Setting Up Infor M3 Enterprise Collaborator: Partner Profiles, Agreements, and Mappings
Infor M3 Enterprise Collaborator (MEC) is the middleware layer that handles B2B document exchange—EDI, XML, flat files, and API-based integrations with trading partners. Proper MEC configuration is critical for order-to-cash and procure-to-pay automation. Misconfigured partner agreements silently drop transactions, creating reconciliation nightmares that surface weeks later.
Partner Profile and Agreement Configuration
Every MEC integration begins with partner profiles that define communication protocols, document formats, and routing rules. Each partner profile contains one or more agreements specifying the exact message types exchanged—purchase orders (850/ORDERS), invoices (810/INVOIC), ASNs (856/DESADV)—and the transformation rules applied to each. Getting the agreement hierarchy right prevents the routing failures that plague many MEC implementations.
- Define partner profiles with transport settings: AS2, SFTP, HTTP/S, or file system polling
- Create separate agreements per document type with version-specific EDI maps (X12 4010 vs 5010)
- Configure acknowledgment rules (997/CONTRL) to track delivery confirmation automatically
- Set up error notification routing to alert integration teams within 5 minutes of failures
- Use MEC's built-in scheduling for batch processing windows aligned with M3 job schedules
Message Routing and Processing Channels
MEC processes inbound and outbound messages through configurable channels. Inbound channels parse incoming documents, validate against schemas, apply transformations, and route to M3 via MI programs or BOD messages. Outbound channels extract M3 data via triggers or scheduled queries, transform to partner formats, and deliver via configured transport protocols.
- Inbound PO channel: Parse EDI 850 → Map to OIS100MI fields → Validate customer via CRS610 → Create order
- Outbound Invoice channel: Trigger on ARS200 print → Extract via API → Transform to 810 → Deliver via AS2
- Configure channel retry policies with max attempts (typically 3-5) and escalation rules
- Enable MEC audit logging for compliance requirements and dispute resolution
Monitoring, Troubleshooting, and Scaling MEC
Production MEC environments require proactive monitoring. Document throughput metrics, channel queue depths, and transformation error rates must be tracked continuously. A single failed mapping can cause hundreds of documents to queue, creating cascading delays across the supply chain. Netray AI agents can monitor MEC health and auto-remediate common failure patterns.
- Monitor channel queue depths—queues exceeding 50 documents indicate processing bottlenecks
- Track transformation success rates per partner; rates below 98% signal mapping issues
- Configure MEC log retention for 90+ days to support audit and compliance requirements
- Scale MEC processing threads based on peak volume (typically 2-4x average daily volume)
- Use Netray's MEC monitoring agent to detect and alert on anomalous document patterns
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Related Resources
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