Expandable ERP
Expandable ERP Overview
Expandable drives increased business valuation for your SMB enterprise with proven third party analysis showing Best-In-Class Business Performance against ERP industry average business metric bench marks. Analysts have credibly quantified this but your proof is really in our highly satisfied customer bases who continue to go on record as our outstanding partners in business.
Expandable is an enterprise resources planning software suite designed to help executives and managers of fast-growing companies maximize business performance by maintaining visibility and control of manufacturing operations. Fully integrated accounting, engineering and manufacturing modules provide a solid back office foundation while its CRM, e‑commerce, and supply chain functions deliver front office tools to manage business relationships and streamline transactions. Expandable delivers excellent value by providing a clear and seamless growth path all the way from startup to the billion dollar mark. With long term deployment of a single system implementation, Expandable customers enjoy a low total cost of ownership (TCO) and a reliable business foundation that users across the entire enterprise will enjoy using to gain productivity improvements through inter-departmental visibility of business operations. Expandable’s comprehensive system can be implemented in a traditional on-site client/server installation or deployed over the Web in the on-demand, software as a service (SaaS) model. Whether you’re striving for the low total cost of ownership that long-term deployment of a single system implementation can bring, or looking to get up and running quickly with a minimum capital expense, Expandable has an option to fit your needs.
WHAT WE DO NOT DO
What we don’t do is treat you like a commodity once you become a customer. We treat you as a business partner. The bulk of our new business comes from referrals by successful companies. That’s why we take our initial discovery conversations very seriously to make sure every one of our customers is a good fit for our software. The last thing we want is a customer who is not successful using our system. They wouldn’t be a customer for long and would not make a good reference.
WHAT WE DO NOT SAY
A lot of companies in the manufacturing software industry begin the sales cycle by saying, “Hey, you’re a manufacturer, and we have manufacturing software, so let’s do business.” Expandable does not take that approach. Our initial objective is to generate a clear understanding of your goals and the specific reasons you are looking to implement new business systems. By understanding your business goals, manufacturing style, and requirements, we’ll identify upfront whether our system will be a good fit for your organization.
Expandable ERP Advantages
Proven Best-In-Class Business Performance against ERP industry average by third party analysts, Expandable drives increased business valuation, empowering your entire organization to contribute to the bottom line by uniting the enterprise under a centralized data infrastructure. You gain a cohesive business framework that supports the efficient processes and enterprise-wide visibility essential to profitable operations. The Expandable user interface is intuitive and consistent across all modules so a small, cross-functional team can be productive with the system right from the start.
What Makes Us “Expandable?”:
- Proven Best-In-Class Business Performance by a Strong Customer Base and Third Party Validated
- Extensibility
- Versatile decision support
- SQL Server database platform
- APICS-compliant business logic
- Deployed on-site or on-demand
- Consistent user interface across all modules
- Responsive business partner
“… a great company and product; I can’t imagine a manufacturing company selecting a different ERP system…” — President & CEO, Expandable Customer.
“… refreshing to experience a solutions provider such as Expandable taking an interest in listening to its customers… combined experiences you have between operations management and systems proficiency make you a good listener and a good solution provider. Thank you!” — VP of Operations, Expandable Customer.
While interviewing ERP/MRP specialist candidates … “During the interview process, I was asked the question about the tech-support provided by Expandable. I was pleased to discuss that any calls to tech-support is not from a “bug-in-the-software” issue, but we made a mistake or don’t know how to do something. The stability of ESI’s software is excellent and that takes a huge load off IT departments” — IT Manager, Expandable Customer.
“…I must say that I have been very impressed with the assistance provided by your team and the resilience of your product which continues to provide reliable accounting information…. After a crash course on Expandable, I spent two nights ringing up a number of your clients in the US, Canada, Europe and Tasmania to find out what people thought of it. Happily, I can report that, without exception, I was told the service was very good, even exceptional, and it is a stable product” — Company Secretary & CFO, Expandable Customer.
Expandable ERP Technology
The following are Client-Server system requirements to provide a general idea of the hardware and software base needs for an on-site deployment a full detailed compatibility matrix is available and current with Expandable Customer Support.
CLIENT-SERVER PLATFORM
Client Operating System: Windows 7 / Windows 8
Server Operating System: Microsoft 2012 Server Standard/Enterprise Edition (latest service pack)
Database: Microsoft SQL Server 2012, Microsoft SQL Server 2008R2
Microsoft Active Directory Domain
CLIENT Minimum
Operating System Windows 7 (Recommended) / Windows 8
CPU Intel® Core™2 Duo processor or later
RAM 2 GB (4 GB recommended)
Monitor 800 x 600 SVGA, 256 color or better
Disk Space 120 MB of available space for Expandable
Optical Drive CD/DVD
SERVER Minimum (see support for detailed notes)
Operating System Windows 2012 Server Standard /
Enterprise Edition (latest service packs)
Windows 2008R2 Server Standard / Enterprise Edition (latest service packs)
CPU Intel® Core™2 Duo processor or later
RAM 4 GB minimum (8 GB recommended)
Hard Drive 500 GB (min 20GB of available space)
Optical Drive CD/DVD
Database MS SQL Server 2012 Standard/Enterprise Edition (Recommended)
MS SQL Server 2008R2 Standard/Enterprise Edition
“…wanted to express my sincere gratitude for the support [your Customer Service team] gave us last night in our upgrade of Expandable and its database and the move to the new hosting location. [Their] willingness to work on a Friday night and provide vital assistance helped us immeasurably. I’ve always enjoyed our relationship with your company and this is another reason why” — Division IT Director, Expandable Customer.
“I’m emailing you all this morning to say that we went live last week and everything went rather smooth so Expandable can add another successful implementation to its list of accomplishments… Lastly, it’s twenty minutes after 8AM and all is quiet. For an IT guy there’s nothing sweeter than the sound of silence. Thanks again and we look forward to nurturing the Expandable partnership for years to come” — Manager, Information Technology, Expandable Customer.
“Thank you very much; you guys have been a life saver!!!! We had just ordered our new severs last week and looking forward to our upgrade, then Tuesday came and our system decided it had enough and crashed. You can imagine the impact to our daily operations. Your people are great to work with, makes me very glad we decided to go with Expandable in the first place” — President, Expandable Customer.
