The LN Enterprise Modeler's structure
LN Enterprise Modeler contains these building blocks:
- Master Data
The first step is to define a version, in the master data, that serves as the current modeling version. Here, the model items, enterprise structure model, and business models can be created.
The model items used to create business models must be defined in the repository. This data includes business control diagrams, business functions, business processes, and rules.
See this Enterprise Model diagram:
The second step is to create enterprise structure models and define one model as the operational enterprise structure model. This enterprise structure model reflects your current organization. It is a graphical representation of the different entities in a multicompany environment and can be used in discussions about the multicompany structure. For the actual setup of companies and enterprise units, see Infor LN User Guide for Setting Up a Company (U9503).
Every financial entity, for example, a business unit in a particular country, is represented by an enterprise unit. This enterprise unit supports the concept that you can divide a logistical company over multiple countries.
An enterprise unit is a group of entities used in the LN system.
Entities can be departments, work centers, warehouses, and projects. A business model can be linked to an enterprise unit. At runtime, the applications use the operational enterprise-structure model to determine prices and currencies when goods are transferred from one enterprise unit to another.
The third step is to acquire the LN Enterprise Modeler Content Pack that represent the best-practice situation of organizations and can be configured to your needs. The LN Enterprise Modeler Content Pack consists of business control model diagrams (scenarios) and static conditions (options) and business processes.
The fourth step is to create the project models that represent the situation of one specific organization. Project models are similar to reference models, except they are specific to one organization. In project models, you can define business function variants that represent different ways to accomplish a business function. For these variants, optimization relationships can be defined; these represent the recommended paths that must be followed when switching from one work method to a more efficient method.
The business function models and business process models of the project models can be built in these ways:
- You can copy business control diagrams, business functions and business processes from the repository in which these model items were created.
- You can modify business functions and business processes that are based upon the content of the acquired LN Enterprise Modeler Content Pack.
The last step is optional. Create a data model that gives information about the physical/logical data model of the LN package combination to which the created enterprise model applies. It describes the permanent storage components on multiple abstraction levels and aims to show the meaning and relevance of data for a company.
The relationships between the components of the LN Enterprise Modeler are displayed in this diagram:
- Lines 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 show the described order.
- Line 5 shows an option. This option can be used when a newly created project model describes the best-practice situation within a certain organization typology. This project model can be used as a reference model in the future.