Switching DMS from Reynolds to UCS

[Matt Parsons]

zsmith, I am curious why you would say that all of the big three DMS providers are behind the times in terms of technology?

What do you base this opinion/observation on?

[zsmith]

Matt - It's an opinion I guess. I'm actually only familiar currently with Reynolds, I've used others in the past but it's been a while. From what I read on here though, the issues with the other systems seem similar.

Bar code scanning - we've only just recently started seeing DMS barcoding that interfaces completely with the inventory mgmt - from reciepting to selling.

Flexibility - data mgmt and manipulation is limited and sometimes impossible

Inventory Mgmt - Phase In/Phase Out criteria is extremely limited, multiple criteria is needed. For over 10 years now, delete criteria on Reynolds is based on months as a non-stock part, not months no sale. Why can't they change this and so many other major problems? My assumption is that the system is not designed with any flexibility.

From what I read in this forum, there's lots of good, innnovative ideas from the people on here, but if it involves inventory management it has to be implemented by the DMS provider first. I agree with Number 65, there all OK once you get used to them and they all have some good programs, but there haven't been many inovations (at least on R and R) lately.

[Vince Lyons]

Oh
I can agree with zsmith, theres a lot of room for improvement. With R&R Ill speak from my experience on the Parts side of ERA. Ive always been very disappointed with the user interface. The software lacks a common API aka: Application Program Interface. The keys and/or commands that work in one screen, dont work, or dont work the same in other screens. Heck, even an old IBM System 36 programmed with COBOL or RPGII had the availability of a SDU aka: Screen Design Utility so if the application didnt fit your needs a knowledgeable person could somewhat easily change the user interface.

Data interchange seems pretty week too. Its cumbersome to export information with ERA to other applications, and at least to my knowledge impossible without ERA link, which I believe to be ERAs saving grace along with Report Generator.

There may very well be applications that could exist are unknown to me, or specifications that Im unaware of after all the system is usually installed to Accountings desires, and from there all access falls. If the Office doesnt know the importance of a particular feature you wont even know it exists.

Did you know that Part orders have an information field that is transmitted to the vendors But a Parts Manager cant choose which field that is. For my make VW/Audi that field defaults to BIN1 and CNAME Well, thats fine and dandy but I dont want BIN1 and CNAME I want BIN1 and INV#. Can I change it? Nope. Can R&R change it? Nope. R&R tells me it cant be done. Well Ive done enough programming to know that the only thing that cant be done is the thing you dont want to do.

Did you know that the Special Order Parts system seems to piggyback on the Invoice and RO system. So since its not really a separate document you cant move a collection of parts ordered on a Counter Ticket to an RO, or vice versa.

Did you know that parts charged on open ROs reduce QOH, but parts charged on Counter Tickets do not? Did you know that a part on an Appointment or Dash-One RO are treated differently too.

Did you know that Service running EOM and purging customer records will delete Parts Wholesale customers? I dont want inactive wholesale customers to be purged, I want to be alerted that such customers need a visit long ago.

Did you know that to prevent wholesale records from dropping you have to change a customer flag to permanent, but neither Parts nor Service has access to it?

Did you know that the CUSTOMER file has multiple fields for such things as Anniversary, Birthday and such things that would be great to use for marketing Wholesale, but Parts doesnt have access to them.

I would love to be able to have fields to keep track of the Business Owners Name, Birthday, Anniversary, Parts Buyers Name, Name of Offspring anything that would let me do some marketing Did you know that Parts cant even access the UDFs that are available in Serivce?

Did you know that a customer will present a coupon AFTER a Parts Invoice for a dozen parts is printed, but Parts cant unlock the invoice, modify it and reprint it? The document must be voided and recreated or manually adjusted by the office.

Did you know that its kinda nice to know your rolling 12, or rolling 24 sales (or whatever period) when doing a suggested stock order? Well, R&R only gives you a YTD or PYR piece total and it zeros ever January 1.

Did you know that some manufacturers pay holdbacks if you maintain a certain Stock Order %? R&R cant be setup to the criteria of the manufacturer and compare the SO% to the manufacturers record. Gotta get out the legal pad and calculator.

Did you know that I cant customize a Stock Order Review screen so I can see such things as Cost, Ext-Val On Hand, Pending Receipt, Recent Sales History (ie: Hist-Horiz-12; Hist-Horiz-24), Manual Order, Remarks, Detail Codes or a myriad of other criteria? I have to cross reference with a printed report that is not compatible with my 50 year old eyes.

Did you know that its not possible to flag a part for seasonal variations?

Did you know that there is no way to view a parts life-cycle?

Did you know that the there is no way to warn me that a part on hand has been coded by the manufacturer as OBS and I only have one shot left for a buyback return?

Did you know that I can tell the ERA system that I dont EVER want to RB a part number EVER, and the system will still prompt me Use new number y/n? and when I answer no it will ignore me?

Did you no the propensity of the system to ignore RBH clashes with the manufacturer who will always revert to old numbers and ship them first then if I try a restock on a false new number the return will bounce?

