The following article is designed to walk you through some of the look and
feel and functionality of SYSPRO. The objective is to provide prospective
purchasers the opportunity to learn a little bit about the product before
taking that next big step of contacting a sales representative. Hopefully,
this information will help you pre-qualify the product and determine
whether it is a reasonable candidate for consideration.
©
SYSPRO
The Market for
Manufacturing Solutions
When it comes to pure manufacturing, I believe that SYSPRO, Epicor, and
Microsoft Axapta clearly stand alone as the top three system solutions in
the marketplace. All three products offer complete, high-powered advanced
distribution and discrete/process manufacturing solution. Axapta is the
prettiest to look at, while SYSPRO offers significantly lower pricing.
Both Epicor and SYSPRO lay claim to better manufacturing fundamentals
while the Axapta’s built-in wizards and product customization are very
slick.
To be sure, there are at least 447 other manufacturing solutions in the
marketplace that think that I am crazy for making this claim. However, I
believe that there is enough basis to eliminate these other solutions from
consideration, as follows:
Tier 1
Manufacturing Solutions
- Traditional Tier 1 manufacturing solutions such as SAP, Oracle
E-Business Suite, JD Edwards, BAAN, JBA, SSA and others are simply too
complex and over priced compared to SYSPRO, Epicor, and Microsoft Axapta.
Sure, five to seven years ago those Tier 1 solutions were the top dogs in
the pack and many manufacturers needed to pick form this group. However by
today’s standards, these products look more like “bloatware” than
“software”. These ERP solutions have been so crammed full of features that
companies must wade through ridiculously lengthy procedures just to write
a check or print a report. Corporate
America is fed up with
Tier 1 solutions and they are running away from them in large numbers. I
have assisted dozens of multi-billion dollar companies in dumping SAP,
Oracle, PeopleSoft and JD Edwards in favor of less expensive, but better
solutions. Today solutions such as SYSPRO, Epicor, and Microsoft Axapta
not only run on the top databases and offer all of the modules you could
ask for (save workflow), but they are far less expensive to purchase,
implement, and maintain. They are also more easily customized, far easier
to use and more proven.
High-End
Manufacturing Solutions
– There are many
high-end manufacturing solutions in the marketplace such as MAS 500,
Navision, ACCPAC ProSeries, MiSys with ACCPAC Advantage, and others. These
products have many advantages and they all fit certain manufacturing
niches very well. However MAS 500 does not yet offer options by
components, Navision does not offer a solid process manufacturing
solution, and ProSeries does not offer a web based product configurator.
These solutions have merit, but can not yet be considered to be complete
manufacturing solutions. Please note that these products are typically
extremely well-suited for light manufacturing and heavy bill of material
processing situations.
Vertical
Manufacturing Solutions
– There are hundreds
of solutions designed specifically for manufacturing such as Symix,
Made2Manage, I2, Interbiz, Manugistics,
Indus, Qad, IFS,
Mapics, etc. These systems are designed specifically for various
manufacturing situations and years ago in the late 80’s and early 90’s,
these solutions were the best avenue for manufacturers. However, if you
examine these vertical solutions closely you will find significant
shortcomings with all of them that can not be overlooked. These
shortcomings typically include weak financial reporting, weak
consolidation capabilities, proprietary technology, no customization
tools, missing modules, missing features, weak product support, a skinny
or non-existent distribution channel, a financially weak parent company,
etc. Many of these solutions are designed to run stand alone and the
customer is expected to pay large programming fees to integrate them into
financial systems. With low priced and proven solutions such as SYSPRO,
EPICOR, and Axapta available, it is folly to consider these higher priced
solutions.
Given the short thesis presented above, the next logical question is which
of these three manufacturing systems is the best solution. Well, I like
them all, and here are a few comments about each:
Axapta
- Axapta is
attractive and well organized. It is very customizable (albeit complex).
