately Promotions for kit or combo Tracks number of items within a kit or combo Tracks department or class of items within a kit or combo Tracks items removed from the kit or combo Tracks items within a kit or combo Suggest kit when item sold separately Delivery This category contains 17 criteria below it. Other Transactions This category contains 24 criteria below it. Refunds This category contains 8 criteria below it. Voids This category contains 5 criteria below it. Customer Information This category contains 9 criteria below it. Register Management This category contains 30 criteria below it. Sale Slip Management This category contains 13 criteria below it. Reports and Inquiries This category contains 26 criteria below it. Business Architecture This category contains 21 criteria below it. Locations This category contains 19 criteria below it. Back-office Communication This category contains 5 criteria below it. Web Commerce Web Interface/E-commerce Store/Cart Design (GUI) Create messages to associate with gift items Track value-added services like gift wrapping, special packaging instructions, temperature requirements, and shipment methods (refrigerated trucks, etc.) Shoppers can browse specific product pages or use advanced search to narrow criteria
9.3
9.4
9.5
9.6 9.7 10 10.1 10.1.1 10.1.1.1 10.1.1.2
10.1.1.3
10.1.1.4 10.1.1.5 10.1.1.6 10.1.1.7 10.1.1.8 10.1.1.9 10.1.1.10 10.1.1.11 10.1.1.12 10.1.1.13 10.1.2 10.1.3 10.1.4 10.1.5 11
Preconfigured templates for setting up web cart Customizable themes and design options change the design but not the HTML Unlimited submenus to allow multiple, drill-down product searches Available tools to integrate graphics from other programs Configure shopping lists by pointing, clicking, dragging, and dropping into place Customer-definable fields for special instructions, shipping procedures, messages etc. Customers may design product attributes Customers may design limited product configuration if product is a kit Customers may set up new account criteria for shipping and payment options Customers may search for any item from any page Security and Payment This category contains 3 criteria below it. Connectivity and Interfaces This category contains 6 criteria below it. Inventory This category contains 19 criteria below it. Shipping This category contains 5 criteria below it. Product Technology
11.1 11.1.1 11.1.1.1 11.1.1.1.1 11.1.1.1.2 11.1.1.1.3 11.1.1.1.4
Architecture Data Integration Technologies Data Management Options Relational database design Normalized tables SQL APIs for calls or data requests Multi-RDBMS portability
11.1.1.1.5 11.1.1.1.6 11.1.1.1.7 11.1.1.2
Transaction tracking system Replicates database master files, fields, and structures Supports Disaster Recovery Institute procedures Database Gateway Options This category contains 8 criteria below it. Server/Host Relational DBMS Options This category contains 8 criteria below it. Metadata Management This category contains 9 criteria below it. Logical Repository Model This category contains 8 criteria below it. Repository Metadata Tools This category contains 5 criteria below it. Repository User Interface This category contains 8 criteria below it. Business Modeling/Repository Tool This category contains 17 criteria below it. Non-operational Data Warehousing This category contains 6 criteria below it. Messaging Protocols This category contains 15 criteria below it. Device Interfaces This category contains 27 criteria below it. Architectural Foundation This category contains 15 criteria below it. Web Enablement This category contains 108 criteria below it. Organizational Structure This category contains 7 criteria below it. Application Security This category contains 7 criteria below it. Multisite Management This category contains 17 criteria below it. User Interface This category contains 8 criteria below it. Platforms This category contains 36 criteria below it. Application Tools This category contains 23 criteria below it. Workflow and Document Management This category contains 6 criteria below it. Reporting This category contains 3 criteria below it. Active or inactive status
11.1.1.3 11.1.1.4 11.1.1.5 11.1.1.6 11.1.1.7 11.1.1.8 11.1.1.9 11.1.2 11.1.3 11.1.4 11.1.5 11.1.6 11.1.7 11.1.8 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.6.4
riteria Worksheet
FUT NS Comment Description Financial system modules for bookkeeping and ensuring accounts are paid or received on time. General ledger keeps centralized charts of accounts and corporate financial balances. It supports all aspects of the business accounting process. In this module, financial accounting transactions are posted, processed, summarized, and reported. It maintains a complete audit trail of transactions and enables individual business units to view their financial information, while parent companies can roll up all business subsidiaries and view the consolidated information.
