Solumina MES Reviews

“Good way to learn with free access

Pros

I find it user-friendly and easy to learn, especially with the availability of various training resources.

Cons

Having a hands-on approach would be very helpful. Also if a sandbox is provided, it will improve the learning curve and prove beneficial.

“good products

Pros

The software offers great features that greatly assist with day to day processes.

Cons

Some of the features need to be made more user friendly.

“Solumina for Aerospace Manufacturing

Pros

The data model and functionality are impressive, particularly for the aerospace industry.

Cons

It doesn't prevent me from doing the wrong things until it's too late.

“Review

Pros

The traceability of paperwork is much improved compared to using physical documents. Additionally, writing alterations is easier than following paper-based procedures.

Cons

The software feels clunky and outdated. When running it over Citrix, the lag makes it barely usable.

“Funky Cold Medina

Pros

Solumina excels in certain areas, such as lot tracking and providing traceability for installed components.

Cons

Solumina is very slow, especially when editing work plans and orders. It can be confusing at times and lacks easy customization. Random errors can occur which is frustrating, especially when the warning messages are unhelpful.

“Good and Bad

Pros

It can be easily configured to suit specific needs and processes.

Cons

Custom reports require additional payment. Since the information needed for data mining keeps changing, it's impossible to create my own reports based on my needs.

“System unstable and lack of support.

Pros

Solumina integrates different functions and streamline searches for manufacturing products.

Cons

There are times when Solumina becomes unstable, kicking the user out or causing specific functions to stop working. iBASEt is unable to provide an explanation about these issues.

“Solumina MFG Software

Pros

I really like the wide range of options offered by the software.

Cons

A lot of preparation was necessary before the software became usable in the required areas.

“We use this software in our daily business. It has a fantastic suite of capabilities.

Pros

In my opinion, the software itself is fantastic. I highly recommend it to businesses in need of an electronic Work Instructions software. It allows users to create custom applications for quality management, supplier quality, audits and more. It's user-friendly for manufacturing purposes, and the user interface is incredible.

Cons

Transitioning from previous versions is challenging, and the migration process is a bit awkward. However, the customer support is wonderful.

“Solumina G8

Pros

The new interface looks impressive. However, it is a Delphi application that sometimes causes other applications to crash.

Cons

I find it complicated and confusing. Also the database behind the application seems complex.

“It's a piece of work

Pros

The level of customization available is truly remarkable. It's evident that a significant time and effort is put into the development of the product.

Cons

The Solumina G8 browser client software has a UX that looks like a relic from the Netscape era. It is highly sensitive to network interruptions. Additionally, the bolt-on code leaves something to be desired.

“MES adjusted for Costpoint

Pros

The software provides excellent visual interactive displays for presenting work instructions, and it can be customized.

Cons

Although we were informed that the software would have the various functions. Well it does have a lot of functions but not all of them are usable or needed. I feel like they are just taking up the space.

“learning the system takes times but then it is a great system

Pros

Traceability and accountability are both easily accessible by using this system,. As a manager, this tool greatly assists me in monitoring my employees.

Cons

Navigating through the system wastes too much time as you have to constantly go back-and-forth to accomplish tasks.

“Our company has been a long time iBASEt customer. We use Solumina G5, G7, G8, and MES.

Pros

At our location, Solumina is essential for managing the shop floor. Without it, operations would struggle to produce products. Solumina is our lifeblood.

Cons

iBASEt's technology feels old, and even in the latest versions, it lags behind the technological curve for application development.

“Not user friendly,

Pros

The search view allows users to quickly access almost every location needed for daily use. There's actually very little that I dislike about it.

Cons

The software has limitations in multimedia management, with insufficient memory. Adjusting system settings, such as fonts, is not possible, and certain settings seem nonsensical, like the 100-character minimum. The word processor is outdated compared to the latest market versions.

“iBASEt offers a good suite of tools to track manufacturing processes and collect quality evidence

Pros

The product is highly configurable, providing access to the system's internals. This provides a higher level of control over the necessary processing for supporting manufacturing processes.

Cons

As I've noticed, there is a lack of responsiveness in providing the group of tools with missing features as they are identified. The absence of certain functionalities seems strange because the software's intended audience is mainly in need of those specific functions.

“very flexible for customizations but lacking in training/demonstrating features

Pros

Now I have the ability to customize User Defined Views (UDVs) to show more meaningful information and hide unnecessary fields. It's also possible for me to substitute and create custom UDVs to have the exact data I want.