The built-in wizards walk the user through complex processes and the
questionnaire module makes surveys a snap. However Axapta has no payroll
module and the financial reporting is lacking. In the
US,
there are too few Axapta resellers who really know the product well, many
of those resellers hire other Axapta resellers to put their systems in for
them. For example Jeff Balyier of BKD in Indianapolis, IN spends most of
his time supporting other Axapta resellers. Further, Axapta has only 300
customers in the US and one wonders whether Microsoft considers supporting
a localized version of this product in the US worthwhile. Axapta is
relatively inexpensive, with most customers paying between $150,000 to
$300,000 for the complete system including installation. Overall, it is
impressive.
Epicor
- Epicor has
10,000+ manufacturing customers around the world and the product is widely
considered to be a very good product. Epicor’s web-based product
configurator is perhaps the only web-based product configurator that beats
SAP’s. Epicor has learned a great deal about manufacturing systems over
the past ten years - mostly by making every mistake in the book first
hand. However the company has endured even through very tough financial
years which sent prospects fleeing. Now that Epicor’s stock is strong and
the company is profitable, they are in a much better position to excel in
the years to come. If only the company could muster up some marketing that
actually worked, there would be no stopping Epicor. I like Epicor as a
product and the feedback on this complex product is usually very good. (I
should disclose to you that I personally own more Epicor stock than do any
of Epicor’s management team, so please digest my comments accordingly)
SYSPRO
- While Axapta and
Epicor are good solutions, SYSPRO is perhaps the best manufacturing
solution on the planet dollar for dollar. The product is well proven and
is packed with so many features that it gives even SAP a good run for the
money. More than any other manufacturing product I’ve seen, SYSPRO is
built upon sound manufacturing principles and process flow. The product
offers the best solution for accounting for scrap that I have ever seen.
SYSPRO incorporates all of the modules you would want. SYSPRO’s
shortcomings consist primarily of an older look and feel because it
utilizes mono-space fonts in certain screens and reports, and in my
opinion the company markets their product rather poorly. Additionally, in
year’s past SYSPRO suffered from stability issues, an image that haunts
them today even though they overcame this particular problem years ago.
SYSPRO’s revenues run about $55 million and I am told that the company is
profitable. The product pricing is very low for a manufacturing solution
and for companies who are looking for a good solution in the $60,000 to
$120,000 range, SYSPRO might be just what the doctor ordered.
A Detailed Look at
SYSPRO
In developing this tour, I interviewed the following folks at SYSPROUSA
headquarters located in Irvine, California:
Joey Benadretti, VP of
Marketing
Stanley
Goodrich, Public Relations Manager
Brian Stein, President
Scott McMaster, National Sales Manger
The primary objective of this interview was to lend an ear to the
SYSPROUSA management team and listen to their presentation regarding the
current state of affairs and future outlook for SYSPROUSA. I intentionally
asked them to tell me what they wanted our readers to know about their
company and products – I did not want to lead them down any specific path.
I advised them that our meeting could take as long as necessary. As it
turns out, I think that their comments make for a very good product tour.
Here is what they had to say, with my own comments added in from time to
time:
- Strong
Manufacturing & Financials
- First and
foremost, SYSPRO’s management considers SYSPRO to be very strong from
both a manufacturing point of view, and also from a financials point of
view. They pointed out that many products are strong in one area or the
other, but not many excel in both areas, as does SYSPRO. To illustrate
his point, Scott gave two examples in Fourth Shift and Baan – two
products that are both strong in manufacturing, but weaker in financial
capabilities. They pointed out that their product rates well in
respected publications such as PC Magazine, Sheldon Needle’s CTS survey,
and Charles Chewning’s Accounting Library. (I can personally attest
to their claims of high rankings. I can remember back in 1995 when the
SYSPRO Impact product consistently came up as the top product in dozens
of demonstrations of the Accounting Library product. I would randomly
choose a hundred or so features, and run the report. Over time I came to
expect SYSPRO Impact to be rated on top, or near the top of the list.)