Expandable ERP Modules
Materials Management for Expandable ERP
Consignment Inventory Module
The Consignment Inventory (CI) module tracks inventory items consigned to customers, sales reps, or dealers as loaners, evaluation units, or products on consignment for sale when used. The CI module also provides tracking of lot-controlled and serialized parts located in consignment inventories. A sales order or RMA line with a Ship Type of “C” identifies the line as either a shipment from an in-house inventory (e.g., finished goods) to a consignment inventory or a return from consignment inventory to an in-house inventory. A normal sales order is used to make the final shipment/sale of an item in consignment inventory. Shipments/Returns Entry is used to record the actual movement of in-house inventory to or from Consigned Inventory, Loaner Inventory, and Evaluation Inventory. The IC module reports and inquiries provide status and transaction movement information for consignment inventory, the same as in-house inventory. A Consigned Inventory report combines stock status information with serial number, lot, and sales order information. Ownership of consignment inventory is the same as in-house inventory.
Inventory Accuracy Module
Expandable Customers achieve a Best-in-Class inventory accuracy rating on average of 96%, two points higher than the industry average analyst benchmark. Accurate inventory counts prevent stock-outs, shortages, and excess inventory while improving inventory turns. Expandable provides two methods of physical counting – Complete Physical Inventory and Cycle Counting. The Complete Physical (wall-to-wall) provides for the counting of all items using inventory tags. The Cycle Counting function provides for the systematic counting of parts throughout the year.
Inventory Control Module
With a reduction of inventory costs by more than 16% and Expandable Customers are achieving a Best-in-Class inventory accuracy rating of an average of 96%, two points higher than the industry average, INVENTORY CONTROL maintains part information and inventory balances, providing you more control over your purchased goods and materials. Parts may be stored in single or multiple locations within one storeroom or multiple storerooms.
Inventory RESTful API Module
The Inventory API Package provides access to Expandable’s Stores Transfer and Issues Entry business logic and transactions. Expandable users can create inventory transactions from warehouse management, Kanban, or other external inventory management applications.
Lot Tracking Module
Expandable’s extensive LOT TRACKING capacity provides the traceability of purchased or manufactured items from raw material receipt to a finished product’s final destination. Lot Tracking improves quality by monitoring expired lots, tracing defective materials back to vendors and customers who were shipped defective products, and providing information to satisfy governmental reporting requirements for the pharmaceutical and medical instrumentation industries.
Materials Management Module
Expandable Customers see a reduction of operating, administrative, and inventory costs, all well-exceeding industry average business metrics; 19% operating, 18% administrative, and 16% inventory; MATERIALS MANAGEMENT is the first step in the execution of your plan. It defines the actions to be taken and when to take them for buyers, planners, expediters, and production schedules. The action messages of Expandable’s “bucket-less” Material Requirements Planning (MRP) reporting are your company’s time-phased call to action. Material requirements are generated based on a production schedule from the Master Production Schedule (MPS) or manually created.
Serial & Lot Production Control RESTful APIs Module
Serial and LOT Control RESTful APIs – provide interfaces for external applications to insert, update, and query product Serial Numbers and LOT masters for status, customer ownership, etc., allowing applications to have wider visibility to critical product traceability.
Serial Number Product Tracking Module
Expandable’s extensive SERIAL NUMBER TRACKING capacity provides end-to-end cradle-to-grave traceability of purchased or manufactured items from raw material receipt to a finished product’s final destination. Product Serial Number Tracking improves quality by monitoring and tracing defective materials back to vendors and customers who were shipped defective products and providing information to satisfy governmental reporting requirements for the pharmaceutical and medical instrumentation industries.
Sales & Order Management for Expandable ERP
Configuration Control Module
Expandable CONFIGURATION CONTROL is used by companies who manufacture standard assemble-to-order products with customer-selected features and options. Configuration Control provides faster, mistake-proof quoting and order entry while eliminating the engineering overhead involved in maintaining hundreds or thousands of custom bills of material. Configuration Control has standard and unique product configurations, allowing you to sum up the costs of their components, set configuration prices, review configuration gross margins and check availability of configuration options. Features and options for a product are predefined, allowing sales representatives and customer service personnel to enter accurate, timely quotes and sales orders without the need for engineering to review each item. Configuration Rules can be defined for including or excluding options based on other options selected for inclusion in a configuration. Each rule includes an Informational, Warning or Stop Message that is displayed when the rule is executed and an inclusion or exclusion exception is found.
Electronic Data Transmission Module (Customer Trading Partners)
Expandable’s ELECTRONIC DATA TRANSMISSION (EDT) module provides import and export capabilities for data rich translation and mapping into standard EDI documents. To support the broad range of EDI options between two business partners, Expandable provides comprehensive export data sets and a minimum import data set in flat file formats transmitted via SFTP to an EDI translation, mapping and delivery provider. The Value Added Network service provider or custom translation and delivery application takes the data required by the target trading partner and maps the data per user specifications and delivers them securely to the end trading partner. File transfers are supported with Secure FTP (SFTP) from Expandable to SFTP Server(s). Each trading partner is supported by their own unique FTP setup and credentials, trading data and production/test mode of delivery within the Expandable Customer Master linking to EDT Partner SFTP server.
Pack-Out Ship Module
Expandable Customers push industry Best-In-Class (BIC) with 96% complete and on time shipments and improvement rates of 19%, higher than industry BIC by two points. The PACK-OUT SHIP module provides the option of packing out orders, tracking packed items within packed boxes, generating packing slips with Box Labels and reviewing the pack-out before the shipment transaction hits the financial books.
Quick Sales Order Entry Module
Industry Best-in-Class analyst benchmark metrics for growth in operating profits attributed to ERP approach 10% while Expandable Customers are seeing a much higher 15% growth rate on average. The Quick Sales Order Entry program is designed to simplify order entry by collapsing the three editor windows into a single overlay editor that resembles a sales order report. The overlay editor accommodates quick entry for high volume and/or simplified order entry. The Quick Sales Order Entry module uses the same standard security rights as other Expandable ERP program.
