The Avante package I am working on uses UV. They seem to have "Technical Bulletins" on almost a bi-weekly basis of bugs within the system. The patches are a bear to install if there is even the normal end-user amount of customization on the existing system and a nightmare if it's extensive. Most of these bugs you find fixing well before the patch arrives if it's in an area that you utilize. There appears to be little to no respect for how Epicor handles support.
Trying to gestimate learning curve for an individual is hard. What shortens the timeframe is the same for any package/tool. Just how familiar are you with the outside factors such as a extensive understanding of manufacturing business process flow and if you have ever utilized SB+ before. If you are unfamiliar with either than it of course extends the learning curve. I have seen both sides of the coin with other consultants at my current contract, one had extensive expertise in SB+ and very little Basic or manufacturing. The end result in his contribution was use of SB+ tools that were not utilized anywhere else within the Avante system, spaghetti in regards to the manufacturing functions, and misuse of SB+ tools where Basic was more appropriate. [Not even the illustrious SB+ guru Kevin King did that as he passed through their doors] On the other side, yet another consultant was unable to conform to the use of SB+ when appropriate. In other words, when enhancing, by conforming to the rest of the system it creates a better flow and less problems, it also strengthens your understanding of the system. I found Avante's extensive use of SB+ tools the biggest hurdle since other systems I had used it on primarily utilized it for forms and report design leaving the majority of processes to be written more in Basic. That is not the case with Avante, there is extensive use of paragraphs. I find this more cumbersome, more system use intensive with poor use causing gross inefficiencies. If you use debugger a lot to troubleshoot as I had in the past, it becomes a nightmare. You wind up using trace and display functions instead at various points to view what is actually occurring. Making sure you don't step on yourself as you pass through multiple paragraphs, screens to basic and back to the original screen depends on file use and preserving the work files utilized. Best bet when customizing Avante is to not screw too much with the core files, but instead utilize fields so far out, or adding additional user files that the potential for Avante stepping on them is eliminated. Would I choose it as a package? No, I think there are far better choices out there that are far more manageable in terms of both support and ease of customization. But that is just my .02 Debster -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Allen E. Elwood Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2005 4:15 PM To: u2-users@listserver.u2ug.org Subject: RE: [U2]: Epicor Hi Will, You mean, like the epicor product that uses u2? (which I believe Manage-2000 is the only one). Or the epicor product that uses SQL? I have little knowledge of that one but an associate says it's a very poor substitute for M2K. His exact words:"I know their glorified jobshop package won't do diddly for m2k folk used to an mrp engine." (Manage-2000 abbreviated is M2k) If you're interested in M2k, I used it in a production distribution environment from 1988 to 1999, and still specialize in programming/consulting for that product. It's a very big system. Over 800 menus! Allen -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 11, 2005 17:52 To: u2-users@listserver.u2ug.org Subject: [U2]: Epicor Is anyone on this list an Epicor user ? I have a client who is examining Epicor as a possible solution to part of what they need and would like some input. Thanks Will Johnson Fast Forward ------- u2-users mailing list u2-users@listserver.u2ug.org To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/ ------- u2-users mailing list u2-users@listserver.u2ug.org To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/ ------- u2-users mailing list u2-users@listserver.u2ug.org To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/