- Impressive
Customer Base
- SYSPRO is proud of
their impressive client base, which includes many large recognizable
clients from around the world. The extensive roster of SYSPRO customers
includes some well-recognized corporations including Nestle Foods,
Hitachi, Kawasaki, Xerox, Black & Decker, Land Rover and
Toyota.
The largest furniture distribution organization in the Southern
hemisphere uses SYSPRO.
- Primary
Markets
- Joey indicated
that while SYSPRO was headquartered world-wide in South Africa, it’s
primary markets are the United Kingdom, the United States, Africa, and
Australia. In addition to English, there are Spanish and French versions
of SYSPRO. However Joey downplayed these versions compared to the
success of the English version.
- Strong VAT &
GST -
Joey indicated
that one of SYSPRO's best differentiating features is the products
powerful ability to handle Value Added Taxes (VAT), Goods and Services
Taxes (GST), PST, and other foreign tax calculations.
- Strong INV and
OE
- Joey also pointed
out that SYSPRO has very strong Inventory and order entry capabilities –
“I’d stack it up against anybody’s Inventory and Order Entry Modules”.
- Focused on One
Product/One Mission
- Joey also pointed
out that because SYSPRO offers only one product, they are able to focus
all of their attention and resources on that product. Joey used
Great Plains
as an example of a company that must focus on many different products
including Real World, Solomon, Dynamics, eEnterprise, FRx, etc. Further,
because Great
Plains tries to be all things to all people, they must focus on many
industries such as retail, wholesale, etc. Joey’s point is that SYSPRO
is geared primarily for the manufacturing, warehouse, and distribution
markets - and oh-by-the-way, happens to include very strong financials
as well. Because they are not distracted, this target is clearly the
driving force within the organization.
- Strategic
Mission
-
SYSPRO’s Management
went on to describe their mission as consisting of 5 pillars as follows
(I noticed that five posters mounted permanently in their conference
room are displayed paying homage to these pillars). (1) ERP; (2)
Warehouse Management; (3) E-Commerce; (4) Advanced Planning & Scheduling
(APS); and (5) Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
- ISO 9000
Certification
-
SYSPRO is proud of
the fact that their product was the first product to undergo ISO 9000
certification. What does this mean, you may ask? ISO is the
International Organization for Standardization, an organization that
has created more than 13,000 documented agreements containing technical
specifications or other precise criteria to be used consistently as
rules, guidelines, or definitions of characteristics, to ensure that
materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose.
For example, the format of the credit cards, phone cards, and "smart"
cards that have become commonplace is derived from an ISO International
Standard. Adhering to the standard, which defines such features as an
optimal thickness (0,76 mm), means that the cards can be used worldwide.
- Advanced
Features -
SYSPRO’s
management discussed SYSPRO’s Manufacturing Execution System, which is
part of the Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) system; provides
advanced features such as messaging to stations, user defined
attributes, parameters by customer, and real time factory floor control.
As an example of an advanced feature, SYSPRO’s CRM solution allows
customers to view the progress of their orders on the floor via the web.
- Best Fit
– SYSPRO’s
management indicated that while the company has customer sites with more
than 1,000 active users, the product fits best and is targeted towards
sites with 4 to 80 users. (They consider the “Small to Medium Enterprise
(SME) market to consist of 8 to 50 users. Accordingly they feel that
their product fits well both below and above the SME market).
- Top Secret
–
SYSPRO’s management team shared with us some of their plans for the
future. However, they asked us to keep a lid on these comments for now,
as not to tip off their competitors. I mention here in this article only
because I find it of value to know that a company is working in stealth
mode on future enhancements that they feel will give their products an
advantage over competitors in the future. That fact alone is worth
noting. Some companies never seem to be forward thinking at all – they
are content to be followers. SYSPRO chooses to be a leader.
