|
Foy's EPICS Events |
|
Extrusion
Production Information and Control Systems |
September 2006 * Volume 10, Issue 4
In this issue
EPICS
V8.4 update to be released
One-time ship-to address capability added to
EPICS
Change
Log added to production posting screen
Start/Stop times added to Packing Ticket screen
Ability
to change Die, Customer, and Part numbers
New
warning for Sales Order changes that can affect pricing
Mass
changes now possible for more fields
Place
all items on a picklist with a single click
Other
enhancements in EPICS V8.4
New
Crystal XI Runtime now available
EPICS Knowledgebase now on-line
EPICS Training scheduled for September
2007 EPICS Conference to be Held in Charleston
The
EPICS 8.4update will be released on Tuesday, September 5. Your System Administrator will receive email
when the new version is ready to be downloaded.
The
V8.4 update contains numerous enhancements, including seven of the thirteen
most-requested items on the 2006 Wishlist.
The major enhancements are described below. Other changes can be found in the Help file
that will be distributed with the update.
The EPICS
8.4 update features the ability to easily enter one-time shipping addresses
during order entry. This feature is #2
on the current Wishlist, as rated by EPICS users.
The feature
is activated simply by typing Ctrl-O (for One-time) in the ShipTo field. That brings up the address portion of the
Customer Maintenance screen, already in Add mode and with a CustNum already
assigned. If needed, you can expand the
screen into the normal Customer screen and enter other data such as PackCode,
etc.
Customer
records created in this manner are flagged as “not BillTo” and as Inactive, so
they will not appear on most reports or inquiries. They are further identified by having a
CustNum of “X” followed by the SO and SOItem numbers (such as X:10432-1). By storing these one-time addresses in the
Customer table, no changes will be required in documents such as
acknowledgments or manifests.
Another
Wishlist item (#4 on the list) is the creation of a Change Log on the Advanced
Data Collection screen. This log will
capture all changes made to production postings.
The change
log will appear as another tab at the top of the screen. It will contain changes such as revisions to
the start or stop time, changes to billet counts or piece counts, and additions
or deletions of downtime entries.
Note that
this new feature is only available for production posted on the Advanced Data
Collection screen. It does not capture
changes if you are still using the old Press and Other Department posting
screens. Those screens will disappear in
upcoming EPICS editions, so this is another reason to change to the new screen.
Over the
years, several EPICS users have requested the ability to enter start and stop
times on the Packing Ticket screen. The
EPICS V8.4 update gives you that ability.
Start Time and Stop Time fields have been
added just after the Tare Weight fields.
You can optionally enter the Minutes instead of the times.
If you do not want to use these fields,
there is a new configuration setting to turn them off.
Number 6 on
the current Wishlist is the ability to change die numbers, part numbers, and
customer numbers. The EPICS V8.4 update provides
that ability. Although this ability is
rarely required, it can be very
Since this
ability can be extremely dangerous, only EPICS System Administrators should
utilize this feature. The feature is
implemented as a Stored Procedure at the database level, not as a part of the
EPICS program itself. Full details can
be found in the EPICS V8.4 Help file.
Have you
ever revised the piece length on an order and forgotten to change the price per
piece? Of course you haven’t, but
someone in your organization may have. A new feature in EPICS V8.4 now warns you if a
change is made to a value that might affect the pricing. This new safety feature, #7 on the Wishlist,
was added for both un-posted and posted Sales Orders.
The
customer just called and asked to change the Ship Date on all items of their
50-item order. With EPICS V8.4, you no
longer are faced with an hour of changes.
As soon as you change the first item, EPICS asks if you want to apply
that change to all the other items.
The mass
change feature, #10 on the Wishlist, has been added for PackCode, ShipTol, ReqDt, and CustDt.
If you have
ever had to select tickets for 100 20-lb bundles to place on a Pick List, then
you will appreciate the new “Select All” button on the Enhanced Shipping
screen. This feature, #11 on the current
Wishlist, will quickly place all of the selected items on the specified Pick
List, with a single click of the mouse.
Number 13
on the 2006 Wishlist is the ability to record the name of the user that created
a Part. This information has been added
to the Part Change Log in the V8.4 update.
