MAC-PAC XE™ and BuyDesign® Users Gather at 11th Annual
TDCI Customer Forum

Despite the slow economy and the remnants of Hurricane Ike (in Ohio of all places!), Perspectives 2008, was another very successful TDCI Customer Forum.  Even though some attendees arrived a little late and a few were unable to make it to Columbus because of the weather, over 125 attendees from more than 45 companies were at the conference, with a few others participating in specific sessions by phone.  Fortunately the hotel had power throughout the conference, even though there were widespread outages in the Columbus area.  Most local TDCI people were without power at their homes, but the energy level at the conference was high!    

Like last year, Perspectives 2008 was held at the Columbus Marriott Northwest Hotel in suburban Dublin, Ohio. Many attendees commented that the facilities, food and service all helped make the conference very productive and enjoyable.  

Expanded Agenda

With a theme of ‘Catch the Wave’, the conference agenda featured:

• Update and direction presentations on TDCI, MAC-PAC XE, and BuyDesign.
• A lively keynote address titled “How to Get the Party Started” where Wil Schroter, “serial entrepreneur” and founder of several highly successful Internet businesses, shared ideas for generating and maintaining enthusiasm for just about any new endeavor or project.
• Over 30 sessions in 4 concurrent tracks, including customer case studies, new solution demonstrations, functional tutorials, ‘hot topic’ sessions, 3rd party solution overviews, future solution preview and feedback sessions, user panels, and roundtable discussions.
• The annual MAC-PAC XE and BuyDesign Customer Advisory Board (CAB) meetings.
• A Solution Center with over 15 TDCI and 3rd party solution demonstration stations.
• Three optional Sunday classes on both MAC-PAC XE and BuyDesign.

A number of companies presented their strategies and successes throughout the agenda, including:

• Moss Supply
• Compac
• Gorman-Rupp
• Watlow Electric
• Accurate Partitions
• Eggers Industries
• Temtrol
• Godfrey Marine 

BuyDesign integration examples were also presented on: VT Industries and Robbins, Inc.    

Featured MAC-PAC XE and BuyDesign Solutions

Attendees were encouraged to ‘catch the wave’ with a number of new and featured solutions demonstrated at the conference:

For MAC-PAC XE users:

• Planned MAC-PAC XE infrastructure enhancements to support increased system uptime and help MAC-PAC XE users take full advantage of the new IBM Power Servers and i6.0 operating system.  
• New Insights for MAC-PAC XE Analytics Applications  
• Purchase Price Variance (PPV) Analytics – a new datamart with historical purchase information not held in the MAC-PAC XE database, including a wide range of pre-defined dimensions such as: PO Unit Cost, PPV Receipt, PPV Match, Total PPV, Standard Unit Cost at Receipt, Quantity Variance, and more.
• Manufacturing Analytics –  a new datamart with two critical views: Manufacturing Order (MO) analysis showing quantity and values over time, and Manufacturing Efficiency, showing efficiency, labor and earned hours, and quantities over time; both with pre-defined dimensions such as warehouse, part, class and sub-class, manufacturing order number, and many more. 
• BuyDesign Configurator for MAC-PAC XE – an intuitive new “point & click” browser-based configurator and visual rules development environment that integrates advanced configuration capabilities directly into standard MAC-PAC XE order entry functions.
• MAC-PAC XE Priority Manager – an advanced production management solution that uses existing MAC-PAC XE data in new ways to provide clear visibility of demand-driven priorities, pull-based scheduling support, simulation and analysis.

For BuyDesign Users:

• BuyDesign 6.0 Channel Sales and Configurator – the newest release of BuyDesign, now available with many new or enhanced configuration, quoting, deployment, and system management features. 
• BuyDesign 6.0 Insights – The newest BuyDesign application providing detail visibility and analysis of quoting and ordering activity across all channels, including both dealers and company sales people. 
• BuyDesign 6.0 Build-Your-Own – a significantly upgraded version of the highly visual and intuitive consumer-focused application for generating consumer interest on a manufacturer’s web site.

BuyDesign users were also given glimpses of the upcoming new version of BuyDesign Spec-In, and a planned application for mass generation of product data such as BoMs, catalog entries, etc.  

Customer Showcase

As has become a tradition, another special aspect of the conference was the ‘Customer Showcase’ where many companies displayed examples or information about their respective products.  Items shown ranged from equipment, machinery, and a variety of industrial products, to consumer products, building products, and luxury yachts.  Participating companies included:

• Accurate Partitions
• A.T. Cross Company
• Carver Boat Corporation
• Compac Corporation
• Cosmolab Inc.
• Draper, Inc.
• Eggers Industries, Inc.
• LASCO Fittings, Inc.
• Link-Belt Construction Equipment
• MASCO (Merrilatt)
• Robertshaw Industrial Products
• Watlow Electric

User-to-User Networking

An aspect of the conference that is always just as important as the formal agenda is the chance to network informally with other users, TDCI people, and solution partner representatives.  This year was no exception with opportunities to meet and talk during the Sunday Welcome Reception, the Monday Solution Center reception, the Tuesday dinner event, meals and breaks each day, and the ever-popular hospitality suite each evening.  

Customer Awards

In the closing session, awards were presented for various types of achievements and activities.  Companies receiving awards included: Champion Aerospace, Exemplis, Kolbe & Kolbe, Link-Belt Industries, MASCO, Moss Supply Company, Pulsafeeder, Quaker Windows, and Temtrol.

A Night in the South Pacific

A highlight of the conference was the Tuesday evening tropical-themed dinner event.  Dressed in flowered shirts and leis, attendees enjoyed Hawaiian music, tropical drinks, beautiful South Pacific dancers, a men vs. women dance contest, and high energy “dueling pianos”.  In addition, names were drawn for prizes, including an iPod Touch and other items provided by Solution Center exhibitors.         

A Valuable and Fun Event for All

All-in-all, the conference was a valuable and fun event for everyone involved. 

Selected conference presentations are now available on the TDCI web site.  Please send a request for the link to Sharon Binkley at sbinkley@tdci.com.

If you have any suggestions for future conferences, please send them to Sharon Binkley at sbinkley@tdci.com.

Plan now for Perspectives 2009

Be sure to plan to bring a team to next year’s TDCI Customer Forum.  Watch MAC-PAC XE eNews and the TDCI web site for dates and more information.