Find your way with Javelin Map

The latest release of the Javelin advanced production planning and control software from Planit marks the beginning of a drive to help users make even better use of its MRP information.

Javelin General Manager Paul Holmes says all users appreciate the MRP engine is a powerful tool, providing all supply and demand information in their database, and making a series of suggestions to maintain the status quo. “However, those results became even easier to interpret with the introduction of the MRP treeview in an earlier version of the software, and the introduction of the MRP Action Plan (MAP) in Javelin 2011r2 which has just been released, takes this concept even further.”

MAP buttons appear in all key processes and enquiries – for example in Goods Inwards to tell the user where to send newly received parts; and in Stock Enquiry to identify whether stock is really available. “When you’re on a sales order line within Sales Order Maintenance, you can use the MAP button to simply drill down into how that sales line is planned to be fulfilled. It not only displays the works orders that will provide the product, but can drill further to see where the materials or components for those orders are expected to come from.”

The data also includes suggestions for new orders or modifications to existing orders, which Paul Holmes says is a major boon for time-pressed contract managers.

By focusing on MAP data, 2011r2 does away with the need to manually build works orders into Assembly Structures showing which order feeds another. 

Amongst the many other items of new functionality in Javelin 2011r2: 

Request for Quotation

With the new Request for Quotation (RFQ) facility, enquiries can be raised with suppliers about the price of any number of parts or amount of raw material. These can be emailed and progressed in the same way as a conventional Purchase Order. Suppliers can also supply the information in a spreadsheet, which can then be imported directly back into Javelin.

“Eagle Eye” from Factory View

Factory View gives a quick “Eagle Eye” overview of the status of colour-coded selected machines. Data is streamed live from the Shop Floor Data Collection terminals, so Factory View is as up to date as the last booking.

Extended Part Description

Allowing an extended part description to be held against customer part numbers, 2011r2 increases bespoke paperwork types. As well as the paperwork containing the customer part number, it can now display their own part description. “For example, each part description for multi language customers can be in whatever language they want – French, German, anything, giving the customers their own individual style of reports,” says Paul Holmes.

No Excuse for Late Delivery

A new function means that each customer address can have a specific transit time registered against it, catering for when the same product has to be shipped to different locations. This is added to the due date when a new line is raised on the sales order, and automatically stored as the promised delivery date, scrapping the need for the Sales Promised Date to be manually input every time.  “If a customer has delivery addresses in Hong Kong and Leicester with assigned transport times, for example, when an order is received the correct promised delivery time is automatically calculated. This means that if the order left the factory today it would be expected in Hong Kong in a fortnight, but would be expected at the Leicester site in two days.”