JobBOSS² Reviews

Pros

JobBOSS as a standalone is good, with some nice Crystal Reports added on. What makes it great is that there are quite a few add-ons available (for Quality, CRM, etc.) , plus it it stores all of its data in a SQL format that works well with Microsoft products.

Cons

I work mostly in the Finance/Accounting side of the business. There are some basic things that could be added in the next version upgrades.

Pros

Ease of use and good tech support. Very similar to quickbooks

Cons

When allocating stock to jobs, unless it was purchased specifically for that job, it is a bit cumbersome so we had a custom report written to allow the tag number of the inventory to be scanned.

Alternatives Considered

Global Shop Solutions and Shop Boss

Reasons for Choosing JobBOSS²

JobBOss tech support was terrible and they were very expensive to add data collection modules.

Reasons for Switching to JobBOSS²

Tech support's demo of the product

Pros

This program is very basic so if you learn how to use one part of the system you can learn how to use the other parts of the system because they all look the same

Cons

This software does not allow for any changes to be made, and if you want to make a change you have to pay hundreds of dollars to do so. It is very set in the way it was build and you cannot change anything to make it easier for your company. First the shop floor doesnt account for scraps, they assume you will remake them so if you have any scraps and want to throw them out and move on to the next step of production then it wont count that step as being done. Then the accounting is put into many steps and the system gets easily overcrowded. the general ledger is done in too many steps to be accurate. The system will not work for orders of more than one line because if you want to unprocess an order in a second line after the first one was shipped, you cannot. Youre stuck with this floating error in your system that you cannot get rid of.
I personally do not recommend this to anyone. The system isnt very helpful, i feel like you could organize your data much better even on excel sheets than this program does. Finally their customer support do not know anything, as an experienced user of this i call them and ask for help with some easier things and they cannot provide me with an adequate answer, then through trial and error on my own part I find what i was looking to accomplish. Overll I am very dissatisfied with this system;the way its run, the way its reports are made, and how easy it is to create errors but its nearly impossible and in some cases impossible to correct them.

Pros

Good first level entry product. Lots of options for expansion. Priced well. works well for most of what we do

Cons

Could be easier to use. Search in fields could search the whole field instead of just in order. Need ability to reschedule batches of jobs or ops. Looking in the future to need better paperless abilities for the floor. This would be drawings, capacity dashboards. Also as things become more connected we are going to need ability to integrate to nesting

Alternatives Considered

Global Shop Solutions and M1 ERP

Reasons for Switching to JobBOSS²

functionality & price. Bang for the buck. Overall we have been happy with it. But we have had to build a fair amount of custom apps.

Pros

I like the fact the you can route, have job costing, accounting, etc all in one area. For this type of application, this is the best software to choose from. Shoptech continues to make improvements and listens to the customers on where to improve.

Cons

The quality module needs improved as well as the scheduling. The repository in unusable.

Pros

E2 Shop is very user friendly! It is easy to navigate and easy to understand.

E2 Shop has the best customer service we have experienced and has a wonderful online discussion board and help documents to help along the way.

Cons

We have experienced a good amount of "glitches" and software "hang-ups" that require a system repair which we were advised to do every 2 weeks. (All have proven to be software related).

Pros

It was great at linking in-house employee hours jobs.

Cons

It was not easy for employees to change their time during the day/week. Managers had to edit it.

Pros

It did what we needed it to do. Monitor Inventory, Produce Quotes , Acknowledgements, Invoicing. Keep a History.

Cons

Need a basic scheduling of orders interface without buying another package.

Alternatives Considered

DELMIAworks

Reasons for Switching to JobBOSS²

It was able to do what we need it to do and Job Shop did not.

Pros

All areas in the manufacturing process can all be done on one software.

Cons

When you tab over creating a new order and adding part number you can accidently tab to fast and it will us a sub menu for a different quantity.

Pros

1) User Friendly
2) Robust
3) Complete ERP System
4) Great Customer Support

Cons

Nothing. This product does everything we needed it to do and efficiently.

Pros

What we like most about the E2 Shop System Software is the ability to expand and customize our databases. We purchased the SQL version which allowed us to put the E2 OEM program on steroids. We added custom fields and tables of things that were very specific to our manufacturing business. We also added a custom front end for our customers to access things like detailed part specifications, testing data, sales history, package tracking, and much more. We also added a custom backend for our employees to enter non E2 items into separate database tables and link the information to the customers and vendors already in E2. The best part is, we have a very high end custom solution at a fraction of the cost of some of the other solutions on the market. We have the ability to barcode scan, track employees time for payroll, calculate exact labor costs based on actual production times, track inventory, import our invoices into Quickbooks, perform accurate estimations / quotations and much more.

