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Click on a version to see details about features introduced in
prior releases:
Version 9.2 with split Profiles and Dies databases
Version 9.1 with Quality Module
Version 9.0 with Automatic Pricing,
Contract Pricing and Tracking and Customer Price List Generation
Version 8.7 with Metric
Units Support, Locale-specific formatting, Invoice/Credit Memo export and
Single-install
Version 8.6.1 with Stock Inventory, Line Up/Utility Sheet Reports, Die Drawing Viewer, Print
Packages and Java 1.5
Version 9.2 splits the definition of die information into two separate
tables, Profiles and Dies, and allows orders to be planned according to the
attributes of specific dies, including the actual weight as measured from prior
production. Extrusion production data, including billet counts, production
time and downtime can also be recorded against a particular die, which allows
productivity (e.g. pounds/hour), downtime and production history to be reported
and analyzed by either profile or die.
Attributes of a profile that are independent of the actual extrusion dies
used to produce it are contained in the Profiles
table, such as Print Wt/Foot, Customer and the profile drawing itself.
Production parameters that are likely to be the same across all or most dies for
a profile can also be specified in the Profiles table.
The Dies table includes attributes of specific dies used to extrude a
profile, such as Hole Count, Vendor, Actual Wt/Foot and Last Run Date.
Production parameters for Dies can also be specified that override the
corresponding parameters defined for the Profile. The Last Run Date and
Shift are automatically updated when production data is entered, and a system
setting lets the Actual Wt/Foot be updated automatically as well. Version
9.2 also includes a Scheduled Dies report that shows the status, location, hole
count, tooling requirements and other attributes of dies for all the profiles on
the extrusion schedule, making it easy to manage your die inventory.
The Production Data Entry form has been enhanced to allow entry of Bar/Lot
and Cast/Heat Numbers for better traceability of material. These values are then
available in a drop-down list for pack station operators so they don't have to
be entered manually, improving productivity and accuracy. The Actual
Wt/Foot of extruded material can also be entered or computed from a sample
length and weight. Shop Order attributes such as billet type, alloy,
billet diameter and press can now be overridden to more easily maintain an
accurate billet inventory and allow production to move or be split between
presses without updating the Shop Order.
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| The Dies form lets you define the attributes of individual extrusion
dies for a given profile.
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| The Die Lookup dialog lists the dies available for a
given profile, along with the relevant attributes of each, allowing the
die with the most desirable attributes to be chosen for the order being
planned. A system setting allows you to choose whether orders are
planned using the Actual Wt/Foot of the die or the Print/Nominal Wt/Foot
of the profile.
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| The Production Data Entry form allows specification of
the die Copy Number to attribute production quantities and time to,
allowing tracking and reporting of productivity and downtime by die as
well as profile. |
New in Version 9.1 is a Quality Module that includes a database containing
the Chemical Analysis for each Heat (a.k.a. cast) supplied by billet vendors, as well as a new
form that computes Yield Strength, Ultimate Tensile Strength and Elongation from
test measurements, and lets you create printed Material Certificates.
Warnings automatically alert the operator to test results that are outside
specifications, and Material Certificates can be included in Print
Packages, ensuring that all related certificates are printed along with the
shipping paperwork for each shipment.
- Quality Database
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The Vendor, Alloy, Billet Type, Billet Diameter,
Chemical Analysis and any relevant notes can be recorded in the ExtSTAR
database for each Heat. The Chemical Analysis is automatically printed
on all Material Certificates.
- Material Certificates
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Material Certificates can be easily created for any
group of packing tickets being shipped to a customer. Certificates can
be created containing Chemical Analysis information only, or test results
can be computed from raw test measurements and included on the printed
Material Certificate. Any number of Specifications defining minimum
and/or maximum values for each type of test result (e.g. UTS, Elongation)
can be defined by the user, and warnings are displayed to the operator if
any test results are outside the defined specifications. Warnings are
displayed at the time a Material Certificate is created as well as each time
it's printed, to help ensure that all outgoing material is within spec.
The Material Certificates form is used to create, modify or view a Material
Certificate
Printed Material Certificate can include a scanned signature
ExtSTAR version 9.0's optional PATENT PENDING Automatic Pricing module brings a new level
of sophistication to the process of pricing extrusion orders. It not only
computes prices for specific customers, dies or parts based on a raw material
price that may change periodically, but it can also automatically generate setup
charges and charges for certifications, fabrication or virtually any other
charge that is related to the size of an order or the processes it goes through. Price breaks or
triggers can be implemented for any type of charge by applying a conditional
expression defined by you, allowing the use of virtually any formula to
determine whether and how a particular charge applies to an order.
ExtSTAR's Automatic Pricing module also supports contract pricing, where
prices can be fixed for an agreed volume and/or time period for any die type,
die, part, alloy or combination thereof. Contract prices are automatically
applied to orders to which they apply, and the total volume delivered and
remaining under a contract can be computed in seconds at any time.
