What is meant by
"realtime" processing?
In Satelite Plus terminology "realtime" refers to the processing and response
that occurs when an operator scans a bundle coupon, or any other type of card like their
employee id, job card, supervisor card, etc. at one of the Satelite Plus realtime
terminals. All necessary processing for that transaction occurs immediately upon receipt
by the host system, hence the term "realtime". The operator receives a response
back from the host as soon as the host is finished processing the entered transaction,
generally within a second or two, depending on the current processing load on the host
computer.
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What are Satelite Plus
realtime terminals and what are they used for?
The Satelite Plus realtime terminals are used by each sewing operator to clock in and out,
scan bundle coupons, change jobs, request pay and performance information, clock
off-standard, and as a "coaching device" to pace themselves and improve their
performance. These terminals can also be configured as hourly time clocks (HTC's) to
capture time and attendance data for hourly employees, or as Statistical Quality Control
(SQC) data entry terminals to capture quality data from inspection operations.
The Satelite Plus realtime terminal provides a completely interactive dialogue between
the operator and the system. Prompts and error messages are provided in clear language
(based on each operator's preferred language) and can be modified by the customer.
The terminal consists of a 2-line by 16-character alphanumeric liquid crystal display
and a 16-key keypad to respond to system prompts, input low volume data, or input data if
a barcode coupon becomes lost or unreadable. An integrated barcode slot reader is used for
most data entry, e.g. bundle scans, clock-in, clock-out, and job changes.
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What hardware platform(s) does
Satelite Plus run on?
Satelite Plus currently uses a host runs on an AS/400 and also runs on a PC-server under
Unix.
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Can the displays on the terminals
be multi-lingual?
Yes. Satelite Plus can send realtime terminal messages and prompts to the sewing operators
in their own language. We currently support English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
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Is the Satelite Plus system
multi-lingual?
Yes, Satelite Plus ® and Satelite Plus-PC ® are fully multi-lingual systems. Text for
operator realtime terminal messages, screen displays and reports have been defined as
external database items. This allows for multi-lingual capability in most languages that
are read from left-to-right and provides the capability of user-customization of Satelite
terminology for compatibility with their specific industry. For example, the word
"Cut" could be changed to "Lot" in all occurrences within the system.
Satelite Plus and Satelite Plus-PC are currently offered in both English and Spanish
versions where the language of choice is individually determined by each system user. User
maintenance of the alternate language text is made possible by a set of maintenance
functions that provide for viewing all text strings, manually modifying the text strings,
automatic updates as part of new Satelite release, report functions, etc.
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Is Satelite
Plus "single sourced" from Leadtec?
Yes. One source does it all. Leadtec provides hardware, software, installation, training
and follow-on support.
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How
many operators can a Satelite Plus ® installation handle?
The number of operators is basically unlimited within the capability of the hardware
platform. We currently have installations with as few as 75 operators to as many as 2,000.
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Is data
protected from loss when the system goes down?
Yes. Each transaction is first recorded on hard disk by the realtime network manager
(RTNM) as soon as it is input through a Satelite realtime terminal. (The RTNM is a PC used
to communicate between the host computer and the realtime terminals.) At that point the
transaction is sent to the host computer for processing where it is again logged to disk.
If the host system fails all transactions continue to be logged on the RTNM until the host
computer comes back on-line. This process can continue for 5 separate days worth of
transactions before the host system must become active again.
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Can
time and coupon information be entered in batch instead of realtime?
Yes. Satelite Plus can be configured to operate a "batch" data entry mode in
addition to realtime. In the batch mode information is not collected from Satelite Plus as
events occur on the factory floor. Instead, batches of bundle coupons are input manually
using a barcode wand. These bar coded coupons are printed by Satelite Plus for each job to
be performed on a bundle. The responsible operator clips the coupon when the operation is
done and attaches it to gummed sheets for entry by the payroll clerks. Satelite Plus-Batch
in many ways is identical to the realtime version. However, the batch version of Satelite
lacks features and benefits which are available only in realtime. For example, some of the
most significant features which are limited or unavailable in the batch operation of
Satelite Plus include:
Realtime productivity measurement and operator performance feedback Line balancing
Realtime work-in-process tracking and bundle location Limited skills history measurement
Limited rate performance measurement Hourly time clock and bell ringing functions Limited
Group Incentive and Module tracking.
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Can
both batch data entry and realtime data entry be used in the same plant?
Yes. A system can be configured with part of the plant using the realtime features and
part of the plant using the batch features. The system can even be configured by using the
hourly time clock feature as the only "realtime" feature, allowing all operators
to clock-in and out using the Satelite Plus realtime terminals as time clocks. As the need
arises the plant can gradually convert from batch to realtime by adding realtime
terminals.
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Can I operate
my plant remotely from the main computer?
Yes. Plants can be configured to be remote from the main computer in both realtime and
batch modes. For realtime operation a realtime network manager is located at the remote
plant and is connected to the host system via various communication options.
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Can I
run multiple plants with the same Satelite Plus software?
Yes. Any number of plants can be run from a single set of Satelite Plus software. Each
plant is treated as a totally separate database. And any combination of local and remote
plants can be configured.
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Can Satelite
Plus accumulate actual production costs?
Yes. Satelite can accumulate the sum of the actual rates paid for all jobs by individual
cut and by style in total. This value and the Standard Labor of Work Completed should be
equal if there no adjustments to rates once a cut was released for processing. This value
is shown in the four columns on the Actual Cost Inquiry screen: SAH or SAM column, the
AMOUNT column showing currency values, $/UNIT and % of STANDARD comparing the percentage
of the actual to the standard unit value.
Actual production costs can differ from the engineered rate by:
- Changes to rates for individual bundles or entire cuts that are not reflected in the
style.