Return Material Authorization (RMA) Module
As part of the Advanced Sales Order and Jobs (Work Order)management, items returned for warranty or non-warranty repair can be handled through Return Material Authorization (RMA) Management process and covers the three (3) basic types of material returns typically encountered:
- Goods returned for Credit — item is returned for credit only; no replacement is requested.
- Goods returned for Replacement — item is returned and a new one is shipped to replace it.
- Goods are returned for Repair and the same item is sent back to the customer.
Sales Order Credit Card Validation Module
Expandable’s interface to credit card processors such as PCCharge™ provides the ability to complete online credit card validation during the order entry process. Through a connection to the credit card processing network, as an order is placed in Expandable, the interface validates the charge, delivers an authorization code, and initiates a two-part “book and ship” transaction, reserving the credit charge until the order is shipped. When the order is shipped, the system sends a message through the validation interface to bill the order, and the system completes the credit card transaction once funds are wired from the processing center.
Sales Order Management Module
Expandable Customers push industry Best-In-Class (BIC) with 96% complete and on time shipments and improvement rates of 19%, higher than industry BIC by two points. Expandable’s SALES ORDER MANAGEMENT system controls all phases of customer order processing including quotations, forecasts, committed orders, available to promise, shipments and return authorizations. Real-time automatic credit checking at both order entry and shipment time ensure proper credit control. Multi-level pricing allows the pricing structure to be established at the customer and/or part level. Serial numbers are tracked for both shipping and customer returns. Sales history is maintained by customer and part number. Sales Order integrates with Configuration Control to create unique product configurations at order entry time. Inquiries display customer status information including customer master, sales order, sales history, AR invoice, AR check, serial number and job data.
Shipping RESTful API Module
The Shipping API Package provides access to Expandable’s shipping module to allow external applications to trigger shipping transactions against Sales Orders in the system in the Order to Cash process. Providing unique application integration with Shipping Carriers, Third Party Logistics providers and other value added ERP shipping extensions.
Volume Pricing Module
Industry Best-in-Class analyst benchmark metrics for growth in operating profits attributed to ERP approach 10% while Expandable Customers are seeing a much higher 15% growth rate on average. The VOLUME PRICING module provides pricing (discounts) based on sales volume from a designated time period. The Volume Pricing Editor maintains special pricing for parts sold through the Sales Order Editor to customers with a particular Customer Master table Class Code.
Financial Management for Expandable ERP
Accounting RESTful APIs
The ACCOUNTS API Package provides access to Expandable’s Triggering of AR Invoicing Transactions for the Order to Cash cycle allows of external application invoicing and fulling support “Auto-Invoicing” of goods and services sold decreasing errors and accelerating cash collections from customers. On the AP side, AP Vouchering business logic and transaction creation so that Expandable users can interface directly to vendor or expense management applications for invoicing and AP vouchering to allow the Expandable AP function to make payment of those supplier or employee expenses.
Accounts Payable Module
“I am truly a fan of Expandable. It’s been the most stable and reliable system that I have ever used” — Finance Controller, Expandable Customer
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE provides control over cash disbursements and related accounting functions. Information is collected on vendor invoices, discounts and expense distributions and provides prepayment information, writes checks and generates related reports. Accounts Payable provides four-way matching between invoices, purchase order receipts and standard cost, eliminating manual efforts, reducing errors and providing more effective management control of purchase price variances. Multiple distributions are supported. Invoice information is posted to Purchase Order history. General Ledger integrates with all other Expandable functions and features the FRx Visual Financial Reporting Software.
Accounts Receivable Module
“Expandable gives me peace of mind, Month End Closing we do in 10 minutes closing all the financial modules, Expandable gives is every financial tool we need at our finger tips and super user friendly, I’m very happy” — Corporate Controller, Expandable Silicon Valley Customer
Expandable ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE facilitates control of customer accounts from invoicing through cash application and credit memo processing. Online account inquiry is available for rapid customer credit checking and account analysis. Aged accounts receivable reporting with user definable aging columns aids collection. Cash application has split check capability to apply amounts to one or more accounts. Unauthorized deductions may be automatically invoiced back to the customer.
Bank Reconciliation Module
Expandable BANK RECONCILIATION ensures financial reports are accurate and up-to-date by managing all bank-related information, including payments, deposits, credit card transactions and bank fees. Information from bank statements is entered and reconciled to the corresponding cash General Ledger account. Bank Reconciliation displays all un-reconciled items and gives users the option of resolving them immediately or exiting the program to finish later. When the “Finish Later” feature is chosen, all items that had been reconciled will be identified so changes will not have to be re-entered when the user returns to the Bank Reconciliation function. When reconciliation is complete, a detail report of all activity is printed.
Expandable Business Intelligence & Analytics Module
While industry averages for “improvement in time to decision” hit 16%, Expandable Customers are hitting improvement and increasing proactive business time to decision making at a 21% rate. Expandable Analytics is a highly interactive business analysis tool that combines drag-and-drop simplicity with the power of pivot tables to present Expandable data in meaningful views for management examination and analysis. Using simple tree-like navigation, pre-built business analytic functions are grouped into four major business categories with relevant data elements ready to be arranged into multi-dimensional analysis views. With an extremely intuitive drag and drop interface, Expandable Analytics provides the ability to slice and dice information easily and efficiently across multiple product lines, regions, date ranges, customers, vendors and more.
Financial Reporting Module
Expandable Customers gain a little over a full day over industry average analyst benchmark “Days to Close” (5.3 industry average) with 4.2 days on average to close in Expandable ERP. Expandable’s Financial Reporting package combines the familiarity of Excel with the power of Microsoft Reporting Services to deliver easy-to-create financial statements that can be customized to meet the unique requirements of your organization. Built on the powerful BizInsight business reporting and analytics platform from BizNet Software, Expandable’s financial reporting solution provides out-of-the-box database connectivity, making it easy for average users to gain immediate results. Finance personnel can craft impressive results using Excel’s native tools to layout colors, fonts and formatting. With pre-built Functions, Analysis Sets and Templates of the most common financial reports, your organization will quickly gain real-time visibility of key financial data with boardroom-quality financial reports.