Multiple calendars may be useful for different accounting scenarios. For example, different financial entities may need separate fiscal calendars--one set of books might require a quarterly calendar while another would require a different term. If a merger results in two financial entities that have different fiscal calendars, the accounting system will need to maintain both calendars and normalize the data (Q2 for Entity A is equal to Q3 for Entity B). This may also be useful for what-if scenarios. A financial reporting entity is a business unit which can legally make financial reports. 4-4-5 calendar period uses a four week, four week, five week pattern. Likewise the 5-4-4 calendar period uses a five week, four week, four week pattern.
The calendar can be organized in a limitless form, with up to 999 user periods, per calendar The ability to have any number of fiscal years or calendar periods open concurrently The ability to set a default currency by entity. For example, if a large company has one entity responsible for conducting business in the US and another entity for the UK, the default currency may be dollars for the US and British sterling for the UK. account payable (A/P) The ability to define a specific period calendar and chart of accounts for each entity ledger By controlling when an account is open and closed, the posting of information in an account period can restricted. general ledger (G/L)
The ability to change the currency used in balance sheet accounts to another currency using a default rate. It is possible to override this default rate for particular accounts. Moreover, it is possible to set different default rates for different subledgers.
A general ledger key typically is an identifier attached to accounts to put the accounts into groups. For example, there may be fifteen accounts in the chart of accounts related to payroll, and all fifteen accounts will be assigned the same key (perhaps "PAYROLL"). Thus the system can purge or set other rules to all chart of accounts with the same key.
The ability to cumulatively incorporate results from the previous accounting period into the current accounting period, but only when the last document generated in the previous period was the financial statement.
The ability to cumulatively incorporate results from the previous accounting period into the current accounting period, but only when the last document generated in the previous period was the financial statement.
General ledgers are designed to present values for creating financial statements. The multiple level for a ledger key means the system will have a more complex and functional key structure--one that supports a hierarchy of keys. The ability to automatically, rather than manually, identify open receivables exceptions by using user-defined conditions (for example, very large amount invoices, exceeding credit line, etc.)
ADP refers to automatic data processing.
This is different from a purge because the balance still exists but has been moved to another account. This allows for the automatic aging of account balances from a current file to a prior file and is required to maintain separate balances relating to customers acquired in the current year and in prior years
The ability to process jobs that are in the midst of being edited or updated
The ability to create a report subsection that indicates which pages of the report mention errors and warnings The ability to decide if a particular job should be updated more than once during a given time period The ability to define variables within a tabular array of data so that jobs are performed and postings or reports are created accordingly
This refers to enterprise resource planning (ERP) database tables, not, for example, report tables. The ability check data entry to make sure that only the correct records are updated
The chart of accounts is a list of ledger account names and account numbers, creating consistency in terminology and eliminates redundant accounts. A chart of accounts structure should include fields for account and ledger descriptions, to prevent shadow accounts from being created. Data tree tools allow users to see the structure of the fields and summaries, to help with reporting requirements, foster change, etc.
The accounting department is typically responsible for recording all transactions in the company in the journal (GL). All of the criteria that fall Journal Entry and Reporting relate to various ways to record journal transactions. For example payroll is an AP item. As paychecks are cut the AP items need to be reconciled with the cash outflow. A software feature might be the automatic reconciliation of payroll deductions when paychecks are issued (as opposed to having an accountant have to key the transactions by hand).
A journal voucher (JV) is a document that authorizes payment for services performed, or for goods that are received or exchanged. As a means to record ledger transactions, JVs may have different approvals for different accounts. For example when someone submits an expense report that money is typically associated with an account on the chart of accounts in the G/L. The account may require a JV for posted entries. The JV may include copies of receipts and a sign off from a manager before the entry can be posted.
Accounts payable schedules bill payments to suppliers and distributors, and keeps accurate information about owed money, due dates, and available discounts. It provides functionality and integration to other areas such as customer service, purchasing, inventory, and manufacturing control. The software should support the following functionality: AP company policies and procedures; suppliers/voucher master data; payment controls; invoice processing and aging analysis; payment processing; journal voucher processing; AP ledger posting; check processing; AP transactions and controls; and AP reporting.