Automatic Pricing would be an incomplete solution if there were no way to effectively
communicate prices and price changes to your customers. To complete the
pricing loop, ExtSTAR can generate a custom Price List for any customer for any
effective date, including contract prices and prices for ancillary charges such
as setup, cutting, fabrication, etc.
With the ability to automatically and accurately generate prices based on virtually any relevant
criteria and the tools to keep customers informed of
their prices, ExtSTAR's Automatic Pricing allows you to implement simple or complex pricing schemes that accurately reflect your production and
administration costs, all while eliminating mistakes and reducing the time and complexity
of pricing orders.
Another new feature in Release 9.0 is the addition of a Due Date to invoices,
and the ability of ExtSTAR to compute a Due Date for an Invoice
automatically based on the customer's payment terms.
- Price List Setup
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Prices are specified by defining Rules for the
various Charge Types that can appear on an Invoice. Rules
can be created for any Charge Type, and may
be specified as Base rules that apply to all customers, or Customer rules
that apply only to a specific customer. Base rules are usually used to
specify company-wide prices upon which customer prices are based, or
standard charges that apply to all customers, such as Setup. Customer
rules are then defined that adjust or override the prices specified in Base
rules. Rules can specify charges that
apply to a Line Item, a Shop Order, or a group of Shop Orders. An
Effective Condition can be specified for any rule to determine whether the
rule applies to the line item being priced. Several variables are
available for use in Effective Condition expressions, including variables
that indicate the number of pieces on or the total weight of the line
item or Shop Order.
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| Each rule has a Context that determines which
order items it applies to. It can range from very general, such as
a Die Type, to very specific, such as a Customer Part Number. |
The Details of a
rule specify the price associated with the rule, as well as how the
charge is to be applied, and whether the price is a set price or adds to
(adjusts)
another rule's price. Rules can optionally specify a conditional
expression that is evaluated when an order is being priced to determine if
it applies to that order. Multiple prices with different effective dates can also be
specified in a rule, letting you maintain a historical record of prices
as well as specify price changes that will take effect on a future date,
without affecting the pricing of current orders. |
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| ExtSTAR builds prices by first
determining the most specific rule that applies to an order line item,
then either using its price explicitly (if it's a Set rule) or adding it to the price
specified by a more general rule (if it's an Adjust rule). ExtSTAR automatically arranges
rules into a hierarchy according to their Context and displays them in
tree form, allowing you to
easily visualize how the price for an item will be built. Rules with the same Context
appear at the same level in the tree, and can be prioritized by simply dragging and dropping them into
the desired order. In this example, the price for part
DOCKSUP100023 on a Shop Order where the total weight was 25,000 pounds
would be determined by adding $0.07 to GENERAL PRODUCTS' customer
up-charge of $0.20, then adding that sum to the "Ingot Price"
of $1.49, yielding a final price of $1.76/lb. |
- Customer Contracts
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Customer Contracts are used to define prices for a
customer based on a set volume and/or a period of
time. Contract prices are specified with Contract rules, each of which
is associated with a single Customer Contract. The contract rules
associated with a particular contract specify the contract prices, and their
Contexts are also be used to determine which orders apply to the contract,
allowing ExtSTAR to instantly compute how much of a contract has been
fulfilled. Any Shop Order can also be specifically associated with a
particular Customer Contract, even if it was or will be shipped outside the
contract time period.
- Auto-Price Order
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Any Shop Order can be automatically priced by
simply pressing the Auto-Price button on the Price Order form.
The Effective Date for prices defaults to the Order Date, but can be
adjusted manually to any other date, for example, to update the prices for
an order because the customer requested a delay in shipment. If prices
associated with a Customer Contract apply to the Shop Order, then they will
be used instead of standard prices. The Auto-Price Order function will
automatically add all applicable charges to the Shop Order and its line
items.
Sample charges generated by ExtSTAR's Automatic Pricing module
- Customer Price Lists
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Price Lists can be generated for any customer for
any effective date. Several options are available to control the way
metal prices are shown and choose whether or not prices for ancillary charges are included. Contract Summaries showing fulfilled and
remaining volume can also be selected. A custom Price List configuration can
be saved for each customer, and price lists for all customers with a saved
configuration can be generated in a single operation. Click on the
links below to view sample Price Lists:
Price List with Metal
Prices listed by Rule
Price List with Metal
Prices listed by Customer Part
- Payment Terms and Invoice Due Dates
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ExtSTAR can now compute a Due Date for invoices
automatically. Any number of Payment Terms can be defined, each of
which may have an associated Due Date Days value. Payment Terms can be
assigned to a customer, and when an invoice is created for that customer, a
Due Date for the invoice is automatically computed based on the Invoice Date
and Due Date Days. Both the Payment Terms and the Due Date can be
overridden manually if necessary, and the Due Date Days for any Payment
Terms may be left blank to require manual computation of the invoice due
date.
