JobBOSS²

Pros

1. No IT guy cost to maintain server.
2. Can use inexpensive workstations. We use Chromebooks for data collection. I also use a chromebook for trips.
3. Android/Apple app for tablets that can be used for data collection
4. Also just released an app for employees to check in and out from their phone. You can post stock from this app.
5. Work from anywhere. I was in Minnesota 2 weeks ago during a blizzard. I was at starbucks, posted up next to the window, working on my chromebook with no hick ups.
6. New updated features over the old system. Better reports. More capable Hot Spots.
7. Works the same as the old system, just things are in different spots.
8. Better, more efficient user interface
9. Easier to customize reports
10. Just introduced Dashboards

Cons

1. The subscription price.
2. Cert control in general can be better.
3. Employee Clock in Module is a pain. You cannot edit someone time until they are clocked out.

Pros

The ease of quoting parts for customers was decreased substantially.
Real time reporting of the work flow in production.
The ability to connect with the system offsite to give customers answers about their orders while meeting with them.

Cons

There was a lot of data entry that had to be done to get the system working correctly for our company.

Pros

Bar code time tracking on jobs. Really help with shop metrics for individual performance.

Cons

It isn't easy to learn and train new users. Even after well over a year of working with them, we could never get the QuickBooks integration to work correctly. (The QuickBooks integration for Enterprize just does not work.) We flew in their 1:1 trainer at $1200 per day, and even he could not get the QuickBooks integration to download correctly. He handed it back to their support team, who, in the end, quietly quit the project.
The time clock for doing payroll requires much manual work to finalize the payroll hours. It's not a refined process; yes, it has reports for payroll, but it is more of an afterthought.

Pros

#1 - We really like how robust JobBOSS² is and how much it covers for us. Also, with so many features and capabilities, it is also very customizable and allows us to change just about anything we want. I used to use JobBOSS and am really enjoying the improved experience with JobBOSS². Next, the regular updates are fantastic, keeping us up to date with the newest features and enhancements of JobBOSS². Lastly, we love that we can run the system on either Windows or Mac computers.

Cons

With order processing and looking at our order list, when we want to order by job or order number, the saving remains at a default setting. When we customize this, it does not save over time. When we leave the system, it goes back to the default settings. Also, it does not allow other users to see my work, still resetting to the default every time.

Pros

We really like the structural layout of JobBOSS². It is repetitive in how it's laid out, so the logic and flow of the system is very intuitive.

Cons

While the system worked very well for us as our one single company, we have had some complications with bringing newly acquired businesses onto the system. We had some custom code written to accommodate this, but is still not functioning properly for us. We cannot easily combine multiple companies into the system.

Pros

JobBOSS² is easy to use. It's very flexible and user friendly. Also, it is easy to bring new employees onto the system, teach them how to use it, and quickly get them using the system effectively.

Cons

One of our integrations is not syncing up properly - we're struggling to get the data points over from Paperless Parts into the system. Also, there seems to be a ceiling on scalability with the number of parts of our products, as some have 600 or 700 components - this can be difficult to manage.

Pros

JobBOSS² is very easy to navigate. Overall, it is a very simple system and feels natural to learn and get familiar with the interface.

Cons

It is quite expensive for us. Also, we would like to see a more easily viewable dashboard for scheduling and job status - where a job is currently at, and having easy access to this information. More graphs and charts would be useful.

Pros

We really like that we can have multiple windows open at the same time and be working on lots of different things at once. It helps us to work faster. Also, the menu items are very clear and the system overall is easy to navigate. Recently quoted parts, RFQ, etc. are all easy to use for us. Keeping track of jobs that our employees are working on is easy with JobBOSS².

Cons

No complaints. The software does exactly what I need it to do.

Pros

The quoting feature is excellent and is very helpful to us. Next, getting information in and out of the system quickly is a huge benefit. Third, tracking jobs is both simple and easy to keep track of.

Cons

The reports are difficult to interpret, particularly profit and loss reports - some of the numbers just don't make sense.

Pros

The concepts at a very high level are good. The modules and work flow make sense in general. The basic concepts are all good and at the core are what is needed out of an ERP system.

Cons

Where to start...

1. The number of clicks to accomplish a simple task is unreal and extremely time consuming.
2. Lack of customization - each company is very different in operation yet all are forced into a solution that does not work for all. Simple issues such as the way tables are viewed are forced by Shoptech and not able to be customized.
3. Customer service - Many issues raised by the online community are classified as "oversights" and not as defects as a result nothing is done to correct them
4. Slow improvements - The community can request enhancements to the software, yet this are very slow to be implemented (if at all).
5. Outdated - many features are copied over from old outdated software and not likely to change anytime soon as they attempt to keep the new cloud based software inline with the older software packages

Pros

Estimating is great. Shipping and Purchasing are great. Inventory Control is great.

