PLANNER VIEW Software Module

IBS Planner View is a powerful and adaptable PC-based, graphical planning and information management tool that provides real-time supply chain visibility. Employees across your company can use the software to analyze, optimize and balance workloads and production capacity.

HIGHLIGHTS of Features & Benefits
• Integrated, enterprise-wide application with user-defined views
• Integrate, consolidate, harmonize and customize data from your entire system
• Sort, filter, drill down and synchronize for comprehensive data analysis
• Gain real-time visibility into critical workload and capacity data
• Pre-defined business applications and planning roles for decision support.

Information management and planning processes are increasingly complex and must cover the entire spectrum of your business, including multiple operations and sites. The lack of timely, centralized information can mean that resources – such as manufacturing or delivery capacities – are not being optimized. Without a powerful planning and information management tool, it becomes difficult to coordinate material flow, manage resources and run an efficient supply chain.

IBS Planner View enables you to collect, manage, present and use information from multiple servers, database management systems, companies, applications and software releases – all into one common interface.

APPLICATIONS FOR TODAY'S BUSINESS

• General client information tool
• Graphical planning application
• Over 500 pre-defined panels and updating procedures grouped into 16 roles

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Multiple panels organized as a perspective gives you accurate, synchronized information in one view.

IBS Planner View applications handle information in a range of panels, which are built by script files that describe the content and available actions of each panel. Each panel type presents and handles the information in a specific way. New panels can be created to add to your IBS Planner View applications without redistributing the main application.

PANEL TYPES
The following list describes the main panel types in IBS Planner View and the information that they present:

Browser view – A web-browser page that can be used to view any browser-based information on the Internet or Intranet. The information can be a web page, an HTML document or any document that can be handled in programs such as Excel and Word.

Calendar view – Capacity/workload-related information in a calendar (workload per work center, engineer workload etc.)

Collection view – Information for an object with one or more common keys (e.g. operations for a manufacturing order, sales order lines on a sales order, service object per customer etc.)

Detail view – Detailed information for one IBS object (e.g. customer, sales order header, item, agreement etc.)

GANTT scheduler view – Appointments, tasks or other programmed activities for a resource (e.g. service engineer group schedule, project overview etc.)

GANTT view – Calendar-related data in a GANTT diagram (e.g. manufacturing order operations, service order per engineer etc.)

Pivot view – Data in a row-and-column format that can be moved, filtered, sorted and calculated, as well as exported to MS Excel or shown in a chart.

Resource view – Workload for a whole resource group.

Structure view – Related objects in a hierarchical structure (e.g. manufacturing order header, operations, material lines, tools etc., all belonging to one manufacturing order).

Task list view – Information about tasks handled by a resource or a group of resources.

Panels can be easily customized for each user, including changing column order, sorting, merging, applying cell colors, showing/hiding columns, formatting, defining filters and other properties.

User-defined formula fields can act as accumulators of different fields, or be used as formulas, allowing almost any mathematical expressions, constants or existing values in the panel.

New versions of panels can be created at any time, and several panels can be grouped to provide a complete overview. Through the use of keys, users can also synchronize the content in grouped panels that are currently open.

GENERAL CLIENT INFORMATION TOOL

The general client gives you a customizable PC client user interface. It handles server-based information typically from ERP systems or the web. The application can be used as a Windows-based UI to any application with an ODBC-compliant database.

With the IBS Planner View general client interface, you can call any procedure stored on the server. Each stored procedure is linked to a server program that can activate updates, printouts etc. You can also define new procedures using the Procedure manager tool, which is described below. IBS Planner View comes with many pre-defined procedures that activate functions in IBS Enterprise.

GRAPHICAL PLANNING APPLICATION

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Available IBS Enterprise functions are shown with a right-click on a grid row.

Using IBS Planner View, a purchaser could, for instance, gain in-depth control of all purchase orders in the system. At the same time, the solution presents a view of all the required items to buy and their suppliers, giving a complete picture of the procurement plans. This total picture of the planning process helps save time, money and resources while offering smoother flow and control of day-to-day activities.

