ERP solution for larger manufacturers upgraded

A major release and upgrade have been made to an ERP solution aimed at larger manufacturers and the make-to-contract marketplace.

K3 Business Technology plc has announced a major release and upgrade to its IBS corporate Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution which is aimed at larger manufacturers and the make-to-contract marketplace.

IBS Version 3 includes the conversion of key programs to 'objects', the streamlining and simplification of many of the business processes, multi-business/company functions and the latest Microsoft developments.

The majority of developments have been focused on allowing end users to tailor the functionality of the product to suit specific business information needs without modifying the software and, therefore, not impacting support and cost of ownership.

This has been achieved in five major areas: user defined fields, XML data output, configurable user interfaces, WayFinder business process mapping and additional product integration.

IBS Version 3 consists of 165 separate software developments ranging from major engineering object orientation of business processes to enable Client, object or Web-based access to the software function, to simple screen design changes.

Version 3 has been developed in close cooperation with the existing user community, which has resulted in significant performance increases for end user businesses.

Some 40% of the development work has resulted from customers' own modifications which have been standardised within IBS.

Chairman of the IBS User Group Terry Parker comments: "In the past 18 months there has been extensive representation from the user base.

K3 has made tremendous efforts to really get IBS users involved in this new release, and we have helped develop many of the changes ourselves.

These include: menu configurators, which are of the user-friendly Explorer type; WayFinder, which is a new approach to user manuals; and multi-business facilities, which my own company, Raytheon Systems, has found extremely beneficial." A significant change to Version 3 is the introduction of the K3 Advanced Configurator.

This powerful suite of software helps companies to quickly and accurately build valid products with their associated costs, as well as having generic interfaces to PDM, CAD and CAM software applications.

It is a true rules-based configurator and requires no end-user programming skills.

It can also work on-line to ERP as an integrated product or off-line as an aid to a sales team, allowing product configuration in front of the customer.

Version 3 has full XML import and export capabilities built into the product.

XML has had a significant benefit in the control of business focused documentation such as Purchase Orders and Sales Invoices.

With many businesses having twenty or more such documents it has been problematical for many IT department to manage their creation and formatting.

This task has been reduced substantially with the introduction of XML.

WayFinder is a complete replacement for previous on-line help from IBS.

The philosophy of WayFinder is to allow the end user to navigate to the required information graphically without the need for word or string searches of any kind.

This allows users to find the information or help they require and also to put the information in the overall context of the system's requirements and information flow throughout the organisation.

WayFinder has built-in capabilities to allow K3 customers to record specific procedural changes or differences within their own business and link them to the standard model.

A number of existing IBS customers have taken this product function prior to Version 3 being released and used it to document their own ISO and business procedures, potentially saving hundreds of hours within their internal QA departments.

The updated WayFinder files are then published on the company intranet for all to see and use.

With over 150 UK installations, IBS is a great success with small to medium-sized manufacturing companies.

IBS is authored and supported in the UK and customers include Rolls Royce, Thales, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Dunlop, and many other well-known names in industries ranging from satellites to stationery and machinery to missiles.

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