Why Systems Fail

A recent Wood Digest editorial implied that European manufacturing software was better than that used in the U.S. Here is my response:

Planning a trip to Europe? Looks like it as your editorial implies that you think best manufacturing systems are created and implemented over there. Not so -- the problem isn't the systems: it is our industry. Lots of great manufacturing systems have been installed by both European and American software companies in the U.S. but relatively few in the woodworking industry. Most American software companies have simply stopped trying to sell furniture and cabinet companies because there are more fruitful opportunities. There are a lot of reasons:

First of all some history. The gene pool of modern systems was started by IBM's MAPICS. They advocated the advantages of surrounding a central database with all the manufacturing, marketing and accounting aspects of a company and accessing them with the same software. They built and sold the concept as Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) but eventually gave up on it because:

- The sales cycle was too long, often taking two years for the sale and the almost the same time for implementation. Systems require selling top management on the need for them and then a commitment of talented manpower for installation.

- They were risk adverse and didn't want the litigation for failed systems. An interesting contrast to this is the approach of a major European vendor (not a wood industry specialist) who sells hard and high without first seeing if the company is capable of doing the installation. The result is the many companies who have upgraded their computers to work in a Windows environment but in reality only put a pretty face on their "legacy" functions.

- IBM management's insistence on direct linkage to accounting held back their ability to develop viable manufacturing functions. In the early 1980's this opened up lots of opportunities for my company and other MRP software suppliers. IBM foamed at the mouth at what we were doing and threatened to sue Feldman Engineering for "illegal calls to the BIOS". Although many companies still try to extend their accounting software into manufacturing applications it has never worked well. The result is just a pretty mutt rather than best of the breed. However, IBM eventually understood that sometimes there was better solutions than theirs and what was important was that the data itself is fully compatible and automatically shared by all applications. (They abandoned the furniture and cabinet market early-on because of their RPG based systems inability to handle gray area issues that required comparisons such as size and color).

The next thing to understand is the difference between applications and systems. One of the earliest and best applications was panel saw optimization software. It like all other application software (panel saw, lumber and CNC optimization, AutoCAD, cabinet drawing and cut list, CNC machine control, etc.) helps you to better perform a task. They focus on "How to" not "What to" or "When to". "What" and "When" require systems that can analyze customer and inventory requirements, material, manpower, relative costs, etc, to guide the operation of the factory. Stand-alone accounting software is also an application - it just tells you the score and doesn't show you how to efficiently run a factory.

Now to the crux of the issue on what is wrong in your reader's shops:

- Companies who have applications think they have systems. The worst example of this was in the 70's and 80's when IBM and the other major manufacturing software suppliers made a push to sign up the major Carolina furniture companies. They were politely shown a room full of computers that were busy churning out invoices and general ledgers and then shown the door. Many of these are the companies whose doors are now permanently shut. Today lots of companies still believe that glorified accounting software is all they really need.

- Peter Pan entrepreneurial companies. They have grown their business from a hammer and a table saw and although they appreciate shop applications they are still making all their business decisions in the back of their head. Business maturity often takes a few generations to arrive and this is where many of the European companies have a head start: they understand that they must run a manufacturing business rather than just a woodwork shop. To do so you require viable systems.

- Entrepreneurs who have no basis of comparison are also targets for being oversold software promises. This, in conjunction with their short attention span, often sinks viable but difficult to implement projects. They don't understand the management time and effort required to install good software and in many cases choose oversimplified solutions that do very little.

- Untrained work force with a high turnover. This is where the Europeans with their lifetime employment policies have a great advantage.

- Lack of competitive environment. Europeans and other industries invest in good systems to try to outperform their competitors. Many American furniture companies are still quoting deliveries in months and weeks rather than days.

- Sabotage. In many companies there is a contingent who has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. They will do anything in their power to prevent the installation of a new system. This is strong but true and ranges from the good old boys network to individuals with their hands in the till. The saddest cases are the functionally illiterate supervisors who stonewall the system to hide their disability. Strong management can overcome these problems but sometimes it doesn't happen.

Feldman Engineering has been in the manufacturing software business for almost thirty years and when I see any signs of the above I follow my instincts and tell my team to say goodbye. Moreover, we have an obligation to protect our manufacturing engineering clients (yes, I wear two hats). Not only won't we suggest our (or any one else's ) system to if they face any of the above situations, we paint the gloomy picture of system failure and suggest that they band-aid what they got until they are mature enough to go forward. However, when we find the right chemistry we work with management to create great systems.

My Favorite Assistance Story

An old man lived alone in Ireland. He wanted to dig his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son, who would have helped him was in prison for bank robbery. The old man wrote a letter to his son and mentioned his predicament. Shortly, he received this reply,

" FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, Dad, don't dig up the entire garden, that's where I buried the money".

At 4 a.m. the next morning, a dozen policemen showed up and dug up the entire garden without finding any money. Confused, the old man wrote another note to his son telling him what happened, and asking him what to do next.

His son's reply was " Now plant your potatoes, Dad, it's the best I could do from here".

Help is not on the way, but help is also not in the way! We've learned that it is often counter-productive to arrive on site, install a system, and then disappear. The user doesn't gain "pride of ownership" nor the hands-on knowledge necessary for long-term maintenance of the system. Instead of flooding you with training we believe in the go slow approach where you can learn at your own speed and not make a purchase commitment until you actually see benefits from our software

The first step is to know where to start digging - and the remote assistance (using Citrix server or GoToMyPc to share your actual screen over the web) we can give for startup is really of value. In fifteen minutes over web and by phone we can walk you through entering a quotation, making it into a customer order and follow it through manufacturing - scheduling, shop floor control and inventory/purchasing. Our system will then ship it and invoice it.

