Epicor Awarded U.S. Patent for Software that Visually Controls Elements of the Manufacturing Environment

Epicor Software Corp. (Irvine, CA) announced that Visual Scheduling, a module available with the Vista and Vantage manufacturing management software systems, has been awarded a United States patent. Titled "Visual Schedule Management System for a Manufacturing Facility," U.S. Patent No. 5,835,898 covers software for visually representing and controlling elements of the manufacturing environment. The patent was issued to Epicor's DataWorks Corp. subsidiary. Epicor (formerly Platinum Software Corp.) was formed following the merger between Platinum Software and DataWorks in December 1998.

Through a graphical model of the production floor, Visual Scheduling simplifies workload management. Users can easily identify bottlenecks, re-schedule jobs with drag-and-drop simplicity and ``drill down'' for specific job or work center details.

"Epicor was the first manufacturing software vendor to offer a system with the capabilities of Visual Scheduling -- which revolutionized our industry -- and we now have the patent to prove it," says Bill Borg, VP of product development for Epicor. "The inspiration for Visual Scheduling was simple -- using technology to improve and integrate the scheduling methods our customers were already familiar with. These methods include reviewing production control boards with jobs indicated by movable bars and analyzing printed reports from spreadsheet or project planning software."

Steve Adams, president of Adams Manufacturing in Bartlesville, Okla., a company specializing in machining parts for submersible pumps used in oil production and water wells, states that Visual Scheduling was a key factor in his company's decision to choose Vista.

"Making schedule changes with our old DOS-based system was difficult and time-consuming," explains Adams. "I cringed whenever customers called to make changes, which happened often, and I spent a lot of late nights adjusting schedules and calling customers back the next day."

With Visual Scheduling, Adams can now see bottlenecks and possible solutions immediately, while the customer is on the phone. "Changes are easy -- I just click on the job, drag and drop it, and I'm done," Adams says. "Responsiveness is a big part of delivering excellent customer service, and that's the name of the game."