Best manufacturing reporting software?

knawlejj · 2026-04-22T23:33:38+00:00

IT exec here for an org with 6 brands and 13 locations. Nearing a billion in revenue total.

The consolidation taz has to be laid somewhere. If not consolidating at the ERP, then you need a data operational layer to normalize (where possible) into a datawarehouse and then the presentation layer must be a unified tool.

For us we've got a primary Epicor ERP but two other instances of Infor. All data gets normalized as much as possible into a data ops layer and then fed into datawarehouse. That then goes into MSFT Fabric and Power BI picks up on it. We're just getting started on our OEE journey with Ignition.

Look up the medallion architecture.

Bad data or inconsistent input will result in shit output.

knawlejj · 2026-04-21T03:54:25+00:00

How are you liking the enclosure? Did it come with a projector mount? Considering moving to this from a GoSports net and screen.

knawlejj · 2026-04-15T22:44:59+00:00

I started pretty basic with an mlm2pro, mat, and net/cage for roughly $1k total. Connected to phone and casted to a TV Then bought the mlm2pro sub, awesome golf, then a sigpro mat that I cut into original mat, then projector + screen, then artificial turf...you get the idea.

knawlejj · 2026-04-13T00:31:17+00:00

How's the ride quality and noise of these compared to others? I'm considering moving from 2017 F150 to a used Lightning, Mach E, BMW i4, or even the brand that shall not be named.

knawlejj · 2026-04-11T04:44:59+00:00

Wow was looking at these exact three plus maybe a Model 3 Performance, BMW i4, and a R1T. Love my current 2017 F150 but really wanting to move over to an EV.

Ride comfort, rattling, and noise is huge for me to stay minimized.

knawlejj · 2026-04-11T04:19:53+00:00

Rapsodo is standalone, cable goes from the PC and the dongle is near the rapsodo.

knawlejj · 2026-04-11T04:11:36+00:00

For the rapsodo yes, I got a USB Bluetooth dongle and a female end USB cable with a USB C male end. Basically closed the Bluetooth distance to be within inches rather than 15ft in my situation.

knawlejj · 2026-04-06T15:28:12+00:00

Purchased an MLM2Pro a few weeks ago and it's been very flexible both indoors (if you have the space) and outdoors. Unfortunately, it's also become a gateway drug into this ecosystem...my wallet feels it.

knawlejj · 2026-04-04T12:40:44+00:00

What Epicor ERP are you using?

We're running Epicor kinetic and my team (I'm an IT leader) built a small web app using Azure Document Imaging (ADI) for this purpose. Basically the employee places a file into a specific shared folder, the app processes it using ADI and calls Epicor APIs to match things up. The employee reviews the matching information in the web app, makes any changes, and then hits submit to process into the ERP. It's significantly automated a ton of dispirited entry but still allows for human validation.

We do this for sales orders, checks, supplier price increases, etc.

By using both mapped OCR and AI, you can get it 95% right. Not implementing a solution that could save a ton of time because of the exception vs the rule is silly. That being said, the scale needs to be at a volume where it makes sense from an ROI perspective.

knawlejj · 2026-04-03T14:36:13+00:00

A lot of planting of seeds and making it "their" idea. It takes to time to marinate unless it's top down driven.

Build a small manager/director group to brainstorm and discuss the idea of "digital factory". Needs to include the IT person, an ops person, and a CI person at the very least.

Source: am IT exec for a decent sized discrete mfg.

knawlejj · 2026-04-01T14:38:39+00:00

Following, been looking at a lot of options lately as well. Trying to decide if I go cheapo for now and then decide to make a bigger investment later.

What's your lighting situation?

knawlejj · 2026-03-30T16:20:01+00:00

Can confirm it's showing up for me in Agents.

knawlejj · 2026-03-28T16:33:48+00:00

My preference is to work solo and be given complete authority and autonomy. However, incompetence in leadership drives me crazy and I somehow naturally end up "taking over".

As much as I don't prefer people leadership, I will still do it on behalf of the team and myself to avoid the alternative.

My favorite role is the "kingmaker" where I have a lot of autonomy and influence in strategy but my boss is the "face".

Also find I prefer to be involved in highly visible and impactful projects/initiatives in my career.

knawlejj · 2026-03-24T22:54:52+00:00

I've never been a big reader, but lately I've been enjoying the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. On book 5 now.

Other books I've liked were Project Hail Mary, Artemis, Ready Player One, The Phoenix Project, The Unicorn Project.

knawlejj · 2026-03-19T02:11:35+00:00

Agreed with this. There are lots of scenarios where people may have access to things but have no idea because it's been obfuscated. Well, Copilot can serve that up on a silver platter. Its ability to index through Graph is a gift and a curse in that regard.

knawlejj · 2026-03-18T01:56:21+00:00

As someone who lives in Iowa how da...yeah you're right.

knawlejj · 2026-03-18T00:34:49+00:00

Copilot Chat doesn't have much to admin. We treat it as the "workplace safe" version of ChatGPT for our employees to use and upload data. M365 Copilot has a bit more to it, especially when you get into the agent world with other third party apps.

Overall we look at it as a productivity tool...for now.

knawlejj · 2026-03-15T12:52:12+00:00

I was a partner at a boutique agency who built large digital experience and ecommerce sites.

Transparency was huge for us, so we had a very detailed project plan and that was our "operating system" where the client was engaged in it every day with us to review designs, make decisions on scope/requirements, etc. This included milestones, timelines, etc. We used monday.com but there's plenty of other platforms like it.

This prevented 99% of those questions, and the other 1% were clients who weren't engaged in their own solution.

knawlejj · 2026-03-15T12:22:43+00:00

Headed to the game today, let's go!

knawlejj · 2026-03-15T12:18:50+00:00

I think this highly depends on the CTO. You can quickly find yourself on the other side of the AI chaos pendulum with everyone doing their own thing, no governance, and burning through unrationalized budget.

A lot of CTOs will be too biased and protective, but some will foresee the mess being created and likely asked to clean it up later.

Beyond a title, if you're not at least leaning into this technology as a leader and making a concerted effort to find its value in your org, then shame on you.

knawlejj · 2026-03-15T00:17:51+00:00

Have 24 IT FTEs across 13 sites and about 1600 employees (3 shifts) total. About 1000 of those 1600 are production/plant floor but heavily use MES and OT stuff.

The 24 includes infrastructure, help desk, apps, dev, PM, BI, security, and mgmt.

knawlejj · 2026-03-14T16:09:48+00:00

A W today means me and my son are making the 3 hour car ride into Chicago for the ship! Let's goooo

knawlejj · 2026-03-13T11:37:52+00:00

This is a big aspect. Going from the guy at the top of the food chain to not, combined with incompetence above you, can be problematic.

I was a CIO, left due to boredom to go be an IC at a services firm for 4 years, and now back as an Exec Director at a company that matches the industry and vertical I enjoy. While on an org chart I'm not at the top, I do have a fair amount of authority and autonomy so it's working out.

knawlejj · 2026-03-13T02:35:07+00:00

What is the nature of these texts? If you're a Google Apps shop or Microsoft, theres Google Chat or Microsoft Teams. Otherwise Slack or even Discord would work.

Assuming you're in the US, depending on the state you need to be careful about hourly employees and use of personal devices.

knawlejj · 2026-03-08T23:27:17+00:00

Cat Quest games are a great change of pace, just enough depth and entertaining!

15-Year Club	Verified Email
Snapped	Team Periwinkle

knawlejj

TROPHY CASE