I don't think there is anything wrong for people to have the options to choose between FMTouch or FileMakerGo, but just because the latter is more native (from FileMaker Inc herself), doesn't mean FMTouch suddenly become bad. As the review pointed out as below,

[...] Filemaker just released their own version for ipad, but at this time it is important to note that their version DOES NOT support syncing yet. But Fmtouch does, so beware.

Choose what you want to do, but don't expect your plane brings you to the moon. You're driving yourself nuts.

Does what they say it will do

by RocketmanFiles

Good to see folks trying the app and then rating it, but isn't it better to rate it on what it says it will do rather than on what you WANT it to do? I want it to launch me and my ipad to the moon, but guess what...not yet. Anyway, it DOES do what it is designed to do, to input and change data on your database as you would on your computer. The database looks similar, crisp and clean and is amazingly easy to use on the ipad. Push buttons, tabs, web viewer, all are easy to use, even without redesigning in most cases. Many scripts are not supported much beyond opening different layouts and others the author specifies. Filemaker just released their own version for ipad, but at this time it is important to note that their version DOES NOT support syncing yet. But Fmtouch does, so beware. Main reason I got this app so I could input data on the fly, come to the office and then sync with my computer which it does perfectly. That is sweet! DDR service works great and is fast. Hey Filemaker is an extremely complex program, if it was easy to write apps for it, then there would be tons of people doing it, Filemaker finally got around to doing it! What does that tell you? This is a great app overall. Held back one star as it will lock up on occasion, but will restart quickly. Other than that has been a great app!

Item-Level RFID Improves Retail Accuracy and Productivity, Consumer Experience

...Avery Dennison, the pioneer in RFID-based solutions, reports an acceleration in item-level adoption in the apparel industry as companies seek more accurate and efficient solutions from supply chain to point of purchase.Adoption is being spurred by the significant improvements RFID item-level tagging makes to retail operations with inventory accuracy increasing up to 99%, compared to 70-80%.

"...RFID item-level tagging helps retailers realize greater overall productivity," said Dean Scarborough, Avery Dennison chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Avery Dennison is uniquely positioned through our experience and leadership in both RFID and apparel branding, packaging, labeling and information solutions to lead and support the retail industry globally as adoption accelerates."

"...Retailers are looking to solve the number one complaint of shoppers 'You don't have this item in my size or my color,' and to improve their overall inventory productivity," said Shawn Neville, group vice president, Avery Dennison Retail Information Services. "Item-level RFID tagging systems provide retailers with improved inventory visibility, accuracy, loss prevention and operational efficiency, and an improved shopping experience for their consumers."

...Avery Dennison's in-store solutions, of which RFID is a key component, enable companies to simplify and accelerate their inventory management and logistics processes, and bring faster and more accurate goods receipt, improved control and visibility of stock and simplified stocktaking. A wide variety of retailers are using RFID-based inventory systems in both the United States and Europe.

Is RFID Right for Your Business?

By Todd Wasserman

Radio frequency identification -- a tracking technology -- can help some small companies get a leg up on supplying large enterprises, such as Wal-Mart.

If your company ships goods that are perishable or expensive or you're interested in becoming a supplier to Wal-Mart, Target or the U.S. Department of Defense, you may have reason to consider deploying radio frequency identification (RFID).

The truth is that many small businesses may be able to get by without implementing RFID for the next few years. But while you wait, your competitors may already be benefiting from early adoption by realizing return on investment from automating receipt and shipment of goods or by becoming a supplier for one of a growing number of big firms and organizations -- Wal-Mart, Target and the DOD included -- that have adopted RFID and required their suppliers to do the same.

How RFID works

RFID is a technology in which small, cheap tags are attached to items or cartons or pallets of goods and are automatically read and tracked by a computer system. Many regard RFID tags as the new bar-codes to help businesses track and trace goods through the supply chain. But there are already several examples of RFID now in use by a wide variety of people, including toll-collection systems like EZ Pass, the microchips veterinarians insert into pets and instant payment credit cards that no longer need to be swiped.