- Manufacturing
System Implementation Guide
– SYSPRO is very
proud of their 33-pound set of implementation materials which are
available to SYSPRO resellers for use in implementing SYSPRO and a
manufacturing system in general. Evidently, this is a stellar piece of
work that is highly regarded in the industry. Anyone attempting to
implement a manufacturing system would be well advised to get their
hands on one of these sets of materials – because much of the thought
process, timing, and strategies have been laid out before you. Not only
does this set of materials walk you through the process of establishing
a complete system, it collects the relevant information and organizes it
methodically as a repository of strategic information in the event that
personnel leave your firm, or that your consultants turn over. In a way,
it protects your company from having to re-invent the wheel in the
future.
- SYSPRO VARs
– Joey
estimates that there are between 125 to 150 value added resellers of the
SYSPRO product line in the United States – 66% of whom are considered to
be very good resellers achieving a high level of sales and good levels
of satisfaction with their customers.
- A Little
History –
SYSPRO started 25 years ago (in 1977) and was originally written by a
company called Intermark in
Dallas, Texas. The
two brothers (Full and Chris Duff) who wrote the original product then
joined Singer Business and the product was sold by Singer as a
distribution product. Later ICL bought Singer. Brian Stein actually
worked with Jerry Jenkins in the early 80’s and owned a business in
South Africa. The product was ported to Assembly, then Kix (?), Cobol,
UNIX, CPM, DOS, and Novell. The SYSPRO product was first introduced in
1991 followed by the SYSPRO product in 1995. The SQL product was
released in 2000. It was pointed out that SYSPRO has never portrayed
their company as a “technology company” like others such as Great Plains
has done. Instead, SYSPRO has been more interested in emphasizing
product features – and not making a big deal about various technologies.
(Hey, I think it is obvious that making a big deal over technologies
has worked well for
Great Plains
and the Great Plains strategy is hard to argue with).
SYSPRO Product Demonstration
The SYSPRO management team went on to give us a quick and dirty tour of
the SYSPRO product. The features we were shown were intended to help us a
gain a good understanding of the look and feel of the product, and some of
its capabilities. I took notes capturing the key comments, and added
screen captures later for my own edification.
-
SYSPRO features
“Drop and Drag” menus. Users can drag menus and arrange then to meet
their particular needs.
-
SYSPRO provides an
“Microsoft Windows Explorer-type” view. Other popular products such as
MAS 90 and Macola Progression employ this same menu structure.
-
SYSPRO provides a
“Favorites Windows” in which users can drag and drop their most
frequently used menu items for quick and easy access. Users can also
insert shortcuts to other commonly used applications (such as Microsoft
Outlook) into the favorites window.
-
The SYSPRO menus can
be published as HTML menus. This allows users to easily run SYSPRO from
the SYSPRO browser or with a little publishing effort - via an Intranet
or the Internet with password protection. The SYSPRO Web Wizard allows
you to do this. To create a web menu, simply right-click anywhere in the
SYSPRO Menu treeview pane. Next, select Publish Menu as HTML. This loads
the SYSPRO Web Menu Wizard, which prompts you to specify which of the
standard SYSPRO folders you want to publish and what visual theme you
want to use. Based on your selections, SYSPRO configures a menu in HTML
format that is run from the SYSPRO Browser. The screens below
demonstrate this functionality.
-
In Microsoft Word
you can also insert a hyperlink that will launch any menu in SYSPRO and
fill in specified customer or vendor information. As an example,
presented below is the hyperlink command that will launch the SYSPRO
accounts receivable module and automatically bring up customer 1100. (This
did not work correctly when I tested it, I assume that there is a
problem with my syntax).
http://#IMPACT<arsp51.int>1100
-
It is possible to
customize the look of SYSPRO by, for example, changing the background
colors of the user screens. To do this, simply choose the “Customize”
option from the main menu. The set up screen appears as follows:
-
SYSPRO boasts very
powerful and intelligent context sensitive user help screens. For
example, users can search for virtually any accounting activity and
SYSPRO provides the user with a step-by-step approach to using that
functionality within the product.
-
SYSPRO allows users
to log into a different company without exiting the current company.
Many products only allow the user to access just one company at a time.
The screen below shows the administrative dialog box.
