NORFOLK, VA OpenMFG ERP Suite Version 1.2 Incorporates More Than 200 Code Enhancements From Customers and Value-Added Resellers OpenMFG, the leading provider of open standards-based enterprise solutions for small manufacturers and distributors, today announced the general availability of the OpenMFG Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Suite Version 1.2 — the third major system release that includes for the first time a significant number of code enhancements developed and sponsored by customers and value-added resellers (VARs). This fully integrated end-to-end ERP solution encompasses more than 200 code enhancements, adding richer and more customizable functionality to the most full-featured open architecture ERP system on the market today.

OpenMFG offers powerful inventory management, purchasing and sales, manufacturing scheduling and planning, full-native financials, logistics and its own native graphical report writer and rendering engine. The new features offered by OpenMFG ERP Suite Version 1.2 include expanded, customizable financial reporting; improvements to lot and serial-number tracking for high-volume manufacturers and distributors; and support for three levels of tax rates, including cumulative taxes — which was developed by OpenMFG's Canadian VAR partners. 'This is the most tangible expression yet of the promise upon which our company was built-to deliver sophisticated, full-featured ERP solutions, using open-source software with the creative input of our customers and resellers,' said Ned Lilly, president and CEO of OpenMFG. Carson, Calif.-based Cedarlane Natural Foods Inc., a supplier to supermarkets in the United States and Canada, has sponsored the development of dozens of features — including a sophisticated and flexible electronic data interchange (EDI) engine and powerful pricing and cost controls. Cedarlane plans to go live with OpenMFG ERP Suite 1.2 in August.

Since Cedarlane sells through a complex network of wholesalers and retail stores, the company must interact with its supply chain through a variety of EDI mechanisms, explained Daniel Baroco, Cedarlane's IT manager. 'As we continue to rapidly grow our business, we need a high level of product tracking capability, along with a clear picture of product costs, so we can make well-informed decisions about how to price our products,' he said. 'We built the tools and reports that we need right into the main OpenMFG system and have been very pleased with the results.'

Cedarlane is also driving toward an IT environment that is completely open source, with plans to eventually push Linux to the desktop. OpenMFG support for heterogeneous platforms environments easily fits within that strategy, said Baroco. All OpenMFG products are built with robust open-source components, including the Linux operating system, the PostgreSQL database and the Qt framework for C. This underlying technology, invisible to the user, enables OpenMFG and its partners to deliver sophisticated ERP functionality at a very low total cost of ownership. It also enables a true multi-platform solution that incorporates Apple Mac OS X or Microsoft Windows, as well as Linux and other Unix variants. OpenMFG's new suite enhancement follows the company's release of general source code for its open source report writer and rendering engine, OpenRPT.

OpenRPT fills a real void in the marketplace for an open source, general purpose graphical, embeddable report writer. And, unlike the market-leading Crystal Reports or Microsoft Access report designer, OpenRPT runs equally well on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. It supports a number of advanced reporting features, including graphs, integrated barcodes, label printing, and watermarks. Report definitions can be stored in the PostgreSQL database as XML, or exported to individual files. About OpenMFG OpenMFG, LLC develops next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) software applications powered by open source software such as Linux, PostgreSQL, and Qt. OpenMFG products give companies visibility into costs, supply chains, processes, inventory and financial operations with a lower cost of ownership than competing products, and are sold to end-user customers through a network of value added partners throughout North America.

In a corporate IT world dominated by Windows and Unix, companies that run their businesses on Mac OS systems are in the minority. But a start-up company called xTuple is rallying that minority with an ERP suite that it says works just as well on the Mac OS as any other operating system. XTuple applications, which include accounting, inventory management, manufacturing, purchasing, and sales analysis, among others, were built with open-source components such as the PostgreSQL database, the Qt toolkit for C, and the OpenRPT report writer. XTuple will announce this week that it's certified its OpenMFG suite and its simpler, free PostBooks accounting software on Mac OS X Leopard.

'We've had a growing number of customers asking for this, who are existing Mac OS customers looking to upgrade,' said Ned Lilly, xTuple's president and CEO, in an interview. Six-year-old xTuple doesn't have anything against Linux, Unix, or Windows, Lilly said; its software works just as well on those platforms. Can you please make one for mac. But with so few ERP packages compatible with the Mac OS, the company's business is particularly strong and growing among the Apple loyal. About one-third of xTuple's customers are using Macs, Lilly said. He won't disclose revenues, but says 'around 70 or 80 young companies are customers.'

Openmfg Offers New Erp Suite For Mac Pro

In addition, the company has had about 30,000 downloads of its free PostBooks software, which Lilly called 'ERP lite,' since it became available in the summer. OpenMFG is an open-source hybrid; xTuple charges license fees and works with resellers, but customers have access to the full source code, can make changes to source code, and submit improvements and modifications back to xTuple. 'We think we've come up with an elegant way to make real, serious ERP available and affordable for the small and midsize market,' Lilly said. 'By tapping into the community dynamic, we've got all these partners and customers, who've worked with other ERP systems from SAP and Oracle on down, as we refine and enhance our products.'

Openmfg Offers New Erp Suite For Mac Free

Pneumat Systems, which makes cleaning equipment for storage vessels and provides cleaning services, is an OpenMFG customer. 'As much as I possibly can, I run Macs,' said IT director Greg Nelson. 'They're simpler and easier for me to maintain and keep running.' Nelson said he set up OpenMFG on an Apple G5 server, 'and I forgot about it; it just runs.'