Hello Everyone,
I work for Plain and Fancy Kitchens in Schaefferstown, PA. I would say we are about mid-sized. I was hoping to reach out to other cabinet makers for advice regarding the software being used out there. Currently, we are using Mac-Pac which is based on the IBM AS400 platform. It is roughly 30 years old and very far beyond it's usable life. We spend enormous amounts of time working for this system, rather than having it work for us.
We are looking at two specific ERP systems, Global Shop Solutions and Bizowie. Does anyone have any insight or experience with either platform?
One of our biggest challenges is that we are very heavy on the custom side of things. Our dimensions and components change significantly. One of our biggest goals is to be able to build an accurate Bill of Materials for each cabinet or kitchen as a whole. We do currently have Advancewear, which is capable of generating components to an ERP system but as of right now our visions of what that might look like are a bit vague.
We would like to be able to monitor margins much closer than we currently are. Other goals would be to track efficiency and track jobs as they move through our plant.
As you can imagine, these programs are not cheap and we worry about all of the intricacies involved in a changeover to a new system. I know my first post is a little scattered, but I am simply for anyone's experience in this realm. What works and what doesn't? Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!
-Zachary Hall
Plain and Fancy Kitchens