New Zealand cabinet making companies are getting great results from comprehensive management software from Planit that allows them to quote accurately, track jobs through the factory and integrate with existing design software. These businesses are using Manager, an Australasian product that was developed for the woodworking industry after being created in partnership with a cabinet making company in Queensland.
Manager is an integrated business management tool and control system designed for manufacturers of all sizes.The management software system accurately monitors the progress of each job or work order by material, consumption and labour tasks and times, allowing the user to plan and track scheduled start, finish, production release dates and shipping dates.Its planning function synchronises lead times with work order start times, schedules work orders with job tracking, provides job status and due dates and oversees job status tracking.
A recent adopter of Manager in New Zealand is Nelson-based The Sellers Room, a cabinet making company that uses the system to prepare accurate quotes and track all its jobs as they progress through the factory. Suppling kitchens across the top of the South Island and commercial fitouts nationwide, The Sellers Room has found it “a fantastic product”, according to director of technology and operations Craig Pengelly. The company, which employs 25 people, previously used a number of different enterprise programs including DOS software to prepare quotes and an off-the-shelf accounting package. Manager replaced all these programs.
“We didn’t want to have three products – one each for design, accounts and tendering. We needed an integrated package,” Craig said. “With Manager working in tandem with Planit’s Cabinet Vision, we have that. Manager is a comprehensive program that can extract design data from Cabinet Vision as well as do all our number crunching."
“It estimates costs, labour required and materials needed, giving us a dollar figure on the job. We have far more accuracy in quoting. Manager also allows us to monitor the progress of a job through the factory. That’s very important to us. We can follow the job continuously and ensure it’s on schedule. Staff can check their own performance,”
Features of the Planit management software system:
- The management software program facilitates on-line scanning of components, using bar codes
- The Planit management software system assists in tracking stock, both inwards and outwards
- The software prepares jobs and quotations
- Checks production times
- Planit management software analyses expenses
- Tracking and reordering stock
- Keeping track of stock levels and has the ability to notify the user when they need to order more stock
- Manages inventory
Manager easily tracks job profit progress through each job, uses a bar-code scanner facility to capture hours, and offers a range of reports including sales, win/loss, and labour costs on jobs at each work centre.