Status: ✅ RATS, or Return Authorization Tracking System, is a way for us to handle RMAs. The site uses modified TOES code (although cleaned up significantly) to track returns and warranty claims (and depending on which type of claim it, this determines which part of the U.S. the warehouse will be shipped). It categorizes where they order is going, the status of the order, which company the return belongs to and customer information. Nothing too complicated, although I’m contemplating integrating it with our website so customers can check the status of their returns online.

Status: ✅ Kuala Lumpur represents a new adventure for me, and a new project. The goals were simple: update/clean the systems, upgrade the internet connection, give pseudo-voip capability and try to get them on the VPN. Before leaving the states I had to make sure several things were in order. First, I needed to order the rotuer I was going to bring out with me. Next, I needed to make sure KL had arranged the appropriate DSL upgrades, and last: pretest the connection. Before leaving L.A. I had the opportunity to test the new router and have it connect to the VPN. All is good to go.

Status: ✅ Currently our ERP setup is a nightmare, both in stability, features and especially administration. A new solution is in order. After collecting goals/requirements we have begun researching, and even started testing some platforms. The “other half” of the IT department and I installed and tested Compiere today on a spare (albeit low performance) rackmount. For those of you (most) who don’t know, Compiere is an ERP solution that ties together all the faucets of a company under one hood. We are impressed with Compiere, but installation is a bit on the complicated side.

Status: ✅ Toes, aka the Temporary Order Entry System, is a, get this, a temporary ordering system to buy some more time while the full ERP is designed and implemented. Because we grew so quickly, orders needed to be put in a temporary zone, then moved somewhere else (apologies for being vague, you can understand why). Myself and a co-worker hacked up a temporary holding zone for the orders. It allows New Invoices, to View Invoices, whatever is In Queue, Voided and Search. The order entry page is auto-loads prices and things from the database, so totals are pulled out of the database and added up automatically. We ultimately entered well over 1500 invoices into TOES before the ERP was implemented, and besides a …

Status: ✅ Initially all CSRs were hired as temps, which means they had their own timesheets. Some new people have been hired as full/part-time employees, so we need to handle their timesheets – plus, several people (including myself) are paid on an hourly basis. Perfect time to setup a Timesheet. Since we are still small, with no ERP, and I don’t have time or desire to write a timesheet app, I decided to do some research. I found a few on SourceForge, but I wanted something uber-simple to use and uber-simple to install. I settled upon TimesheetPHP. Luckily it even allowed LDAP support, which would be useful eventually for SSO. Installation was a breeze, and now everybody logs hours onto the an …

Status: ✅ Another line needing to be ported over: fax. Since time is very constrained, I quickly setup an extra server (OS X, actually) to act as a fax server. The fax line inserts immediately into the server, then from there any new faxes are printed on a normal printer and dropped into a central shared repository for the CSRs to access. Surely we will replace this setup sometime in the future, but for now it gets the job done.

Status: ✅ On a Friday I was told we might purchase a division from another company. Monday I heard that we purchased the division, and that we needed to have a website taking orders and a call center, capable of handling 500+/day (and not short calls); by the end of the month. Not to mention that the products wouldn’t even ship out of the same warehouse that held the call center, but a warehouse half-way across the country. And that a recall was occurring, which had additional requirements. On Tuesday the CEO, and my boss, left for Asia.

Status: ✅ I started University as a CS major trying to get a business degree as well. The first two terms I was overloaded with classes (taking 19 and 22 credits, respectively). At one point I was in my C++ class and chatting to my mom, mentioning how I wasn’t really meeting that many people, especially females – which when you are an 18 year old male, is something typically on your mind. She replied that most of the students in her communication class were female, and taking a few communication classes would make me a better husband one day blah blah blah; I dropped the CS degree and picked up a minor in Communication.