IBS Planner View's high level of adaptability means that it can be used in almost any business scenario. To further illustrate the previous example, use of this tool could also be extended to a warehouse planner. Based on a purchaser's plan, warehouse employees can easily find out how many purchase order lines they expect to receive and process during any given day. Along with the weight and volumes of each line, they can quickly determine the resources required in terms of personnel, storage space and vehicles.

PLANNER ROLES

All settings in IBS Planner View, such as menus, icons, fonts, colors, available panels and panel groups, can be customized by role. Multiple roles can be used in each client, and it is easy to switch between these. Certain roles allow users to perform actions from IBS Planner View, such as rescheduling manufacture orders or assigning service engineers.

The major pre-defined roles and their primary functions include:

CRM AND SALES ORDER MANAGEMENT
Sales order handler – View sales orders and related orders (manufacturing and purchase orders, both internal and multi distribution orders) on different keys, such as Warehouse, Business partner and Item. Calendars with aggregated weights and volumes exist together with numerous other panels that assist sales order analysis.

DISTRIBUTION AND WAREHOUSING
Replenishment handler – Monitor warehouse capacity in different aspects. Calendars containing inbound and outbound shipments for warehouse, warehouse/zone and warehouse/zone/location are available together with details about the capacity and the different shipments.

Warehouse planner and Transport handler – Manage the planning of deliveries from the warehouse. Functions to view suggestions, pick lists, R/F batches, shipments and routes are included.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Cash Flow Manager – Manages cash flow in the form of expected payments. Expected payments are collected from IBS Enterprise and presented in a calendar view, using transaction, system or reporting currency. To gain a complete picture of your company's cash flow, you can also add upcoming payrolls and other recurring cash expenses. Adjust projected payment dates for open sales orders, Accounts Receivable, purchase orders and Accounts Payable, based on either your or your customers' previous payment behavior.

Manufacturing and assembly
Manufacturing advanced planner – Handles finite capacity/workload per work center and performs bottleneck planning, with simulation on different levels. This role works with open manufacturing order problems, work overload, material shortage and determining what to produce when remaining capacity exists. This role can view details concerning the capacity/ workload in various manufacturing processes from planning through to order entry.

Manufacturing order handler – Manages all components of manufacturing orders, such as header, operations, material, reporting, scheduling, material clearance, etc.

Manufacturing planner – Handles the detail planning of manufacturing orders and operations. This role can prioritize, sequence, reschedule, group and move orders and operations. The capacity and workload in work centers and department sections can be monitored on both machine- and run labor time.

Pull planner – Focuses on pull planning and includes Priority analysis and Shortage analysis functions for both purchasing and manufacturing. The proposals can be maintained and it is possible to create purchase or manufacturing orders from the proposals, depending on proposal type.

PLANNING AND FORECASTING
Demand planner – Handles budgets and forecasts and is a complete graphical user interface to IBS Demand Planning. All activities, except basic Data Maintenance, can be performed from the Demand planner role.

Sales and operations planner – Balances demand and supply over time on an aggregated level, for use in long-term budgeting. This role interacts with the IBS Sales and Operations Planning module.

Supply planner – Handles detailed planning for replenishing demand that has been generated Demand Planning. It can also be used to plan what (on an item level) should be replenished, and where (on a warehouse level). This role is integrated with the IBS Supply Planning module and can perform all activities in this module, except basic data maintenance.

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Mix web-based information with IBS Enterprise information.
Mix web-based information with IBS Enterprise information.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project planner – Gives an overview of the different components belonging to a project, such as header, phases, activities, elements, items, invoice plans, etc. Also includes information about linked objects such as manufacturing, sales and purchase orders.

SRM AND PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT
Purchase order handler – Analyze, maintain, delete and release purchase suggestions. The purchase orders can be confirmed and have their reference changed. To support the purchase planning this role also includes forecast and inventory value information.

SERVICE MANAGEMENT
Service engineer planner – Assign and schedule service jobs for different service engineers with full control of the presence and workload of the engineers or engineer groups. Scheduling can be performed with drag-and-drop functionality in a GANTT Scheduler panel.

PROCEDURE MANAGER TOOL

MULTIPLE CONNECTIONS
Using the multiple connections feature in IBS Planner View, you can retrieve data from multiple companies in multiple systems. It allows you to see multiple panels from different companies, or to aggregate companies in the same panel.

Contact IBS for more information. »