Foreign Currency Module
Expandable FOREIGN CURRENCY provides complete control of currency exchange rates, currency by trading partner and currency rate fluctuation gains and losses, realized and unrealized. Foreign Currency maintains the exchange rate information to allow purchase order, accounts payable invoice, sales order and accounts receivable invoice financial values to be tracked in both the currency of the supplier or customer and in local currency. Realized currency gain and loss values are calculated at the time of payment generation in Expandable Accounts Payable and payment application in Expandable Accounts Receivable. All general ledger transactions created in subsidiary systems carry local currency financial values to the General Ledger. Foreign Currency also includes the ability to calculate and track VALUE ADDED TAX (VAT).
General Ledger Module
“I learned many things during this process but two items stand out: We chose the right system and the right team to guide us through this conversion. Expandable contained the functionality we need to continue our growth. [Customer Support] hung in there with us through the highs and the lows ensuring us that it would get better” — VP of Finance & Business Services, Expandable Customer
Expandable GENERAL LEDGER collects the current and historical information required to analyze and control a company’s financial activities, provides functions to enter and control journal vouchers, prepares budgets and creates detail transaction and balance sheet reports. General Ledger integrates with all other Expandable functions and features the FRx Visual Financial Reporting DataMart. The chart of accounts is used to validate financial transactions created by other functions. General ledger transactions created in other functions can be automatically passed to Expandable’s ledgers on user command. The General Ledger account transaction program displays detailed transaction data for individual accounts.
Multiple Company Module
Expandable MULTIPLE COMPANY maintains the information required to control multiple company financial activities and provides functions to enter and control inter-company journal vouchers and create multiple company financial comparisons. The Expandable Multiple Company system is closely integrated with the General Ledger function. The GL CONSOLIDATION utility consolidates financial data from multiple databases and different currencies. The utility consolidates data to a separate database or into your primary Expandable database.
Production Management for Expandable ERP
Integration For Finite Capacity & Advanced Planning Scheduling
Preactor provides a family of Finite Capacity Scheduling (FCS) and Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) products in the management of production floor planning, scheduling and throughput. Integration is supplied by Quinn & Associates and is accomplished with integration to Expandable’s Shop Resources Groups, Tools, Attributes, Open Work Orders (Jobs), Job Updates and Job BOMs. Schedule results are integrated from Preactor and picked up by Expandable as a Jobs Schedule update processed through the Preactor tool.
Job Scheduling & Costing Module
“We saw an increase in throughput, a decrease in inventory, and a centralization of easy to access information” Expandable User — Director, Computer equipment manufacture. JOB SCHEDULING and COSTING provides the features of both job costing and project accounting systems. It provides management with schedule tracking by responsible department. Job Scheduling provides planning, visibility and control of the shop floor.
Master Scheduling & Planning Module
Best-in-Class industry businesses realize improvements in manufacturing schedule compliance achieving 18% improvement on average, while Expandable Customers enjoy a 3% higher improvement rate of 21% improvement. MASTER SCHEDULING is key to effectively planning the manufacturing activities of your business. It provides versatile functions to help you create and maintain the company’s Master Production Schedule (MPS) for finished products and service parts. Planning bills are supported to streamline and simplify your forecasting operations. The Master Schedule forecast can be automatically created from forecasted sales; quotations and actual demand (see Sales Order Management). Forecasts can also be manually entered, uploaded from your favorite forecasting/modeling software or from a simple spreadsheet. Multiple versions of the forecast can be maintained for “what-if” simulation. Available to promise, projected on hand and planned order releases for MPS parts is available during sales order entry as well as system-wide. Master Schedules may be automatically passed to the Materials Management function for use in Material Requirements Planning (MRP).
Shop Floor Routing Module
Expandable Customers, per market analyst, exceed the industry’s average manufacturing schedule compliance by 5% with a 93% compliance rating. Detailed, accurate scheduling, costing and WIP tracking are achieved through the SHOP ROUTING system that provides routing master data, defining the sequence of operations required to manufacture a part. Data maintained by each operation includes operation code, work center/vendor, queue hours, set-up hours, run hours, move hours, yield percentage and procedure descriptions. A vendor can be referenced if the work is performed at an outside manufacturer. Flexibility includes tooling control and alternate routings per product. A utility is provided for calculating daily work center labor and machine loads for open operations on routing jobs, using setup and run hours. Each operation’s load is based on the balance currently at the operation plus any expected quantity yet to be delivered from a prior operation. Positioned by Shop Day, the resultant load can be compared to capacity in graphical format on the Work Center Load report.
Supply Chain Management for Expandable ERP
Electronic Data Transmission (Supplier Trading Partners)
Expandable’s ELECTRONIC DATA TRANSMISSION (EDT) module provides import and export capabilities for data rich translation and mapping into standard EDI documents. To support the broad range of EDI options between two business partners, Expandable provides comprehensive export data sets and a minimum import data set in flat file formats transmitted via SFTP to an EDI translation, mapping and delivery provider. The Value Added Network service provider or custom translation and delivery application takes the data required by the target trading partner and maps the data per user specifications and delivers them securely to the end trading partner. File transfers are supported with Secure FTP (SFTP) from Expandable to SFTP Server(s). Each trading partner is supported by their own unique FTP setup and credentials, trading data and production/test mode of delivery within the Expandable Customer Master linking to EDT Partner SFTP server.
e‑Purchase Order Requisitions
e‑PURCHASE ORDER REQUISITIONS module provides authorized employees a convenient and efficient way to process requisitions. Employees use the Web to enter, review, and approve/reject purchase requisitions for stock and expense purchases. Once the requisition has been approved, the buyer uses the Expandable Workbench function to convert the requisition to a purchase order. Any time a requisition is amended, approved or rejected, the system automatically notifies key personnel. All functions use the Expandable security and licensing.
Lot Tracking
Expandable’s extensive LOT TRACKING capacity provides the traceability of purchased or manufactured items from raw material receipt to a finished product’s final destination. Lot Tracking improves quality by monitoring expired lots, tracing defective materials back to vendors and to customers who were shipped defective product, and provide information to satisfy governmental reporting requirements for the pharmaceutical and medical instrumentation industries.