Cons

We started off with the Access database version which is limited in scope, but soon realized that the SQL version was much more powerful and allowed unlimited growth.

Pros

We are a 20 person precision machining and sheet metal fabrication shop. We do everything from prototype to large quantity production runs, and E2 Shop System does everything we need it to! This software follows a part from cradle to grave; from establishing raw material part numbers all the way thru to cash receipts, it ties every aspect of a job together, and is extremely user friendly! I love that we can collect real time information on the progress of a job, and when all is said and done, we know EXACTLY how much it cost us to produce a part. It allows us to give our customers the best possible price without any guess work on our end. We have been able to keep our accounting bills to a minimum, as the software allows you to produce balance sheets, income statements, 1099's - EVERYTHING! In 2017 we decided to convert to the Web Based version, and it was an absolutely seemless transition. I LOVE that we can do quoting, bookkeeping, analysis, etc. remotely. No longer needing to maintain a huge server has been great too!

Cons

I can honestly say that I don't feel like there's anything "missing" with this software. Of course, there are the occasional "glitches", but Shoptech is very responsive and quick to come up with a fix! If I HAD to find something to complain about, it would be that the "maintenance fees" are a bit high for the web based version. However, not needing to maintain a server and the expense associated therewith, it's probably close to a wash!

Pros

As someone who does look behind the scenes and works to dig data out of the system, I am impressed with the amount of information that JobBOSS does capture. Additionally, it is quite well organized in its structure. On the front end, the user interface is intuitive and lends itself to easy training.

Cons

Reporting. The stock reports are reasonable for a company that does not need to dig into its data very deeply. But the analysis at deeper levels would either require purchasing many custom reports or have someone on staff that can dig into the data and create custom reports.

The scheduling module works best in an environment with minimal chance of perturbation. Systems that have a high degree of variation become hard to model accurately.

Pros

Absolutely Nothing. There was nothing that we liked about the software

Cons

The Description field for parts is limited to 30 characters. The database does not include a vendor/manufacturing part number field as a standard filed and you have to do workaround to get it to show on your purchase order. The software is completely non-intuitive, is extremely cumbersome and non-flexible and then they nickel and dime for every single change. The implementation phase was a total joke where after 9 months it still was not doing what we need it to do.. And then they to not make it clear that it is an annual subscription and that you need to provide a 30 day notice prior to renewal which they do not even inform you that it is a renewal. They simply tell you a few days ahead of time that you need to upload a license key.

Pros

This product is extremely easy to use, and very forgiving of mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, and E2 makes it possible to catch and correct mistakes, while keeping an audit trail all along. We have had the system for 20 years and our company has been able to grow and use more functions of the software such as quality and scheduling. We had planned a 6 month dual period with our old software but deployment was so seamless that we only ran double for 1 month. Everything is integrated from the initial customer quote through order entry, the invoice, receipts, and the General Ledger. Tech support has been so helpful, and team members are knowledgeable of the job shop business as well as the product!

Cons

The only issue I have struggled with is user access to data. To give a user rights to view certain data, they also are allowed access to edit it. We can work around that with creative report writing. I can think of no other big drawbacks to the system.

Pros

The biggest advantage that we see in JobBOSS is that it is well-suited to the small manufacturer and job shop. The modules are functional for our day-to-day operations, which allowed us to standardize and increase our workload and throughput by at least 20%. The interface is user-friendly. We were able to implement the software very quickly compared to the software we were using. The workstations in the shop have given us a good handle on time collection. We also use the QuickBooks integration and it works flawlessly.

Exact employees are very friendly and knowledgeable about their product. We get answers to our questions very quickly, and they are very helpful in solving problems we incur. The online portal is a huge asset for training new users and enhancements to the software’s customization.

Cons

As good as the program is, there is room for improvement. We think it is just a few enhancements away from greatness. The software has several glitches that have not been fixed in the five years we have been using it. For example, you lose the information you are entering into a job or purchase order if another user is updating a related job or material. Sometimes, the software locks up and has to be forced to close and restart. This usually happens when you are trying to delete a raw material in a Job and select a different material; it's some kind of access violation. The updates of information changes between modules is slow and can be frustrating. For example, if a raw material is received from a PO and you want to add that material to a job and pick it from the inventory, you have to close the jobs module and reopen it to get the new inventory update; this should occur instantly. A few other enhancements would be nice (e.g.: autofill on names fields, uses of Return key to tab between fields, and a simpler method of customizing basic forms like can be done in QuickBooks).

