I have worked with Macola, MAS90 now BPCS ("B-Pics"). They are ALL expensive too. To me the MAS software had the best interface and was "easier" to teach an operator who needed to pull up a BOM for a job or to see about missing/short kit items. I think Macola was more powerful (we had the DOS, not the Windows version), but it took longer to learn and there were a million or so different modules. Macola required more up front planning for implementation (get organized first!!) I am currently using BPCS, though our plant has not fully incorporated all of its potential yet, so I can't really comment.
Check out their sites:
Macola http://www.macola.com/docs/BPWebSite.asp
MAS90 http://bluebearsoft.com/mas90products.htm
BPCS http://www.dcs-ei.com/Products/BPCS.asp
Another added benefit that not to many users incorporate is documantation control through their ERP/MRP system. By giving a document a controlled "pivit point", changes and general document information can be traced, and quickly at any user terminal. This comes in handy when engineering (in house or out) wants to know which BOM you are using and if a certain MCSR, MCSN, ECR, ECN, ECO, more TLA's than you can count (Three Letter Acronyms) have been applied to the document. If you don't know what these are, then you really have a lot of planning to do before you are ready to implement some kind of software. Though they have a plus effect of quality, they can make the actual task of manufacturing hell!
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