Page 88 - MetalForming October 2017

Job-Shop- Management Software
Can Pay Off Big Time
The one constant for a job-shop fabricator is change.
The right software can track, analyze and manage that change successfully, delivering dividends to the bottom line.
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR
“Placing all of the data into one central program allows all areas of an inherently complex contract-manufacturing fab-
rication company to work together.” That’s how Greg Ehemann, senior vice president of sales for Shoptech Software, headquartered in Hartford, CT, and a provider of E2 Shop and E2 MFG software, describes ideal fabri-
cation-job-shop ERP software.
“In a fabrication job shop, the one constant is change,” he says. “Every time the phone rings an order will change, and delivery dates will change.” Ehemann should know. He started Shoptech (www.shoptech.com) in the late-1980s with his brother, and the company’s software emerged from the experiences gained in the job shop
they grew up in.
Predict the Ripple Effects of New and Adjusted Work
“Controlling the chaos brought by so much change,” Ehemann says, “means letting shop management get to the information that is going to change, and show the effect that change will have. It is essential to track change and its ripple effects.”
Assessing those ripple effects, before they manifest, is key.
Ideal job-shop-management software can provide what-if scenarios when considering new work, exploring how the new work will affect existing jobs. From there, the software can derive a schedule for production equipment and provide it to all relevant company personnel.
86 MetalForming/October 2017
www.metalformingmagazine.com
“Suppose a customer calls today requesting quicker turnaround,” explains Ehemann. “A good software package can take that job, change the projected completion date, add the job to the schedule and show the conse- quences of the addition.”
This includes a list of all the jobs that will be rescheduled to accept the pushed-up deadline, and how that will impact materials, machine usage and a host of other variables.
“For example, software users can see all of this as well as track related
conversations between the manufac- turer, customer and vendors,” Ehe- mann says. “This allows everyone at the manufacturer to be on the same page as change occurs.”
Addresses On-Time-Shipment, Job-Profitability Concerns
In his frequent meetings with job- shop fabricators, Ehemann frequently hears the same concerns from those researching shop-management soft- ware. MetalForming asked him to elab- orate on these concerns.