Fixed assets manages depreciation and other costs associated with tangible assets such as buildings, property and equipment. The software should support the following functionality: fixed assets records; asset transactions; asset depreciation; depreciation books; revaluation and interest calculation; and tax reporting.
Cost accounting analyzes corporate costs related to overhead, products, and manufacturing orders. It provides a variety of costing approaches such as standard, FIFO, LIFO, average, target, and activity-based costing (ABC). The software should support the following functionality: cost data; cost allocation definitions; cost allocation process; cost management; cost and sales price calculation; activity based costing (ABC); and activity based cost tracing and tracking.
Cash management involves the capability of the system to record cash charges or deposits, recording of cash payments and receipts, cash projection reporting, calculation of expected cash uses/sources, current cash availability, etc. It monitors and analyzes cash holdings, financial deals, and investment risks.
Budgeting involves budgetary controls, budget accounting, budget development, and budget allocation. The software should provide sufficient tools to enable detailed budget development and analysis. Additional functionality should be available to integrate with project management software applications either natively or with external interfaces.
Accounts receivable tracks payments due to a company from its customers. It contains tools to control and expedite the receipt of money from the entry of a sales order to posting payments received. The software should support the following functionality: AR company policies and procedures; customers/voucher master data; bill processing and aging analysis; credit management; cash/payment application, receipt processing; journal voucher processing; AR ledger posting; multicurrency accounting and conversions; AR transactions and controls; and AR reporting.
Financial reporting enables robust analysis of company performance through delivered reports. These reports will allow individual business units to view their financial information, while parent companies can roll up all business subsidiaries and view the consolidated information. Additionally, solutions should provide user generated reporting tools that are easy to use and provide sufficient depth of and access to the financial data to permit comprehensive analysis.
Pricing and discounting modules help automate the data entry process of customer orders and track the status of orders. It involves order entry, order tracing and status reporting, pricing, and invoicing. It also provides basic functionality for lead tracking, customer information, quote processing, and pricing and rebates.
Human resources encompasses all the applications necessary for handling personnel-related tasks for corporate managers and individual employees. Modules include personnel management, benefit management, payroll management, employee self service, data warehousing, and health and safety. Personnel management automates personnel processes including recruitment, personnel profile, organizational structure, career development & training, reward management, job position and wage profiles, and business travel and vacation allotments. The software should support the following functionality: recruitment management; personnel information and tracking; organizational structuring; job position and salary profile; career development, training and performance management; compensation management; budgeting and cost control; government compliance reporting; expenses management; union information; discipline actions and grievances tracking; and employment history/personnel reporting.
Requisition parameters are used for information on recruiting issues and department personnel needs
Applicant flow statistics are derived from applicant data, and include information on education, job history, etc. These numbers can be used for effective marketing to further strengthen recruitment, create non-discriminatory policy, create applicant flow reports etc.
Benefits administers a diverse range of benefit plans such as health and medical, life and supplemental life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D), disability plans, flexible benefits, 401(k) plans, profit sharing plans, stock plans, retirement plans, and leave plans including vacation and sick leave accruals. The software should support the following functionality: base benefits; employee benefit plan profile; benefits administration; and pension administration.
Payroll handles accounting and preparation of checks related to employee salaries, wages, and bonuses. The software should support the following functionality: employee payroll profile; earnings and deductions; eligibility controls; user balances; tax deductions and calculation; payroll calculation; payroll and payment processing; check processing and printing; labor distribution and accounting; payroll and regulatory reporting; IRS documentation; security and audit; and automated timesheets.
Employee self-service lets workers access their personal information and benefit allocations on-line to manage life events and benefit selections without having to send forms to human resources. The software should also support benefit enrollment programs and new hire initiation. Data warehousing simply defined, is a place for data, whereas data warehousing describes the process of defining, populating, and using a data warehouse. Creating, populating, and querying a data warehouse typically carries an extremely high price tag, but the return on investment can be substantial.
Health and safety provides the tools to administer compliance with the health and safety regulations, accident and injury reporting, and tracking of lost time by employee.
