MFGStream Does it All! 

Two years ago ICG, collaborated with ShopFloor automation pioneer Keith Vincent to develop MFGStream Shop Floor Automation. From our first manufacturing data integration projects in the 1980s until our most recent systems, we have implemented data integration systems for hundreds of manufacturing companies. We have always believed you deserve flexibility:

• Use whatever devices you need. 
• Use whatever manufacturing ERP software you need
• Perform hundreds of transactions with one scan from any mobile device

MFGStream is layer in the middle, allowing you to seamlessly perform hundreds of transactions. It collects data from whatever system generates it to whatever ERP or other system that needs it.

Our Promise to you:  Fast, Efficient, Modern, and Sustainable! 

We have been providing the best data integration platform for manufacturing companies since 1987. We will provide as much or as little consulting service as you require. You will never be locked into any hardware or software platforms, and never be locked into any consulting companies or services. 

Our ingenious solutions allow you to implement the appropriate technology mixture to maximize the profitability of your organization.

• Rethink workflows! 
  • Go beyond the built in and very limited ERP Shopfloor tools. Mid-tier ERPs lack scriptable shop floor process automation, data collection, and workflows. 
  • Add business logic to tailor generic ERP transactions to fit specific business needs.
  • Extend transactions to support specific workflows.
  • Add business logic and controls.
  • Allow or disallow transactions based on business-specific logic to enforce dependencies or validate related information.
  • Add additional controls to limit or cap the range of allowable user entries (e.g. maximum/minimum entry values or acceptable entries list).

•  Simplify or remove material transactions and paperwork
  • Eliminate decision points within standard ERP transactions by deriving values from user-entered or pre-existing data.

• Generate labels and paperwork in real time
  • Print barcode labels as needed based on the transaction being performed. Print wirelessly anywhere via lightweight portable barcode printers.

• Improve inventory and order information accuracy
  • Perform transactions as they occur vs writing them down for later entry. Minimize errors caused by delayed transaction entry.
  • Reduce material touches
    • Examples include: palletization, containerization, inter-plant material transfer, kitting of materials in advance of production, vendor consigned inventory from receipt through consumption, customer consigned inventory from shipment through sale, and guided walk for stock-keepers when picking materials for manufacturing orders or for customer order fulfillment.
  • Communicate in real time with shopfloor employees.
  • Inform users that received materials are needed on the floor now.

• ERP-agnostic:
  • Works with Fourth Shift ERP, Visual ERP, Acumatica ERP, Epicor, Oracle, SAP -- any ERP you choose!
• Perform transactions as they occur vs. writing them down for later entry.
• Print barcode labels as needed based on the transaction being performed.
• Print wirelessly anywhere via lightweight portable printing equipment.
• Multi-language support.
• Supports any barcode symbology that can be read by supported mobile/scanner.
• Uses a Visual Basic development platform and very soon .net/C#.
• Add new functions/scripts/workflows/automations easily by any user. 
• Supports the latest version of web browsers:
  • Utilize any Android-capable mobile, scanner, tablets, PC, and iOS.
• Simplify ERP transactions
  • Eliminate decision points within standard ERP transactions and derive values from user-entered data or data already in the ERP.
  • Add additional controls to limit or control the range of allowable user entries. Examples include maximum and minimum entry values or a selection list of acceptable entries.
• Control transactions (allowed or not) based on business-specific logic.
• Enforce dependencies or validate related information.
• Take pictures with image-capable mobile/scanner device:
  • Document the physical condition of inventory for shipping, quality, or inventory purposes.
• Integrate with 3rd-party shipping systems and EDI.
• Provide an improved and seamless link with the ERP.
• Add business logic as needed to tailor generic ERP transactions to fit the specific needs of the business such as:
  • Containerization
  • Inter-plant transfer of materials
  • Ensure an operator has training/certification before allowing a process to continue
  • Ensure valid work instructions or documents exist before allowing an operator proceed with a workflow process
  • Kitting of materials in advance of production
  • Kanban replenishment of items
  • True orderless manufacturing
  • Vendor consigned inventory from receipt through consumption
  • Customer consigned inventory from shipment through sale
  • Guided walk for stock-keepers when picking materials for manufacturing orders or for customer order fulfillment
  • Extend transactions as required to support specific workflows. See the following examples:
    • When asking for receipt quantity, also ask for scrap quantity and associated reason code, then after the order receipt, generate an inventory adjust to remove the scrapped items if the scrap quantity is greater than zero.
    • If control point backflushing is being used, when asking for resources consumed at a work center/control point, also ask for the quantity of items completed to this point.
    • Creating a rework manufacturing order could be reduced to asking for two pieces of information: the item to be reworked and the quantity of the item. As a result, the following transactions would be generated:
      1. Create the Manufacturing or Job.
      2. Add the Rework MO Line with the assembly to be reworked.
      3. Add the assembly to be reworked as a component to the Rework MO Line Add a resource item as a component to the Rework MO Line to collect labor.
      4. Pick the Rework item to the Manufacturing Order/Job.
    •  Ask for information as part of a transaction that is stored in an external database instead of within the ERP.
    • Print or email reports triggered by mobile/scanner device.
    • Monitor and respond to events in an automated manner.
    • When a shipment has been completed, send an email to the customer with information about the shipment. Look for incoming files from customers that are electronic statements of demand that are then automatically loaded into the ERP as either forecast or true customer orders.
    • Send email to suppliers to automatically trigger releases against blanket purchase orders. Email can automatically be sent to selected recipients based on transactions occurring within the ERP to alert people of exception conditions – an Inventory Adjust that exceeds a triggering amount can be sent to finance – or the receipt of needed materials can cause an email being sent to the buyer or lead material handler.
    • If an email is received from a customer asking about the status of an order, look for the information within the ERP, then send a corresponding email in response to the customer and the customer’s CSR that contains the requested order status information.
    • At a defined time or within an elapsed interval, run a query against the ERP database that looks at shipments and quantities delivered throughout the day with this information being used as input to an analytic tool.

