Getting customers to feel warm and fuzzy about their job shop often isn’t on an owner’s radar. However, owners of small shops know how important it is to have great customer service. Providing great customer service will help your customers feel more connected to your shop, which will bring them back when they have other jobs. So how…
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Job travelers are a list of steps required to complete a job. It’s a simple principle, but it can make a big difference in your job shop. The time saved and confusion prevented make jobs flow much more smoothly. And, as anyone who runs a job shop can tell you, keeping jobs moving smoothly is critical. Routing When the estimate for…
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ERP software can make a huge difference in a shop by raising the bottom line, increasing productivity, improving quality, and many other things. However, ERP software can also help a shop before it’s even implemented. ERP software can help your shop, but it tends to magnify whatever already exists. So, to get the biggest impact…
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If you’re considering ERP software, whether you’re looking to change vendors or buy your first system, it’s helpful to think about what it should do for your shop. What will make a particular ERP system a good fit for your job shop? The four points below are a great place to start. Helps You Get Your Job…
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Things change quickly in job shops, and it’s important to make sure everyone can keep up. However, it’s hard to talk to people on the shop floor while social distancing. The more your shop is optimizing for things like profitability and meeting due dates, the more often you might need to communicate with the folks on the…
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Over the years, ERP software has been changing to help fit its users’ needs. Most recently, those needs have made software that is safe, accessible, and smart. Imagine being able to hold all of the information you need to run your shop in the palm of your hand, and access it from anywhere. What if…
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Running a job shop is difficult work, and each has specific needs. However, there are four building blocks, along with a good ERP software, that can help any job shop. With accurate invoicing, a broad customer base, great customer relationships, and efficient scheduling, any job shop will have a great foundation to succeed. Accurate Invoicing…
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5S is a method for organizing workspaces and entire shops to be more efficient, effective, and safe. 5S started in Japan as part of the Toyota Production System, and it’s one tool used in lean manufacturing. However, you don’t need to implement lean manufacturing or know anything about the Toyota Production System to use 5S…
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Cost estimating software, in a nutshell, helps your machine shop send out estimates or quotes that are consistent and have the right profit margin for your shop. Being able to do this with software makes your life, and the life of your estimator, much easier. Using cost estimating software in an ERP system can help…
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We’re going to continue to see the impact from COVID-19 for a long time. Your shop has probably already had to make changes, and you may have to make more. As long as you’re making changes in your shop, it may be time to think through some improvements you’ve been considering. These improvements can be…
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There’s been a lot of upheaval and changes in the last few months. For some manufacturers, they have fewer employees working, but a similar amount of work to get done. Whether these employees are out on sick leave, were laid off, or any other reason, that leaves the shop owner to figure out how to…
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One of the most popular reasons to get ERP software is to have tracking software in the shop. Tracking software impacts many different areas of the shop, sometimes in unexpected ways. Good tracking software can improve estimating, deadlines, and the shop’s bottom line. Estimating A large part of estimating is the knowledge of how long…
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While hiring new employees is a big challenge facing manufacturing today, one thing that makes it worse is when current employees leave. According to a cost of turnover report done by Tooling U-SME, “voluntary turnover costs organizations hundreds of thousands and up to millions of dollars.” Obviously, this is an expensive problem that needs to…
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You’ve probably heard the expression, “Time is money.” Nowhere is that truer than on the shop floor. The longer a job takes, the more it costs to run, which means that tracking this time is critical. To get the most accurate numbers, consider job time tracking software. Often the part of an ERP system, job…
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Everyone knows that ERP systems create value for the shops that use them. It’s hard to know how, exactly, that value is created before owning an ERP system. Fortunately, three shops using E2 Software were willing to share their experiences and how their ERP system has helped their shop. These shops found that E2 made…
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You sit down at your computer and see a familiar sight. It’s another email from another frustrated customer. They want to know when their job will be complete. When will it ship? What’s taking so long? How much longer? Do these questions sound familiar? Are you getting complaints from customers about your long turnaround time…
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The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. – Stephen Covey As a job shop owner, you know it’s not always easy to arrange jobs for smooth transition and flow from one batch to the next. Scheduling machines and manpower can be hard enough, much less scheduling for…
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Implementing a robust machine shop software solution offers many benefits to small and mid-sized manufacturing and fabrication shops. Foremost among these benefits is the ability to track production every step of the way. A quality shop management software package – for machine shops or any job shop – can be customized to meet the specific requirements of…
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