Making the Switch – Normark Testimonial   

One customer's satisfaction with moving from UNIX to Windows

Normark Manufacturing is a supplier of stamping and welded assemblies to Ford, GM and Mazda and has been using Peartree's MMS Suite since 1992. They recently switched servers from a UNIX based system to a Windows server with the guidance of Peartree Software.  Here is what they had to say about the move:

We were running most of Peartree's Manufacturing Management System (MMS) Suite on a 6 year old UNIX server, and the annual hardware support costs for this server were becoming very high.  After a quick study we determined that a new Intel based server would cost less than the ongoing hardware support of the UNIX machine.

The new system promised greater speed and drive space, something we needed to give us the room to develop our business further. Our only issue of contention was whether to move to the Linux or the Windows 2003 Operating System. Our experience with UNIX had made us partial to Linux, but Windows gives us the ability to run a common Operating System, either Windows 2000 or 2003, for all of our servers. Windows proved to be the best business option.

Using the resources and planning of Peartree's team we were able to configure, test and migrate the entire Peartree MMS Suite within two weeks.  We started the process on June 28 by sending the server to Peartree for configuration and to have the latest code entered on our system.  After testing and only a few minor fixes we went live on July 15.

The server is working flawlessly.  We now have ample room to grow and expand, plus by using Windows 2003 we are able to provide secondary back up to other servers and drives that we would not have had using Linux. With our dependency growing on MRP and technology in general, we realize we must always be open to using new technology.

I wish to thank the entire Peartree team for their help. Not only on this upgrade, but on the great job they have done in the last 8 months implementing our new SFDC (Shop Floor Data Collection) and RF systems.

-Steve Noble, Engineering Manager, Normark Manufacturing

A Word of Thanks from Unique Fabricating – Unique Testimonial

Unique Fabricating of Auburn Hills, MI, recently recognized the benefits of upgrading their operating system and equipment with Peartree, as their 10 year old Unix system was replaced with state of the art technology. The difference astounded Unique Fabricating personnel, as processes that took an hour to complete before are now completed in minutes.  Linda L. Lindholme, Vice-President of Corporate Administration, wrote to Peartree in thanks:

"The thought of the unknown and 'what if' scenarios sometimes revert our mindset to 'if it isn't broke, why fix it?' This is especially true when it comes to our operating systems and equipment, which is the life source of our operation. These unknowns and our cautious nature resulted in procrastinating over the last year to upgrade. We now know all we did was cause our company to miss out on the technology boost that has made a tremendous difference in our day to day operations.

 Due to the regimented team approach of Peartree, we have a success story to share. With Ken Breithaupt on site and our IT Manager, Mike Golden, to bridge any gaps, we took the leap. We run our operations 24 hours 5 days a week so our window of opportunity came on Friday, September 3, 2004. We did some testing during the day on Friday of critical functions in Peartree on the new equipment and at 10 p.m. we retired the 10 year old Unix box. We were live on the new equipment and upgraded operating system Saturday morning without missing a beat.

When our operations resumed on Tuesday September 7 2004, our end users were astounded. Processes that normally took an hour to run, now took 10 minutes. We no longer could type faster than the system. The only concern we saw was duplication of reports. The reports ran so instantaneously that the end users re-ran reports thinking they must not have executed the report.

We applaud you for making this transition a huge success story.

Thanks again,"

-Linda L. Lindholm, Vice President Corporate Administration,
 Unique Fabricating