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Software for part setup instructions or "setup books"

YoctoYotta

Plastic
Joined
Nov 3, 2017
Location
Tacoma, WA USA
Do you have a web browser-based system you like that your shop uses to document your part setup processes (setup sheets, setup books, etc)? I'd like to know what has been successful for other shops. From what I can find, there is no companies making software to accomplish this specifically for machine shops and I'll need to use a more general purpose CMS. Cloud or local hosted, free or paid options are all on the table.

My shop currently uses MS Publisher to document part setup, the method that's been in place here for probably 20 years. This includes annotated pictures detailing the fixture setup process, tool lists, and related documents and specs.

We'd like to move to a locally hosted browser-based method to record and distribute this information that is easily navigable from a touch screen tablet or PC. The best free solution I have come across and been even moderately happy with is Tiki Wiki CMS, but it is only usable from a PC web browser and miserable as a mobile experience.

Any recommendations would be awesome, thanks!
 
ms office has more than enough to do it. myself i use excel and powerpoint. in excel work log it takes seconds to add a link to powerpoint setep file on a computer network. they teach school kids to use powerpoint in 5 minutes usually. not like its hard to learn.
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personally see see no need to spend a penny. tablets can open office files, and ms office can create pdf files or even just jpg images. i wouldnt expect editing files on tablet much. it could be done but faster and easier on a desktop computer.
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i usually save to file formats that have been around many years and will continue to stay around like doc, xls, ppt, pdf jpg etc........ i wouldnt save to less non standard file formats even if free
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usually when somebody trying to sell something i wouldnt use it anyway. best products dont need salesman bothering people. customers look for salesman when products are good, proved themselves a long time already and need no sales pitch
 
look into evernote - cloud replication, some local storage, OK on mobile. associated with tools to mark up pictures. various "evernote for business groups" flavors I've not tried. you could easily imagine a folder stack where each folder is customer#/part# and each entry in the folder is the setup sheet, maybe notes/comments on how the job last ran, etc.
 
I just registered with PM so that I could contribute to this thread. So pardon me if I'm not following the forum rules precisely as I'm not all too familiar.

Anyways...

There is a company called Adion Systems that developed a browser based software for managing setups and much more. Their product is called Proshop and they are based out of the Western Washington area. It is a full on ERP system, but you might be able to select specific modules more tailored to your needs. I believe there are pricing options for both purchasing outright or subscription based. The neat thing is, the guys who developed this software have a manufacturing background so they know the ins and outs of running a business in this industry. It's worth looking into.
 
No packed "one size fits all" system works efficiently.
Strange that we have and employ cnc programmers but so few that can handle the asked for on the payroll.
Publisher is already web based. You seem to need a user friendly touch interface into it so a bit of code on that end but that is not a major project.
Rolling it all out under a new system is big and costly so pick carefully.
These things do not go as planned.
Bob
( and Hey Involutespline welcome and post often :cheers:, your presence and feedback is valued)
 
I just registered with PM so that I could contribute to this thread. So pardon me if I'm not following the forum rules precisely as I'm not all too familiar.

Anyways...

There is a company called Adion Systems that developed a browser based software for managing setups and much more. Their product is called Proshop and they are based out of the Western Washington area. It is a full on ERP system, but you might be able to select specific modules more tailored to your needs. I believe there are pricing options for both purchasing outright or subscription based. The neat thing is, the guys who developed this software have a manufacturing background so they know the ins and outs of running a business in this industry. It's worth looking into.

Anyone else smell spam?
 
Anyone else smell spam?
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at least 1/2 the posts on the forum somebody is trying to sell something and usually
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1) say you need it to compete against the competition
2) you need it to be part of the best group of people, to be one of "us"
3) it works so good it almost runs by itself
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reminds me being in a bar with some Swiss techs who came to install their $20,000,000 machine. in between beers the subtle if you always recommend the Swiss company maybe their is a job for you if you ever need one.
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sometimes subtle stroking the ego is standard salesman trick and not always recognized as a salesman ploy especially by the younger guys. remember rich guy usually surrounded by "friends" til he runs out of money. and if you ever need a job i wouldnt count on the Swiss guys. you want to be a Swiss citizen ? a lot easier if you are a multi millionaire. of course same could be said with most countries of the world
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best way to get rid of beggars is to say you have no money. usually works if they believe you. if not, say your wife got all your money. that one is more believed world wide. sometimes got to learn to say in another language as beggars are not always fluent in english
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if your in a bar and have no money for a beer tell the salesman types you are a big boss who makes the big company money spending decisions. free beer is a cheap bribe
 
Thanks all for your input. Using various MS Office programs is exactly what my company is trying to get away from, but thankfully I've come across the magic search term that has led me to many options that will accomplish what I'm looking for, "electronic work instructions." I can't vouch for any of these company's products but here are five that stuck out to me among the dozen or so I've spent time looking into to give you all an idea of what I was talking about, in case you're interested.