We purchased the ShopBoss scheduling module with high hopes of solving our delinquent deliveries. After about two years of trying to implement this module, we abandoned it for our old manual method. The JobShop module needs a simpler and more flexible scheduling module. it requires way too much time in operator maintenance to keep it functional. In a job shop environment the schedule has to stay on the balls of its feet because the priorities are always changing. We can do the job faster than we can change the schedule in JobBoss.

Pros

The software is pretty easy to use. We can usually get new employees up and running fully on the software with only a couple of days of training.

If you implement the time keeping module it allows for excellent review of jobs and verification of timing for your work.

By far the best part of E-2 is the support. They have a wide range of support tools including Webex training's, customer support, and even analysts who can help implement, and improve your software usage.

Cons

Like most software it is built around a model that may not exactly match your business model. In this case the issue is Parts vs. Jobs. Our shop tracks jobs through the shop that are composed of multiple parts. E-2 works best if one part is one job. While it is possible to run multi-part jobs you lose some of the functionality of the software when you do.

The other limitation is eliminating duplicate data. If you have customers, materials or parts that were duplicated, or just plain created incorrectly, it is cumbersome to remove them from the E-2 system.

Pros

When we originally purchased the access version of the software that ran on our server. We were pretty happy customers. It preformed up to our expectations and we used the entire suite of modules. We used that version from 2011 through 2017 after which we upgraded to the webversion. The original version was easy to use and very comprehensive. The only pro for the webversion is that you can access it from any device that is connected to the internet.

Cons

Wait time while tabbing between fields is often delayed which significantly increases the amount of time it takes to complete any task. Most tasks require approximately 20% more time to complete. There are problems with lost work due to connectivity. We are told most of this is a result of our internet connection speeds but when we test internally, the speeds exceed the requirements. There are also many issues related to browser cache files. Each new update fixes one set of problems but rolls out a new set of problems. The time it takes to estimate and quote jobs has increased 20-35% depending on the complexity of the job. We are not able to downgrade to the version we had before without losing data and we are not able to put the new version back on our server without making a major upgrade ($20k est) to our server hardware and software.

Pros

E2 Shop Systems is intuitive software. It is very user friendly.

Cons

I wish the graphics were a little better and you could open multiple windows at the same time.

Alternatives Considered

Kinetic

Reasons for Choosing JobBOSS²

Epicor was too cumbersome for our operation.

Switched From

Kinetic

Pros

I like the way all of the JobBOSS modules are interconnected, sharing data, and referencing all of the modules together. JobBOSS is a well-designed database that allows our company to manage all of our operations in one resource. From scheduling to inventory, to payroll, to bookkeeping, JobBOSS works for us. The Customer Portal is a huge asset, providing video training, online support, support documents, and an experienced and professional staff of Customer Support representatives that have always responded to any software support request within 24 hours--and normally within just a few hours.

Cons

This product has so many elements, that it requires a strong software support person on location. JobBOSS requires much thought and preparation prior to implementation, but a company who does their research and commits to a dedicated effort before launching JobBOSS will quickly reap the rewards for the front-end effort.

Pros

That is syncs with Quickbooks. However, invoices that are generated have incorrect part numbers requiring going back into JobBOSS to obtain the correct part number that goes with the invoice created.

Cons

Support talks to you as if you have a computer science and accounting degree. On a few occasions it was clear that some of the support staff were frustrated with my lack of knowledge regarding technology.
I owned a previous version of JobBOSS and was provided with a utility, free of charge, to recost jobs due to work center rates changing and employee salaries changing. After JobBoss was purchased by it's current owner, and after I upgraded to a newer version of JobBOSS, I no longer can use the recosting utility I was using. In order to be able to recost jobs now, I must purchase the recost utility at the tune of $2,000.00!
The software is not user friendly. You must hire a consultant at $600.00 a pop to get customized reports. If you can't grasp the training in the hour they give you, the cost goes up.
The reports you do generate are very difficult to decipher and confusing.
I have sever buyer's remorse since purchasing this software.

Pros

This software is very easy to use and works perfectly for our type of business. We are a metal stamping company and this software allows us to create each part separately and it's own flow of material to create the end product. It works great for inventory and the accounting.

Cons

The only problem I have with the Software is it does not incorporate the payroll. We have another system that is imported into the software but I would love to have a one stop shop when using this software.