Richard Clark This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Newsletter Articles

   www.carolinacipher.com/newslet - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/12/2001   Last Visited: 11/11/2001

   Richard Clark , cost accountant for Columbia Forest Products in Cuthbert , GA , says of their product , We produce hardwood plywood. We are the largest plywood manufacturer in the US , with offices and plants across the country.
   
   Plywood sounds simple enough , but every sheet we make is custom-made to meet a particular customer's specifications. In order to make KeyMan work for us , we had to determine the standard material costs and the standard labor costs. This did take some work on our part , but we quickly realized the truth of the saying Trash in equals trash out.. Once we arrived at the correct numbers to input in the file masters , we realized a direct relationship with the accuracy of our quotes..
   ...
   Clark says their recent upgrade from Rev. 4 to Rev. 6 was inspired ninety percent by concern of being compliant for Year 2000.. Although they have a lot of custom programming , he says the upgrade went smoothly due to adequate planning.
   
   Versatility is KeyMan's best feature. We maintain extensive user fields for both material costs and labor costs. When I extract this information using ReportMate , I'm able to provide cost reports of minute things , such as how much oak 3-ply we produced in a week. This versatility means that we don't have to pay for a lot of custom changes , explains Clark.
   
   Another aspect of KeyMan that Clark finds useful on a daily basis is MRP. Using this module helps with the purchasing -- something very important to a cost accountant.
   
   Clark credits his understanding of the system to being appointed Project Manager for the implementation of KeyMan. With no computer background , he found much of the system was just common sense. I also attended a training seminar for one week and then we had Cipher come down here and train our staff for a week. I didn't find anything difficult about it!.
   
   Next on Columbia's project list is bar coding. They are currently working with Carolina Cipher on implementing this for more accurate inventory control -- yet another way that Columbia Forest Products is preparing for the next century.