Electronic Work Instructions | Dozuki
Work Instruction Software
VisualFactory
Visual Work Instructions
Shop Floor | Electronic Work Instructions Software
 
Thanks all for your input. Using various MS Office programs is exactly what my company is trying to get away from, but thankfully I've come across the magic search term that has led me to many options that will accomplish what I'm looking for, "electronic work instructions." I can't vouch for any of these company's products but here are five that stuck out to me among the dozen or so I've spent time looking into to give you all an idea of what I was talking about, in case you're interested.

Electronic Work Instructions | Dozuki
Work Instruction Software
VisualFactory
Visual Work Instructions
Shop Floor | Electronic Work Instructions Software

If you're still looking at software for managing aspects of your shop, ManufatucingVault.com might be able to help. It would be a way to manage tooling usage and jobs. Right now we are running a beta program so you would have a free year subscription to check it out. Best of luck to you on setting up a more modern workflow.
 
ms office has more than enough to do it. myself i use excel and powerpoint. in excel work log it takes seconds to add a link to powerpoint setep file on a computer network. they teach school kids to use powerpoint in 5 minutes usually. not like its hard to learn.
.
personally see see no need to spend a penny. tablets can open office files, and ms office can create pdf files or even just jpg images. i wouldnt expect editing files on tablet much. it could be done but faster and easier on a desktop computer.
.
i usually save to file formats that have been around many years and will continue to stay around like doc, xls, ppt, pdf jpg etc........ i wouldnt save to less non standard file formats even if free
.
usually when somebody trying to sell something i wouldnt use it anyway. best products dont need salesman bothering people. customers look for salesman when products are good, proved themselves a long time already and need no sales pitch


Wait, wasn't you the one that had to have a surface?
 
Wait, wasn't you the one that had to have a surface?

tablets are very poor for editing but a Surface tablet that connected to docking station can be used with keyboard and mouse same as any desktop computer, when undocked it can be used as a viewer. a tablet can be at point of use far from desk top computer. my boss currently thinks his operators will drop tablets. he want to try a 60" computer monitor instead that can be seen farther away
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msoffice is more than good enough. i everyday have links to networked files in office for example excel work log has links to power point setup file
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literally takes a few seconds to add link and never had any problems. advantage with excel is it can do math formulas like calculate time averages of last 100 times a part was made. math formulas literally is another thing that only takes a second to add.
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really recommend learning to use msoffice. even if you buy other software you will have to learn how to use that software too. minds well learn to use msoffice. usually on computer anyway so not like its a additional cost. and its more universal. msoffice changes some but still similar over the decades. msoffice literally has hundreds of extremely powerful features and abilities. all you got to do is take some time to learn to use.
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its like having a cnc and not wanting to learn to use but wanting to buy a different cnc and learn to use that one. better to to learn the first cnc rather than buy the 2nd cnc
 
tablets are very poor for editing but a Surface tablet that connected to docking station can be used with keyboard and mouse same as any desktop computer, when undocked it can be used as a viewer. a tablet can be at point of use far from desk top computer. my boss currently thinks his operators will drop tablets. he want to try a 60" computer monitor instead that can be seen farther away
.
msoffice is more than good enough. i everyday have links to networked files in office for example excel work log has links to power point setup file
.
literally takes a few seconds to add link and never had any problems. advantage with excel is it can do math formulas like calculate time averages of last 100 times a part was made. math formulas literally is another thing that only takes a second to add.
.
really recommend learning to use msoffice. even if you buy other software you will have to learn how to use that software too. minds well learn to use msoffice. usually on computer anyway so not like its a additional cost. and its more universal. msoffice changes some but still similar over the decades. msoffice literally has hundreds of extremely powerful features and abilities. all you got to do is take some time to learn to use.
.
its like having a cnc and not wanting to learn to use but wanting to buy a different cnc and learn to use that one. better to to learn the first cnc rather than buy the 2nd cnc

So did you get your company surface?
 
I think what you all are converging to is a Wiki. A Wiki is a collection of webpages that is edited by everybody for the greater good of the community. You dont need to purchase any software to make a wiki, but i'm sure there's some stuff that will help. One of the cool things about it is that your procedures/work instructions can be very readable yet, if theres something the operator doesnt understand, he/she clicks on a link to find out more. Too much info on one page makes peoples eyes glaze over.

Programmers use wikis all the time and i think theyre a good fit for any company if you are trying to acheive better efficiency and standardization.

At OmniVision, we ended up using Sharepoint, but I still miss having a Wiki on SVN as a collection of hyperlinked webpages.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
So did you get your company surface?

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boss got Surface tablet that when plugged in to dock acts as desktop computer. boss thinks in the shop it would get dropped and damaged so no tablets in the shop.
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one could argue that machinist use phone in shop and manage not to drop and damage them. or at least its very rare. still if boss prefers to have shop with no tablets but instead have bigger 27" to 60" computer monitors instead who am i to argue. it does make viewing drawings easier with bigger monitor.
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we use msoffice and files are on computer network with links to other files. easy to have excel checklist with network link to powerpoint setup file. literally takes about 3 seconds to add a link to a file on the computer network. do it often or done it at least a few hundred times without slightest problem.
 








 
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