JobBOSS² Reviews

JobBOSS as an ERP

Comments: Overall we like the product and have good results with the support teams.

Pros:

JobBOSS as a standalone is good, with some nice Crystal Reports added on. What makes it great is that there are quite a few add-ons available (for Quality, CRM, etc.) , plus it it stores all of its data in a SQL format that works well with Microsoft products.

Cons:

I work mostly in the Finance/Accounting side of the business. There are some basic things that could be added in the next version upgrades.

Ease of use enabling company control

Comments: Jobboss and ci employee’s help to create a supportive and easy to use product. Increasing efficiency and enabling execution of deliverables to the customer.

Pros:

Ease of use allows my business to execute at low cost overhead of my company

Cons:

That if the web browser get closed you lose unsaved work

Okay Operations Management, Terrible Customer Service

Comments: We feel the system itself is ok, but outdated for today's market. Other systems provide more digital based solutions that provide faster results more efficiently. When we voiced to them that we were switching to a new provider, they told us to get everything in order in one week and then shut down our subscription until we pay for a year contract for just 3 users. So while their system does have potential to grow, it feels they do not value their customers, no matter how loyal they have been.

Pros:

It allowed us to manage orders throughout the facility using paper-based job travelers. We also ran our invoicing and logistics through it as well.

Cons:

The system was very inflexible and could not change with the company. Training new users was also difficult. The customer service is almost non-existent. It was always very difficult to find out how to get a hold of someone if there was a question or issue.

10 year user of the product

Comments: We have had an excellent experience with E2 / JobBOSS from 2015 until now. It has given us a lot more consistency and visibility into the business.

Pros:

It does a great job of capturing all of the work flow in a manufacturing business. We use it from estimating all the way through shipping.

Cons:

I do not believe you are able to upload a csv file as a user or admin. You have to have the company do it for you. It should be able to take a properly formatted csv like most software application will allow.

10/10 Would Recommend JobBOSS²

Comments: JobBOSS² very much helps us with inventory and keeps that cost effective for us. The job traveler and going out into the shop is very handy to put any information we want on there. For all of our users, everyone is bought in and likes using this system a lot.

Pros:

#1 - We really like how robust JobBOSS² is and how much it covers for us. Also, with so many features and capabilities, it is also very customizable and allows us to change just about anything we want. I used to use JobBOSS and am really enjoying the improved experience with JobBOSS². Next, the regular updates are fantastic, keeping us up to date with the newest features and enhancements of JobBOSS². Lastly, we love that we can run the system on either Windows or Mac computers.

Cons:

With order processing and looking at our order list, when we want to order by job or order number, the saving remains at a default setting. When we customize this, it does not save over time. When we leave the system, it goes back to the default settings. Also, it does not allow other users to see my work, still resetting to the default every time.

5 Stars for JobBOSS²

Comments: Overall, the system is reliable and doesn't go down - I don't lose important things that I keep in the system very often. It works for what I need it to do.

Pros:

We really like the structural layout of JobBOSS². It is repetitive in how it's laid out, so the logic and flow of the system is very intuitive.

Cons:

While the system worked very well for us as our one single company, we have had some complications with bringing newly acquired businesses onto the system. We had some custom code written to accommodate this, but is still not functioning properly for us. We cannot easily combine multiple companies into the system.

We Love JobBOSS²

Comments: Overall, JobBOSS² works very good for us. The capability of this ERP is awesome.

Pros:

JobBOSS² is easy to use. It's very flexible and user friendly. Also, it is easy to bring new employees onto the system, teach them how to use it, and quickly get them using the system effectively.

Cons:

One of our integrations is not syncing up properly - we're struggling to get the data points over from Paperless Parts into the system. Also, there seems to be a ceiling on scalability with the number of parts of our products, as some have 600 or 700 components - this can be difficult to manage.

JobBOSS² - 10 Out of 10 Recommendation

Comments: JobBOSS² is easy to use. Overall, we would like more tech support if we have an issue, and to work through the issue right away. We want to move fast and solve problems. However, sometimes it takes longer than we would like. Luckily, we can troubleshoot a lot of issues and figure it out ourselves.

