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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

 

 

Program Version and Prerequisites

Q: AutoSimply M/F 6.1 is compatible with which versions of Sage 300 ERP?
A: AutoSimply M/F 6.1 is compatible with Sage 300 ERP 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5,6 and 6.0 versions.
Q: Is AutoSimply M/F 6.1 compatible with Corporate and Small Business editions?
A: AutoSimply M/F 6.1 is fully compatible with all editions of Sage 300 ERP. This covers Enterprise (500), Corporate (200) and Small Business (100) editions.
Q: What are the prerequisite modules for AutoSimply M/F 6.1?
A: AutoSimply M/F 6.1 requires Sage 300 ERP Inventory Control (I/C), Purchase Order (P/O) and Order Entry (O/E) modules.
Q: Which database platforms can AutoSimply M/F 6.1 support?
A: AutoSimply M/F 6.1 is compatible with Pervasive.SQL and Microsoft SQL Server at this stage.
Q: AutoSimply M/F 6.1 makes use of which reporting tools for reports and forms?
A: AutoSimply M/F 6.1 makes use of Crystal Reports for all reports and forms.
Q: Can AutoSimply M/F 6.1 be implemented independently without Sage 300 ERP?
A: No. AutoSimply M/F 6.1 is fully integrated with Sage 300 ERP and cannot be used without Sage 300 ERP.

 

Sofware Licensing

Q: What are the investment requirements for AutoSimply M/F 6.1?
A: Client need only purchase the software license for AutoSimply M/F 6.1. In addition, software maintenance is required for the first year.
   
Q: How much is the software license for AutoSimply M/F 6.1?
A: Price is set at 4,500 USD. This pricing is fixed regardless of Sage 300 ERP version or edition. Please coordinate with your local Sage Account Manager for special promotions and product discounts.
   
Q: Who do we buy from?
A: All purchase orders should be forwarded to Sage. Client licenses will be provided by AutoSimply upon receipt of the official purchase order from Sage.
   
Q: Does the client need to purchase separate lanpak license for AutoSimply?
A: No. AutoSimply M/F 6.1 does not have a separate lanpak requirement. Number of users is restricted solely by the number of Sage 300 ERP lanpak license.
   
Q: Does AutoSimply M/F 6.1 have separate licensing and pricing for different database platforms (e.g. MS SQL, Oracle)?
A: No. AutoSimply does not differentiate between operating systems and database platforms.
   
Q: How do we get a trial license for AutoSimply M/F 6.1?
A: AutoSimply M/F 6.1 does not required to apply for a trial license. It will identified as a trial copy if no license information is provided. This license information can be added later using an actual AutoSimply license.

 

Target Market

Q: Who are the target users for AutoSimply M/F 6.1?
A: AutoSimply M/F targets mainly small to medium-sized make-to-order discrete manufacturers.
   
Q: What is Discrete Manufacturing?
A: In Discrete Manufacturing, the manufacturing floor works off job/manufacturing orders to build easily identifiable products. It is often characterized by individual or separate unit production.
   
Q: Which industries are best suited to AutoSimply M/F?
A: AutoSimply M/F will be best suited to the following industries:
  1. Computer and electronic products
  2. Industrial and electronic equipments
  3. Medical equipment and supplies
  4. Consumer products and toy manufacturing
  5. Packing and repacking industries
  6. Light industrial assembly
   
Q: Is there any easy way to know which of our existing clients are prospect users of AutoSimply?
A: Clients who are currently using the limited Assembly function in Sage 300 ERP I/C will definitely appreciate the functionalities of AutoSimply M/F. Another indicator would be actual costing. Clients who prefer actual costing over standard costing will be very goods prospect users of AutoSimply.
   
Q: Which users will benefit from usage of AutoSimply M/F 6.1?
A: The workflow-based design of AutoSimply simplifies the data entry and processing for the Logistics, Production and Cost Accounting users.
   
Q: What would be the most benefit users can derive from AutoSimply M/F 6.1?
A: The main user benefits from using AutoSimply M/F include the following:
  1. Operation-based material issuance and work in progress (WIP) tracking
  2. Actual costing of production processing
  3. Full integration of the manufacturing process with Sage 300 ERP Financials and Logistic modules
  4. Familiar Sage 300 ERP interface for increased user-friendliness
  5. Simplistic and direct Sage 300 ERP integration minimizes the need for subledger reconciliations
   
Q: How does AutoSimply M/F 6.1 compare with Sage 300 ERP I/C Assembly?
A: Unlike I/C Assembly, AutoSimply M/F is workflow-based. Components are issued out of the warehouse and recorded against a Manufacturing Order (MO). As such, transactions are posted at the time of processing and recorded by their respective process owner. More importantly, AutoSimply M/F considers production inefficiencies, item substitutions and rework. This allows AutoSimply to track the actual cost of production and not mere estimates.
   
Q: How does AutoSimply compare in terms of pricing?
A: AutoSimply M/F is very competitive. We do not require separate user lanpaks and this drastically pulls downs the required client investment. Considering that there are no redundancies (e.g. purchase orders, inventory control) between Sage 300 ERP and AutoSimply, the client can get their full money’s worth in choosing AutoSimply M/F.

 

Production Costing

Q: What costing methods does the system support?
A: AutoSimply M/F 6.1 supports all costing methods currently used by Sage 300 ERP Inventory Control (I/C). This means that AutoSimply M/F can use Average costing, First In First Out (FIFO), Last In First Out (LIFO) and Standard costing.
   
Q: Can AutoSimply support actual costing?
A: Yes. Unlike other manufacturing solutions, AutoSimply M/F is designed specifically to calculate actual production costs. Actual costs include actual material costs, labor costs and even overhead costs.
   