For small businesses, the use of RFID is likely to be more along the lines of Grantex, a Grand Rapids, Mich. uniform rental company. In 2001, Grantex bought an RFID system for a little over $1 million. The company now sews the chips into uniforms. When the company washes the garments, an RFID system reads the chips and automatically sorts the uniforms so they go back to the right companies.

Doug Singer, Grantex's president, says that since he installed the system, there has been a 36 percent reduction in labor costs and a 21 percent decrease in uniform costs. Partially, that's because uniforms can no longer be lost or stolen. Unless you rip the tag out, the uniforms are like a lost dog with a microchip -- easy to locate. The company used to use bar codes for the sorting function, but the RFID tags are much tougher, Singer says. "Our goal is to attack grease, oil and dirt and we do a darn good job of it," he says. "If we had bar codes, they would just come off."

Small firms can get big benefits

Singer says RFID lets Grantex, which has about 50 employees, operate like a much bigger company because it can handle a large workload (the company regularly services about 10,000 uniforms). Other small- to medium-size businesses that need to track inventory are also adding RFID. A study by Gartner Dataquest found that 40 percent of such inventory-intensive businesses planned to install an RFID tracking system by the end of last year.

But for most small businesses, RFID won't be a big priority for a while, says Mark Johnson, president of RFID Tribe, a Dallas-based professional association for the RFID trade. "It's very useful for any organization that has many, many objects to track," says Johnson. "But if you're a mom-and-pop, a clipboard and a No. 2 pencil does fine." Johnson says that a bare-bones RFID system would probably start at $10,000-20,000, but it wouldn't do enough to make a difference in operations.

Realizing ROI from RFID

Andy Nathanson, practice director for RFID for Venture Development, a Natick, Mass., market researcher, says most RFID systems will cost around $250,000, but the companies that use it realize ROI within 18 months. The good news is that the prices are coming down. Tags that used to go for 25 cents are "now approaching the 10-cent barrier," he says. Still, unless you track items that are worth more than $25, are perishable or are easily copied, RFID shouldn't be a top priority right now.

The exception to that is if your firm does business with Wal-Mart or the Department of Defense, both of which require suppliers to use RFID. One way to approach this is what Johnson calls "slap and tag," that is, just putting tags on merchandise without installing an RFID reading system. But even that can be expensive. "People say it's only a quarter or so, but we're talking about millions and millions of products," he says. "It adds up."

There are so much rooms for FileMaker to come into pictures in RFID business. When iPhone/iPod comes with RFID compatible devices, it will accelerate the demand higher, I think.

We return to perhaps our most popular topic: Value-based billing. This is a followup discussion with Jonathan Stark and Kirk Bowman. Warning: This episode is all business, and contains no techie geeky stuff. Kirk is making the transition from Hourly to Value-based billing, so we chart his progress and discuss the challenges.

Jonathan Stark is a consultant in Providence, RI, and recently published Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

Kirk Bowman runs Mighty Data in Dallas TX. They continue to push the envelope of what can be done with FileMaker by focusing on solving the really tough business problems.

File details

Channel: 

FileMakerTalk - Just talking about FileMaker

Media file: 

09_fmt031_ValueBilling.mp3

Database developers don't get no respect. Over the past 20 years, Steven Barer, of local database development firm Oak Bay Softrends in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, has built customized software based on the FileMaker Pro database.

However, he has received little public recognition for this sort of behind-the-scenes work that can change the way small to mid-sized businesses function.

Barer understands that custom database development is "not a glitzy business," but he contends that it can be "an integral part of the success of and, often a competitive edge for, many successful companies."

One of Oak Bay's clients, M&R Environmental in Burnaby, BC, began collecting plastic oil containers for recycling in 1994 with four employees and a single truck. At the time, it tracked customers and scheduled pickups using recipe cards. Now with a staff of 50, the company manages a fleet of 15 trucks.

