General Consultant Discussion

Any recommendations on a JobOps Partner?

We use Chortek, 920.968.0963 , chortek.com

@LarryBradford I am an independent and am authorized to support any reseller with JobOps. I've been consulting and implementing for 23+ years. Please let me know if I can help you out.

@LarryBradford Me Me! Pick Me. :) Actually, RKL eSolutions is working with a few resellers now. They do the Sage 100, we do the JobOps. Best bet is to reach out either @TimEfinger or @PatAnson1

If it's the West Coast, preferably Southern California, then feel free to contact me. We have 5 certified JobOps consultants.

It couldn't be farther away. It is South Western Virginia.

If you plan on providing the onsite presence and confidence for the customer, location of the JobOps consultant isn't all that important. Getting a good technical JobOps consultants is very important, but having somebody who can work with the customer on processes and adoption is equally so, and that's very learnable by an experienced Sage 100 consultant.

An appropriate question is who in this group is a JobOps Solution Provider, Reseller or Certified Consultant available to assist with JobOps implementations and support. Although we support customers on the East Coast and Mid-West, and remote support works, I strongly believe that a local presence is important, and some on-site face-to-face contact has its place. If you are looking for specific expertise, such as Enhanced Scheduling or Product Configurator, where the experience level varies, then the appropriate group may not be local. I also believe that almost all of us in 90 Minds get along and we respect each other's capabilities, so I would have no hesitation in recommending someone that is more local to the installation. I suggest looking at the Reseller Network page on the JobOps site to identify consulting resources by area: http://jobops.com/reseller-network/ Unfortunately the site does not list Certified Consultants, such as @JaneScanlan, so always keep her in mind. Jane introduced and taught many of us JobOps many years ago, and she knows all of JobOps as well as anyone.

Thanks @JohnHoyt !

I also believe in a local presence. I am under the impression the only 100c manufacturing solution is JobOps. The client has limited manufacturing needs but does have estimating needs for one off production.

@LarryBradford Work Order is still available under 100c, and with enhancements from ACSG it can result in a very powerful solution, if it is appropriate for the production requirements. Pure WO without those enhancements - not so much.

Any recommendation on a good estimating solution. I always feel like we revert back to a spreadsheet (and a healthy dose of ""The Force"").

Having been through a similar process (not with any of the people participating in this message thread) -- I recommend you also check with availability. I've been down the road of getting someone involved and naturally the customer has no clue when they want to start .... until they suddenly want to start tomorrow and ooops -- resource constraint. This is a specialty area and it's important to stress the need for scheduling.

The Force you will use. JobOps provides for forms of estimating when preparing a Sales Order quote with an underlying Work Ticket. You are able to set a profit margin which will adjust selling price, you can add/delete/change parts on steps and make them chargeable (places them on the Sales Order and Invoice as separate line items). It's not like a traditional estimating system as you would have in Excel with formulas, but it works for some. The ultimate in estimating within JobOps would be using the Product Configurator which can calculate prices, enter parameters that will calculate quantities and labor, etc. In many cases this is an overkill, so you need to look at the types of jobs and whether this has value.

It might be worth the trouble to arrange an initial assessment call with customer, you, and the JobOps partner who would be on it if it went that direction. John has pointed out lots of great things about JO, but still might be overkill -- you'll need a solid justification to help with customer's adoption process.

JobOps is like few other Sage modules. It is complex (as is the manufacturing process it is supposed to remedy), it is invasive and it touches a lot of areas in the company. If the company isn't willing to be ALL in, then run from the opportunity. If they are willing to go the distance, then get the BEST partner/consultant to implement. One that knows Sage/JobOps and one that knows manufacturing. I have had two JO experiences where the end user wanted local. Local was not the best. Lots of time and money and effort was wasted as a result. When it comes to JO, partner with the best, not the nearest!!!

^ what Jeff said. I also like to try to get the meter running pretty quickly unless there is an existing relationship or a strong reason not to. These initial consultations tend to go pretty deep. Personally I find it is a waste of my time to get involved with JO since the program goes so deep that unless I'm contributing a material amount to the project I am probably not needed.