We're using Claris FileMaker to track production internally. AMA

[ColorCrest]

What is that FM Quickstart?

Try an internet search. That came to me via thumb drive as I recall. It's unlocked.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

Try an internet search. That came to me via thumb drive as I recall. It's unlocked.

I found it, its DB Services product. I like some of its layouts, that's why I asked. I'm a huge fan of single page nested "Cards". So as I start on this I want to make sure I see what is possible to keep my team on a single screen as much as possible.

I'm loving the fact that FileMaker is so much more than I thought it was. It really is far more than Access and a much better "Developer" platform. I've already written out a 30 page monster of an outline and summary of the ideal system... now its time to piece by piece lay it out.

 

[FireSprint.com]

I really like the anchor buoy. It's scales well and seems to be alot faster. Be careful not to create a giant spider web as I did with the first integration I made.

Also, something that took me a bit to learn, if you are hosting it locally, make sure it's running on its own machine with battery backup. FM server does not play nice with others, and just about anything can cause an irreversible corruption in your file. Really, nothing else, just the os and Filemaker server.

Yes Filemaker is amazing! Learning how to use it is like walking into a shiny new workshop filled with tools. It opens up opportunities for sure!

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

This torture, I am the person who can't sleep when they have ideas because their brain has no off switch. I have been consuming so much information about the power of FileMaker and writing out all of our processes, sub-processes, and components. Now I'm really envisioning the failure of our other systems and all the compromises and workarounds we do.

Hopefully, what I want to do can be accomplished with my skill set and finances.

 

[ColorCrest]

This torture, I am the person who can't sleep when they have ideas because their brain has no off switch. I have been consuming so much information about the power of FileMaker and writing out all of our processes, sub-processes, and components. Now I'm really envisioning the failure of our other systems and all the compromises and workarounds we do.

Hopefully, what I want to do can be accomplished with my skill set and finances.

I recommend not spending too much time thinking ahead because there is already a rather defined and best practice for manufacturing custom products. It is somewhat similar to the fact that all retail stores are alike in that a shopper enters through the front door, peruses the offerings, then checks out and exits. Their website is exactly the same. The difference is the appearance and experience in the store. (Product and price aside.) So, no need to reinvent the wheel.

The tool creations and connections will happen but some foundations need to be realized in order to not paint one's self in a corner. I suggest in your case, you determine what legacy data you can retrieve to import into various FileMaker tables. I would begin with your Suppliers and your Materials. I think you'll notice with free starter solutions those tables missing. You'll need to create those and more.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

I recommend not spending too much time thinking ahead because there is already a rather defined and best practice for manufacturing custom products. It is somewhat similar to the fact that all retail stores are alike in that a shopper enters through the front door, peruses the offerings, then checks out and exits. Their website is exactly the same. The difference is the appearance and experience in the store. (Product and price aside.) So, no need to reinvent the wheel.

The tool creations and connections will happen but some foundations need to be realized in order to not paint one's self in a corner. I suggest in your case, you determine what legacy data you can retrieve to import into various FileMaker tables. I would begin with your Suppliers and your Materials. I think you'll notice with free starter solutions those tables missing. You'll need to create those and more.

No reinventing just now we can do what we do using brainpower in a more automated process as long as we can build the logic. I'm most excited for automated analysis of data.

 

[FireSprint.com]

Pretty exciting. Probably the best and worst thing I did in the last few years was to take this on.

It's AWESOME that we can do just about anything now!!!

It also sucks at the same time.

What my people used to find workarounds for, now just ignore the issue hoping that I will fix it at some point. It's easy to see how every problem can be fixed with a new tool, it's hard to know how much time that will actually take

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

Pretty exciting. Probably the best and worst thing I did in the last few years was to take this on.

It's AWESOME that we can do just about anything now!!!

It also sucks at the same time.

What my people used to find workarounds for, now just ignore the issue hoping that I will fix it at some point. It's easy to see how every problem can be fixed with a new tool, it's hard to know how much time that will actually take

Gene, How are you handling your Customers and Vendors? Do you have a combined data set with flags or so you have separate independent tables?

Also, in a follow-up question set, Since our industry is "manufacturing" how are you handling the BOM for a product, and do you have an alternates table built-in for your sales team?