-
SYSPRO allows the
user to maintain multiple open periods. However you can also set up the
system to close each month before moving to the next month – and
establish a user password in order to open up a previous month. This
capability is known in the industry as a “soft close” – because it
allows the user to access previous periods if they want to.
-
SYSPRO packs a wide
variety of company set up features that makes the product appealing to
many of its customers. Some of these features are as follows:
-
As shown in the
screen above, SYSPRO offers many date format options.
-
SYSPRO allows the
user to install data files across many locations. This measure
facilitates better security and user performance.
-
Data can be linked
to the General Ledger in summary, or in detail.
-
Rich default
accounts helps SYSPRO understand what to debit and credit – so the end
user does not have to make those choices. As a result, the data is more
accurate.
-
Many tax options
make SYSPRO a strong product for sales tax calculations. This feature
has helped make this product popular throughout the world.
-
Default sales tax
codes can be assigned to line item groups. Additionally, SYSPRO allows
the user to control rounding calculations as well.
-
The company calendar
is user defined and is particularly useful for production scheduling.
-
SYSPRO provides for
eight alternate budgets, and supplies plenty of tools to make setting up
your budget fast and painless.
-
SYSPRO allows the
user to control the historical data related to balances, transaction
history, posted journals, etc.
-
SYSPRO gives the
user control over the period end dates, and allows multiple periods to
remain open – even across multiple years if so desired.
-
Set up options for
each of the modules are rich in default settings and user-defined
preferences. Here, the AR setup screen provides evidence of this.
- Database
Options
– SYSPRO runs on
both the Microsoft SQL Server database and the C-ISAM database.
-
This setup screen
allows the user to specify which databases are being used, and allows
the user to map the locations of the various table files. C-ISAM users
may easily migrate to the SQL Server platform using the built-in
conversion tool.
- Print to Fax
- SYSPRO
provides the ability to print reports to any given fax machine. The
screen below shows the fax settings set up screen where users can
indicate a default faxing application and the desired fax cover sheet.
When using a cover sheet, you are prompted for the appropriate text
before the final fax is sent.
- Stability
- SYSPRO
offers a feature that allows a user to re-index the data files. This
recovery technique is sometimes necessary after power failures occur and
the database files become corrupted. Hard drive errors can also lead to
database corruption. In such rare circumstances, this recovery tool can
often correct the problem with little or no effort. I am told that
periodically re-indexing the data files can also
improve performance. However the company informed me that they knew
that one of their existing customers (Georgia Lighting) has 140 users
and a 750mb data file, and their system never needs re-indexing. The
“Re-index Data Files” dialog box is shown below:
- Stability and
Reliability
– SYSPRO explained
that their product is a very stable and reliable product. When stability
issues arise, the problem is usually attributed to a non-technical
person or configuration problem not related to the SYSPRO product. (In
November 2000, I provided consulting services to a $140 million company
that was using SYSPRO. Initially the company reported to me that the
SYSPRO system was very unstable and that they had to recover from
database corruption problems weekly. The company mistakenly believed
that they were too large for SYSPRO as well. Accordingly, they wanted to
replace SYSPRO with another product, and hence they hired me. During my
initial meeting I was able to determine that the company had no problems
at all with SYSPRO’s features – only the database corruption which they
attributed to their large size was blamed. I also determined that they
were operating the system on a very old 200 mhz server with only 64K of
RAM and virtually no available hard disk space. I advised this company
to update its server, which immediately took care of their database
corruption problems.)
- Bug Fixes
– Unlike
other accounting software vendors, SYSPRO does not sit on bug fixes for
months at a time. All bug fixes are deployed with 24 hours to the
reseller channel for implementation at customer sites.
- Event
Triggered Reporting
– (at least
that’s what I call it, SYSPRO calls it Event Management. To the folks at
SYSPRO, the word trigger refers to triggering another application to
launch). This feature allows the user to define events that trigger
reports to the appropriate personnel. For example, the CFO may wish to
be notified when cash falls below $200,000, when the gross margin on
sales drops below 30%, or when the number of days in receivables exceeds
45 days.