BASICS and WINCAMS are the Windows versions of SIM*plicity software. The SIM*plicity concept (which has been proven over 25 years) is to help control your business from quotation to cash. It is not just a tool for order entry or manufacturing but a complete system that helps you maximize profit.

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DULL & DUMB = DEADLY DATA

Look, not everyone is a genius but a little bit of uncaring stupidity goes a long way to sink a system and a company:

- The wrong "ship to" address can cost thousands in freight charges and late delivery penalties.

- An extra '0" can wreck inventory control and financial statements.

Good systems have checks to prevent random errors but even with them unmotivated employees can make a mess out of the best systems.

You need to start a new system with good data that's been verified by its use in your prior system and then transfer it into the new system automatically with minimal manual input. To minimize problems:

- All changes and "overrides" to the new system must be safeguarded by audit trails.

-Units-of-measure must be predefined to avoid off the cuff conversion conversations -"Hey Joe, how many board feet in a cubic meter?"

- Avoid multiple entry of data. Enter information only once for its use throughout the system. As a manufacturing consultant I've always stressed "pick up a part only once" -- I'll rewrite it as" enter data only once"!

Features that help your company	Examples from SIMplicity*	Discussion and Features
Customer Orders
	Order Entry Overview	<<< Please read this introductory overview first.
	Customer Details: shipping information, history, etc.	The utmost in options and feature controls. Automatic pricing with more than 400 variables (size, color, add-on's etc.) Simple to set-up and easy to use. More than an "Order Configurator": these variables interact with dynamic (parametric) bills of materials to create complete manufacturing documentation.
	Item Details	Options to enter and display product information.
	Order Entry Tools	Because we automatically transfer all pricing variables and "engineering limits" to Order Entry, SIM*plicity eliminates the typical delay for orders to first go to Engineering and Pricing prior to Order Entry.
	Batch Order Entry	Input Customer Order details directly from Excel.
	Order-Project Costing	Display actual costs during Order Entry or during "material takeoff" -Quotations.
	Order Progress (status)	Graphics display with real-time visibility of all in-process orders.
	Product Entry Instructions	Guidance to the operator in entering complex items .
	New Product Entry	Add new customers and products on the fly.
	Zip and Postal Code Tutorial	Factors in entering address data for uniformity and to ensure automatic freight calculation
	Sales Discounts and Commissions	Information on entering discounts and sales commissions.
	SPEED-UP	Tips to increase order entry productivity.
	Invoice Details - Setting Variables Order Entry Display Variables	Variables for printing (and exporting to accounting software) invoices Order Entry variables for display and printing
	Deposits and Payments	Record and display deposits and partial payments
MRP2/ERP Planning and Shop Floor Control	Advance Plan	Customer and factory (internal) orders create inventory and labor demand for specific days. SIM*plicity schedules individual machines within each work station/cell and generates material requisitions.
	Workstation Control	Planners can control and balance workload at every machine.
	Production Planner/Scheduler	Shifting production (date or workcenter) automatically updates all related processes. Graphics displays with drill-down" information effectively links Planning to Shop Floor Control.
	MRP2/ERP Tutorial	Workstation Control allows supervisors to fine tune schedules and report production.
Purchasing and Inventory Control	Requisition/Purchasing	New orders automatically updates long-term material plans. Shop floor control module interacts with purchasing to automatically flag needs that won't be met and adjusts schedules accordingly. Buy-out items are purchased as soon as customer order is processed - including automatic pricing of options and features.
	Inventory Details	Knowing the materials "on hand" and what they cost is not enough! SIM*plicity calculates the exact date needed, where it should be stored and details of its physical characteristics.
	Vendor Information	Access complete contact information on vendors and their employees.
	Purchasing Messages Inventory Adjustments	Adding Standard and Text Messages to an individual item Requisition or to an entire Purchase Order Tools to record and adjust physical invnetories.
Accounting and Cost Control	Product Cost Summary Options & Features Overview Order/Project Costing	Know the true cost of every item that you build! Automatically calculate the cost of "work -in-process" inventory. Instantly estimate the complete cost of every Order and Quotation. Change an option or feature and the cost is automatically updated! Please also read ABC Cost Control
Product Engineering	Bill of Material Flow Chart Dynamic Bills of Material Static Bill Display Glossary	Bills of Materials are the core of true manufacturing systems. They link together customer orders, manufacturing instructions with material and labor requirements. Dynamic (parametric) Bills of Material are used for entire families of products eliminating the need at most companies for 90% of individual Bills of Material. However, Static (Conventional) Bills of Material are still valuable and our system incorporates them with a full range of Options and Features
Plan and Perform	Project Takeoff Project and/or Product Estimate	Estimate and control complex projects.
Sales Management	Sales by Customer and Product Line Marketing Program Formats	Cost of Goods Sold report for every order. Volume and margin reports for each sales rep. For each customer select default discount programs, special product discounts and choose from multiple selling companies (OEM, etc.)
SUPPORT	Getting Started FAQ's - SIM*plicity Support Why Systems Fail Favorite Story	Training, customization and 24/7 real-time support by the developers of this software. A commitment to excellence - today, tomorrow and for the past 30 years.