The MISdys guys Dave and Terry made a trip to Intuit in Tucson to show the new MISys Small Business Manufacturing v2.0 product to the folks who make QuickBooks. MISys SBM v2.0 now includes Material Requirements Planning (MRP), Master Productions Scheduling and Manufacturing Orders. Designed for manufacturers who use QuickBooks Pro, Premiere or Enterprise editions MISys SBM provides all the features and functionality a small manufacturer needs to make QuickBooks an industrial strength manufacturing system. If your company is looking for manufacturing software go to www.misysinc.com. MISys SBM also works with Sage Simply Accounting, Peachtree and Microsoft Office Accounting 2007.

It was a long airline slog from Woodstock, Vermont to Mountain View, California for the MSys Guys, Dave Brown, Bob MacEwen and Terry Merrill, but we managed to get ourselves there despite the weather. We were anxious to show the folks at Intuit (the crafty QuickBooks makers) that MISys Small Business Manufacturing has Level 2 up and running. For those following our course of action, Level 2 includes Manufacturing Orders, Master Production Scheduling and Material Requirements Planning. Everyone seemed to be excited as we trotted out the new features and functionality. If you are a MISys SBM user or using our MISys SAE product for Sage Accpac ERP you'll want to check our website at www.misyssbm.com soon to see our posting and demos of the new items. From sunny California back to the deep freeze of New England the MISys Guys are back at work making sure Levels 2 is ready for general distribution next month. Stay tuned.

The MISys guys, Scott Beavers and Terry Merrill made the pilgrimage to Sin City (Las Vegas) for the pretigious Sleeter Conference as exhbitors. The Sleeter group has a once a year training and conference to bring QuickBooks Pro-Advisors up to date on all things QuickBooks related. Most, if not all, of the more than 400 attendees are not only QuickBooks consultants of one type or another but also Sleeter Certified Consultants. So if you are a QuickBooks user you might try the Sleeter site at www.sleeter.com for more information. While the MISys guys were making the nightly donation to the casinos as expected, during the day we were showing our MISys SBM for QuickBooks manufacturing software to the consultants looking for a manufacturing solution for there manufacturing customers. If you haven't seen the newest version yet with more whistles and bells integration with QuickBooks go to www.misyssbm.com/quickbooks and check it out. Also, the big kahunna of MISys made the trip to the Intuit campus in Mt. View California to showcase some of the new features of MISys SBM v2.0. You can't see that preview yet but stayed tuned for January 1st, 2007! Can you say MRP?

If you are a MISys end-user (the folks who love and use our software) I hope you were one of the lucky folks who took the MISys Small Business Manufacturing on-line training last week. Dave Brown, veteran of 20+ years of MISys training had a healthy group who were new to MISys SBM on the basic course. Over two days the group got to know the ins and outs of the MISys SBM system and learned the basics to get them started. If you weren't able to make it go to our web site at http://www.misyssbm.com and sign up for the next classes. All you need is a computer, phone line and preferable a high speed internet access and you can take the class even if you are still in your pj's. Don't miss the next training. If you are a MISys AAS user advanced on-line training is taking place this week. It's the next best thing to having MISys guy Dave Brown right at your place of business!

Well the MISys guys have been busy the last couple of months. Not Al and Terry per se but those crafty folks in the development department who work for pennies but come out with brilliant code. To celebrate their achievements the big boss has announced that MISys Small Business Manufacturing, known as SBM to the insiders, has a new 1.5 version just released. So as your excitment builds you should know this is no small bit of work. The new version offers QuickBooks users some dramatic new features especially for manufacturers that are make-to-stock and make-to-order types. Go to: http://www.misyssbm.com/quickbooks and sign up for the video demo. Not to be outdone by the sales and marketing group, our own Scott Beavers has returned from a successful trip to TPAC (Third party ACCPAC Conference) in Vancouver, BC where he spent a few days talking to our considerable number of business partners who not only sell MISys but Sage ERP (formerly ACCPAC) accounting. If it had been winter Scott would have taken his skis as he is known for his backcountry exploring when the rest of us would rather be inside with a warm fire. The MISys guys are pounding away getting ready for our next big event at the Sleeter Conference in Las Vegas in November. Scott and yours truly will be winging our way to sin city - hey someone has to do it! Stay tuned.

MISys staffer Terry Merrill and yours truly, Al Alessi, just returned from the Quickbook Enterprise Users Conference in lovely Chandler, Arizona. There is a Sheraton there called Wild Horse Pass that sits on the Gila River Indian Reservation, home to the Pima Indians, and it was a unique environment for a conference. We liked it on a physical level [except that it was 40 degrees hotter than I'm used to in ol' Vermont], but the energy at the conference was great as well.

There is no doubt in our minds that SBM is a great fit for the Quickbooks Enterprise users involved in manufacturing, and we had many demos for many interested parties. We learned as well talking with end-users, Quickbooks Pro Advisors and Intuit staff (sometimes all at once!). I also got to talk with prospects I had already been in touch with over the phone, and it's always a special pleasure to meet potential SBM users face-to-face. We met makers of hurrican shutters (Ocean Shutters), trailers (Best Trailers), skin nutrition (BioSkin), boats (Performance Cruising), pumps (Cortech), aviation oxygen systems (MH), wine (New Mexico Wineries), TV appliances (TV Ears), composites (ICE), furniture (DStyle), fencing (Cedar Rustic) among many others. It was, as I said, a great learning experience to understand what kind of issues each manufacturer struggled with.

I also got to meet Doug Sleeter, a leading voice in the Quickbooks universe, and we demoed the product together. Again, I learned at least as much as he did. We'll see Doug again at the Sleeter conference in Vegas. I'll try my best to keep this blog going, please share your comments and thoughts to let me know my efforts are not in vain. I'd enjoy this 1000 times more if it was a two way dialogue!

Well folks, it's finally here! SBM has arrived!

And I've got all kinds of links for you. You can get a very quick overview by going to http://www.misyssbm.com/xxx with xxx being the accounting package of your choice. You can put in Quickbooks, SBA, Adagio or Simply, and it will open up a quick streaming video for you.

Now for more depth please go to http://www.misyssbm.com/getsbm
and select Free Streaming Video. As you fill in the information requested, you'll have an opportunity to select a specific accounting package, or select none if you're not sure.

Also, from the same page you can download a Trial Copy of the product. It's the complete SBM with limits on the number of items/BOMs etc. We've placed a $10 fee on the download just to eliminate unserious downloads, but if you contact me first at al@misysinc.com or 802-457-4600 x228 I'll provide you the code needed to download the Trial.

Finally, every Thursday we host an on-line Open House at 3 PM Eastern Standard Time. This is hosted by Dave Brown, company president and a central player in the development of the product. Here is where you can view live product and ask any questions you might have, like show me how to create a BOM revision. And we offer outstanding virtual food, plus very cute anime hostesses. Don't miss it!

We're anxious for the world to see our exciting new product, so don't delay. It's available for your business today!