·
In order
to use Event Management, the Office Automation and Messaging module must
be installed. Further, in order to use the e-mail facility of this
program, you must first have either Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft
Outlook installed on your computer.
-
SYSPRO provides
user-definable fields, which allows the end user to customize the user
screens to capture their own relevant data. Experience shows that
products which offer user-definable fields are better at meeting the
needs of the customer. Examples of user-definable fields are shown
below:
- Sort Order
– The folks
at SYSPRO refer to sorting as sequencing. In the example screen below,
you see that tables can be sorted by any one of several columns. In
SYSPRO, this is referred to as the browse sequence. It is important to
note that the end user is able to define the default column to be used
for sorting (or sequencing purposes) when initially browsing the data.
- Kits
– In SYSPRO,
a kit is referred to as a single-level bill of materials.
- Lot and Serial
Tracking
- SYSPRO provides
both lot and serial tracking capabilities for a single item. According
to the folks at SYSPRO, this feature is not available in Macola
Progression.
Security
– Security can
be applied at a group level or at the user level. The user screen below
shows how user groups are set up, and how access to various modules or
menu items are controlled in SYSPRO:
- Strong Search
& Find Capabilities
– SYSPRO provides a powerful lookup capability called FIND. The screen
below shows that users can search for data by searching specific fields
within any data table in SYSPRO. For example in the screen below, we are
searching for a customer based on a partial phone number.
- Customer
Queries -
SYSPRO definitely provides for a strong customer query capability. The
screen below displays summary information for the customer “Bikes and
Blades – East”, including aging, average days to pay, last payment date,
a 3-D graph, and more. A quick scan of the other tabs and buttons
suggest a wealth of summary information for any given customer is at
your fingertips within SYSPRO.
•
HTML Format
– An
interesting feature within SYSPRO is the CTRL+F7 key which quickly
generates an HTML view of selected reports such as the Customer Query
invoice report shown below. Such a feature makes it easy to migrate data
to an HTML format for quick and easy publishing to an intranet or web
site, or for copying and pasting into other applications such as Microsoft
Word.
- Excel Format
– Likewise
the CTRL-F8 key automatically throws data into a Microsoft Excel
spreadsheet. As an added feature, the CTRL+SHIFT+F8 key combination
allows you to specify parameters before the data is published to Excel.
This feature is demonstrated in the screen below.
- Proof of
Delivery
– Use this function
to maintain proof of delivery details for the invoice. Additionally, you
can link multimedia objects to the POD information using the Edit
multimedia icon. You could, for example, scan in the original signed
delivery note as a bitmap image and then link that image to the POD
information. The “Play Multimedia” icon enables you to view this image.
You can also use the “Reprint Invoice” function to reprint the invoice,
provided that the invoice was originally created from within the Sales
Order system. This screen is shown below.
- XML Format
– The
CTRL+SHIFT+X key combination publishes selected reports such as customer
queries to an XML format. This feature is demonstrated in the two
screens below, the first screen shows the browser view and the second
screen displays the source code underlying the browser view.
- Picture and
Movie Support
– The Inventory item
query function supports both picture and movie formats. This allows the
system to store both images of a particular product, or movie files for
a particular product.
- The SYSPRO
Report Writer
- SYSPRO’s
management is very proud of the SYSPRO Report Writer – the entire team
chimed in to brag about the power of this module. In particular, they
explained that reports in the report writer are drillable and the search
tool makes it easier to navigate through a lengthy report. (I took
some time to evaluate the Report Writer. I did find a nice report
writing wizard and an e-mail option that allows users to e-mail reports
to any recipient or groups of recipients. Further a nice tri-plane view
gives good access to the data and users can modify reports with a simple
drag and drop metaphor). A screen shot is shown below:
A
resulting sample report is also shown below:
(However in my
opinion, the report writer falls short in some areas. Specifically it does
not include a long list of default report formats (such as an income
statement and balance sheet), the report writing wizard was not as
intuitive as I would have hoped, and the system lacks many of the advanced
report writing features found in the industry standard FRx package such as
view-level and drill-level password protection for each report; scheduled
printing of all reports; sophisticated rounding options, printing to an
intranet catalog, etc.)