Did you know that with Parts Customer Information you can setup a Ship To Customer But you cant setup a Bill To ?

I could go on for quite some time but until there is a formidable competitor to the current Big Guys nothing will change.

[kcatdeejay]

KIAPARTSGUY-the ability to push a rope AND to cuss will be your greatest allies in this new endeavor. I was no less favorably disposed to UCS than I was to R%R or ADP when I got them, but OH, did I learn. Do the best you can with it-it was easy to see why R%R and ADP led the pack. When life hands you lemons, drink a beer!

[Number 65]

Hey rockydogs, are you saying that my implying that "learning UCS is like tearing thru a cornfield..at night...in a shopping cart" is whining?

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My friends call me Wikid.

[petepuma01]

Vince

A few responses to your posting:

"Did you know that parts charged on open ROs reduce QOH, but parts charged on Counter Tickets do not? Did you know that a part on an Appointment or Dash-One RO are treated differently too."

When a part is sold to an RO, QOH is reduced because the assumption is that the part is really sold-- it is not too often that parts sold to an RO are returned. On the other hand, parts sold to an invoice only relieve QOH when the invoice is printed. If you save the invoice, QOH is not relieved but QAvl is relieved. The assumption here is that if you save the invoice, the parts are still physically on hand and therefore should be considered in the extended value, etc. I think this is a good assumption. Similar logic is used for appointment sales-- appointment sales will relieve QAvl (if you have line 32 in 2321 set to Y ) but not QOH until the part is rolled onto an RO. Selling a part to an appointment is really about reserving the part-- you actually haven't given it out to anyone, so QOH should not be affected-- only QAvl should be.

"Did you know that Service running EOM and purging customer records will delete Parts Wholesale customers? I dont want inactive wholesale customers to be purged, I want to be alerted that such customers need a visit long ago. "

I'm fairly positive that 3112 Monthly Purge will not remove any wholesale customers. 3112 removes old service history as well as inactive vehicles (if you so choose). If inactive wholesale customers are being deleted, you may want to check what the spec setting is in 0922, line 11. This spec controls when inactive parts customers may be deleted during the accounting EOM (if line 8 in 0922 is set to Y). Also, the CUSTOMER file, there are fields for last activity date-- you could build a report based on the desired date and make your contacts that way.

"Did you know that to prevent wholesale records from dropping you have to change a customer flag to permanent, but neither Parts nor Service has access to it?"

I think the paragraph above may help you with this. You can be given access to the screen that has the Permanent flag (set up is in 0973) but there is other information in this screen that may be sensitive. Whatever the case, I think the 0922 setting may help you.

"Did you know that the CUSTOMER file has multiple fields for such things as Anniversary, Birthday and such things that would be great to use for marketing Wholesale, but Parts doesnt have access to them. "

I checked the CUSTOMER file. The fields you listed are available in that file. It is true that the NAMES file does have more fields in it. However, you can have access to that. In 6210, you can be given access to the Accounting 6910 program and no other accounting programs. If security of the other files in this program are a concern, security can be tailored in 6975. Additionally, any field that exists in the NAMES file can be made as an i-descriptor by contacting the support center. I also believe that the support center can add the NAMES file to the parts report generator (not positive on this but fairly sure). I don't belive the support center charges for the creation of the i-descriptors.

"I would love to be able to have fields to keep track of the Business Owners Name, Birthday, Anniversary, Parts Buyers Name, Name of Offspring anything that would let me do some marketing Did you know that Parts cant even access the UDFs that are available in Serivce?"

You can have access to add this information if your user ID is set to do so in 0973. Are you speaking about name file UDF's or vehicle UDF's? If vehicle UDF's, you can have access to them- just get access to 3040. If you're asking about name file UDF's, you can see those UDF's. You just need them added to the parts screen by using 0923- select the 'S' setup command to make the modifications.

"Did you know that its kinda nice to know your rolling 12, or rolling 24 sales (or whatever period) when doing a suggested stock order? Well, R&R only gives you a YTD or PYR piece total and it zeros ever January 1."

I'm not sure if this will really work but you may want to try adjusting the EOY in 2321, line 8. You would need to adjust this on a monthly basis but it may work for you.

"Did you know that the there is no way to warn me that a part on hand has been coded by the manufacturer as OBS and I only have one shot left for a buyback return?"

I don't believe VW provides this information on their master. Other manufacturers, like Chrysler, have provided this information and it is available in the Detail field for the part number.

[Vince Lyons]

At the risk of hijacking the thread (maybe a moderator would like to split it)

quote:

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Vince
A few responses to your posting:
When a part is sold to an RO, QOH is reduced because the assumption is that the part is really sold--

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Good points. I have however worked with it both ways and most definitely prefer QOH being reduced the same on all documents. No matter what logic is applied it should be unilateral across all document types excluding of course PQs, which BTW it would be nice if PQs and Invoices could be transferred to ROs and APs. Having QOH reduced for all as a spec would be nice. This is especially helpful during PI which is exactly what R&R charges for Remove Special Orders From Inventory. In reality using QPS as in indicator of allocation is the way to go IMHO.

quote:

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I'm fairly positive that 3112 Monthly Purge will not remove any wholesale customers. you may want to check what the spec setting is in 0922

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And I always blamed the Service Manager. Years ago I lost a lot of old customer records just when I was sending a road warrior out

quote:

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I think the paragraph above may help you with this. You can be given access to the screen that has the Permanent flag (set up is in 0973) but there is other information in this screen that may be sensitive. Whatever the case, I think the 0922 setting may help you.

