How I Got Started in the Manufacturing Software Business - Part 4 of 4

By Mike Hart

In the fall of 1991, I ran across a classified ad in PC Magazine touting an accounting package that could be purchased for $100, including source code.  Out of curiosity, I dialed the phone number.  A jovial sounding fellow answered the phone and said his name was Rick Atkeson and he assured me that the accounting package with source code for $100 was no joke, and that he had a license to prove it. 

I told him that I was thinking of creating a manufacturing software package for small business, that there was a great opportunity in the local market, but I had no programming experience.  Rick said “why not use me?  I can furnish the accounting modules and my assistant and I could program the manufacturing stuff to your specs and we could share in the profits.” 

It sounded good to me, so we arranged a meeting at his house in Redlands, about 60 miles East of Los Angeles.  I met Rick and his part-time programmer, Mike Simmons, who had a newspaper route in the early mornings.  I gave them a rough sketch of what was needed for the manufacturing modules and they assured me it would be no problem putting them together.  We shook hands and agreed to a tentative partnership. 

I went home and plunged into the project.  Fortunately, over the past four years, every time I ran into an issue out in the field, whether it was a desired feature or a sales objection, I would write the issue down on a 3 x 5 card for future reference. 

So when it came time to develop my product specifications, I had accumulated hundreds of these 3 x 5 cards.  I decided on my basic product modules – bills of material, routings, work orders, job costing, MRP, inventory, purchasing, and sales orders – and sorted my 3 x 5 cards into corresponding piles on my living room floor.  After deciding what screens were needed, the 3 x 5 cards helped me determine each screen’s feature set. 

Rick Atkeson’s accounting system was named “DBA Accounting”, where the “DBA” stood for “data base accounting.”  It derived from a product called Advanced Accounting from a company named Business Tools, which at one time sold unlimited licenses to the product for private-labeling purposes.  The product was programmed in a 4th generation language named TAS, also published by Business Tools, which worked in conjunction with the Btrieve database. 

Rick and Mike showed me how to use TAS to simultaneously create screen layouts and database tables.  In just a couple weeks time I laid out all the major screens and turned them over to the guys to finish the background programming. 

This was the DOS era, when the programming style was sequential instead of event-driven.  Instead of using a mouse, the cursor would advance from field to field by pressing the Enter key.  Programming was much simpler and faster than the Windows style screens of today, where any object on the screen can be clicked on. 

Within a couple of months, most of the system had taken shape.  Sales orders, work orders, purchasing, and all the accounting modules – AR, AP, GL, and Payroll – were fully functional, and we were working on the more advanced stuff such as the cost rollup, MRP, and job costing.

For the new product’s name, we decided on “DBA Manufacturing”, which was an extension of the “DBA Accounting” name.  We put the product together with virtually no out of pocket cost.  Mike and Rick donated their time and I worked round the clock on screen and report specifications and product documentation. 

Warren continued to work on lead generation and kept his eye out for candidates for the new product.  One day he was talking to the controller for a stamping company in Compton who was interested in the idea of working with a new system, especially if he could get particular costing features that were important to him. 

I lugged my computer out to Compton and showed him the new system.  Some of the manufacturing screens were still prototypes, but enough of the system was functional that it didn’t scare him off.  We talked about his job costing needs and most of what he wanted was compatible with what I had in mind for cost rollups, standard costing, and cost variances. 

It would be very difficult to walk into a company today and sell a manufacturing system based on prototypes.  But back in 1992, times were different.  At the small business level, PC networks were coming in and mini-computers were phasing out.  Accounting systems such as Great Plains, MAS 90, Real World, Platinum, ACCPAC, and SBT were in their infancy and were sold in computer stores.  Industry-specific products such as DBA were just starting to pop up in local markets.    

I struck a deal with the stamping company.  For $15,000, we would deliver the complete system with the costing features he wanted.  It was April, 1992, when we made this first sale and received a substantial and much needed down payment.  DBA Manufacturing was born. 

And that’s how I got started in the manufacturing software business – 20 years ago this month.

Even though the software industry, our software, and our company have undergone vast technological and organizational changes over the past 20 years, our core product remains true to its original idea, which is to provide small manufacturing companies with a specialized alternative to over-complicated ERP systems.

Mike Hart is the co-founder and President of DBA Software Inc., a leading provider of manufacturing software for small businesses.

      

Comments

[Matt's blog]

Howdy! Does the frequency of your posting depend on some thing or you write blog articles when you have a special mood or you create if you have time? Can't wait to see your answer.

[Mike Hart]

As a discipline, I try to write one article per month, or sooner if inspiration strikes.

[Charles Moeller]

Mike,

I like your story.

Just now looking into MRP for our small manufacturing outfit of 5 to 7 employees. We make fireplace fronts, called "doors" (because some fronts are actually doors). The ones we make for a large manufacturer of gas-fired inserts are distinctive, as they are made of pieces of blacksmith-forged & hand-hammered and 1/4" thick mild steel bars welded together on steel tables using jigs and fixtures. All the competitors’ products out there are character-less stampings (mainly from China).

I am looking for a simple MRP system. Our process is:

1. Receive PO from the big manufacturer for lots of 6 or 12 of ten different fronts. (Our typical manufacturing produces 36-40 fronts a week for a yearly gross of $500k - $750k/year.)

2. Estimate the funding required to fulfill the PO,

3. Get funding from payment for previously shipped products,

4. Order & pay for the raw materials (BOMs & expendable supplies) and subcontracted parts,

5. Hammer the pieces and weld them into door assemblies,

6. Surface treat, clean, and coat,

7. Bake,

8. Assemble pallet boxes and fill with doors,

9. Ship and invoice,

10. Receive payment and pay employees, pay taxes, overhead, etc.

We do not have a server, but the boss, the foreman, and I each have our own computers. We need a system in which all of us has access to the same information and it is updated at least once a day when we are all together at the manufacturing facility. Additionally, I have a computer at home in which I wish to have the same info as the other computers.

Is your system the right thing for us?
there more reading material that would be helpful?

Best regards,
Charlie

[Mike Hart]

Charlie, our software has a universal workflow that can apply to virtually any manufacturing process. What you need to do is to study the workflow and envision how you can fit into it, rather than try to find software that does things the way you are doing now, which you are unlikely to find anyway. I would start by watching our introductory videos and then the system workflow series.

You will need a server and all your computers need to be connected. Date will be updated in real time throughout the day. You also can connect to the network from home using Microsoft terminal services. You need to consult with a local network service provider on these issues.

Good luck with your research.

[Steve]

Are you working on an online version of your software with automatic updates when needed? Would this not solve the problem of needing a server for Charlie's company?

[Mike Hart]

We have no plans at this time to develop an online version, which would be a huge project. We would rather devote our resources to adding new functionality to the existing platform.

Mike Hart