Manufacturing management encompasses a group of applications for planning production, taking orders, and delivering products to the customer. In the case that some dangerous goods are used for the composition of materials, these goods need to be reported and controlled to satisfy regulatory requirements. Hazard data should be on documentation such as goods receipt notes, quality assurance (QA) test sheets, production orders, selection lists, consignment/dispatch. Safety information should contain storage conditions, flash points, disposal details, COSHH codes, CAS numbers, EINECS codes, MSDS numbers, packing group, and transport class.
material safety data sheet (MSDS)
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SA/RA) is a US federal law that regulates hazardous material, particularly reporting and labeling.
Product costing analyzes product costs related to overhead, labor, material, and manufacturing costs. It provides a variety of costing approaches such as standard, actual, and average.
Shop floor control provides control and tracking of the status of production orders in the plant. It involves production orders dispatching, capacity planning, resource allocation, production tracking and reporting, and waste/reject tracking. Solutions for inventory management are used for the record-keeping of goods that are warehoused, and managing the movement of these goods to, from, and through warehouses.
The term "harmonized" refers to standardized codes set by a higher authority (e.g., government or national/international organizations). Thus, the system should be capable of using such standard codes, particularly for interactions with third parties.
The ability to encode data on bar codes on individual parts as they are received, so that their subsequent warehousing and other activities may be monitored in a real time manner using the bar code information.
The ability to change some materials' designation from being "manufactured" in-house to being "purchased" outside, while keeping the engineering change number (ECN) in the loop.
Automated available-to-promise (ATP) is achieved by giving order takers access to inventory and capacity information, and in some cases even vendor information, so that they are able to commit to reliable delivery dates while the customer is still on the phone.
Many orders are sourced and built by a network of partners. Frequently, notification of cancellations does not occur. Keeping these orders synchronized is critical toward meeting schedules as well as avoiding over-building or building ahead of demand.
Purchasing management encompasses a group of applications that controls purchasing of raw materials needed to build products and that manages inventory stocks. It also involves creating purchase orders/contracts, supplier tracking, goods receipt and payment, and regulatory compliance analysis and reporting.
Quality management encompasses applications for operational techniques and activities used to fulfill requirements for quality control, inspection plan creation, and management, defective item control and processing and inspection procedure collection planning.
The system can group quality requirements, such as different tolerances, by a collection plan. Collection plans may be the way one collects samples from the batch--for statistical process control (for example, random, every two hours, at the end of the shift, etc.)
Sales Management encompasses a group of applications that automates the data entry process of customer orders and keeps track of the status of orders. It involves order entry, order tracing and status reporting, pricing, invoicing, etc. It also provides a basic functionality for lead tracking, customer information, quote processing, pricing & rebates, etc.
A backorder is an unfilled customer order or commitment. A backorder is an immediate (or past due) demand against an item whose inventory is insufficient to satisfy the demand.
Pricing and discounting modules help automate the data entry process of customer orders and track the status of orders. It involves order entry, order tracing and status reporting, pricing, and invoicing. It also provides basic functionality for lead tracking, customer information, quote processing, and pricing and rebates.
Ranges from simple, off-the-shelf contact management solutions to high-end interactive selling suites that combine sales, marketing, and executive information tools. These include product configuration, quote and proposal management, and marketing encyclopedias. Some systems extend functions to include complex pricing, promotions, commission plans, team selling, and campaign management. Enterprise-level solutions installed at large companies with hundreds or even thousands of users have capabilities for call centers/help desks, field service, forecasting, and analysis.
A warehouse management system (WMS) should provide database and user-level tools in order for a company to optimize its storage facilities while at the same time providing user level task direction and activity support. The combination of system-directed operations, supported by realtime, paper-less, and interactive information systems will provide warehouse management and personnel with the tools to direct, control, measure, and report on distribution operations. The WMS should enable warehouse operators to optimize pick, putaway, and replenishment functions by employing powerful system logic to select the best locations and sequences. These are defined by rules that are based on industry best practices, while taking into account enterprise specific opportunities and constraints. In order to facilitate ongoing activity tracking and performance reporting the WMS should include integration with bar code and wireless radio frequency data collection devices to enable accurate, efficient tracking of goods through the storage facility.
General warehouse management functionality.
The WMS should assist the operator in the receipt of inbound shipments by providing activity prompts through the appropriate user interface. The WMS should support automated receipt of products through a combination of EDI or other data input to relate the initial receipt record, confirming this through radio frequency barcode readers.