Pros:

JobBOSS² is very easy to navigate. Overall, it is a very simple system and feels natural to learn and get familiar with the interface.

Cons:

It is quite expensive for us. Also, we would like to see a more easily viewable dashboard for scheduling and job status - where a job is currently at, and having easy access to this information. More graphs and charts would be useful.

JOBboss review

Pros:

Shop floor management. User friendly interface.

Cons:

Can only report on the accrual basis. No cash basis available for reporting. Some report are tricky to produce.

JobBOSS² Works Great For Us

Comments: Overall, JobBOSS² is helpful to us, but it is underutilized. There are many more features that the system has, but we are not taking advantage of them. We need help to learn the system fully and take advantage of everything the system offers.

Pros:

The quoting feature is excellent and is very helpful to us. Next, getting information in and out of the system quickly is a huge benefit. Third, tracking jobs is both simple and easy to keep track of.

Cons:

The reports are difficult to interpret, particularly profit and loss reports - some of the numbers just don't make sense.

8/10: A Solid Choice for Manufacturers

Comments: Everyone at the company likes it - the shop and the offices work together in JobBOSS² and has everything we need.

Pros:

The best feature for us in JobBOSS² is how it flows through the system - from estimating to actually creating an order to shipping to receiving to billing. The workflow is very easy to understand.

Cons:

We're in the Cloud. I don't like that there is no integration to my local hard drive at the shop. So, I have to store files in 2 places. Also, there is no second security system to get important information if the system goes down.

Excellent Software

Comments: Overally, we like JobBoss and would recommend it.

Pros:

This software is very intuitive and easy to use. It's critical to our quoting, job cost tracking, billing, and purchasing.

Cons:

We don't have any real complaints to speak of.

Ease and efficiency

Comments: JobBOSS was a seamless transition. The team they have dedicated to your implementation is bar none the best.

Pros:

Very easy to use cloud based system. Access to the sysytem from anywhere

Cons:

That I did not purchase this software sooner.

Like the software, yet support communication and follow up is very poor

Comments: Our team has 16 years experience with JobBoss. We reviewed other ERP system companies prior to upgrading to JobBoss2. We like the ease of use, yet concerned enough about the support to consider new options.

Pros:

The ERP system features and user interface meets our needs. System provided reports work well. It supports our ability as contract manufacturer machine shop to supply simple parts to more complex assemblies for commercial, defense and aerospace OEMs.

Cons:

Poor experience with customer support and communication to resolve software issues. A recent example is with a system caused large inventory errors. Initial response with repeat follow up took over 3 weeks, and reaching out to others after 4 weeks.Requests to procure custom reports take weeks for feedback.

Archaic & Tedious

Comments: Archaic and Tedious is exactly how I would describe Exact JobBoss. There are significant limitations in the software to consider up front. Part numbers are limited to 30 Characters. Drawing numbers are limited to 16 characters. General Description field is limited to 30 characters. Their answer to this is to provide an extended description dialog box. But you can not see the value of extended description in any sort of list view, therefore you can not see the complete description of your materials or parts anyplace until you generate quote document, or purchase order document, or a report. The general Description field will clip your description. It will let you enter more than 30 characters. But if you save and exit, then open the same quote it will have clipped the description to 30 characters. The UI is not user-friendly despite other reviews. I seriously doubt they have conducted usability and ergonomics studies with actual customers. It is very easy to get off track and be very disorganized with materials. Where it should have a good predefined material structure. The reporting side is very limited unless you are familiar with programming Crystal reports yourself. If you are building a product structure where multiple components use the same material, there is no way to add the same material to multiple components at once. You can copy material from one component to another, however, you cannot copy just a single material. For example, the component that I am copying from may have 5 materials in it. I have to copy all 5 materials into the target component then delete the materials I don't want in it. Same way with copying routings. A tech support rep argued this with me via email. To convince him I was correct and it was not possible I had to take a video of my screen attempting to copy one material and send that to him. Only then did he come off his position that it was possible. I can not see both the routings of a component and the materials of a component at the same time. They are two separate view windows you have to click back and forth in. Likewise, you cannot see the materials in multiple components at once. You have to click back and forth between the components you are interested in. If they rearranged their UI you could do some of these things, because there is plenty of room on your average size monitor screen. I have a 24" monitor and at a comfortable resolution, JobBoss is really only utilizing about 50% of my display space with actual pertinent information and controls. It's very easy to accidentally delete things and there are not many places where you can Undo, so if you accidentally delete something you are SOL. There is no way to add additional custom properties to a component. For example, I can not have Customer Part # and Our Part#. There are unforeseen nuances as well with formatting as well. If you enter a value in Vendor Reference field or Detail Number, then it overwrites the space for Extended Description on our Purchase Orders with Vendor Reference or Detail Number instead. You can not delete a material that has been used in a job. Unfortunately, we have a terrible material database with poorly named materials. We would like to replace the badly named materials with new materials that make more sense. But there is no good way to do this. Once a material has been used, closed, or scheduled it can not be deleted. It can only be inactivated. But what I want to do is replace it completely. Now they will say that they have a replace functionality, but it is really a rename functionality. But you can only rename one material at a time. So it's not really a replace function. Lastly, if you have limited seats you can set a user sign out after a period of time. However, I have found that if you walk away and have not saved your quote or job and it auto signs you out, it DOES NOT always save it for you. So you may lose work that you have done since last save.

