Jim2 Job Management

Job Information Management

The functionality in Jim2 Business Engine that sets it apart from other business software is the concept of the JOB, and more significantly, Job Information Management.

Each task undertaken within your organisation – be it Sales, Servicing or Manufacturing – can be handled within the Job form. The information on the Job form is used to monitor productivity, to create reports, and typically to produce an invoice.

The Job Form itself is divided into 3 areas:

• The Job Header is used to record Customer details, ‘start time’ and ‘due date’ for the task, the task itself, the name of the staff member chosen to complete the task and the current STATUS of the Job overall.
• The Comment Grid is for the use of your staff to record text commentary needed to convey (internal use) messages on any aspect of the Job. Note: These individual comments can be emailed about the work group or reproduced in full for accurate Quality records.
• The Stock Grid is for the allocation of Stock including Inventory, labour charges, tests & checks.
• A labour grid is available for your staff to nominate their ‘actual time’ spent on various activities for that Job.

The Job form itself contains specific fields where information can be defaulted (using pre-set options & setups) or specifically entered by users. As any Job is entered onto the system, it is tracked in real time. Each ‘edit’ is tracked with an automatic time/date/initial stamp.

Live drill-down workflow overviews

• Staff and Management can create their own Lists (of Jobs, Purchases, Quotes, Debtors, Creditors) to monitor and work from
• Mouse-click drill down to individual Job, Purchase, Quote, Debtor and Creditor records to view or edit
• Jim2 includes ‘live lists’ that can be set to refresh at specified intervals, so users can keep an eye on Jobs as they change status
• Drop-and-Drag column sorting to give you your preferred views.
• ‘Pin’ lists in place to stop them being closed inadvertently.

Productivity Reporting

• Use Jim2 Lists to give you a broad view of all work in progress, or use filters to narrow your view (Example: list only Service jobs in progress)
• Sort Job List by Due Date or Status Due date to check performance (overdue Jobs will show in red in the list) Drill down to check the why or who.
• Identify process bottlenecks or improvements using real data – rather than gut feelings.
• The Jim2 ‘Follow Me’ desktop feature means your staff can log-in and work from any workstation in your network with their own desktop views and security intact. Automatic Jim2 log-off (after x minutes of inactivity) can be set at a workstation level.

Actual vs Billable Labour tracking

• Because you can define your own labour ‘types’ (travel, onsite, research, workshop) the Job Labour Grid builds real statistics on what’s really involved in a given task, to help you set selling prices more realistically.
• Use Management Reports to give you Actual Labour recorded for any given period, for any staff member/s.
• Set a realistic, generalised ‘cost’ on each different labour you sell and use Profit Reporting to give you a truer performance picture – without affecting the GL
• Actual labour recorded does not automatically enter the (Stock) billing grid – it’s your choice to add labour charges (or not!) to the Stock Grid for invoicing.

Process start/stop triggers

• Define STATUS (words) to describe the start/stop triggers in your workflow, using your common terminology.
• Status tables can be built for Sales, Service, Manufacturing, Quotes, Purchasing, Stock Transfers, Returns (inward/outward), Stock Adjustments, Cheques and General Journals. The database is supplied with appropriate status in each category to get you started.
• The Status Table you build includes a brief description of the actions required. (Example: if Status = Call, then call the customer to get a decision from them). The Status Table then becomes an excellent reference or training guide for your staff.
• Each Status can be set a ‘due time’ – that is, should a Job stay on that status for more than 4 hours, it becomes ‘overdue’.
• Status can also be set to a Strict Workflow – that is, users can only move from status A to status B, not straight to status C. This functionality is excellent for high volume Distribution companies using the Pick then Packed then ready to Invoice status changes to monitor warehouse movements and productivity.
• Because Jim2 can use ‘programmable event scripting’, triggers such as Status change can be used to send a report to a client, or print a picking Slip and so on. These Event Scripts are developed outside the core program, but triggered by a defined event to perform a task.

Automated Due Date/ Due Time

• Defaults can be set (globally) to calculate realistic turnaround (days & hours) for each new Job entered on your system. This sets the benchmark for your team to work to, to complete each Job.

• Your actual working hours are pre-set to ensure Due Date relates to actual trading hours. Jim2 will then calculate an expected Due Date & Time using only valid trading hours
• Each Status can be set a ‘due time’ – that is, should a Job stay on that status for more than 4 hours, it becomes ‘overdue’.
• Sort Job List by Due Date or Status Due date to check performance (overdue Jobs will show in red in the list)