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Ive been using 0551 with the G and then the A option to set mail and perm flags. There should be a spec that would make wholesale records permanent, period. Nothing is more of a pain that selling to an old customer that youve won back and finding out that you sold it to him w/o discount and with tax because those fields drop first. Its not like you can edit and reprint an invoice if you know what I mean.

quote:

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I'm not sure if this will really work but you may want to try adjusting the EOY in 2321, line 8. You would need to adjust this on a monthly basis but it may work for you.

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Worth a try, but first Ill need a full understanding of the significance of the Fiscal Year the implications on the Parts side spec to be sure it doesnt interfere with any accounting issues We really do need rolling history, not calendar.
[quote]I don't believe VW provides this information on their master. Other manufacturers, like Chrysler, have provided this information and it is available in the Detail field for the part number. [quote]
VW does have a return flag and also an Obsolete flag in the detail fields. An application that would track recent purchases in a date range, list the manufacturers document number (entered in 2062) of any items that have a RC = N or the O flag in detail that are still on hand would let me document to the manufacturer that Yo take it back you just sent it to me. Sure I can do it from 6910 but why should I have to.

Which brings up one of the most absurd problems of all (which I forgot to mention) ERA can only track one return per Make at a time and only Buyback. It cant track shortages, damage, etc It should be possible to initiate multiple return claims and it would be nice to add them from 2062, and it should provide a reorder option to dump it back into 2052. It should also be capable of generating an audit trail for all return types.

Thank you for your helpful suggestions

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When in doubt, charge it out !
I'll be right back with it = Bill it to the Shop Ticket
(Enter any name) will bring you the RO = Charge it to my Personal AR

[This message has been edited by Vince Lyons (edited 10-07-2005).]

[petepuma01]

"it would be nice if PQs and Invoices could be transferred to ROs and APs"

You can roll price quotes into an RO. Recall a price quote in 2525-- you'll see the RO# and AP# commands on the bottom command line.

"There should be a spec that would make wholesale records permanent, period."

You can set line 11 in 0922 to 96 months, which is 8 years. This could get you "close" to permanent without taking the additional steps you're currently doing.

Fiscal Year End in 2321-- this only affects parts- it does not affect accounting at all. Its only purpose is for the PYR and YTD fields. That said, I looked into it further and I don't think it will do what you want-- I recommend you don't change it.

"ERA can only track one return per Make"

As of Era release 5.8 or 5.9 (not sure which), you can have up to 9 open returns at a time for a manufacturer. Everyone gets this enhancement once they load the appropriate release. Release 6.0 is currently available now.

[This message has been edited by petepuma01 (edited 10-07-2005).]

[Vince Lyons]

quote:

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You can roll price quotes into an RO.

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Wow, I guess some of those RFCs from back in 92 & 93 finally got looked at, never noticed the change. Be nice if 6980 kept a full list of all upgrades and new features so old timers like me (away in ADP land for a while) to come up to speed with all upgrades.

quote:

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You can set line 11 in 0922 to 96 months, which is 8 years.

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That helps.

quote:

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As of Era release 5.8 or 5.9 (not sure which), you can have up to 9 open returns at a time for a manufacturer. Everyone gets this enhancement once they load the appropriate release. Release 6.0 is currently available now.

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Are these new releases free upgrades or are we waiting for Acct to think its important enough to either load or buy? As it is version mismatch between ERA and ERA Link is even keeping my Download Report functions from working. When I hit the wall with it a few months ago, no one at the support center could supply me with an ERA Link version that would match our server side software version. Is there a support download site somewhere on My Rey Rey?


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When in doubt, charge it out !
I'll be right back with it = Bill it to the Shop Ticket
(Enter any name) will bring you the RO = Charge it to my Personal AR

[petepuma01]

"List of upgrades"

If log into my.reyrey.com, you can access this information. From the main search screen, do the following:

1) "Select a Product"- pick Era
2) "Select a Solution"- pick New Release

"Are these new releases free upgrades or are we waiting for Acct to think its important enough to either load or buy? "

New releases are included with your monthly support charges-- there is not an additional fee to get the new release. It is a matter of your system administrator signing up for the release. Using my.reyrey.com, search for "era current release information" and you'll find documentation on how to schedule a load.

EraLink-- You can download the latest client version from my.reyrey.com-- search for Eralink32 and you'll see a link for the download. If it is the server version you need to update, you may have a copy of the latest version at your dealership. Release 5.5 required an update so the media was sent automatically. If you don't have it, the support center can order it for you (let me know if you have issues with getting it).