Pros:

It has quoting, materials, costing, and scheduling, and job status capabilities.

Cons:

Sadly the UI is severely lacking. And it seems not much thought is given to usability and efficiency.

JobBOSS2 is a very user friendly product.

Comments: We have been using JobBOSS2 (and its predecessor ShopTech E2) for 16+ years. It has served our needs extremely weel and for job shop software that is on the market today, it does its job very well.

Pros:

Modules that flow together easily. Also the ability to track clock in/clock out times and amount of time spent on jobs is so simple even someone that does not posses basic computer skills can use the product.

Cons:

In some areas it is very rigid and does not allow flexibility you would expect from a mid-teir package.

The Perfect Manufacturing Software

Comments: We have been using E2 for well over 16 years and so far we love it. We have used other systems and this one just seed to get it right. In that time we have only had a handful of issues of which most were fixed in minutes and all we had to do was call Tech Support and explain what was not working. The customer and technical support staff are extremely knowledgeable in what their software can do and how they can customize it to fit your every need. They have even extra fields set aside for all most every function to carry different data types just in case you have found a data point that they haven't thought of.

Pros:

E2 creates a clutter free work space with a simple layout and design. Shop Tech has broken down the manufacturing process to get a true understanding of how our company really operates. The bolt on modules allow for greater control of specific functions in particular departments. We specifically use the Scheduling and Custom Order Import Automation functions. Scheduling give us a top level view, department view, work center view, and all the way down to a view of sub parts that make up a single part. This tells us exactly where an order is as well as if we are under or over loaded at the work center and department level. All I have to do is pull up the schedule, click a button for the level of detail I want to display and away it goes. The Custom Order Import Function has allowed us to automate the order entry process by simply downloading a file from our customer, pointing where I saved the file, and clicking "Import". This function creates the order and based off our custom company settings which we have setup to automatically pull from stock jobs, inventory, post a quantity to make or a combination of all of the above. We can then run a requirement report to see what we need to make to fulfill open orders or to make stock for inventory. It really doesn't get easier than that.

Cons:

The extra modules do have a cost but they are well worth it. On the plus side of that, E2 will demo the modules with full functionality and if it doesn't incorporate everything that you need you don't have to purchase it.

Room for Improvement and Poor Onboarding support

Comments: Dissatisfied and disappointed.

Pros:

Interface is user friendly and visually appealing. A lot of potential.

Cons:

Limitations on customizing views, terrible implementation support, tremendous lack of technical support. Editing an order "freezes" it so if a PO is cut for material on that order, it causes a glitch. Customizing reports is not the easiest, and could be easier. Worst part so far has been trying to get technical assistance with the system. You will have to invest a lot of your own time to figure it out without help.

E2 Has Brought Amazing Efficiency to our Company

Comments: Efficiency, time saving, and error reduction are the main contributions this system has brought to our business. The error reduction is found in only having to enter information one time, and having that follow through in all of the processes, even on our Open Order Summary. If an initial error is made, it can be corrected at the source and the other paperwork corrected or re-generated. The efficiency and time-savings are self evident in what I've already said.

