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MRP System for CNC shop

StryderX

Plastic
Joined
May 16, 2018
Hello everyone, my boss suggested I hit you guys up and see if you could help us out.

We are currently in the market for a new MRP system to help run and manage things within the company. We are currently using DBA Manufacturing, and while I'm sure it will work. The training for the software is horrid, and the system itself is not user friendly in the slightest, and while I could eventually figure the program out, we have other members such as the people who work on the front end of the business who are not IT literate that also have to use this program. So we are basically paying large amounts each year for a program we are using maybe 5% of it's capability.

So what we need is a simpler, easier to use MRP system, preferably one that has decent training and isn't so complex that an average end users couldn't figure it out. We basically want to track everything from the time it comes in the door to the end product as well as make travelers so we can keep track of who is doing what.

I was personally looking into SQL and Access to build us a database, but that would take a long while. So if you guys and gals know any good software that you have used please let me know as the websites that sell them don't give much of a view or info on their software until after purchase (which is ridiculous)
 
We use Job Boss with good results, it's early in the process for us after a false start but it's working. I have also heard good things about a program called E2

Good luck just make sure you have everyone on board before you start ,false starts suck and lead to bad attitudes toward the process.

Make Chips Boys !

Ron
 
The shop I'm running now is using Made to Manage. Other than needing to set up inspection sheets in Excel, it takes care of everything except payroll for the front end and shop (including pick sheets, purchase orders, floor travelers, etc.). The caveat here is I was just brought on to this shop by the new owners a few weeks ago and we've got a very old version. The investment group's CFO has run more modern version in other shops and has good things to say about it. No idea on cost yet since we've got to upgrade the server, etc. to even look at program upgrades, and I know the older version we have won't integrate with Sage (the payroll software they are using). I also haven't looked into what kind of document control abilities it has so as we upgrade all the shop equipment and move into new sectors we may need to keep prints and programs controlled in a different system? Not sure yet.

Hope that helps?
 
I was personally looking into SQL and Access to build us a database, but that would take a long while.

Dear god, don't. At my last job, one of the cofounders decided to make an ERP system. It had almost a year of development before they tried to use it and it didn't work worth a damn. It was 14 months into the project when he left and it was abandoned completely. In the end it cost the company tens of thousands for absolutely nothing.

That was 14 months of struggling to deal with customer orders, material purchasing, and production scheduling with no system at all, with the constant promise of "it should be up and running in a week". It could have been 14 months of learning whatever COTS ERP we should have bought at the beginning.

There's a reason ERP systems cost what they do, I think.
 
What does MRP mean?

What does SQL mean?

And if you can't manage your shop now, how the hell do you expect a piece of software to make a difference?**




** Playing devil's advocate, not being a dick, though I can... If need be.
 
......And if you can't manage your shop now, how the hell do you expect a piece of software to make a difference?**

The software is just a tool to help manage the operation.

Kind of like CAD/CAM. One can certainly design and program with pen, paper, trig tables and a calculator. It gets easier with some software doesn't it?
 
The software is just a tool to help manage the operation.

Kind of like CAD/CAM. One can certainly design and program with pen, paper, trig tables and a calculator. It gets easier with some software doesn't it?

But I at least I know what i need Cad/Cam to do.. I need to take the pretty picture, and make code..

What the hell is "Magangement" software supposed to do? Does it talk nice to the operator so he
doesn't tell you to go fuck yourself?

If you don't know how to get from -A- to -B-.. Max material condition or not.. There is no software
in the world that is going to help you.
 
But I at least I know what i need Cad/Cam to do.. I need to take the pretty picture, and make code..

What the hell is "Magangement" software supposed to do? Does it talk nice to the operator so he
doesn't tell you to go fuck yourself?

If you don't know how to get from -A- to -B-.. Max material condition or not.. There is no software
in the world that is going to help you.

Simple example...

Joe is the estimator. He needs to quote a price and delivery for a job. He plugs the estimated cycle time for each workcenter into the software. The software looks at the current work commitments at each workcenter and generates a delivery date for Joe.

The software has relieved Joe of digging in to each workcenter's backlog and figuring out when the quote job could start at each workcenter.

In a small shop this type tool is not so important. As the number of jobs going through a greater number of workcenters increases, it starts to get quite important. The shop I retired from would routinely have 1200 active jobs at any given time. Some of those jobs would be opened and closed in just a few days while others would be in process for months. Without a computer tool it would take an army of people to track those jobs through the plant and outside processes.
 
The learning curve on any such software is steep and it won't fit the way your staff works or thinks.
Rolling your own in sequel and Access will provide a system you get but others still won't along with the fact that you will be eternally tied to support. (I do support this take as a code junkie but have learned the latter downsides).

Generally you have to find a way to make the system of choice work rather than taking the position that "I don't like it".
You get stuck in a framework but many ways to skin the cat. Look for ways to hack it to your needs.
Many flavors out there, they all suck and don't do want you want.
Bob
 








 
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