PO From SO Create Workbench
PO FROM SO CREATE WORKBENCH provides the option to generate a Purchase Order directly from Sales Orders created in the Expandable system. A “Create PO” checkbox is added to the Sales Order Editor, allowing users to streamline the buying process by initiating a purchase order as part of the Sales Order entry process. The PO from SO Create Workbench is especially advantageous for companies outsourcing elements of production to contract manufacturers who drop ship orders directly to the end customer. Using the workbench, a buyer is able to review the buy demands before the actual purchase orders are created. The buyer is able to select all or individual orders and create POs directly from the sales order that’s driving demand. The Workbench allows a buyer to complete the entire order and purchasing process without needing to re-enter information or open multiple application windows.
Purchasing
“After implementation Expandable gave us the tools that led to improving our inventory turns from 1.5 to 3.0 in approximately eighteen months” – Vice President of Operations, Expandable Customer. PURCHASING optimizes buyer effectiveness by simplifying buying decisions, vendor analysis and purchase order (PO) creation. Expandable’s Purchasing function tracks POs from quotation and/or requisition, through placement with the vendors, receipt and/or inspection and final disposition of inventory. Inquiries display vendor status information including vendor master, POs, purchase history, AP invoice and AP checks.
Purchasing RESTful API
The Purchasing API Package provides access to Expandable’s Vendor Master, Vendor Contact and Order Entry business logic and records so that Expandable users can send RFQs and place orders from vendor and supplier system interfaces and applications.
Serial & Lot Product Control RESTful APIs
Serial and LOT Control RESTful APIs – provide interfaces for external applications to insert, update and query product Serial Numbers and LOT masters for status, customer ownership, etc. allowing applications to have wider visibility to critical product traceability.
Serial Number Product Tracking
Expandable’s extensive SERIAL NUMBER TRACKING capacity provides end-to-end cradle-to-grave traceability of purchased or manufactured items from raw material receipt to a finished product’s final destination. Product Serial Number Tracking improves quality by monitoring and tracing defective materials back to vendors and to customers who were shipped defective product, and provide information to satisfy governmental reporting requirements for the pharmaceutical and medical instrumentation industries.
Customer Relationship Management for Expandable ERP
Customer Support Module
The optional CUSTOMER SUPPORT module provides a foundation for delivering outstanding customer service and support through detailed case management and complete visibility of the resolution process. With an intuitive single interface that integrates seamlessly with Expandable CRM, customer-facing individuals will have the tools to promote customer satisfaction and retention by creating, viewing and tracking communications related to service issues.
Expandable CRM Module
With an efficient set of customer management features, EXPANDABLE CRM provides structure to sales and support while delivering management visibility of sales-related interaction. Expandable’s CRM module is an affordable alternative to more complex CRM systems and comes integrated with Expandable ERP to unify your company’s sales and support effort. Since Expandable CRM is a web-based product, sales reps and other remote users can review sales orders, invoices and customer details from wherever they access the Internet.
Expandable ERP Integration for Salesforce CRM Module
EXANDABLE ERP INTEGRATION FOR SALESFORCE CRM connects your Expandable ERP business infrastructure with the world’s leading customer relationship management (CRM) product for an enterprise-wide 360 degree view of customer activity. With bi-directional integration between Expandable and Salesforce CRM your organization will enjoy a complete front and back office solution providing visibility and control of the customer management process from customer acquisition through product delivery and support.
“We’ve been running Integration in production since mid-December 2012 and are very happy with the results. We started out launching each module of Integration on demand, just so we could track the results of each process in a controlled fashion. Today we are running all of the modules on a schedule and simply monitoring reports for any errors. This is saving an enormous amount of time for Sales Ops, both in keeping EOD and SFDC in synch and in streamlining the creation of SOs. Plus, having eliminated manual updates, data integrity vastly improved” — Director, Program Management and IT Business Processes, Expandable Green Technology Customer.
Additional Capabilities for Expandable ERP
Production Data Control
PRODUCT DATA CONTROL provides an organized structure for the documentation and maintenance of current and historical configurations on all assemblies in the manufacturing process. Bills of Material are identified as engineering controlled, released to production or both. The standard costing system supports the development of new standard costs and the review of their impact on inventory before updating current standard cost.
Engineering Change Management
ENGINEERING CHANGE MANAGEMENT supports the planning and tracking of all phases of the engineering change process from the time a change request is originated, through approvals, to final release and implementation. A perpetual history is maintained of the entire engineering change process. Real-time access is provided to inventory, purchase order status, sales order status, work-in-process and transaction history, giving visibility of critical data that enables informed approval decisions. Approvers can be assigned to a group or department to ease entry of signoff requirements. Approvals can also be staged by using each approver’s predefined lead time. Drawings, documents, manufacturing procedures, etc., can be linked to each Engineering Change Notice (ECN).
Expandable ERP Integration for PLM/Engineering
“We believe that a software company must see you as an important enough to work with, it should possess a clear understanding of our business or be willing to invest the time necessary to learn it” — Dir. of Product Design & Development, Expandable Customer. Expandable’s PLM INTEGRATION ADAPTER creates a synchronized data link between the Expandable ERP system and third-party product lifecycle management (PLM) packages. Your PLM system maintains control of the Engineering Change Order (ECO) process, electronically communicating change requirements for fast review and approval before transferring approved changes into Expandable.
Product Management RESTful APIs
The PRODUCT MANAGEMENT API Package provides access to Expandable’s Parts and Bill of Materials business logic and records so that Expandable users can manage product data in Expandable using external PLM, CAD or other engineering development or product management applications.
Expandable ERP Integration For Quality
Expandable’s strategic partnership with AssurX provides customers an integrated platform for building quality management functions and processes that can be configured to fit the specific needs of companies operating under government and industry-regulated quality standards. Expandable ERP Integration for AssurX includes four core quality management functions as an out-of-the-box startup solution:
- Supplier quality
- Non-conformance
- Customer complaints
- Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA)
Because AssurX is a core platform, quality functions can be validated against FDA compliance and other industry requirements.
