Installation and Demonstration Manual This manual presents the procedures for installing the program and running the demonstration programs of MakeTracks from the Main Menu Selection Getting Started Copyright 2001, all rights reserved. Technisoft of Louisiana, Inc. 1814 Ryder Drive Baton Rouge, LA 70808 Ph 225-769-2154 Fax 225-769-2155 Email: staff@microcomputersystems.com http://www.microcomputersystems.com
I. INTRODUCTION The MakeTracks TM system is a complete, easy-to-use, manufacturing inventory control program for small companies with personnel having little or no computer expertise (e.g., a detailed on-line HELP is provided for each data entry item of every screen by clicking the mouse on the label that identifies the data entry field). The program has been developed by individuals with over 25 years of experience in manufacturing electrical and mechanical assemblies, not programmers who often create intricate, and sometimes unnecessary, procedures. Our goal is to provide your facility with savings and automation that augment your present accounting system for managing production. - 1 -
A. Recommended Hardware II. MakeTracks TM Installation The recommended hardware for the system consists of an IBM PC with a Pentium-type processor, at least 32MB of memory, and a SVGA display with 800 x 600 or 1124 x 768 resolution. The display should be configured for small fonts for 800 x 600 to accommodate the screens of the program. Large fonts should be used for 1124 x 768 resolution. The font size is set by clicking Start button, usually in the lower left corner of your display, selecting Setting, then Control Panel followed by Display. In Display, select Settings and click Advanced pushbutton. Set the desired font size (small or large) in the Display Font Size textbox.the program uses the printer installed as the system printer in your Windows environment. B. Installing the program The MakeTracks Manufacturing Inventory System is installed as follows for Windows 95, 98 2000, ME, XP and Windows NT. Important: If you are installing an upgrade to an existing version, backup your data using the Files/Backup main menu selection. Next, access the Control Panel and remove the existing version using the Add/Remove Programs selection in the Control Panel. This will remove all existing files except your data files. Proceed with the installation below. To install the program, insert the MakeTracks CD Rom into your CD ROM drive, access the RUN option of the Start menu and enter D:\Setup.exe, where D: is your CDROM drive The installation program automatically creates the directory C:\Program Files\MakeTracks on the hard drive and installs all files into this directory (unless an alternate directory is chosen in the installation menu). Following the installation, the program is run from Programs of the Start menu by selecting MakeTracks. The above command can be accomplished by creating a shortcut icon in the main Windows screen with the following steps: a) In the startup screen, click the right-most mouse button (RMB) on an empty portion of the screen. b) Click the LMB on New. c) Click LMB on Shortcut. d) At the prompt Command Line:, enter C:\Program Files\MakeTracks\MakeTracks (be sure to include the quotation marks) and then click LMB on Next. e) Select a name for the shortcut ( MakeTracks.exe is shown and can be used if desired, else enter your desired label) and click LMB on Next. f) Select an icon and click LMB and then click LMB on Finish. The icon - 2 - - 3 -
will appear in the startup screen. The main screen icon for the inventory program is completed. Double click the LMB on the icon to run the program. The program executes using a window screen and returns to the Windows 95, 98, etc. startup screen on exit. C. Networking the system The steps required in implementing network operation are: 1) Load the software, as described in the above section, on the computer that will contain the inventory data for the system. We will refer to this computer as the primary computer or server. 2) Load the software on the computer that you wish to network with the primary computer. We will refer to this computer as a workstation. The directory designation (e.g., \Program Files\Maketracks) of the program must be the same as that of the primary computer. mapped into the workstation as follows: 1) Double click the left-most mouse button (LMB) on the Network Neighborhood icon in the Windows 95 or 98 main screen. 2) Double click LMB on the computer icon that contains the inventory data files. 3) Click the right-most mouse button (RMB) on the disk drive containing the data files. 4) Click LMB on Map Network Drive. 5) Select a drive from the menu bar and check the Reconnect at logon box. The drive letter designation (A thru Z) selected in step 5 is the drive designation that must be used when changing the logged drive for the workstation that must be used in Step 4 above. 3) Map the hard drive containing the inventory data files of the primary computer into the workstation. (An example for Windows 95/98 is given below). 4) Run MakeTracks on the workstation and select main menu /Files/ System Parameters to change the logged drive of the workstation to that assigned to the inventory data files in Step 3 above. The workstation will use the data files of the primary computer. In this case, the primary computer must be online for the workstation to access the inventory data files. In Windows 95 or 98, the drive containing the inventory data files can be - 4 - - 5 -
II. MakeTracks TM Demonstration Programs Two demonstration programs are provided by the Getting Started selection in the main menu of the program. The first program, Review a sample database, provides an existing database for examining the features of the system. The second, Perform a demonstration exercise, offers a complete exercise from beginning to end of the procedures required for manufacturing a simple product consisting of one part and one subassembly. Important: The screens of MakeTracks are structured into Data Groups, Command Groups, and Item Lists. The groups are color-coded with group labels. All data entry textboxes within these groups have labels. All labels have Help messages that are displayed by clicking with the mouse on the label. For example, click on the red Action label of the command pushbutton in the demo screen. The messages describe each entry item and avoid the necessity of consulting the User Manual which is displayed in main menu selection User Manual. In addition, a Help selection is available for each screen in the upper left corner that describes the function of each screen. The Getting Started selection offers the following. A. Review a sample database Welcome to MakeTracks sample database for company Microcomputer Systems, Inc. The screens for your review are activated by mouse clicking on main menu items in the menu bar above. For example, a designation such as Inventory/Edit means click Inventory and then Edit in the resulting drop down menu. A recommended sequence is outlined below. (Note: The check boxes in the listing are provided for your convenience to track your position in the demo. Simply click the box of each line as you proceed.) We will first review the screens for the program in items (1) thru (37) below. Items (38) thru (44) will then guide you through postings to purchase orders of existing jobs and allow you to review the results. These operations will demonstrate the power of MakeTracks to (a) Make your products; and, (b) Track your inventory from start to finish in your manufacturing process. Of particular importance is the exercise of (43) below. If you would like a quick look at the power of the program without perusing steps (1) thru (42), skip directly to (43) and examine the results of a job entry with a subassembly. B. Perform a Demonstration Exercise The steps involved in using the system are usually those outlined in this exercise. Please read items (A) thru (G) and then perform Steps (1) thru (12), as outlined in the detailed listing of the procedure. The checkboxes of the demo screen, as in the previous demo, are provided for your convenience to track your position in the demo. Simply click the box of each line as you proceed. These steps provide a manufacturing example for a product consisting of one part and one subassembly, the subassembly having only two parts. The example goes through the entire process of entering inventory parts, vendors and customers, and a subassembly and product. A job is then processed which generates purchase orders and work orders for fabricating the the product. Posting are made that illustrate the entire procedure in the manufacturing process from job entry to product shipment to your customer. - 6 - - 7 -