No. MRA?/span> - Material Requirements Analysis, was designed to be adaptable in all environments including manufacturing and distribution. This flexibility is achieved by using the information contained in your current host software systems. If you can export information into spreadsheets, you can have full material requirement analysis capabilities.
All spreadsheets must be saved as an Excel?/span> spreadsheet, i.e. extension .xls in order for MRA?/span> to process the information. Many times when information is exported it is exported in either a comma separated (.csv) or text (.txt) form, which is acceptable. Once exported you will merely need to save the file as an Excel?/span> spreadsheet.
Once the information is exported you can change the spreadsheet format through your Windows?/span> Explorer or within Excel?/span>. Once you find the file highlight the file with a single left click with your mouse and then do a single right click with your mouse. Select "Rename" from this drop down menu and save the file as "filename.xls". This can also be achieved by opening the file you wish to change in Excel?/span>. Once open from the File menu select Save As and under Save as type select Microsoft?/span> Excel?/span> workbook.
Some systems will not contain or allow all of the required information to be exported. If this is the case with your system you can input the information directly into the spreadsheet created during export, or add the required data in any user defined or custom fields allowed by your host system. This required information would be all number and date fields. Certain text field data is required by MRA?/span> in order to process the data accurately while some data is included to facilitate analyzing the resulting analysis data. If there is a question as to whether a field is required, refer to Appendix A in the Users' Guide, which lists the database field values along with how each field is formatted. Look for the field labeled Allow Zero Length. If the value next to this field is True, the database field may be blank. If False there must be a value in this field before import.
This information is taken from the PO.xls (Purchase Order) spreadsheet during import. MRA?/span> will match the vendor name attached to each line item ordered on all purchase orders and insert this information into the Vendor Items database table automatically. You may evaluate the vendors that are attached to each part and vice versa through the Vendor Items function located from the Utilities menu, which is available from the main menu.
The manufacturing type is a designator that is attached to each part, which tells MRA?/span> how the particular part will be used by the system. An example of a manufacturing type would be "M" designating manufactured or made in house; "P" designated a purchased part or "S" designating a subcontracted part. Each system will typically have its own designations for each part. MRA?/span> provides flexibility to account for every type of type designator used by all systems. The type field exists in the Corporate Profile module in order for the user to designate how products established in the system will be used. Since MRA?/span> is adaptable with numerous other systems and each system has its own way of categorizing product types, this information is critical in order for MRA?/span> to calculate MRP correctly. (For more information on manufacturing types see the Parts Master section of the User's Guide)
During the Populate Active Files function data contained in the Order Entry (Oe.xls), Purchase Order (PO.xls) and Forecast (Forecast.xls) spreadsheets are imported into the MRA?/span> database. When the Process Data function is activated, it is processing the information that is in the database and not in the spreadsheets. After the Process Data function is ran the first time, MRA?/span> calculates the material requirements results and stores the analysis data into the Work Files database table. If this same data is processed again without clearing the Work Files table first you will get inaccurate results due to the data being processed more than once. Therefore, before re-processing your data always be sure to clear the Work Files table.
There are two situations that will cause you to run this procedure. The first situation will be when you have manufacturing types designations for more than one type of product that are the same. For example, in your host system if you have a type designation of "M" assigned to both manufactured and sub-contracted parts, you will need to run this procedure. MRA?/span> will then evaluate the BOM file to determine if a BOM is attached to the part. When it finds a part with an assigned BOM MRA?/span> will recognize this part as a manufactured part. If a BOM is not attached MRA?/span> will assume that the part is a sub-contracted part. The second situation is if your manufacturing types have changed since you last populated the Parts Master database. If they have you will want to run this procedure to verify the type designations are accurate. Otherwise, it is not necessary to run the Determine Products for In house Manufacture procedure. (For more information on this procedure see the section on Determine Products for In House Manufacture in the User's Guide)
You will typically receive this message when you access the MRA Analysis Form if the Time Period Definition value is not set. This value determines the time buckets data will be displayed in on the MRA Analysis Form and applicable reports. If this value has not been set or has been removed you will receive this error. You may access the Time Period Definition utility by selecting Utilities - Time Period Definition Form from the main MRA form. This value may also be set in the Corporate Profile (Utilities - Corporate Profile) in the Time Period Definition section.
I received an Error 3077: Syntax error. Missing operator in expression message while importing my inventory data.
A: Before transferring your inventory data to MRA, it is recommended part numbers be checked for integrity. Additional symbols and spaces that exist in part numbers may cause errors during data transfer. These will include spaces, quotation marks, commas, asterisk, etc. When transferring inventory information that contains these symbols in parts numbers you may receive an Error 3077: Syntax error. Missing operator in expression or Error 3077: Syntax error in string in expression. This means that MRA has encountered a part number that contains one or more of these symbols. These part numbers will not be imported into MRA.