Quality Events/Actions
“…appreciate the time and attention you give everyone involved…” — Quality Engineering, Expandable Customer. Expandable’s optional Quality Events and Actions module is designed to provide quality-conscious manufacturers an across-the-board option for tracking and logging of quality issues that impact their direct business, their supply chain and customers. Use the Quality Event tab to log the details of a quality event and assign one or more actions designed to contain, investigate, resolve, validate, prevent and close the event issue. Whether the result is a simple quality process or more involved procedure like an eight disciplined quality resolution process, the Quality Event tab provides a method for designing and codifying corrective actions.
Quality Part Parameters Production Measurements
The optional Quality Parameters (QP) module defines specification parameters (Min/Max/Ave) for parts, with the ability to define measurement instructions for common or like parameters. Users gain the ability to electronically capture multiple measurements against a product’s defined parameters with general in or out of min/max specification results and tolerances as compared to average typical specification. The Quality Parameters module provides an engineering and/or production quality assurance organization electronic capture with the capability to pre-define a product’s specifications and instructions for measurement and then collect measured inspection data, process control measurements, process audit information, final inspection data, returned product evaluation and other critical product validation information.
Executive Information
“We drilled into our employees that if it’s not in Expandable, it didn’t happen. It’s gotta be in Expandable” Expandable Customer – President & CEO, Implemented Expandable in an executive position at two successful startups. Expandable’s EXECUTIVE INFORMATION module is a simple but powerful business intelligence tool that provides company decision-makers with quick snapshots of key business performance information. Summary data is extracted from Expandable and other third-party databases in real-time to deliver up-to-the-minute visibility of key performance indicators. With the ability to easily monitor critical business metrics, managers throughout the enterprise gain more timely access to the key decision criteria that lead to higher productivity and increased profitability.
Standard & AD-HOC Reporting
Expandable Customers are realizing 21% “improvement in time to decision” per analyst benchmarks after implementation and able to react faster to their business activities. A key benefit of an integrated business system is having a unified database where transactions are recorded so they can be accessed for real-time reporting and analysis. Expandable takes full advantage of its SQL Server database platform by offering customers an assortment of reporting tools and options that provide stakeholders across every level and department the ability to access data using tools that match their needs and skill set. With hundreds of standard inquiries and reports available from day one, Expandable users are immediately able to monitor interdepartmental business functions using industry-standard metrics and analysis. Using the power of Crystal Reports™, Excel pivot tables, Expandable’s own Query by Example and other reporting and analytics options, users can customize the way they view data to reflect their unique strategic business model.
Report Manager
The REPORT MANAGER integrates custom and standard reporting within Expandable, where user rights to access and execute reports are maintained by system security. With a practical menu tree layout and interactive settings editors, Report Manager simplifies custom reporting by providing an easy-to-use framework for navigating through and running reports. Expandable standard reports can be copied, then modified to individual specifications, making it easy to create efficient custom reports that deliver exact information. Adjust and save default settings and prompts on pre-existing reports to streamline execution. Custom reports are conveniently stored along with standard reports, and are executed whether or not Crystal Reports is loaded on individual desktops.
High Technology Package
Flexible ERP for a Rapidly Changing Business Environment, “Expandable truly became a business partner through this [implementation and support] process and helped manage the anxiety I personally experienced dealing with a company-wide system conversion” — VP of Finance & Business Service,
Neurosurgery Products Expandable Customer
With incredibly fast product life cycles, fierce competition, and a landscape where the only constant is change, you’re vying in an exhilarating industry where the timid need not apply. To sustain and grow your share of the market you’ve got to be innovative while remaining grounded to sound business principles.
Expandable’s complete solution gives you the flexibility to stretch your ingenuity while providing the structure needed to run a high performance operation that remains profitable even while managing rapid growth.
Streamlining Your Business
To maximize your opportunities, you must drive your latest products to market faster while continuously lowering the costs associated with producing your legacy products. Expandable’s end-to-end integration of front and back office systems keeps your organization in synch and streamlines interaction with supply chain partners for quick and efficient procurement and delivery. You gain an accelerated time to market and significant cost reductions.
Expandable has defined the unique business requirements of your industry and designed product competencies that help you manage your electronics manufacturing operation for greater profitability.
- Standard Costing
- Lot and Serial Number Tracking
- Engineering Change Management
- Backflushing
- Online Order Management
- Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
- Quality Management
- Business Intelligence
- Configuration Control
- Forecasting and Demand Planning
- Bar Coding
- Multi-level Bills of Materials
- KanBan Processing
- Contract Manufacturing
- Seamless PLM interface
Expandable’s solution for electronics manufactures is proven by some of the industry’s most successful venture-funded technology manufacturers. You’ll gain complete control over your operation and a clear path to the top of your industry.
Services & Support for Expandable ERP
WEB-BASED E‑TRAINING
Expandable’s live, instructor led Web-based e‑Training classes combine the same valuable curriculum as the classroom courses with the convenience of your own office. Web-based classes are six hours in length, and courses are limited to four (4) students to allow for individual attention.
LIVE FORMAL TRAINING CENTER
Formal Classroom Courses, one- and two-day courses are offered at Expandable’s facility in Santa Clara, CA. The classroom courses are limited to twelve (12) students to allow time for individual attention. Each student is provided course materials and an active workstation in all classes except the Expandable for Accountants class which does not require workstations. Please note: the pricing below is per person.
DIRECT IMPLEMENTATION SERVICES
The company was able to implement the solution quickly and easily in about a month…. This surprised even Expandable, how quickly everything went” — Expandable Customer and User, Chief Financial Officer
The Expandable Difference, Perfected over decades of experience; Expandable’s unique implementation method minimizes the complexity usually associated with on-site ERP system deployments. Because development, marketing, implementation and support of Expandable products are all accomplished exclusively with direct employees of the company, Expandable delivers economic advantages that other ERP providers cannot. The Advantages of Our Direct Approach: Our direct model minimizes implementation expenses to keep the total investment affordable for growing companies. Your investment goes towards superior ERP software as opposed to funding excessive implementation services. Other ERP providers charge as much or more for services as for the actual software — and many will hide the true costs until after the initial sale. Because of our experienced, direct approach we know exactly what your implementation will entail and include the complete cost of implementation in your sales agreement.