Cons

Scheduling can be difficult to figure out, but we are working on that. Also, the Accounting can be a little wonky sometimes in how it integrates with QuickBooks.

Pros

My number one pro for JobBoss2 is ease of use. It's pretty intuitive, and I appreciate the simplicity of the accounting module.

Cons

The reporting for accounting is very minimal. I would like to see more standard accounting reports available. I would also like the ability to add more columns to my views (don't know if that's possible now. I haven't been able to find a way to do so).

Pros

Stock list was easy to use, and packing slips were easy to make

Cons

One spelling mistake on the stock list and it put in another category that you didnt know was there

Pros

It's a great software which I have liked most. It's a user friendly

Cons

Some of the futures are need to be improve

Pros

It has quoting, materials, costing, and scheduling, and job status capabilities.

Cons

Sadly the UI is severely lacking. And it seems not much thought is given to usability and efficiency.

Pros

Modules that flow together easily. Also the ability to track clock in/clock out times and amount of time spent on jobs is so simple even someone that does not posses basic computer skills can use the product.

Cons

In some areas it is very rigid and does not allow flexibility you would expect from a mid-teir package.

Pros

E2 creates a clutter free work space with a simple layout and design. Shop Tech has broken down the manufacturing process to get a true understanding of how our company really operates. The bolt on modules allow for greater control of specific functions in particular departments. We specifically use the Scheduling and Custom Order Import Automation functions. Scheduling give us a top level view, department view, work center view, and all the way down to a view of sub parts that make up a single part. This tells us exactly where an order is as well as if we are under or over loaded at the work center and department level. All I have to do is pull up the schedule, click a button for the level of detail I want to display and away it goes. The Custom Order Import Function has allowed us to automate the order entry process by simply downloading a file from our customer, pointing where I saved the file, and clicking "Import". This function creates the order and based off our custom company settings which we have setup to automatically pull from stock jobs, inventory, post a quantity to make or a combination of all of the above. We can then run a requirement report to see what we need to make to fulfill open orders or to make stock for inventory. It really doesn't get easier than that.

Cons

The extra modules do have a cost but they are well worth it. On the plus side of that, E2 will demo the modules with full functionality and if it doesn't incorporate everything that you need you don't have to purchase it.

Pros

Interface is user friendly and visually appealing. A lot of potential.

Cons

Limitations on customizing views, terrible implementation support, tremendous lack of technical support. Editing an order "freezes" it so if a PO is cut for material on that order, it causes a glitch. Customizing reports is not the easiest, and could be easier.
Worst part so far has been trying to get technical assistance with the system. You will have to invest a lot of your own time to figure it out without help.

Pros

E2 has really helped us streamline all of our processes: from initially purchasing, through receiving, invoicing, check writing on the AP side; to processing POs from customers, generating orders, travelers, packing lists, and invoicing on the AR side. I can't imagine going back to what we did before! In the E2 system, once a part number/PO is entered, all of that information travels through all of the processes and handling of that item. No more repeated entries, with that time consumption and potential for error--one entry and you are done!--the processing of the PO or part number then goes through the whole shop and out the door. And I am not even including the ease of quoting and routing, which is less in my area of work, but is the area where most parts "begin" their life with us. E2 takes these parts all the way through, including the generating of Return Authorizations and credits when those are needed, in a seamless way.

Cons

Honestly, I can't think of any significant cons. We have had the occasional glitch or problem with usage, and there are some areas where I wish we could use the system even more, but for the massive amount of work we do use it for, it is excellent!

Pros

This product is extremely easy to use, and very forgiving of mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, and E2 makes it possible to catch and correct mistakes, while keeping an audit trail all along. We have had the system for 20 years and our company has been able to grow and use more functions of the software such as quality and scheduling. We had planned a 6 month dual period with our old software but deployment was so seamless that we only ran double for 1 month. Everything is integrated from the initial customer quote through order entry, the invoice, receipts, and the General Ledger. Tech support has been so helpful, and team members are knowledgeable of the job shop business as well as the product!

Cons

The only issue I have struggled with is user access to data. To give a user rights to view certain data, they also are allowed access to edit it. We can work around that with creative report writing. I can think of no other big drawbacks to the system.

Pros

In general, it's easy to use. Each module has similar buttons and interfaces. I think the AR/AP modules work well since it's not the primary focus of the software.

