Ok, I have some thoughts and questions for the brilliant folks here if a certain type of software is available.
What I am thinking about, I have no idea if it anybody has developed such a software package. In general, it would allow input from multiple sources (sales idiots) and one output (me).
More specifically, have the sales team enter info such as client name, type and number of drawings included (dwg, dfx, hand sketch), order date, sales entry date, expected delivery.
The sales "people" would be able to see how many projects are in the que and get an idea how big they are, when they are due. I would be able to pull the jobs from the que when I start working on them.
That might give the sales idiots a clue if I have done or will get to their job on a particular day.
Headings might look something like below
client client submit date sales output date expected delivery date attached drawings (chose from hand, dwg, dfx how many)
Anybody aware of something out there that might fill the ticket?
It looks like fodder for a spreadsheet to me and if you wanted to expand the concept to include defined relational data then a simple data base.
Regards
RRain
That was where my thinking was starting on this. I will have to dig into excel (or similar) to see if I can put restrictions I want in place.
Thats sounds interesting. Am curious how to use excel for something like this! Helps to organize everything and prioritize properly
Maybe Google Calendar would do the trick for you. Something to start with anyway.
John, post: 364302, member: 791 wrote: Ok, I have some thoughts and questions for the brilliant folks here if a certain type of software is available.
What I am thinking about, I have no idea if it anybody has developed such a software package. In general, it would allow input from multiple sources (sales idiots) and one output (me).
More specifically, have the sales team enter info such as client name, type and number of drawings included (dwg, dfx, hand sketch), order date, sales entry date, expected delivery.
The sales "people" would be able to see how many projects are in the que and get an idea how big they are, when they are due. I would be able to pull the jobs from the que when I start working on them.
That might give the sales idiots a clue if I have done or will get to their job on a particular day.
Headings might look something like below
client client submit date sales output date expected delivery date attached drawings (chose from hand, dwg, dfx how many)
Anybody aware of something out there that might fill the ticket?
What you're describing is a subset of full on ERP (Enterprise Resource Planing) software, but you don't need all the bells and whistles that most ERP solutions provide..
Any project management software (Microsoft Project, Prima Vera etc.) would do the trick. There are a host of free packages out there too, but you generally get what you pay for.
The key though, is to make it "resource driven"...that is, apply a unique resource (field guy, CAD guy, etc.) to every aspect of each project, along with due dates, etc. and then consider every project a "task", and put them all into a "master project".
Depending on the reporting capabilities of the package you choose, you can easily see which projects have more time than you need to get done, which have inadequate resources to finish on time, etc.
Probably the best part of such software is the graphical view...think calendar view, with resources listed. You can then easily see that you have John scheduled on four projects in four different places at the same time, and elect to unplug the computer and go to the Bahamas.
rfc, post: 364371, member: 8882 wrote: What you're describing is a subset of full on ERP (Enterprise Resource Planing) software, but you don't need all the bells and whistles that most ERP solutions provide..
Any project management software (Microsoft Project, Prima Vera etc.) would do the trick. There are a host of free packages out there too, but you generally get what you pay for.The key though, is to make it "resource driven"...that is, apply a unique resource (field guy, CAD guy, etc.) to every aspect of each project, along with due dates, etc. and then consider every project a "task", and put them all into a "master project".
Depending on the reporting capabilities of the package you choose, you can easily see which projects have more time than you need to get done, which have inadequate resources to finish on time, etc.
Probably the best part of such software is the graphical view...think calendar view, with resources listed. You can then easily see that you have John scheduled on four projects in four different places at the same time, and elect to unplug the computer and go to the Bahamas.
Thanks for the valuable input. Will check them out. But a quick look at microsoft project and prima vera looks quite daunting.
Are they any free ones you tried so far?
sireath, post: 364374, member: 9370 wrote: Thanks for the valuable input. Will check them out. But a quick look at microsoft project and prima vera looks quite daunting.
Are they any free ones you tried so far?
I've not used any free ones. MS Project is what I have most time on.
As for "daunting"...Compared to Carlson Survey, or even any flavor of ACAD or Intellicad, I'd call Project a walk in the park!
It's really not that hard to use at the basic level. The more complex your business is, of course, the more complex you can get with scheduling work.
The trick is to find the right balance, otherwise the tool becomes not right for the job.
MS Project 365 is around $25/month, but you can still buy standalone copies for less. Project 2010 for example is around $149 for a license. I think there's a 30 day trial for the 365 version. I'll see if I can dig up a screen shot or two of a project we've done utilizing resources.
