Customer Quotes

Dan Hansen - Eyewood Design, Inc. - Interlochen, MI "We spent a year and a half looking for an ERP system geared towards a full custom oriented manufacturer. Our goal was to get rid of all the stand-alone applications and spreadsheets and replace them with one centralized application. Redundant entries had to stop. Data needed to be accurate, complete, current and accessible by anyone. After evaluating over a dozen products, we chose ProjectPAK and ShopPAK. In less than a year since we began implementation we have enjoyed the following benefits:

• Extremely accurate estimates. Our bid-to-get ratio has improved by 12% and our sales are already 37% ahead of '09 with 15 days left.
• Purchasing and receiving has been reduced from 10 hours to 2 hours a day.
• Time keeping/recording has been reduced 2 hours to 15 minutes a day.
• We are in 100% control of our inventory. Previously we didn't have a clue and I'm certain some of it went out the back door. Now because of our controls we have zero loss. If something is missing or misplaced we know daily and can investigate before the facts get lost or forgotten.
• We have real-time data on labor and material costs (This is a beautiful thing).
• Reduction of shrinkage and loss of finished product at job site.
• Timeliness of billings and receivables has improved substantially.
• Overall project organization has improved.
• Reduced stress (my personal favorite).

Actually, these benefits could go on and on as we continue to recognize more every day."

Robert Luttrell - Luttrell Architectural Woodworks, Inc. - Birmingham, AL "We purchased ProjectPAK in 2001 and were very satisfied. We purchased ShopPAK soon afterwards because of the promise we saw in it. We have not been disappointed.  It has grown over the years into a very powerful management tool. It was easy to implement and use, and my people were productive with it in a very short time frame. My inventory control has never been better or easier. The same goes for time collection and job costing. It is also real time. As soon as someone is finished working on an item, their time is in the system and I can see it at my desk. I always know exactly where we are on every job. These features are nice when the economy is going strong. They are critical in the down economy we have been in recently! To know what jobs actually cost us, and to have that data at our fingertips, enables us to price jobs as “competitively” as we wish with more certainty. All of the features of the TradeSoft software are great, but the real value is that we now have a partner working with us on our software needs. They have always responded timely and have been open to suggestions about the software. My purchase of the software was one of my better decisions."

Joey Anton - Anton Cabinetry - Arlington, TX "Over our 35 plus years in business, we have had our fair share of experiences with software. Needless to say we've collected some “shelfware” over the years. Thus, we were skeptical when looking for a piece of software to help us track job costs and inventory. After many demos and meetings, we finally decided on TradeSoft’s ShopPAK. Once we were up and running we were very impressed with how fast we could get job cost information out of the program, but what impressed us the most was TradeSoft itself. They build a quality product and they stand behind it, which echoes our company’s philosophy. Of course what I really enjoy about TradeSoft is that they actually listen to their users. A trait not often seen in the software industry. As for ShopPAK, I don’t know what we would do without it. It allows us to keep tabs on complex orders and massive amounts of customized inventory which prevents over ordering. It also allows us something we could never do before, instant access to job profitability and productivity data. The purchasing section is another very powerful part of ShopPAK. It allows us to create orders that are more accurate and timely and are less prone to human error, while automatically updating job costs and inventory. Even the purchasing reports help hold our vendors more accountable when it comes to meeting deadlines. ShopPAK is a very powerful program and I know we would not be able to handle our volume of work without it. There is no shortage of reports; that is for sure. I am always finding new ones to use. From the Jobs information to the billing, shipping and inventory, ShopPAK does it all and we are so happy it does because I don’t know where we would be without it.

All in all, ShopPAK has helped us increase our overall capacity by:

• Reducing time to track payroll time and attendance.
• Reducing material procurement time.
• Reducing on hand inventories by providing real time inventory information.
• Reducing the frequency of inputting the same information over and over which reduced errors and rework.
• Giving us the ability to know if we did well on a job or not, and if not then help us figure out exactly where it went wrong.
• Improving our ability to forecast lead times and create more accurate schedules.
• Increasing overall accountability.
• Sharpening our focus on important issues allowing us to make better strategic decisions."

Gary Balcom - Nexis 3 - Rochester, NY "ProjectPAK and ShopPAK work like software should. Not overly complicated, they just work. I've never had to call tech support (who can say that about other software packages). The link from Microvellum carries all of our engineering data through to ShopPAK work orders, purchase orders, and ship tickets.  And the link with Quickbooks gives us a complete software system that creates synergy and saves time. I really like how job costing and estimated vs. actual performance can be looked at in real time. TradeSoft has the most comprehensive software for a job shop. Excellent, solid software."

Mark Ramsey - Tahiti Cabinets, Inc. - Anaheim, CA "ShopPAK is a great tool. It really motivates people. Shop employees try to beat the hours that are in the work orders that they've been assigned. They get a real kick out of and a sense of pride when they beat the estimated hours. Our estimators get a sense of satisfaction when custom items come in at, or below, their estimated hours. ShopPAK has actually made our day to day lives less stressful and more fun. Project Managers are real happy when they open a job and go to the job cost tab and see a lot of yellow (which is the profit color). We love yellow around here! All I can say is ShopPAK and ProjectPAK are great programs that have improved our effectiveness and morale."

Paul Jutras - Jutras Woodworking - Smithfield, RI "Before we had ShopPAK, we would evaluate jobs at the end and ask, "did we make money or did we lose money". Now, we evaluate jobs every day. We get a current listing of where we are on each job financially, in man-hours, the whole thing. It lets us know if we are making money or losing money. It helps us bid jobs more accurately and it tracks things from one end of the job to the other. Of all the investments we've made in our business, without a doubt, this software has made the biggest difference in our business. It has made us the most money and put us in a better situation.

An unexpected benefit of working with TradeSoft is they truly listen to customers.  It's really fun to read release notes and see a new feature and say, oh, that's one of my ideas!  Makes us feel like part of the team."

John Falenschek - Paragon - Big Lake, MN "We have been using ProjectPAK, ShopPAK, and Scheduler for quite some time with great success. ProjectPAK’s library capability and the ease of use for estimating greatly reduced the time it takes to generate a quote while making it more accurate. The ease of converting an estimate to a job, and the complete detail that comes with it, has allowed us to have accurate data for costing actual to estimate. ShopPAK is a great tool for job costing, being able to track labor and material with ease. Without a doubt Tradesoft has helped us to become a more efficient, accurate, and profitable company reaching that next level."

Nancy Lacy - Leininger Cabinet & Woodwork - Lexington, KY "Trade Soft is the best estimating and project management software that money can buy! We've been using it for over 10 years and couldn’t be more pleased with how well the product functions and how easy it is to use. Upgrades are quick and seamless; and always contain increased functionality that their customers want and need. Their support staff is extremely knowledgeable, pleasant, and timely – I have to say that once you get up and running -- you will hardly ever have to call. TradeSoft's staff is dedicated to providing an integral tool that is second to none. Once you have it, you'll wonder how you ever did business without it! You owe it to yourself and your people to buy the best software available. TradeSoft is awesome software."

Casey Peterson - New World Millworks - Denver, CO "New World and TradeSoft have enjoyed a strong business relationship since 2006. Although TradeSoft services many other customers, it feels like we have an exclusive partnership. They are truly committed to our success. We've benefited from TradeSoft's ongoing commitment of improving software and we know they listen to clients because many of our suggestions wind up in their software. TradeSoft not only has the best product for the custom fabrication industry, but the best support service as well. I would recommend TradeSoft to every custom production shop; except those in direct competition with us."