Cons

Quote entry has extremely limited ability to adjust margins (it can do it, but it's not easy). Adjusting margins are key for job shop environments. After speaking with support about my needs, they told me to quote outside of the system. Which means, I was literally told not to use your product.

Legacy fields get stuck in the system. There's a lot of clutter in our system because we need to change user defined fields but they're not available in the find/replace utility.

Scheduler is very poor. Difficult to use, glitchy. Doesn't (automatically) schedule for available labor resources, which is a huge part of a job shop environment. Reviewing scheduling during quoting doesn't account for current back load (or didn't at the time we last considered it).

The recent "facelift" was atrocious. It's actually a huge deterrent to updating versions. What benefit is this facelift to me?

My perception is that there will be no feature additions to the core product. Any improvements come in the form of custom utilities with additional cost.

Pros

The biggest advantage that we see in JobBOSS is that it is well-suited to the small manufacturer and job shop. The modules are functional for our day-to-day operations, which allowed us to standardize and increase our workload and throughput by at least 20%. The interface is user-friendly. We were able to implement the software very quickly compared to the software we were using. The workstations in the shop have given us a good handle on time collection. We also use the QuickBooks integration and it works flawlessly.

Exact employees are very friendly and knowledgeable about their product. We get answers to our questions very quickly, and they are very helpful in solving problems we incur. The online portal is a huge asset for training new users and enhancements to the software’s customization.

Cons

As good as the program is, there is room for improvement. We think it is just a few enhancements away from greatness. The software has several glitches that have not been fixed in the five years we have been using it. For example, you lose the information you are entering into a job or purchase order if another user is updating a related job or material. Sometimes, the software locks up and has to be forced to close and restart. This usually happens when you are trying to delete a raw material in a Job and select a different material; it's some kind of access violation. The updates of information changes between modules is slow and can be frustrating. For example, if a raw material is received from a PO and you want to add that material to a job and pick it from the inventory, you have to close the jobs module and reopen it to get the new inventory update; this should occur instantly. A few other enhancements would be nice (e.g.: autofill on names fields, uses of Return key to tab between fields, and a simpler method of customizing basic forms like can be done in QuickBooks).

We purchased the ShopBoss scheduling module with high hopes of solving our delinquent deliveries. After about two years of trying to implement this module, we abandoned it for our old manual method. The JobShop module needs a simpler and more flexible scheduling module. it requires way too much time in operator maintenance to keep it functional. In a job shop environment the schedule has to stay on the balls of its feet because the priorities are always changing. We can do the job faster than we can change the schedule in JobBoss.

Pros

The best part of this software is the ability to integrate inventory, invoices, shipping and work travelers in one place.

Cons

The interface is awkward, and the functionality of the interface is not intuitive. Actions like "F2" are swapped with a right click of the mouse, or double click at random in different screens.
To be able to check the status of an inventory item while in a job window requires opening another instance of the program.

Pros

The new web based software works well and is easy to use. The integration of the of all the different modules is very nice. Data collection tied to operations and job travelers gives us a great way to quote more accurately and efficiently. The Rapid Documentation System gives you all that you'll need to become ISO certified and ties right into your E2 system. The new apps that they have created have added features making it easy to enter additional information and part pictures.

Cons

The web based system has a repository manager which is the weakest link in the system. It's time consuming to upload documents, enter documents into document control, and then link to the part number. This needs to be simplified. Also all the documents must be PDF's if you want them to print with a job traveler. In the new web based system you will be mouse clicking all over the screen instead of tabbing from field to field. Also you will need a large monitor to minimize the screen from jumping around and still be able to see the font.

Pros

Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy to navigate through. We do not utilize everything E2 has to offer. We create orders, packing slips, invoices and vendor PO's with E2. We are in an internet deadzone and have really bad service in the shop so we are unable to use the data collection portion and we use QuickBooks for our billing. for what we use it for it works great. The traveler make sense, creating packing slips and invoices is simple and the customer service is top notch.

Cons

The interface is not really intuitive, there was a big learning curve for my team. For example, when we were first trying to print job travelers we were hitting the "print" button in the top right. This was not the correct button. The correct button is "reprint" on the left side of the screen. Why would we be "reprinting" something that we haven't even printed yet? And why have two print options when one isn't even really an option? Another example with some of our frustrations is with the GL accounts. You have to assign an account to a tool in order for it to be properly assigned in QuickBooks. When invoicing, you are required
to enter what GL account you would like that invoice assigned to, but it does nothing. The GL accounts are attached to tools, not invoices. If you do your bookkeeping in QuickBooks it is pointless. It would be really helpful if you could assign your GL account in the invoicing stage, but you can't.