[geeks] Job shop software suggestions needed...

[Mike F]

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 09:35:59 -0600 (CST)
nimitz at ns1.nimitzbrood.com wrote:

> Well, thanks to my continued consulting and a slightly improved economy I'm getting my old position back and my old salary. Yay!
> 
> Unfortunately this leaves several things dropped in my lap.  One of those things is providing a suggestion for what type of Job Shop software to buy.
> 
> The network is currently a Win2k, WinNT, Solaris, AS400 network with a current AS400 MRP solution mandated by a corporate office.
> 
> The problem is that this MRP solution doesn't work well for certain things in this division because everything is a custom aerospace manufacturing job.  Thus they need something to better manage that.
> 
> That's why I'm tossing this out here to see what people have used because frankly I'm clue-impared where this software is concerned as I've never had to even look at it before.
> 
> What it needs to handle is parts, materials, assemblies, and job costing among other things.  The ability to manage documents and drawings would be a plus but I don't necessarily have to have that.
[snip]

The small company I work for (exclusively a job shop) was in the market
for MRP/job shop software about 1 1/2 years ago, although unfortunately
I was left out of the process, at least decision-making wise. We ended
up with an expensive and very proprietary, but newbie-friendly package,
Vista, which is developed by an apparently Windoze-only company called
Epicor. It's running on Win2K Server, with "Progress" for the database.
I had never heard of Progress before, so I don't really know the ins and
outs of it (anyone care to chime in?) As I said, Vista is geared toward
the point-and-drool crowd, and it does seem to be a comprehensive package, but I have my doubts as far as long term reliability, both due
to the complexity of the software, as well as the Windoze aspect and the
database. I think a ballpark price range is about $1,000 per client, and
it does keep track of concurrent connections, so if you run out of licenses, no new concurrent connections are allowed. So, to sum up,
it seems that software geared for the job-shop type of business is not
that common, and what is out there tends to be expensive. And I'm
definitely NOT advocating Vista, but what you are looking to do sounds
exactly like what we do, and what we wanted from an MRP system.
Hope this helps, Mike