Cons

Unfortunately, there is no visual training available related to the software. Although there are written manuals, a more visual training manual with system examples would greatly improve understanding of its operation.

“Overall, Solumina has been a very positive system for our business since start-up.

Pros

The software is user-friendly, both for regular users and in terms of engineering development. It proved to be a significant advantage during our audits with the FAA.

Cons

I have experienced occasional slowness in system processing. Additionally, there were numerous bugs to work through during the start-up phase. There have been instances where customer support was lacking or not respond on time.

“Dramatic improvement to manufacturing and quality control and risk mitigation

Pros

Once properly set up, it very nicely manages inputs and outputs while providing fast access to records.

Cons

It would be great if the font and icon size were customizable. The tiny green and red thumbs are too close together. Installation templates or Best Utilization examples would be helpful in determining the right direction. Currently, much relies on the user's configuration team, making their expertise crucial for a smooth deployment.

“In supporting a difficult process, Solumina delivers sound features and superior customer support.

Pros

The top positive aspect of working with iBASEt is their exceptional customer support in delivering a robust solution for Manufacturing Execution, Quality Assurance and Supplier Quality management. They continuously work to address things specific to our manufacturing environment and provide insights and recommendations for improvement beyond the software's scope.

Cons

The process planning in Solumina is primarily text-oriented, lacking sufficient integration of 2D or 3D data. These data attachments are not fully incorporated into the foundation of the process plans. Another drawback is the inconsistent level of communication between the client and server which negatively affects remote users. While iBASEt continually updates their code to improve remote access, we have discovered instances where clients calls and mention issues which results in repeated round trips across the WAN.

“Solumina MES fits the needs of my team and organization.

Pros

Solumina MES is an excellent application with a wide range of features, and iBASEt can customize it to support various business models and processes.

Cons

I find the user experience for Solumina MES to be unintuitive. Although a learning curve is expected but not this much that the navigating the interface at times become too complex. As a member of the implementation team, I believe the customer service and consultants I worked with could have been more responsive and helpful.

“Business users love the functionality. Could use architecture overhaul.

Pros

It empowers the business to expand their manufacturing process and product lines without relying on IT involvement.

Cons

The architecture of the software is not open. It would greatly benefit from REST APIs or C# libraries if allow automation. Data concurrency needs improvement to prevent occasional data corruption.

“Great company to work with.

Pros

We have been using Solumina MES from iBASEt for over 15 years, and we have found it to be highly configurable to meet our manufacturing requirements.

Cons

If I were to express my least favorite aspect of the Solumina MES software, it would be the price.

“Pretty efficient for the most part. Little slow at times toward the end of the day.

Pros

It's easy to use and quickly retrieves the necessary information. Requested information or materials are readily available and presented concisely.

Cons

I have come across operations that, upon completion, keep me on the same operation instead of forwarding to the next one. This extra step of clicking can be cumbersome and time-consuming when repeated throughout the day. Additionally, there have been instances where the database drops during the inspection of a Part.

“Good software for storage, retrieval, and linking important docs necessary to support quality.

Pros

Linking relevant documentation is now easy for both users and administrators. Controlling information exchange and visibility to the appropriate users is also a simple task. Also the ability to establish sign-off criteria within each work order is also excellent.

Cons

I find the navigation to be illogical and believe it could be simplified for better user interaction. This would greatly enhance the training process.

“Solumina is user friendly

Pros

The software correctly lists the most recent revision of the travelers you need to work on, and it's easy to add pictures to work plans.

Cons

It would be helpful to have a description field, as it would speed up the retrieval of repair work plans.

“A difficult but rewarding journey

Pros

Having data in one system has simplified certain aspects of our MFG floor. All you need to do is focus on tutorials and it became easier to understand everything.

Cons

Learning the software takes time, and it is not as logical compared to other programs. Creating custom reports is difficult, if not impossible. Sometimes, we need to adjust our manufacturing floor processes to accommodate as per Solumina's limitations. Interfacing with machines and 2D barcodes is time-consuming and challenging, far from plug and play. Training mainly relies on trial and error occurs frequently since every production floor operates differently. There are several other issues too, such as pop-open windows shrinking in size, disappearing text, or moving arrows for no apparent reason. These issues are more annoying than any other thing.

“Solumina MES is essential to our organization.

Pros

The software is easily customizable and user-friendly. It works well in our large manufacturing environment, and the company provides excellent customer support.

Cons

Keeping up with the latest version of the product becomes challenging when performing a lot of customizations. This is not a software fault but something to consider during implementation.