PERSONAL IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT
“Our implementation went very smoothly; it was done in less than a month” — Expandable User, Director, Computer equipment manufacture. Personal Support Your implementation will be accomplished with an Expandable support representative who has implemented the system at hundreds of sites like yours. Your Expandable support representative helps you plan your conversion and installation strategy, developing an Implementation Checklist based on the unique challenges and goals of your operation. Before going live with the Expandable installation, your support rep converts and verifies any existing data and financial balances. To assure a successful implementation, your Expandable representative delivers on-site support during the “go-live” phase and through the first month-end closing process.
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
“… dedication to understanding our direction, wild ideas, and brainstorming a solution with us was remarkable. … outstanding level of professionalism and customer service…” — IT Manager, Expandable Customer
Partnering for Your Best-In-Class Success — Expandable takes great pride in maintaining the most responsive customer support staff in the industry. We believe selling our product is only the first step in a successful long-term partnership. Our philosophy is to get new customers up-and-running quickly and then provide ongoing support and analysis to ensure continued maximum results. Our variety of support and training services assures a smooth implementation and continued success.
Successful Implementation Plan — Each new Expandable customer is assigned an experienced support representative. The Expandable support representative helps plan the conversion and installation strategy, developing an Implementation Checklist based on the unique challenges and goals of the target operation. Before going live with the Expandable installation, the support rep converts and verifies any existing data and financial balances. To assure a successful implementation, Expandable delivers on-site support during the “go-live” phase and through the first month-end closing process.
Training — Education is a critical element of any successful implementation, so Expandable provides a wide range of training options based on the individual requirements of its customers. Customized group and one-on-one guidance is presented on-site for new customers, as well as for experienced users with targeted objectives. The Expandable Training Center offers regularly scheduled classes that cover a wide range of topics, from basic navigation to CPA-level accounting.
Help Desk Hotline — For ongoing answers to questions and issues that arise, Expandable’s seasoned customer support representatives stand ready to assist with any aspect of running the Expandable applications. The goal of the Expandable Hotline is to provide immediate resolution to every question.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
“Engaging Expandable’s implementation experts during our implementation and facilitating the process…Our employees like our solution and have picked it up very quickly” — CFO, Expandable Customer
Tune Up Your Operation: Expandable provides comprehensive system audits to enhance your product utilization and address business goals and objectives that may have changed since the original implementation. Expandable’s tune-up program serves as a checklist to pinpoint the optimal system model for your expanding business. Enhance Your Advantage: Expandable staff members save you time and resources by handling the critical steps of customization. Our experienced staff will help you sharpen your competitive advantage by tailoring custom reports that highlight your key business measures. Custom programming is provided by Expandable’s own system experts who tailor applications specific to your needs. Work closely with professional services staff members to make your business applications wish list a reality.
Integrate Your Systems: Expandable Professional Services connects the Expandable system with the complementary mission-critical applications you use to dominate your competitive landscape. Integration between Expandable and best-of-breed industry applications is accomplished by Expandable’s experienced developers who work with you to identify and define key touch points.
MEDTECH VALIDATION PROUCTS & SERVICES
Medtech Validation Product & Services, to help medical device manufacturers and other life sciences customers navigate the complicated system validation process; covering typical regulatory requirements for quality systems, for example:
- ISO 13485⁄9001 / 14971
- FDA CFR 21 Part 820
- FDA CFR 21 Part 11
Expandable offers three strategic options for satisfying the validation mandate of the FDA and other global quality system regulators.
- Validation Toolkit for customer in-house validation
- Professional turn-key services
- Custom combination of Toolkit scripts and professional services
With the option of choosing among three practical approaches, Expandable customers can complete their validation project using the method that aligns best with their level of experience, strategic goals and capital resources.
All Expandable validation resources come with decades of experience helping life sciences manufacturers operate successfully in a highly regulated industry.
MEDTECH VALIDATION TOOLKIT
For customers with the confidence to perform their own validation, Expandable provides a Validation Toolkit that includes the scripts and templates required to assure that the system and related business processes comply with the FDA and other regulatory agencies.
Developed for Expandable by life sciences industry professionals, the Toolkit templates include the necessary scripts that assist key personnel in completing the quality system validation requirements:
- Validation Plan (VP)
- Installation Qualification (IQ)
- Operational Qualification (OQ)
- Performance Qualification (PQ)
- User Functional Requirements (UFRS)
- Separate Risk Analysis (SRA)
- Trace Matrix (TRACE)
The validation protocol scripts clearly define and document each step required to validate the Expandable base system, encompassing critical components of the following quality areas:
- Inventory Control
- Job Scheduling/Costing
- Lot Tracking
- Master Scheduling
- Multiple Location
- Product Data Control
- Purchasing
- Sales Order
- Security
- Utilities (Password Upload, User Field Names)
CUSTOMER RESOURCE CENTER
Expandable users currently on maintenance are invited to enter the Customer Resource Center, where your valid password provides around-the-clock access to materials and information collected to help you get the most out of your partnership with Expandable. The Customer Resource Center is a secure area and restricted to Expandable users with a current maintenance agreement.
CUSTOMER SUPPORT MODULE
The Expandable CRM CUSTOMER SUPPORT module provides a foundation for delivering outstanding customer service and support through detailed case management and complete visibility of the resolution process. With an intuitive single interface that integrates seamlessly with Expandable CRM, customer-facing individuals will have the tools to promote customer satisfaction and retention by creating, viewing and tracking communications related to service issues.
Direct Implementation Services
“The company was able to implement the solution quickly and easily in about a month…. This surprised even Expandable, how quickly everything went” — Expandable Customer and User, Chief Financial Officer
The Expandable Difference, Perfected over decades of experience; Expandable’s unique implementation method minimizes the complexity usually associated with on-site ERP system deployments. Because development, marketing, implementation and support of Expandable products are all accomplished exclusively with direct employees of the company, Expandable delivers economic advantages that other ERP providers cannot. The Advantages of Our Direct Approach: Our direct model minimizes implementation expenses to keep the total investment affordable for growing companies. Your investment goes towards superior ERP software as opposed to funding excessive implementation services. Other ERP providers charge as much or more for services as for the actual software — and many will hide the true costs until after the initial sale. Because of our experienced, direct approach we know exactly what your implementation will entail and include the complete cost of implementation in your sales agreement.
