DBA Manufacturing

“reliable lean manufacturing value”

Pros

One of the big advantages is the price. It follows lean manufacturing practices, has been very reliable and the help ticket system is excellent. The online knowledge base is also very helpful and the support videos are useful when you need guidance. When it's used the way it's intended, it does the job well.

Cons

One downside is that it isn't cloud based. Cloud computing has completely changed how we run our business so dealing with backups and updates on a local server feels risky and stressful. If we were starting from scratch with DBA again, we'd seriously look at running it on an MS Azure virtual server and making sure every employee had their own PC. Since the software is low cost, there really aren't resellers or local in person support options. It also relies on a local server and needs a manual MRP run to refresh material demand, scheduling and related updates. Production data is not truly live either since users have to enter information afterward and that naturally leads to inaccurate data because employees won't always record everything correctly. Reporting is pretty basic and building custom reports in DBA is kind of complicated. The custom forms can be useful and we ran into recurring issues with them. It would be helpful if there were a service available to create custom reports and forms. With a PC at every workstation and the right company culture in place, the software could get much closer to live data. Looking back the rollout also should have included Zoom training and a stronger push toward the right workflow without relying on shortcuts.

“inventory tracking that really delivers”

Pros

Being able to monitor my entire inventory in one place has been really valuable. I can see what I've used, when I used it, what it was used for, receive new items as they come in and add everything to my current inventory list without losing track of anything.

Cons

The biggest frustration is the load time. It can take quite a while for things to open and that really needs to be improved because there are times when I'm in a rush and need the information much faster.

“MRP powerhouse”

Pros

This has been a full featured MRP system with excellent document control. BOM management and MRP arent hard to work with and it's especially well suited for labor tracking and job shop environments.

Cons

Reporting is missing in a few areas and that can be supplemented with tools like Crystal Reports and additional reports can be added to the user menus.