“Safety oversight in VAB while workers are using Solumina. Looking over their shoulders at Solumina.

Pros

I can review the procedure from anywhere other than the floor where it's being used. Unlike paperwork that can be lost when people forget to bring it back, the document remains secure.

Cons

We experienced an internet connection loss, causing people to wait until it was restored. The software is very slow even slower than using paper.

“I've used Solumina at my last two companies. I've been instrumental in developing the process and tr

Pros

I like the option to track as-built history and the integration of Quality. It's especially beneficial for complex lower volume assembly.

Cons

Custom reporting can be more challenging, although exports are easy to perform. It may not be as suitable for high-volume serial-controlled assemblies, particularly if the workflow is not continuous and requires numerous entries.

“Have been working with Solumina for over 10 years and really like the application and all offeatures

Pros

I enjoy using the different tools provided to create work instructions and explore new ways to improve our processes.

Cons

Due to our location, the database location, and the number of users, I have experienced slowness in the application. There are certain features, like inspection planning and tying inspection definitions to process work plans, that require improvement.

“Always prompt and provide solutions

Pros

The data validity and the capability to track multiple work orders against plans are valuable. Additionally, the database structure is well-organized with procedures and triggers.

Cons

The appearance of the software is extremely confusing and cluttered, and the menu names can be mental. The Solumina G8 browser is not suitable for a G7 environment.

“The shop floor can learn to use the system in minutes, authoring plans takes much longer.

Pros

Teaching operators how to log on, find a work order and execute it is easy. The standard text and glyph buttons for links are nice, and the operators like it and use them.

Cons

In the G7 version, accessing certain menu items cannot be done simply, this shows it lacking intuitiveness. The G7 text editor is very basic, and the absence of a spell checker in standard text mode leads to more revisions afterward.

“Solumina MES is feature rich!

Pros

Solumina serves as a single point of information for our operations, covering Work Instructions, Labor Charging and discrepancy generation.

Cons

The software's complexity and its complex features can pose a learning curve for operators or process engineers. However, once that hurdle is overcome, it offers excellent audit features and stability.

“I am part of the Solumina integrations and test team. We are building an interface with QAD.

Pros

The software is highly flexible and can be customized to meet our specific needs. We are currently developing an interface with QAD, and so far, the system seems to be working well.

Cons

The software's foundation is in the aerospace industry, which results in many confusing or irrelevant aspects for our specific medical device industry.

“Solumina is great - 10/10 would use again.

Pros

In my limited experience (and based on the evaluation conducted by our team that selected Solumina as the best option), I find that Solumina offers a greater level of low-cost flexibility and customizability, while providing more out of the box functions compared to other commercially available MES solutions.

Cons

It looks like that Solumina includes customizations funded by individual companies and without thinking they consider all into the next software version. This is something that causes a lot of problems.

“We are in the process of implementing Solumina. No actual use yet.

Pros

What I like the most about Solumina is it's capability to eliminate or reduce paper records for manufacturing, while ensuring that processes are followed and compliance is increased.

Cons

Out of the box, Solumina is not tailored to our industry. It lacks a lot of functionality, features, and terminology that are standard in our industry.

“So far so good

Pros

We have received great support from iBASEt. Although we face issues during an installation process however now everything is going pretty well.

Cons

Our case requires a significant amount of customization. This is not something that is a fault of a software itself but rather the nature of our business. Because of this, we are planning to switch as Solumina is not the best for us.

“This seminar gave me a much better understanding of Solumina.

Pros

I believe this is one of the better ways for a company to transition to paperless programs. All the information is stored digitally and easily accessible if stored on a network. Convenience and ensuring each step is correctly followed are the aspects I like about it.

Cons

The drawback I would like to mention is that the transitioning to a digital system is not easy as there is potential risk associated with external issues such as power outages or hacking attempts. There is a possibility of data loss and potential external exposure of classified information.

“Software is overall very capable, however, support is often slow and fixes are cumbersome

Pros

Solumina software is very much capable of handling a wide range of manufacturing situations out of the box. Traceability and control are strong features that ensure a high level of quality.

Cons

The interfaces are complex, and the performance is poor. Developing and maintaining solutions for more specialized industries or situations can be expensive, so we may need to rely on external processes or systems.

“This product is extremely useful for our organization.

Pros

The software nicely captures the production needs while maintaining good quality. We are currently using the quality module and planning to implement the MES soon.

Cons

The user interface is quite complicated, and it takes a considerable amount of time for a new user to understand how to operate the software.