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| "Coordinating each stage
of construction had been a logistical nightmare
without Command Post
3000. Its sequential task management
system defines the critical path to completion,
and alerts me to missed or upcoming milestones
on each project. Inventory is where it needs
to be, when it needs to be there. I can predefine
floorplans and options for each builder with
revisions based on subdivision, changes in
the code, or shifting builder specification.
My dispatching is handled using the same powerful
engine that the service department used, but
it's focused on my specific needs. Once I'm
done with the site, it simply enters the service
system with all its installed equipment data
and warranty start dates intact, which prevents
me from being charged for warranty parts while
it allows my service counterpart to schedule
promotions based on the age of the on-site
equipment." |
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| The construction manager
can review the hours and productivity of each
pending and ongoing job at a glance. He can
program each phase of any type of construction
job. Example: he has the ability to take a
3-story building and break it down into single
stories and give each phase of the project
the hours necessary to complete it, apply
complexity ratings and designate the number
of mechanics required, the material that is
slated for that phase, and through the time
cards that are turned in daily, maintain a
running labor tally breakdown of each phase's
progress. He also has his own dispatching
window to keep track of all of his installations,
all of his mechanics, and can even configure
it so that they're automatically dispatched
daily. This allows him to track the time for
each individual mechanic. He knows the cost
breakdown of each individual phase of the
project as it's completed, such as rough-in
of ductwork as one phase, setting equipment
as another phase, piping of refrigerant or
gas lines as yet another phase, etc., allowing
him to completely control and manage each
individual project. The internally generated
work orders provide fool-proof inventory control
for each phase, and permit the tracking of
all liens, permits, and inspections. It also
permits him to control his labor force with
powerful, detailed reporting that lets you
know if you're runnning your technician staff
too lean or too fat. It allows each construction
manager to work with the estimating department
to control manpower. |
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| Command
Post 3000 provides the dispatcher with
the ability to walk a mechanic through difficult
routes to customer locations using accurate
drive directions and displays map routes from
one customer to another. The system automatically
fills in page and grid coordinates for any
map used by your company. You can zoom in
and zoom out and scroll the map in any direction
for enhanced control dispatch control. In
combination with its powerful automatic dispatching
and the real-time "closest mechanics"
lists, Command Post
3000 improves dispatching efficiency
by 20%-30% efficiency over competitive systems.
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| Getting a handle on warranty
status and equipment aging is the key to tracking
future leads and potential service calls during
slow seasons.You have a complete listing on
your customers' installed equipment, which
is critical during ordering of material or
parts for your them. You can save them money
and increase your sales. The system allows
you to insert pictures of the installed equipment
as a historic record of its condition, which
defuses heated fingerpointing as to the original
state of the equipment. |
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| With most installation companies,
getting costing and sales commissions paid
on a timely basis is hampered by the lack
or tardiness of material coming in from the
field, coupled with poor communication between
salespeople, the office, and the field staff.
Tracking begins in the salesman's flat rate
book, which generates the estimate and the
breakdown for the system. All material is
printed and relayed to the construction manager
with a complete inventory and equipment breakdown.
A flat rate job number is assigned to every
new system, which is then pulled from existing
jobs and tweaked to meet the needs of that
individual customer. Using the job number
permits immediate costing, which pays the
salesman, pays the mechanics, pulls stock
from inventory, and gives the owner an immediate
breakdown of profit. You often encounter jobs
you regretted taking on, but with this system
that should only happen once, because it can
identify and eliminate jobs that aren't costed
properly, while preventing your salesmen from
being either underpaid or overpaid. This only
scratches the surface of how Command
Post 3000 puts control back in your
hands. |
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| This isn't a "flat"
inventory system, but a "hierarchical"
system (one broken down into categories, subcategories,
and so forth). Each level of the inventory
has its own color code, so you ALWAYS know
immediately which level you're working on.
When you delete a level, you get instant feedback
concerning how many items under that level
will also be deleted (not to mention all affected
levels turning a bright warning red). This
is the core of the inventory system: an organizational
structure that meets the demands of inventories
containing a hundred parts, or a million parts.
Navigation, and selecting inventory, is simplified
ten times over with this approach. Is the
picture of the inventory in the window too
small to see the details? Double-click it
to make it fill the screen with a high-resolution
image of the item! |
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| All inventory items enter
the system via a purchase order. (The
only exception to this rule is during
the initial installation and set-up of
Command Post 3000,
when the status quo inventory is prepared.)
The purchase order even looks like a purchase
order. Clicking on a line item reveals
its full hierarchical breakdown. Adding
line items is as easy as tabbing through
the levels to the desired part in seconds.
Taxation can be global (for the all line
items) or line-item specific (when taxable
and non-taxable items are mixed on the
same purchase order). |
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| This purchase order (notice
the red letter "E" behind the
P.O. number to show its revision level)
is being used in Receiving Mode to track
what has arrived on the warehouse dock
and specify (1) how many of each ordered
item arrived, (2) how many didn't, (3)
record serial numbers if relevant, (4)
specify which location they are to be
routed to if not the main receiving floor.
All irregularities are recorded and reported,
and missed deadlines and no-ships flagged
as they arise. Receiving is as simple
as scrolling down all the line items and
keying either (A) for all received, (N)
for none received, or (S) for some received
followed by the quantity actually received.
The red tracking "cursor" scrolls
instantly up and down the purchase order
line items, giving a magnified "window
view" of the ordered items line by
line. |
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| Select a part and get
the full story on it: how many of it are
on hand and in which locations, how many
are on order, on back-order, which service
orders the items are to be applied to,
plus a fully-detailed history of the part.
Double-click on any item in any list to
instantly pull up the relevant purchase
order or service order. |
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| By moving the mouse over
the word "Locations" in the previous
screen, you instantly bring up the Locations
Control Module which permits you to create
and delete locations (as general as "Warehouse
1" or as specific as "Glove Compartment
of Truck No. 4") and transfer inventory
(in whole or in part) from one location to
another in one easy step. When you enable
Serial Number tracking, you can specify which
serialized items are being moved from location
to location (e.g., from warehouse to, say,
the left side of truck number 2). The flat
rate and time & material systems automatically
deduct items from the inventory, creating
reports on the fly. |
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| Part tracking is done at
two levels: the basics (how many on order,
how much do they cost, where is my stock located
currently, what's backordered, what service
orders do the parts go with) and action logging
(who changed the P.O. from 7 to 9 items on
the 3rd of March, and when did he do it? how
many parts were transferred from receiving
to truck number three on May 12, and by whom?)
Every action that affects inventory is logged,
and that log file for each part is, like everything
else in Command Post 3000, at your fingertips.
Doing inventory properly means imposing accountability,
and this system delivers accountability in
spades. |
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