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Foy's EPICS Events |
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Extrusion
Production Information and Control Systems |
In this issue
Management Screen shows realtime information
Other new features in EPICS 2000.11 update
New Die and Backer Matching Program Installed
Judging from participants’ comments, the 2002 EPICS User
Conference in
The conference started with a summary of the 50+ enhancements added to EPICS
over the last year. Then new features
to be introduced in the EPICS 2000.11 update were reviewed.
Numerous topics regarding Crystal Reports were covered, as well as tips on using BarTender with EPICS.
All of the PowerPoint presentations that were used at the
conference are available for viewing at http://www.foyinc.com/Conference/.
Next year’s conference is planned for late-April in
The big hit of the conference was the introduction of the EPICS eResponse
feature. This 2000.11 addition allows
selected customers to email a request to a specified address at your company,
and EPICS will automatically respond with an emailed report.
EPICS eResponse contains extensive security measures to assure that only the proper individual receives a response, and that response is only the data that you have specified for that customer.
EPICS eResponse can be used to provide any EPICS information that you can envision (and for which you can design a Crystal Report.) For example, you may want to provide certain customers with the ability to receive order status information. With eResponse, you can specify that if bob@bigcustomer.com sends email to epics@mycompany.com, and if that message contains the word STATUS in the Subject line, then a Crystal Report containing order status information for his company will be immediately emailed back to him. A copy will be sent to Bob’s customer service representative.
EPICS eResponse is not limited to order status responses. You can design your own reports that will be sent to the customer based upon keywords that you specify. If you have a customer who routinely requests a list of weight shipped month-to-date against each of his dies, EPICS eResponse can easily handle that.
EPICS eResponse is simple to setup and utilize. It does not require that you have a company web site. It is designed to utilized Microsoft Exchange Server and Outlook 2000/2002.
You can see the conference PowerPoint presentation of the EPICS eResponse feature at
http://www.foyinc.com/Conference/PPT/eResponse.htm
Another major EPICS addition is the new Anodizing module. This enhancement will allow the anodize racking crew to easily specify what material they load onto each rack. As the rack is created, EPICS will keep them informed of the total area on the rack, and warn if excess material is loaded.
At any time, a list of all racks (partial and full) can be displayed. So on the unrack end of the line, the crew can just select the appropriate rack and click the Complete box when it is unloaded. Information on all items on that rack will then be posted into EPICS.
Data concerning scrap and rework is also handled by this module.
Another popular conference item was the introduction of the EPICS Management
Screen. This feature allows EPICS to
display a series of charts that are automatically updated every few minutes.
The standard chart that is included with EPICS (actually an Excel spreadsheet)
will display up-to-the-minute data on bookings, shipments, extrusions, and
finishing. Progress against daily targets is also shown.
A manager may want to leave this screen running all day, so that a
quick glance will show how the plant is progressing today.
The EPICS 2000.11 update is scheduled for release on
- Outside processing involving cutbacks are now handled properly. By using a routing that includes the sequence TO_XXX, CUTBACK, FM_XXX, you can now report the actual number of small pieces received back.
- Shipping Tolerances can now be specified in Pieces, not just Percent.
- If you are tired of the dull, gray main EPICS screen, you can now change it to the color of your choice. Better yet, you can display your favorite picture.
- You can change the EPICS Toolbar to use the style of either Office 97, Office 2000, or Office XP
- Several enhancements have been made to the EPICS Security feature. The Program Permissions screen is now resizable. Separate groupings now are used for Screens and Reports. You can update all permissions for a user just by right-clicking. And a Print button has been added to the permissions screen.
- Rack Tags can now be printed from the Post Other Production screen. This means you can print a Traveler from any department. Use of this feature requires that you use BarTender to design your tag or traveler.
- More than four notes can now be displayed at Order Entry
- The ConvertTo unit at Order Entry now defaults to Price Unit.
- Incomplete workorders from sales orders that have been called complete will no longer show on the workorder scan screen
- The server name is now displayed at login
- A "Report Properties" option is now shown on the report selection screen
- The document e-mail functions can now call Microsoft Outlook directly (if installed)
- The Billet P.O. display now properly selects by Alloy
- When printing rack tags, the splitting of lots is now fixed (only applies to 2 or 3 users)
- Several data entry “blocks” have been added, such as adding a Sales Order number 0, and changing the die or sales order on a production posting
Be sure to read the
“What’s New” section of the EPICS Help file for detailed descriptions and
instructions on all of the EPICS 2000.11 new features!
Earlier this month, we installed a “beta” version of a new program for matching
dies and backers at Western Extrusions. The
program, named ALEX (for Aluminum Expert,) was developed by EngView
Systems Corp of
ALEX was introduced at the EPICS User Conference (although
it is not a part of EPICS.) We hope that
ALEX will be ready to market within the next couple of months. In the meantime, you can find more