Take Acumatica ERP to the next level with real-time, vertically integrated Data Collection, Shop Floor Automation, Manufacturing Execution, Process Automation, and Event & Workflow Automation!

We believe Acumatica ERP is the future platform for our current and future customers. However, Acumatica ERP, like other mid-tier ERP software, does not have anything like this.   

•  Rethink workflows! 
  • Go beyond the built in and very limited ERP Shopfloor tools. Mid-tier ERPs lack scriptable shop floor process automation, data collection, and workflows. 
  • Add business logic to tailor generic ERP transactions to fit specific business needs.
  • Extend transactions to support specific workflows.
  • Add business logic and controls.
  • Allow or disallow transactions based on business-specific logic to enforce dependencies or validate related information.
    Add additional controls to limit or cap the range of allowable user entries (e.g. maximum/minimum entry values or acceptable entries list).

•  Simplify or remove material transactions and paperwork
  • Eliminate decision points within standard ERP transactions by deriving values from user-entered or pre-existing data.

• Generate labels and paperwork in real time
  • Print barcode labels as needed based on the transaction being performed Print wirelessly anywhere via lightweight portable barcode printers.

• Improve inventory and order information accuracy
  • Perform transactions as they occur vs. writing them down for later entry. Minimize errors caused by delayed transaction entry.
  • Reduce material touches:
    • Examples include: palletization, containerization, inter-plant material transfer, kitting of materials in advance of production, vendor consigned inventory from receipt through consumption, customer consigned inventory from shipment through sale, and guided walk for stock-keepers when picking materials for manufacturing orders or for customer order fulfillment.
  • Communicate in real time with shopfloor employees.
  • Inform users that received materials are needed on the floor now.

Simplify, drive efficency, and drive productivity with MFGStream!

Learn more by contacting the ICG team! 

Built for Fourth Shift ERP & Built to Move Beyond VisiBar and VisiWatch

ICG and Keith Vincent (founder and creator of VisiBar) have combined forces to provide a data collection & process automation solution that serves your Fourth Shift ERP now and beyond! With MFGStream, you can run existing VisiBar scripts and preserve your ERP investment, regardless of ERP type. MFGStream serves the now, moves your investment forward, and lets you code for today and the future.

• VisiBarTranslator
• Preserves 100% of your current investment in VisiBar and protects it for use on future ERP systems. ALL existing VisiBar scripts are portable to MFGStream via VisiBarTranslator.
• Web Interface: Allows use on ALL new mobile/scanner/table devices with no script changes.
• Backward Compatible: Allows use on ALL legacy Windows scanner devices with no script changes.
• Performance: Exponentially faster than VisiBar and VisiWatch. No latency or delays -- thousands of transactions in just seconds! VisiBar is simply unable to keep up with the demands of a modern manufacturing or distribution facility.

We collaborated with MFGStream’s developers to deliver the next generation of data collection & process automation. Our Fourth Shift ERP base needed a path for success. MFGStream offers unparalleled flexibility. It is device- and manufacturing software-agnostic. It runs on any web-enabled device, including mobile and handheld tools.

MFGStream is the vehicle to move beyond Fourth Shift ERP to 21^st century ERP systems

Check out a demo of the product: 

Learn more by contacting the ICG team! 

Over the last year, Infor introduced Visual Shop Floor. The new module helped many Visual ERP customers get a taste of data collection, but Shop Floor is limited and many customers find it confining. MFGStream for Visual ERP delivers 21^st century Data Collection, Shop Floor Automation, Manufacturing Execution, Process Automation, and Event & Workflow Automation that is completely customizable to your manufacturing needs!

•  Rethink workflows! 
  • Go beyond the built-in and very limited ERP Shopfloor tools. Mid-tier ERPs lack scriptable shop floor process automation, data collection, and workflows. 
  • Add business logic to tailor generic ERP transactions to fit specific business needs.
  • Extend transactions to support specific workflows.
  • Add business logic and controls.
  • Allow or disallow transactions based on business-specific logic to enforce dependencies or validate related information.
  • Add additional controls to limit or cap the range of allowable user entries (e.g. maximum/minimum entry values or acceptable entries list).

•  Simplify or remove material transactions and paperwork
  • Eliminate decision points within standard ERP transactions by deriving values from user-entered or pre-existing data.
• Generate labels and paperwork in real time
  • Print barcode labels as needed based on the transaction being performed Print wirelessly anywhere via lightweight portable barcode printers

• Improve inventory and order information accuracy
  • Perform transactions as they occur vs. writing them down for later entry. Minimize errors caused by delayed transaction entry.
  • Reduce material touches:
    • Examples include: palletization, containerization, inter-plant material transfer, kitting of materials in advance of production, vendor consigned inventory from receipt through consumption, customer consigned inventory from shipment through sale, and guided walk for stock-keepers when picking materials for manufacturing orders or for customer order fulfillment.
• Communicate in real time with shopfloor employees.
• Inform users that received materials are needed on the floor now.

MFGStream is the only Data Collection and Process Automation software for Visual ERP. Simplify, drive efficency, and drive productivity with MFGStream!

Learn more by contacting the ICG team!