Q: Is costing done during posting or by batch processing?
A: Costing is calculated and recorded during transaction posting. AutoSimply M/F requires that Sage 300 ERP I/C be setup to cost during posting. This allows production costing to be online.
   
Q: How is production cost calculated?
A: Production Costing is calculated on a per Manufacturing Order (MO) basis. Production cost is simply the sum of all material costs plus total resource costs for the MO.
   
Q: Can the system consider non-material costs?
A: Yes. AutoSimply M/F provides for production resources and tools which are useful in calculating non-material costs such as overhead and labor costs.
   
Q: How is AutoSimply’s Item Standard Cost maintenance different from Sage 300 ERP I/C Location Detail?
A: In Sage 300 ERP I/C, standard costs are used to cost out inventory shipments. In AutoSimply M/F, standard cost is used mainly to estimate the production costs during Manufacturing Receipt. For this reason, AutoSimply requires a more detailed breakdown of the item standard cost.
   
Q: What is the purpose of Item Standard Cost maintenance in AutoSimply?
A: AutoSimply M/F uses item standard costs to initially record MO costs during manufacturing receipt. This cost is eventually adjusted to become actual during MO Closeout.
   
Q: Is it necessary to define item standard costs?
A: No. AutoSimply M/F is designed to calculate actual costs with or without item standard costs. However, it is always recommended that users define standard costs for semi-finished and finished goods.
   
Q: What are the side effects of not maintaining item standard costs?
A: Not defining item standard costs causes the system to initially record as zero production costs for the MO. This is eventually adjusted to be equal to actual costs after MO closeout.
   
Q: How is the AutoSimply standard cost definition linked to Sage 300 ERP I/C Location Details?
A: AutoSimply M/F allows the users to maintain a more detailed item standard cost. By using the Standard Cost Maintenance function (M/F Periodic Processing), users can synchronize the standard costs of Sage 300 ERP and AutoSimply.
   
Q: How is production costing posted into Sage 300 ERP?
A: Costing is posted automatically to the Sage 300 ERP I/C module during Manufacturing Receipt and MO Closeout.
   
Q: Does the system consider production inefficiencies during cost calculation?
A: Yes. Production inefficiencies are factored in during MO costing. Inefficiencies are measured by excess material consumption, additional labor and overhead allocation.
   
Q: Can the system handle rework costing?
A: Yes. AutoSimply M/F will add the costs of rework to the total item costs of the assembled item upon MO Closeout. Rework costs can be material, labor, tool and overhead in nature.
   
Q: Does the costing consider effects of material substitution?
A: Yes. Total manufacturing costs considers all materials issued to the MO whether or not the items are part of the original BOM.

 

Manufacturing Order Processing

Q: What happens to the inventory during manufacturing issuance?
A: The stock inventory is recorded as work in progress (WIP) upon issuance. The stock goes out of the location/warehouse and is outside the scope of Inventory Control. WIP is recorded against the production shop floor represented in AutoSimply by the Production Areas. The WIP can then be individually tracked using the Allocation transaction in AutoSimply.
   
Q: How is M/F Production Area different from I/C Location?
A: I/C Location represent a storage area or warehouse used to keep track of inventory stocks. The direct custodian of I/C Location would be the warehouse team of the Logistics department. M/F Production Area represents the production shop floor. It is used mainly to track work in progress (WIP). The direct custodian of the Production Areas would be the Production department.
   
Q: What is Allocation?
A: M/F Allocation records the actual usage or consumption of work in progress (WIP) in the Production Area. Some industries would treat WIP as stock inventory and require strict monitoring of the WIP balance. The Allocation transaction allows production to indicate just how much of WIP quantities have already been used and how much is still outstanding.
   
Q: Does the system support partial production issuances and receipts?
A: Yes. Users may post unlimited numbers of partial issuances and receipts to a MO. In order to support this feature, AutoSimply M/F initially costs out product receipts using standard cost. Product costs only become actual costs after MO closeout.
   
Q: Where do we create Purchase Orders?
A: Purchase Orders (PO) are entered in the Sage 300 ERP P/O module. AutoSimply M/F does not have a separate PO interface. All the cost implications of PO processing (e.g. additional costs, PO adjustment) are then carried over to AutoSimply during material issuance.

 

General Ledger Entries

Q: What is the use of the Account Set table in AutoSimply M/F?
A: The Account Set table of AutoSimply M/F allows users to maintain G/L accounts needed by AutoSimply such as WIP and Applied Labor. Users cannot define new account sets in AutoSimply. We make use of the existing account sets in Sage 300 ERP I/C and designation of account set is still done via the Item master table of I/C.
   
Q: How do we generate G/L batches for AutoSimply M/F?
A: Actually, all the G/L entries generated by AutoSimply M/F are posted to the I/C module. When you run the "Create G/L Batch” function of I/C, this routine will also post the G/L entries of AutoSimply.

 

Other Sage 300 ERP Interfaces

Q: Can AutoSimply integrate with Sage 300 ERP Project and Job Costing (PJC) module?
A: Technically, there is currently no direct integration with the Sage 300 ERP PJC module. Production costs generated in AutoSimply via MO processing can be recorded against the PJC contract/project using the PJC Material Usage transaction. In terms of tracking, we would recommend that the PJC contract number be inputted as MO reference. Reports can then be created to track and analyze MO’s based on project number.
   
Q: Can AutoSimply integrate with Sage 300 ERP Lot Tracking module?
A: Yes. AutoSimply Manufacturing Lot (M/L) module has been released. With M/L, M/F can be fully compatible with Sage 300 ERP Lot Tracking. Users can allocate lot numbers to each record in AutoSimply M/F screens and information will be recorded in Sage 300 ERP Lot Tracking.