Report Customization
Why customize reports?
Customizing reports is an integral part of making an ERP system your own. Imagine moving into a furnished apartment, that’s kind of equivalent to an ERP system ‘out of the box’ setting. Someone else put a lot of thought into what would be the best configuration in their mind, but it doesn’t necessarily meet your needs. Now, the more time you spend in your furnished apartment the more changes you make to make it your own. An ERP system is no different.
In order to make those using the ERP system feel more at home with it, they must be able to make it their own. I’ve noticed that regardless of their position, the one thing every DelmiaWorks user had in common is their need to see information in a manner that makes sense to them. Many times a minor change, like changing the order of the columns or increasing the font size, makes a big difference. Think of it like rearranging your dining room area. The end result in both examples is the same; the dining room, like the ERP system, is now more comfortable and pleasant to use.
Companies that have an in-house ability to modify reports are at a huge advantage. At one company I worked for, we customized over 250 of the ‘out of the box’ reports that came with DelmiaWorks. Most were minor changes, yet some were total rewrites or new report functionalities. All were made so that those using the system day-in-day-out feel comfortable with the information and the way it is presented. 
How hard is it to customize a DelmiaWorks (IQMS) report?
Great question! The amount of knowledge required to modify a report depends on the type of modification. See the table below for general guidelines regarding report modification. Remember these are only guidelines and something can always go wrong when a report is being modified as report fields and the report logic are being manipulated.
| Type of Report Modification | Level of Difficulty | So What is Actually Being Done? | Common Mistakes To Watch Out For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move or change order of columns, change font type and/or size, remove columns, add logo, change date format and or page number format. | Easy | In these examples you are either changing the property of a ‘out of box’ field, removing it all together or adding an informative field (logo/date etc). Nothing too exciting but enough to make the user of the report relate better to the information. | A field in the detail section can be moved, by mistake, to a group level. This will cause the information presented to show only a subset of the data. |
| Add fields that are already available in the tables that make the report. Basically you are adding information to the report without modifying the query structure. | Medium | When creating a report, tables are selected and the relationship between the tables is established. Not all the fields of a given table are usually presented in the ‘out of box’ report. Users may want additional information from tables already in the report. | Where you add the new field(s) is critical to how the information in the report is presented. For example, a shipping report that shows total quantity shipped will break down the quantities by lot# once a lot# field is added. |
| Add information to a report that is from a table or multiple tables not in the ‘out of box’ query. | Difficult | The SQL of the query, the information structure requested from the database, needs to be modified and the additional table(s) added with the correct relationships. | Incorrect relationships between the tables will cause incorrect information to be displayed in a report. Common mistakes are omission or duplication of information. The risk is that decisions will be made based on faulty information in the report. |
| Create a report from scratch. | Most Complicated | The information needs to be gathered, usually from multiple tables. In addition, the links need to be established between the tables and grouping of the information needs to be defined. | While this is the most powerful of the four options, it is also the one where the most things can go wrong, so make sure to validate the information (run multiple different instances of the report and check the accuracy of the data). This type of a report should be created by an experienced professional who has knowledge of both SQL and the DelmiaWorks table structure. |
An easy path to DelmiaWorks (IQMS) report customization
At Tamir Consulting, no report customization or modification is too small. Contact us today for a quick turnaround of your reporting needs. Most customers are surprised at how affordable and painless this process is. Frequently, report modifications end up paying for themselves by reducing errors and increasing productivity, as team members do not need to spend unnecessary time in order to get the information they need.