Quickly outgrowing the recipe cards, it looked for off-the-shelf scheduling software. Finding nothing that seemed to do what it needed, M&R turned to Oak Bay in 1996. What it got started out as "a simple scheduling program," according to company controller Dani Mate, but "it was flexible enough that we could add in new functionality as it became necessary." Now, several rewrites later, she said "everything we do lives in this program."

Along with scheduling pickups and deliveries, it now keeps inventory of what has grown from one to 319 products: recycled antifreeze, plastics, oil, and more. A bridge to M&R's accounting software allows the company to invoice its more than 5,000 customers and to provide Mate with "information at my fingertips" as required.

M&R's FileMaker-based software evolved as the company grew; both Barer and Mate note that this required a close working relationship where Oak Bay had to learn about M&R's business and M&R had to learn about the capabilities of FileMaker. Along the way, Mate became an unofficial co-developer of her company's customized software. Now she feels she "can call and ask for changes and know that they can happen."

Company president George Mate noted that, while the initial costs seemed high for a struggling young business, "from day one, the software has been expandable."

He agreed that the collaboration between Barer and his wife has been "vital" to allowing the software to be customized to meet M&R's needs.

For M&R, the big test in the ability to modify the software came on July 1, 2003, when new regulations for the waste oil collection industry involved paperwork, invoicing and accounting. On that day, it was the only company in BC with processes in place for the change-over.

New releases of the core FileMaker product have brought new capabilities to M&R's custom solution. Now, for instance, it can export from the database to spreadsheets and use colour coding to make it easier to recognize different product types or other data categories.

Also new: sales reps can access product inventory and other information from their iPhones.

In total, 20 M&R employees involved in sales, scheduling, and invoicing have varying levels of access to the database.

George Mate suggests that, compared with his competitors, M&R has more effective software that has been able to evolve with the company's vision.

Added Dani Mate: "There's nobody in the industry that does what we do in terms of our data. Nobody. It's pretty impressive to be able to say to a client, here's a complete report of everything we've done for you, down to how many litres of waste oil we hauled away on Tuesday."

By opting for a customized database and by learning to work with the software developers, M&R has gotten software that fits its needs and that evolves as those needs grow and change. Concluded Dani Mate, "It allows us to be more nimble than our competitors."

First published in Business in Vancouver, April 6 - 12, 2010 issue #1067.

Latest News
FileMaker have released FileMaker G0, a FileMaker database solution designed specifically for the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

The release of JobPro Central 6.0 brings with it some fundamental new features including a completely re-designed user interface and numerous navigation improvements to make managing your business simpler than ever before.

New dynamic Gantt charts and calendar screens allow users to easily manage workflow and resource planning.

It is now possible to print reports in multiple languages.

Windows can be resized to make use of larger monitors. Users can now specify what details they want to view on the Home screen when they log in.
See new features list.

Customer Reception Management System

Posted on Jul 28, 2010 in News, Products | 3 comments

Home » News » Customer Reception Management System

We would like to introduce one of our popular products: Customer Reception Management System. Manage your customer database and turn it into a reception organizer. It can be use in various functions like wedding reception, seminars, or any conferences as well.

Each event can be organized separately. You can import your attendees data in csv format into FileMaker easily. Whenever the attendees appear at the venue, within a click, the time of attendance is tracked down fast and quick. FileMaker allows you to just send an automatic quick SMS or email whenever the client arrived, so representative will know immediately and follow up with good impression.

This system can be used with barcode or RFID card as well. With the pre-printed entrance card, one barcode scanner can make the job super easy.

Customizable for your need, contact us for more details and customization.

I would build one in FileMaker.

A field each for ingredient name, ingredient unit-of-measure, and ingredient-quantity. A field for conversion unit-of-measure (i.e., "please convert metric units typed in to US units") and a calculated display-ingredient-quantity field that contains the conversion formula. All that in the Ingredients table. A second table would contain Recipe Name, Description, Cuisine, Source, Date, Category, the Instructions of course, and also a multiplier field (i.e., "please scale up the quantities on this recipe that serves 4 to serve 12 people") which would also be referenced by the formula of the display-ingredient-quantity field back over in the Ingredients table. Bingo, you've got a recipes database. Twenty minutes, plus another 20-30 to make it look pretty and look good when you print it. If you want a third table to keep track of what items you have in inventory and when purchased, and a script to generate a shopping list, another 20 minutes.