Some EPICS
users ship material to a depot, then later ship to the final customer, and do
not want to invoice until the final shipment.
Others ship to a customer, but do not invoice the customer until the
material is used. Still others send
international shipments to a dock at a port, and want to wait to create
invoices when material is loaded onto a ship. Cases such as these can now be handled with
the new EPICS Depot feature.
A new department category of ‘DEPOT’ has
been added to the Maintain Departments screen. You can create a department for
each of your freight depots using this new category. Sales orders that are to
be shipped to a depot before being released to a customer must be entered using
a routing that includes the appropriate “DEPOT” department.
A new
supplier category of “Freight Depot” has been added to the Maintain Suppliers
screen. You can create a supplier for each depot with a supplier number that
matches the department number that you created for routing purposes. This
supplier record will store the name and shipping address of the freight depot
for use on reports.
The “Pending Shipments” tab of the “Post
Shipments” screen has 2 new options: “Ship to Freight Depots” and “Release From
Depots”. You can use these options to find jobs that are either packed and
waiting to be sent to a depot or that are awaiting release from a depot. (The
Enhanced Shipping Screen has only the new option to look for tickets waiting to
be sent to a depot. Since barcode scanning at the depot is not currently
supported, you must use the standard “Post Shipments” screen to release tickets
to the customer.)
When orders are shipped to a depot, the
packing ticket status will change from ‘A’ to ‘D’ and a shipping manifest will
be created showing all tickets sent to the depot. Depot manifests may not be
invoiced.
When tickets are released from a depot,
their status will change from ‘D’ to ‘S’ and a normal EPICS shipping manifest
will be created that is ready for invoicing.
- Chemical Composition data entry is now blocked for
alloys not appearing in the Chemical Composition Limits table.
- The ability to handle Chemical Composition data such as
“<.01” has been added
- Run Code has been added to the Production Detail tab of
the QBE Items screen
- A Refresh button has been added to the Press Schedule
screen
- The ability to automatically calculate bundle weights
on the Packing screen can now be disabled with a new Config setting
- Enabled < and > for QBE searches of date fields;
i.e., search for >08/11/06
Numerous
other enhancements and fixes have been added to EPICS V8.4. Please read the “What’s New” section of the
EPICS Help file, as well as the “Help/Revision History” entries for a more
detailed listing.
An updated version
of the Crystal XI report viewer for EPICS is now available for download on the
“EPICS Updates” page of www.foyinc.com. This new “runtime” from
Business Objects corrects a number of bugs in the previous release. Most
notably, this release includes a fix for the “Black Screen” problem when
viewing reports from a Citrix or Terminal Services session. A complete list of
changes made in this release is available on Business Objects’ support site. If
you have not had any trouble with the Crystal XI viewer, then this update is
recommended but not required. Should you decide to install the new Crystal XI
Runtime, please follow these steps:
- Download the new Crystal_XI_Runtime.MSI installation
file from the “EPICS Updates” page of www.foyinc.com
- Place the new file downloaded in step 1 to your network
EPICS folder, replacing the older version
- From each workstation or server, enter the following
command from a Windows command prompt, replacing the path below with the
correct name of your server and EPICS folder:
MSIEXEC /fa “\\Server1\EPICS\Crystal_XI_Runtime.MSI”
Have a
question about EPICS, and can’t find the answer in the EPICS Help file? Don’t forget to check out the EPICS
Knowledgebase on the Foy website. You
will find the Knowledgebase at www.foyinc.com,
and all you need to access it is the password “support”.
As
mentioned in the last newsletter, the ninth annual EPICS User Conference will
be held in historic
The
conference will be held on April 22-25, 2007, with the registration reception
on Sunday evening, conference sessions on Monday and Tuesday, and an optional
training session on Wednesday.
Mark your
calendars now for another great EPICS Conference.
It’s not
too late to register for the EPICS User Training session to be held September
18-21. There are still three spots open
for this popular and valuable educational opportunity.
More
details and the complete schedule can be found in the Training section of the Foy Inc website.
Last month,
three Foy Inc representatives hosted a reception for EPICS users in the
. Foy
hopes to conduct more of these “roving receptions” in the future.
EPICs customers
On any given day
EPICS is helping over 11,000 people
at 80 extrusion
plants around the world.