Personal Implementation Support
“Our implementation went very smoothly; it was done in less than a month” — Expandable User, Director, Computer equipment manufacture
Personal Support Your implementation will be accomplished with an Expandable support representative who has implemented the system at hundreds of sites like yours. Your Expandable support representative helps you plan your conversion and installation strategy, developing an Implementation Checklist based on the unique challenges and goals of your operation. Before going live with the Expandable installation, your support rep converts and verifies any existing data and financial balances. To assure a successful implementation, your Expandable representative delivers on-site support during the “go-live” phase and through the first month-end closing process.
Medtech Validation Product & Services
Medtech Validation Product & Services, to help medical device manufacturers and other life sciences customers navigate the complicated system validation process; covering typical regulatory requirements for quality systems, for exmaple:
- ISO 13485⁄9001 / 14971
- FDA CFR 21 Part 820
- FDA CFR 21 Part 11
Expandable offers three strategic options for satisfying the validation mandate of the FDA and other global quality system regulators.
- Validation Toolkit for customer in-house validation
- Professional turn-key services
- Custom combination of Toolkit scripts and professional services
With the option of choosing among three practical approaches, Expandable customers can complete their validation project using the method that aligns best with their level of experience, strategic goals and capital resources.
All Expandable validation resources come with decades of experience helping life sciences manufacturers operate successfully in a highly regulated industry.
Meditech Validation Toolkit
For customers with the confidence to perform their own validation, Expandable provides a Validation Toolkit that includes the scripts and templates required to assure that the system and related business processes comply with the FDA and other regulatory agencies.
Developed for Expandable by life sciences industry professionals, the Toolkit templates include the necessary scripts that assist key personnel in completing the quality system validation requirements:
- Validation Plan (VP)
- Installation Qualification (IQ)
- Operational Qualification (OQ)
- Performance Qualification (PQ)
- User Functional Requirements (UFRS)
- Separate Risk Analysis (SRA)
- Trace Matrix (TRACE)
The validation protocol scripts clearly define and document each step required to validate the Expandable base system, encompassing critical components of the following quality areas:
- Inventory Control
- Job Scheduling/Costing
- Lot Tracking
- Master Scheduling
- Multiple Location
- Product Data Control
- Purchasing
- Sales Order
- Security
- Utilities (Password Upload, User Field Names)
Support & Professional Services
Customer Support
“… dedication to understanding our direction, wild ideas, and brainstorming a solution with us was remarkable. … outstanding level of professionalism and customer service…” — IT Manager, Expandable Customer
Partnering for Your Best-In-Class Success — Expandable takes great pride in maintaining the most responsive customer support staff in the industry. We believe selling our product is only the first step in a successful long-term partnership. Our philosophy is to get new customers up-and-running quickly and then provide ongoing support and analysis to ensure continued maximum results. Our variety of support and training services assures a smooth implementation and continued success.
Successful Implementation Plan — Each new Expandable customer is assigned an experienced support representative. The Expandable support representative helps plan the conversion and installation strategy, developing an Implementation Checklist based on the unique challenges and goals of the target operation. Before going live with the Expandable installation, the support rep converts and verifies any existing data and financial balances. To assure a successful implementation, Expandable delivers on-site support during the “go-live” phase and through the first month-end closing process.
Training — Education is a critical element of any successful implementation, so Expandable provides a wide range of training options based on the individual requirements of its customers. Customized group and one-on-one guidance is presented on-site for new customers, as well as for experienced users with targeted objectives. The Expandable Training Center offers regularly scheduled classes that cover a wide range of topics, from basic navigation to CPA-level accounting. Help Desk Hotline — For ongoing answers to questions and issues that arise, Expandable’s seasoned customer support representatives stand ready to assist with any aspect of running the Expandable applications. The goal of the Expandable Hotline is to provide immediate resolution to every question.
Professional Services
“Engaging Expandable’s implementation experts during our implementation and facilitating the process…Our employees like our solution and have picked it up very quickly” — CFO, Expandable Customer
Tune Up Your Operation: Expandable provides comprehensive system audits to enhance your product utilization and address business goals and objectives that may have changed since the original implementation. Expandable’s tune-up program serves as a checklist to pinpoint the optimal system model for your expanding business. Enhance Your Advantage: Expandable staff members save you time and resources by handling the critical steps of customization. Our experienced staff will help you sharpen your competitive advantage by tailoring custom reports that highlight your key business measures. Custom programming is provided by Expandable’s own system experts who tailor applications specific to your needs. Work closely with professional services staff members to make your business applications wish list a reality. Integrate Your Systems: Expandable Professional Services connects the Expandable system with the complementary mission-critical applications you use to dominate your competitive landscape. Integration between Expandable and best-of-breed industry applications is accomplished by Expandable’s experienced developers who work with you to identify and define key touch points.
Customer Resource Center
Expandable users currently on maintenance are invited to enter the Customer Resource Center, where your valid password provides around-the-clock access to materials and information collected to help you get the most out of your partnership with Expandable. The Customer Resource Center is a secure area and restricted to Expandable users with a current maintenance agreement. If you are an Expandable customer who is having difficulty accessing the site with a valid Username and Password or do not know your login credentials please call the Expandable Support Hotline at (408) 247‑3300 or email support@expandable.com.
User Product & Process Training
Web-Based E‑Training
Expandable’s live, instructor led Web-based e‑Training classes combine the same valuable curriculum as the classroom courses with the convenience of your own office. Web-based classes are six hours in length, and courses are limited to four (4) students to allow for individual attention.
Live Formal Training Center
Formal Classroom Courses, one and two day courses are offered at Expandable’s facility in Santa Clara, CA. The classroom courses are limited to twelve (12) students to allow time for individual attention. Each student is provided course materials and an active workstation in all classes except the Expandable for Accountants class which does not require workstations.