ExtSTAR version 8.7 includes several
features intended for international users, as well as support for exporting
invoices and credit memos to a GL using plug-ins, and the ability to install
ExtSTAR and a database driver with a single install.
- Metric Units Support and Units Converter
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Metric units of measure are now fully supported throughout all
of ExtSTAR's functions. The units of measure in which length and
weight values are specified can be set to any common English or metric
units. The length unit of measure for die/extrusion weight can be
selected independently of the length units used to specify part and billet
lengths. For example, die/extrusion weights can be in kilograms per
meter (kg/m) while part and billet lengths are specified in centimeters
(cm). The units used for pricing by length and weight can also be
specified, and can be different than
the length and weight units used for production. The order
entry form can calculate a piece quantity from any total metric or English
weight or length value, no matter what units of measure are specified as the
standard units. A Units Converter tool is also included to convert
any weight, length or weight/length value from one English or metric unit of
measure to another.
- Locale-specific and Custom Formatting
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Currency amounts, numeric values, dates and times
can all be formatted according to the conventions of the user's language and
country. Date and time formats can be further customized to suit your
company's preferences. A primary locale (language and country) can be
selected in the System Settings, which determines the format for numeric
values and default formats for dates and times. A separate locale can
be selected to determine the format of currency values, if necessary.
- Invoice/Credit Memo Exporting
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Approved invoices and credit memos can be exported
to another application using a plug-in agent. Plug-in agents can be
developed for virtually any GL or Receivables application by an ExtSTAR
customer using an interface and template provided with ExtSTAR. They
can also be custom-developed by KRAHE InfoSystems to a customer's
specifications. Plug-in agents are updated and installed independently
of ExtSTAR itself.
- Single-install
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DB2® users can choose
to install the new DB2 Universal (Type 4) JDBC driver along with
ExtSTAR. The new driver eliminates the need to install DB2 client
software in addition to ExtSTAR on each workstation. All that is
needed to configure each workstation is a URL to identify the location and
name of the ExtSTAR database server, making ExtSTAR one of the
simplest-installing client/server applications available.
ExtSTAR version 8.6.1 incorporates several new and innovative
features designed to reduce stock inventory, improve clerical efficiency,
generate additional information for production and improve ExtSTAR's performance
and usability.
- Stock Inventory
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Finished or near-finished goods inventory is now maintained directly in ExtSTAR, and is fully integrated with the order entry, planning, production data entry and packing station functions. Material that is not
or cannot be shipped directly to a customer is labeled with a stock packing ticket at the pack station, which automatically records the
attributes and location of the material in Stock Inventory. Order entry operators are automatically alerted to the availability of stock suitable for fulfilling part or all of an order,
which may then be reserved for the order. Stock of the proper shape but in lengths longer than required by the order can be reserved as well, with ExtSTAR computing the number of finished pieces that each stock piece will yield. Details
about stock reservations are automatically added to the
Shop Order, including quantity, cut-back instructions and the location of the stock
material. Inventory reports show available inventory and stock
reservation detail.
- Line Up/Utility and Utility Sheet Reports
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The Line Up/Utility form is a subset of the Scheduling form that gives foremen or other supervisors the ability to manipulate and update the jobs on the Line
Up, which is the schedule of jobs to be run within the next few hours or
shifts.
Two new reports, the Utility Sheet and Press Utility Sheet, can be generated along with the Line Up.
The reports list the specific billet sizes, types and quantities required by the jobs on the Line Up, and are intended to be used by press operators and utility drivers or log shear/saw operators who need to know the order in which billets are to be loaded into the furnace or press.
Starter billets are automatically inserted for dies configured to require
them.
- Integrated Die Drawing Viewer
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ExtSTAR now includes an integrated PDF viewer for
viewing and/or printing die drawings. The integrated viewer simplifies
applications installation, improves security and makes advance features like
Print Packages possible.
- Print Packages
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Groups of documents related to Shop
Orders or Invoices can now be generated in
a single step by defining them as a print package. Print packages can consist of any number of documents, including
Shop Orders, Extrusion Data Sheets, die drawings, blank pages and arbitrary PDF files.
The output of a print package is a single multi-page document, allowing the use of a duplex printer for 2-sided printing or a PDF generator such as Adobe Acrobat for generating a single PDF file containing a group of related documents.
For example, if you want to regularly print the production copy of a shop
order with the die drawing printed on the back, along with the customer copy
of the shop order with a PDF file containing Terms & Conditions on the
back of it, you can easily define a reusable Print Package to do this.
Any number of print packages can be defined.
- Java™ 1.5
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ExtSTAR now utilizes the Java 1.5 platform,
resulting in several user interface and performance improvements.
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