Forward Migration Kit: Jewelers’ software for Mac OS

(For those new to the column, Forward Migration is our term for companies moving from Wintel machines to Macs — or at least adding or increasing the number of Macs they use. A forward migration kit is an overview of Mac OS products for a particular occupation, such as dentistry, accounting, etc.)

This week we’re looking at Mac OS software designed for jewelers. We’ll be looking at a wide range of products, from applications designed to keep track of stock and inventories to software used in making custom jewelry.

JewelAppraiser

Starboard Response publishes a FileMaker solution, JewelAppraiser, that helps jewelers rapidly complete appraisals and stores the information for future retrieval.

“It is capable of producing stunning appraisal reports, complete with photos,” Mat Higbee of Starboard Response told MacCentral. “JewelAppraiser works with most popular digital cameras and stores photos of images.”

The application costs US$349. It comes with one hour of customization and 30 days of free technical support. It’s Mac and Windows compatible.

Shopkeeper, Professional Inventory Management System

P.O.S. Direct makes two products jewelers might wish to take a look at.

Shopkeeper FMP is a program is for small to medium sized stores, and can handle point of sale, inventory control, till management, color/size tracking, split tendering, accounts payable, accounts receivable, consignments, monthly statements, purchase orders, vendor files, and reorder listings with suggestions. It also integrates with QuickBooks, and M.Y.O.B. Accounting programs.

The second P.O.S. application is Professional Inventory Management System. According to Account Executive Tracy Hansen, it can do all of the functions that Shopkeeper does, and has EDC accounting and detailed comprehensive reports. Professional Inventory Management System also has an optional e-commerce Module.

Both products are cross platform and can run on System 7.1 or higher. For product demos, go to the P.O.S. Web site.

Vectorworks

Garrison Gunter said that one of the more promising companies to push for this market is Nemetschek, the folks behind Vectorworks.

“Nemetschek originally made a non-specific, high end CAD application, then added plug-in systems to allow architects, engineers, landscapers, etc., to have an application that addressed their individual needs, such as tools, and objects,” Gunter said. “Vectorworks has now been released as a complete standalone for architects, and I would imagine that other specialty applications will follow, using their core CAD system as a base. I would imagine that if anybody was in a position to create a CAD app for jewelers, it would be them.”

Vectorworks 9 is now available and has tools for precision 2D drafting, 3D modeling, and client presentations. Plus, it has a build-in database and spreadsheet to track costs and materials, and a scripting language to automate routine drafting tasks.

Vectorworks 9 requires a Power Mac running Mac OS 8.6 or higher, 64 MB of RAM, 110 MB hard disk space for a full install (64 MB of hard disk space for a basic install), and CD-ROM drive

“As far as analyzing the structure of gems, their angles, cutting results, and the effects a flaw may have on the cutting of a gem, I doubt the Nemetschek software can handle that type of scientific analysis,” Gunter said. “But for design, they are your best bet.”

Miscellaneous

Meanwhile, some folks are willing to consider building custom databases for jewelers and/or offering advice about the customized systems they’ve built.

ABT Data Consulting does a lot of FileMaker Pro development. Many of the databases they’ve developed deal with managing stock and inventory for various industries so it should be relatively simple to tune and customize one for managing jewelry, according to Systems Integrator Tony Yazbeck.

“We be delighted to work with interested parties,” he told MacCentral. “There’s nothing like a customized database that works as beautifully as the jewelry it manages.”

Any interested parties should call (514-998-7208) or e-mail him.

About 10 years ago, David Rienzo wrote a jewelry store software package in 4th Dimension, then spent six years refining and expanding it. The package now has a high degree of functionality, allowing for point-of-sale purchasing, inventory and repair job tracking, management of customer data, purchase tracking, and has a module for appraisals, he said.

“It has a few cool features, such as the ability to generate a list of items frequently sold (watch batteries, bands, ring guards, etc.) that can then be used for a quick-sale invoice without using a stock number,” Rienzo said. “My former employer had at one point three stores in central New Hampshire, all of which were run using this software. I left his employ in 1995 and have not worked on the system since then. But the last I knew, they were still using it.”

The software is designed for multiple users and multiple locations. If anyone is interested in more info on the application and perhaps even getting Rienzo to modify it for them, drop him an e-mail.

Bill Smith of DataSmith Services has written, with Omnis 7, a custom database (with Omnis 7) for a high end crafts store. The software manages inventory, suppliers,sales, and purchase orders for multiple craft stores, which includes jewelry. He said that anyone interested in details can call (207-829-6553) or e-mail him.

Greg Steddin’s company is a large jewelry manufacturer that runs all aspects of its business on a home grown 4D database. This includes orders, both customer or stock. Stock Orders can be created manually or based on predictive customer demand. Their solution also offers:

Order tracking in the factory of each piece as it moves through production;

Real time calculation of demand needs on diamonds, color stones, and metals;

Material purchase order system (either manual ordered for findings and chain or based on stock demands);

A material receipt system that’s fed into from the PO system and which validates weights and costs of components versus those in the component file; it then feeds into the perpetual inventory system and accounts payable/general ledger system);

A material picking system that tracks the quantity/weight of components, both metals and stones, and validates against bill of materials for style, as well as tying into the perpetual inventory;

An invoicing system that invoices both finished goods into the vault from the factory and goods from the vault to our customers, and which ties into the perpetual inventory and general ledger;

A AP/GL system with all the standard bells and whistles of reporting financial statements.

Steddin said his company is using one 4D server, a Power Mac G4/500 with 1 GB of RAM, a 4 GB Curtis Clipper Solid State RAM drive, and 55 client machines. All the client systems are G4/500s with 256 MB of RAM. You can e-mail Steddin for details.

Michael Zeik helped automate his family’s jewelry business, Leonardo Jewelers. in northern New Jersey. He automated most of the company’s operations and purchased iMacs for all the stores as terminals for their soon-to-be-developed point of sale system.

“We ended developing our own FileMaker point of sale system,” he said. “The system tracks customer information, sales information, inventory, etc. In other words, we developed a comprehensive point of sale system that doubles as a customer database and financial reporting system. We also use it for our repairs, for our purchase orders, for our customer wish lists, for mailing birthday cards and for other customer reminders.”

Although their product took more work to implement, because it was developed in-house, it’s more focused to their needs as a jewelry store. Instead of being forced to use off-the-shelf point of sale software, they used the power of FileMaker Pro to develop a multi-user point of sale system that met their needs precisely, Zeik said.