Add in a script that will let you paste in a recipe copied from email, word processor, or web page, and parse it out into field data, maybe another 30 minutes.

Built-in easy-to-use FileMaker searching & sorting. (i.e., "Bring me all the French recipes for capon that don't use fennel and don't use ingredients I don't have on hand and show them to me in a list view sorted by entry date").

SmallBizResource Blog -- Software

This Lawyer Loves Her Bento 2 Mac Database Software

Posted by Gayle Kesten Tuesday, Mar 3, 2009, 06:20 PM ET

When San Francisco attorney Grace Suarez decided life was too short to be vexed by Windows Vista, Apple's iMac became her lifeline. But no matter how much Suarez loved her new computer, finding easy-to-use database software to develop her case management system was more a matter of trial and error.

Suarez started with FileMaker -- consistently the preferred database of Macintosh users, according to InformationWeek. It took her a few months to set up a usable system, "but it wasn't easy," she told me. "I was beginning to think I was going to have to become a part-time programmer to get this thing done." So when FileMaker introduced Bento (same company, different product) in early 2008, this tech-savvy lawyer, who has been in private practice since 2001, decided to give it a whirl. "I played around with it, but didn't love it," says Suarez, who went back to FileMaker.

In October, FileMaker came out with a second version of Bento. Suarez gave it another go. "It was a completely different product," she says. "I was able to replicate functionality of the case management database I had been using for two months in less than an hour."

Why use a database at all? "Spreadsheets only get you so far," Suarez explains. "Most people start with spreadsheet as a database, then wake up and realize it's not enough."

Designed specifically for the Mac's Leopard operating system, the $49 Bento 2 brings together your contacts, e-mail, calendar, projects and events, and lets you import from and export to Excel/Numbers spreadsheets. Database information is searchable via an iTunes-like interface. Beyond just data, Bento 2 can store images and audio files. "It has such tight integration with Apple's products -- Address Book, and iCal, and Tasks," Suarez says. "Bento lets you see your data in a table format, and can split the screen for easy scrolling."

In setting up her system, Suarez first created what Bento calls a Library, which basically refers to the umbrella topic of what is in your database. (Bento comes with 20 templates to help you get started, though you can start from scratch. I've provided a few screenshots as examples.) For example, Suarez's Clients Library contains information on each of her clients. "I start out with a name, court number, county where the person was convicted, and all those little bits of information," she says. Into each file Suarez drags and drops from her Address Book those people who are relevant to the case; iCal items that list, for example, when various briefs are due; and Tasks that make up her to-do list, such as write briefs. "It's so simple," she maintains. "You start out with blank form, you start dragging fields, and before you know it you've created a perfectly reliable database."

Suarez says she tracks her expenses in a separate Library. Backup is a click from within the Bento application; Suarez stores her databases on her own external hard drive, "which I copy to a couple of different areas," she explains. "I have three levels of backup -- what I call connected external backup, offline but on-site backup, and off-site backup, and I'm looking at Internet backup. I'm exploring Dropbox, iDisk, Mozy, and Jungledisk."

Of note, Bento can't be shared among users. It's a one-person, one-database system. If you're finding it tricky to conceptualize how Bento 2 works, FileMaker offers 10 mini videos to show you the ropes. As I viewed them, I realized Suarez essentially taught me everything I'd need to know during a conversation that lasted less than an hour.

"It's difficult to keep even a simple practice going without an organizational tool," she says. "Bento takes the information out of my head and puts it into a trusted zone."

Related Links

• Mid-Market Heroes: Law Firm Goes From Mac To PC
• EMC Mozies Into Online Mac Backups
• SLIDESHOW: Building the Mac Office

Productivity | SmallBizResource | Software

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