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Foy's EPICS Events |
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Extrusion
Production Information and Control Systems |
February 2005 * Volume 9, Issue 1.1
Edition
In this issue
Announcing EPICS
Version 8
User Conference Plans –
Register Now!
EPICS Version 8 will have
extended release schedule
Crystal Reports XI
Welcome to New EPICS Customers
EPICS Customer List
Previous
EPICS Events articles have announced the next EPICS update as version 2000.19.
While preparing the EPICS User Conference sessions to introduce this new
release, we realized that the new production features warrant a name change –
Exit EPICS 2000; Enter EPICS v8. As you will see in the description below and
in much more detail at the 2005 User Conference, EPICS v8 includes many of the
features that have been at the top of your EPICS wishlist for several years.
But don’t let the new version number scare you. All EPICS users with active Software Service Policies will receive EPICS v8 for no additional fee. And since EPICS v8 uses the same database and underlying code as EPICS 2000, installing v8 is no more difficult than applying an EPICS 2000.xx update. And of course we will continue to provide technical support and answer questions about EPICS 2000.
Your users will find nothing unfamiliar about the screens they used in EPICS 2000. What they will find is a wealth of new screens and features to make their jobs easier. We will send you much more information about EPICS v8 as the User Conference approaches.
The
2005 EPICS User Conference, to be held April 20-22, 2005, promises to be one of
the most valuable and most exciting conferences yet. It will be held at the beautiful Gaylord Texan Resort and
Convention Center on
Detailed information about the conference schedule will be coming out shortly. But you might want to make your travel plans now. You will probably want to arrive Wednesday afternoon, April 20, and depart on Saturday or Sunday.
Conference topics will include a detailed look at the numerous major new features in EPICS v8. These include:
- Rack Tracking – track metal by rack, instead of by order-item.
- The extrusion saw operator will record how many pieces were placed in each rack. There is no limit to the number of items per rack or racks per item. A new Crystal Reports-based rack tag can be printed showing all items loaded into each rack.
- Instead of posting downstream production (paint, fabrication, etc.) against the six items in a rack individually, just tell EPICS the ID of the rack that was processed and the ID of the racks where the processed pieces were placed after production. For departments such as the age oven, where pieces are never removed from a rack, production posting is nearly automatic.
- All EPICS v8 production screens include a scan tab that shows the contents of all racks pending in each department.
- New “Material Available for Production” report includes ID’s of all racks ready in each department.
- Greatly enhanced production posting screens – the Press screen and the Other Dept screen have been merged into an improved Production posting screen, featuring faster and more flexible input. (Of course you can continue to use the old screens – but we bet you won’t want to after you see the new one.)
- Plant Scheduling – use the powerful Preactor program to schedule not jut the press, but the entire plant.
- Enter data using spreadsheets – build your database tables by pointing EPICS to a spreadsheet. Most importantly, let your key customers email you their orders on spreadsheets, and import them directly into EPICS.
- Improved handling of metal received from outside processors (or shipped directly to a customer)
Scan
for metal available for packing, stocking, or outside processing from the
packing ticket screen – a new tab on this screen identifies metal ready to
be processed, and simply clicking on an item (or rack) loads it onto the
packing screen.- Master Workorders – a long-time wishlist item. Identical order-items can be consolidated into one press workorder. And EPICS will automatically allocate press and saw production to each item on the Master.
- Improved press planning – setting for the platen saw, handling multi-billet jobs (2 or more billets required for one runout,) min/max billet sizes for each die, identifying front and rear scrap, etc.
You will not want to miss this critically important conference. And you should consider sending additional people from your scheduling and production control departments.
The conference hotel, the Gaylord Texan Resort, is similar to
the ET’04 host hotel in
- Golfing at the adjacent Cowboys Golf Club
- Jet-skiing on the adjacent
- Shopping at the nearby Grapevine Mills Mall
Contact the hotel directly for room reservations. Be sure to tell them you are attending the Foy EPICS conference, in order to receive the special $189 room rate.
Mark your calendars now for April 20-22, 2005. See our web site for more information or to register online.
EPICS
v8 will be formally introduced at the User Conference in April. However, the beta release will be available
sometime in February for those who want to get an advance preview.
As mentioned in the preceding article, the update will include numerous major new features. A couple of extruders will be using v8 on a production basis, starting in February. We will continue to “fine-tune” it and add additional features during the 10 weeks leading up to the conference.
If you would like to test these features prior to the conference, or want to install EPICS v8 early in order to take advantage of the new features, just let us know and we will give you access to the download site.
Crystal Reports XI was released by Business Objects (www.businessobjects.com) on January 31. We are evaluating the new version and so far are quite impressed by the new features. We are planning to add support for Crystal Reports XI in EPICS v8. You will hear much more about this at the EPICS User Conference. In the meantime, those EPICS users who want to begin using Crystal XI immediately will find that reports created or modified in the new version are compatible with the Crystal Version 9 viewer built into EPICS 2000. However, be aware that reports that take full advantage of the new Crystal XI features may have reduced functionality when run from EPICS 2000.
welcome to New EPICS Customers
During 2004, the EPICS family grew by eleven extrusion plants. There are now over seventy extrusion plants around the world using EPICS.
The four sales announced in the last newsletter (Pries Enterprises in Iowa, Crown Extrusions in Minnesota, American Aluminum Extrusions in Wisconsin, and MI Metals in Arizona) have completed their installations and are now using EPICS.
Five new extruders have purchased EPICS, and are preparing to
start using it. Aluminio
de Centro America (ALDECA), in
BRT Extrusions is a new extruder in
Aluminio de Baja California (ABC), in
After extensive testing (and 2 visits by John and Scott,)
Crane Aluminium Extrusions in
TAI-AO Aluminium in
Jalex Manufacturing, in
epics customers
On any given day
EPICS is helping over 10,000 people
at more than 70
extrusion plants around the world.