Pros:

E2 has really helped us streamline all of our processes: from initially purchasing, through receiving, invoicing, check writing on the AP side; to processing POs from customers, generating orders, travelers, packing lists, and invoicing on the AR side. I can't imagine going back to what we did before! In the E2 system, once a part number/PO is entered, all of that information travels through all of the processes and handling of that item. No more repeated entries, with that time consumption and potential for error--one entry and you are done!--the processing of the PO or part number then goes through the whole shop and out the door. And I am not even including the ease of quoting and routing, which is less in my area of work, but is the area where most parts "begin" their life with us. E2 takes these parts all the way through, including the generating of Return Authorizations and credits when those are needed, in a seamless way.

Cons:

Honestly, I can't think of any significant cons. We have had the occasional glitch or problem with usage, and there are some areas where I wish we could use the system even more, but for the massive amount of work we do use it for, it is excellent!

Company grows with E2 Software

Comments: We have been able to utilize the estimating (bill of materials / labor) system to effectively quote customers. We are able to track sales data, as well as purchasing data to make better business decisions about products and materials. Everything is integrated in the system so we can trace expenses back to the invoice and purchase order, or the sale back to the quote, as well as clearly defined job costing.

Pros:

This product is extremely easy to use, and very forgiving of mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, and E2 makes it possible to catch and correct mistakes, while keeping an audit trail all along. We have had the system for 20 years and our company has been able to grow and use more functions of the software such as quality and scheduling. We had planned a 6 month dual period with our old software but deployment was so seamless that we only ran double for 1 month. Everything is integrated from the initial customer quote through order entry, the invoice, receipts, and the General Ledger. Tech support has been so helpful, and team members are knowledgeable of the job shop business as well as the product!

Cons:

The only issue I have struggled with is user access to data. To give a user rights to view certain data, they also are allowed access to edit it. We can work around that with creative report writing. I can think of no other big drawbacks to the system.

Entry level manufacturing software for shops willing to change to fit their ERP

Comments: It's not that our sales volume has outgrown JobBoss, but our processes have. The lack of flexibility and customization are forcing us to work outside of JobBoss (e.g. custom software). The more that happens, the more obvious it is that JobBoss isn't right for us. I always consider JobBoss as a first source for our processes. Most of the time it can do something similar to what we want, but we would have to make serious concessions to make it fit. Ps. Stop sending "Important JobBoss Updates" that are primarily selling custom utilities.

Pros:

In general, it's easy to use. Each module has similar buttons and interfaces. I think the AR/AP modules work well since it's not the primary focus of the software.

Cons:

Quote entry has extremely limited ability to adjust margins (it can do it, but it's not easy). Adjusting margins are key for job shop environments. After speaking with support about my needs, they told me to quote outside of the system. Which means, I was literally told not to use your product. Legacy fields get stuck in the system. There's a lot of clutter in our system because we need to change user defined fields but they're not available in the find/replace utility. Scheduler is very poor. Difficult to use, glitchy. Doesn't (automatically) schedule for available labor resources, which is a huge part of a job shop environment. Reviewing scheduling during quoting doesn't account for current back load (or didn't at the time we last considered it). The recent "facelift" was atrocious. It's actually a huge deterrent to updating versions. What benefit is this facelift to me? My perception is that there will be no feature additions to the core product. Any improvements come in the form of custom utilities with additional cost.

We have used JobBOSS in our Mixmode Jobshop for 5 years.

Pros:

The biggest advantage that we see in JobBOSS is that it is well-suited to the small manufacturer and job shop. The modules are functional for our day-to-day operations, which allowed us to standardize and increase our workload and throughput by at least 20%. The interface is user-friendly. We were able to implement the software very quickly compared to the software we were using. The workstations in the shop have given us a good handle on time collection. We also use the QuickBooks integration and it works flawlessly. Exact employees are very friendly and knowledgeable about their product. We get answers to our questions very quickly, and they are very helpful in solving problems we incur. The online portal is a huge asset for training new users and enhancements to the software’s customization.