- Structures and
Routings
- The Structures and
Routings program is used to define the elements required in a sequence
of manufacturing operations, as well as the structural relationships
between parent and component parts. When you access this program you
must first indicate the Parent stock code against which you want to
maintain operations and components. A warning is displayed if the
entered parent stock code is defined as a bought out item. The Routing
field is displayed only if you indicated that alternate routings are
required. This field enables you to select a specific routing for which
you want to maintain operations and structures, and is used for what-if
purposes and within the Work in Progress module when creating a job.
Within the Operation and Component panes you can perform extensive
editing functions using the right mouse button. The Orientation
pull-down enables you to tailor your screen display settings into
various tri-pane representations. An example screen is shown below. In
this example, a set of handle bars is shown to pass through three work
centers – handlebar tube production (TLCC), welding (WELD), and chrome
plating (PLATE).
- Warehouse
Transfers
– SYSPRO’s warehouse
transfer capabilities allow users to transfer goods to other warehouses,
almost as if the second warehouse is a customer – except the transaction
does not hit revenue and expense. The “Transfer costs from BOM to
Warehouse” program transfers the bill of material costs to the unit cost
field of a stock item as calculated by the “Cost Implosion” program. Any
change made to the inventory unit cost is recorded in the inventory
journal and stock movement files if stock movements are being retained.
(Please note that this program will not run if you are using either
the FIFO or LIFO costing programs in Inventory.) If Inventory is
linked to General Ledger in detail or summary, then a record of each
cost change transaction is made. The warehouse transfer dialog box is
shown below.
- Configurator
– The
configurator is an essential component of any manufacturing accounting
system, especially in the make-to-order environment. This tool allows
the order entry clerk to sell you a product – while configuring it on
the fly. For example, you might order a computer, requesting the 80 gig
hard drive, 2,000 ghz processor chip, built-in wireless network cards,
24-inch monitor, etc. Assuming there are ten different options each for
hard drive, processor speed, network cards, and monitors, this
translates to ten thousand possible configurations. Obviously it would
be a futile effort to set up 10,000 separate inventory items
representing each possible configuration. Instead, advanced systems such
as SYSPRO allow you to define product options, and sales representatives
can configure make-to-order items based on the customer’s
specifications.
·
If-Then-Else
Configurations -
SYSPRO goes further
than typical configurators in that it also allows for “If-Then-Else”
configurations. For example, if the customer chooses to add a CD Writer to
the computer system, then he must also choose a cable option (USB versus
serial). Selected configuration screens are presented below.
-
The configuration
wizard walks the user through the process of setting up an inventory
item and defining the optional components that may be added to the item.
-
This dialog box
shows how a user can specify that a particular measure is required. Here
we see that the customer can specify the width of a gate, ranging from a
half meter to 1.5 meters.
This report shows the various configuration criteria that has been
established for a gate including the frame cutting options, hinges, etc.
This screen shows that during the order entry process, the sales
representative has the option of accessing the configurator in order to
build the desired item. Another option allows the sales rep to specify
dimensions as well.
Customization of the Sales Order
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SYSPRO has tools to customize documents using Microsoft Word. A
document can be edited using the tools in MS Word to make a document
that displays information in the format of your choosing. Borders and
colors can be added as well as the company logo. Once the document has
be created and customized, it is saved as an XML document.
Work In Progress
When
the job is complete, the data is saved as an XML document which allows
retrieval of archived data from many years in the past.
Quotations Module
Enables the entry and maintenance of quotations, the printing of free
format quotations, and when the quote has been confirmed by the client,
the confirmation details into WIP , Sales Orders, and purchase orders. It
generates quotes which emulate sales orders up to 5 quotation quantities
per order. The power of the module is demonstrated when specialty parts
are needed. The module can specify up to 14 levels of special supporting
products.
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