The WMS should enforce the quality control process through a series of system-directed prompts to ensure that product is handled correctly and that damaged or expired products are not received or stored in the storage location. The WMS should include system-directed put-away, making the association between product receipts and storage locations--this should be supported by a series of rules that are established as part of the system implementation process. The WMS should provide the user with a system-directed pick path, optimizing travel time between pick locations and based on the rules that are established at the time of system implementation.
The WMS should include product level and item level data to make the association between an order or series of orders and required packing materials and documentation. The WMS should also make the association between the orders and the transportation plan, directing the user to the appropriate staging and shipping location in the facility once the order is picked complete.
General warehouse management functionality. The adaptability module covers business processes, decision support, and reporting.
The technology configuration addresses WMS-specific functionality such as RFID, security, and internationalization supported by each vendor. It also touches on programming and other technologies used in the development of the WMS application.
Transportation involves many different parties within and outside a company who are required to routinely share information and ideas. A fully functional transportation management system should provide the basic components of a shared information system to support: - Content such as rates, routes, roles, and contracts at interenterprise generic levels - Commerce to support and create transaction sets, documents, and information exchanged to facilitate the booking, execution, and settlement of transportation movements on an "any-to-any" level - Collaboration for real-time and interactive exchange between multiple parties, irrespective of roles The data model and data dictionary of the TMS should thus support a wide and diverse range of interactions. The system should also facilitate the exchange of data with a series of external and internal applications, as well as provide user-level tools and utilities. The combination of these robust system infrastructures and collaborative applications should enable the user to perform all necessary functions involved in the planning, execution, and analysis of transportation movements.
Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) is a relatively new way of categorizing software–born out of the concept that you have customer relationship management (CRM) systems for managing customer-facing processes, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems for internal processes and SRM for both supplier-facing processes and managing the supply base. The heart of SRM is sourcing and procurement, which differ from their internally-focused ERP counterparts primarily in that the SRM modules have a much greater emphasis on integrating and connecting with the suppliers. SRM also includes interactions with the supply base throughout the full lifecycle of processes from design through to fulfillment, manufacturing, and settlement.
Procurement is generally divided into MRP-driven (sometimes referred to as direct materials procurement) and requisition-driven (sometimes referred to as indirect or MRO procurement, although some long-lead-time, first-run direct materials are ordered via requisitions. This division reflects substantial differences in the two methods of procurement. Management of catalogs supports requisition-driven procurement and the sourcing processes that precede MRP-driven procurement.
Point of sale (POS) Transaction management encompasses a group of applications for maintaining records on transactions done on a point of sale system.
Stock-keeping unit (SKU) is a unique identifier that helps track an item. UPC or universal product code is the standard product bar code used by retailers.
Register management encompasses a group of applications used to maintain records on the register's cash flow. Sales slip management encompasses a group of applications for maintaining receipt or ticket printings. Reports and inquiries encompasses a group of reports or inquiries that are available throughout the point of sale (POS) system.
Business architecture encompasses a group of general information that can be stored in the point of sale (POS) system.
This category defines the technical architecture of the product, and the technological environment in which the product can successfully run. Criteria include product and application architecture, software usability and administration, platform and database support, application standards support, communications and protocol support and integration capabilities. Relative to the other evaluation criteria, best practice selections place a lower relative importance, on the product technology category. However, this apparently lower importance is deceptive, because the product technology category usually houses the majority of the selecting organization's mandatory criteria, which usually include server, client, protocol, and database support, application scalability and other architectural capabilities. The definition of mandatory criteria within this set often allows the client to quickly narrow the long list of potential vendors to a short list of applicable solutions that pass muster relative to the most basic mandatory selection criteria. During the process of product selection a great deal of attention is given to the functional capabilities of the software being evaluated. While this aspect is obviously important, ignoring the technical mechanisms by which the software actually operates can be fatal to a project.
Relational database management systems (RDBMS) are a type of database management systems (DBMS) that store data in the form of related tables.
The ability to make copies of master files, fields, and structures
Gateways are interfaces that convert protocols in order to connect different networks.
The ability to categorize items based on whether their activity status is active or inactive