Cons:

As good as the program is, there is room for improvement. We think it is just a few enhancements away from greatness. The software has several glitches that have not been fixed in the five years we have been using it. For example, you lose the information you are entering into a job or purchase order if another user is updating a related job or material. Sometimes, the software locks up and has to be forced to close and restart. This usually happens when you are trying to delete a raw material in a Job and select a different material; it's some kind of access violation. The updates of information changes between modules is slow and can be frustrating. For example, if a raw material is received from a PO and you want to add that material to a job and pick it from the inventory, you have to close the jobs module and reopen it to get the new inventory update; this should occur instantly. A few other enhancements would be nice (e.g.: autofill on names fields, uses of Return key to tab between fields, and a simpler method of customizing basic forms like can be done in QuickBooks). We purchased the ShopBoss scheduling module with high hopes of solving our delinquent deliveries. After about two years of trying to implement this module, we abandoned it for our old manual method. The JobShop module needs a simpler and more flexible scheduling module. it requires way too much time in operator maintenance to keep it functional. In a job shop environment the schedule has to stay on the balls of its feet because the priorities are always changing. We can do the job faster than we can change the schedule in JobBoss.

Need a software to manage your shop? Keep shopping!

Comments: Our company has had this program for over 2 years now and we are yet to officially roll it out for company wide use because the administrators are still figuring out how to "make it work" for us. Weird update glitches have prevented the scheduling module from being usable. There is always a new functional gap being discovered, that support will create a patch to fix. Weird interface behavior like requesting an action met with no response or dialog box to explain why. Oh and when you open the program, make sure you click the green check mark and don't just hit your enter key. The program will just disappear and you will be left wondering why it is taking so long to open. Or sometimes it opens anyway.

Pros:

The best part of this software is the ability to integrate inventory, invoices, shipping and work travelers in one place.

Cons:

The interface is awkward, and the functionality of the interface is not intuitive. Actions like "F2" are swapped with a right click of the mouse, or double click at random in different screens. To be able to check the status of an inventory item while in a job window requires opening another instance of the program.

Great Job Shop Software

Comments: Although the move from the Professional version to the web based E2 system has had some issues that still have not been resolved I would still recommend E2. The people at E2 are great and are always trying to improve their product and in time I think it will be exactly what we are looking for. I still want to see a Sales/CRM Module and then I'd say it's pretty close to being a complete system.

Pros:

The new web based software works well and is easy to use. The integration of the of all the different modules is very nice. Data collection tied to operations and job travelers gives us a great way to quote more accurately and efficiently. The Rapid Documentation System gives you all that you'll need to become ISO certified and ties right into your E2 system. The new apps that they have created have added features making it easy to enter additional information and part pictures.

Cons:

The web based system has a repository manager which is the weakest link in the system. It's time consuming to upload documents, enter documents into document control, and then link to the part number. This needs to be simplified. Also all the documents must be PDF's if you want them to print with a job traveler. In the new web based system you will be mouse clicking all over the screen instead of tabbing from field to field. Also you will need a large monitor to minimize the screen from jumping around and still be able to see the font.

Works for us

Comments: The customer service provided by E2 has always been outstanding. I appreciate that they are regularly making improvements and seem to respond to user feedback in a timely manner. This system works well for our needs.

Pros:

Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy to navigate through. We do not utilize everything E2 has to offer. We create orders, packing slips, invoices and vendor PO's with E2. We are in an internet deadzone and have really bad service in the shop so we are unable to use the data collection portion and we use QuickBooks for our billing. for what we use it for it works great. The traveler make sense, creating packing slips and invoices is simple and the customer service is top notch.

Cons:

The interface is not really intuitive, there was a big learning curve for my team. For example, when we were first trying to print job travelers we were hitting the "print" button in the top right. This was not the correct button. The correct button is "reprint" on the left side of the screen. Why would we be "reprinting" something that we haven't even printed yet? And why have two print options when one isn't even really an option? Another example with some of our frustrations is with the GL accounts. You have to assign an account to a tool in order for it to be properly assigned in QuickBooks. When invoicing, you are required to enter what GL account you would like that invoice assigned to, but it does nothing. The GL accounts are attached to tools, not invoices. If you do your bookkeeping in QuickBooks it is pointless. It would be really helpful if you could assign your GL account in the invoicing stage, but you can't.