- Changes to style rates over time.
- Award Pay (payments base on employee base rates instead of the base rate used for the
engineered operation).
- Payment by substitute or additional operations.
- Use of a "pay factor". All "factored" pay is applied directly to the
coupon value.
- Use of bundle handling. Engineered rate for style bundle handling is based on the
standard bundle size; for a cut it is based on the total number of bundles divided into
the cut total units. The actual bundle handling coupon value could be different.
- Use of certain forms of bundle handling payments where all bundle handling appears as
excess coupon value.
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What type
of external interfaces does Satelite Plus support?
Satelite can import and export operations, styles, cuts and bundles using the Central
Cutting option. Gross payroll information may be exported using the standard Satelite Plus
gross payroll interface, or the optional ADP © interface. Employee data may be downloaded
to Satelite Plus to initialize and/or update the Employee Master file. Additional
interfaces are available for interfacing with unit production systems (UPS), and other
systems that require daily information pertaining to bundle movement and production. And,
of course, any required interface that does not exist can be created from any data stored
in the Satelite Plus database.
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Can operators share realtime
terminals?
The Satelite Plus Shared Terminal Option (STO) allows multiple operators to share
a single Satelite Plus terminal. Without shared terminals, each operator requires a
dedicated individual terminal to clock in and out, scan bundles, and query earnings and
performance. With STO, a group of operators can share a single terminal to perform these
functions. Transactions at shared terminals are processed in real-time, just like those
entered at individual terminals.
STO should not be confused with the Group Incentive Terminal option (GIT). STO provides
individual operator functionality, totally separate from other operators using the same
terminal. The group incentive terminal option treats all operators clocked into a GI
terminal as working as a single group or unit. What affects one operator affects all
operators equally.
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What type of
support does Leadtec offer?
Leadtec offers support in the resolution of problems as well as answers to training
questions and help with new releases.
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Do I have to pay for new releases?
No, new releases are issued to all customers as part of their annual Maintenance Services
Agreement (MSA).
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Can I purchase
additional support from Leadtec?
Additional on-site training can always be scheduled at your convenience.
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What does a
typical Satelite Plus installation consist of?
A typical installation starts with a pre-installation evaluation followed by a data
preparation and overhead wiring session. Next is communications testing and data entry
after which personnel training can begin. Once operators, supervisors and management are
trained, education continues with the interpretation and analysis of information.
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Where does the support originate?
In order to provide extended office hours, Leadtec Systems has offices in the Pacific,
Eastern and Central time zones.
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Can I get 24 hours
support for Satelite Plus?
Yes. Uses of Satelite Plus Realtime are provided with 24-hour telephone support as part of
their annual Maintenance Services Agreement (MSA).
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How do I get fixes
for problems in the software?
Interim fixes to problems are transmitted directly to the user's site from Leadtec's
offices using file download procedures installed with the system.
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What is the
frequency of Satelite Plus program updates?
Interim fixes to problems are transmitted directly to the user's site from Leadtec's
offices using file download procedures installed with the system. Approximately once a
year a full version update is also sent on tape to each site with a valid maintenance
contract. The package includes a Version Change Notice and full installation instructions.
Net payroll users receive any required updates to W2 forms printing and social security
magnetic media formats. However, changes for state requirements must be communicated to
Leadtec by the user before any state update are made.
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Does Leadtec offer custom
programming?
Yes. Leadtec does provide custom programming services for implementing Satelite Plus
changes at our users' request. The results of these changes either become part of the
standard Satelite Plus software suite or are kept separate as custom user modules. Payment
for programming services can be quoted as a fixed-price (usually after a specification is
prepared and approved), or at our time & materials rates.
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What are
field sizes allowed for a bundle, cut, style, operation?
Bundle numbers - 7 numeric digits and must be unique within a database Cut numbers are 7
alpha-numeric characters Style numbers are 13 alpha-numeric characters.
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Is
there a limit to the number of styles, cuts and bundles that can be input?
The only limitation is that styles (13 characters), cuts (7 characters) and bundle numbers
(7 digits) must be unique.
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Can
I automatically update my operation rates when base rates change?
Yes. When changes to base rates (e.g., for annual rate increases) are made the changes can
be automatically applied to all operations. At the appropriate time these operation rate
changes can be applies to all styles referencing these operations.
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What are the
maximum number of sequences in a style?
The maximum number of style sequences is currently 313.
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How may operations can I define?
Since the operation number format can be any combination of 14 characters the number of
operations that can be defined is basically unlimited.
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What
types of operator payment options are available?
Operator payment options cover the gamut from the ability to pay coupon value, any one of
four separately computed averages (on-demand, rolling, weekly, etc.), guarantee, base
rate, split incentives (see separate split incentive question), bonuses, training curves
calculations, earnings limits, etc. Plus, Leadtec will implement any non-existent pay type
that is needed for new installations.
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What is a split incentive?
A split Incentive is a pay rate calculation that computes a pay rate by the sum of the
following optional parts plus various other parameters that can be applied to the result.
Each different split incentive formulation is stored in a file using a 3-character COX
identification code.
Operator pay = (1st factor x Guarantee Pay Rate) +
(2nd factor x Average Pay Rate) +
(3rd factor x Plant Minimum Pay Rate) +
(4th factor x Employee's Base Rate) +
(5th factor x Coupon Value) +
(6th factor x Job Base Rate).
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Can Satelite Plus pay
separate operator bonuses?
Yes. Satelite can compute up to three separate weekly bonuses per employee. These bonuses
are paid in addition to monies earned and paid while working on- and off-standard. There
are currently 20 different bonus options, some of which are very highly parameter driven
so they can be used in a wide variety of situations. In addition, a separate bonus
structure is utilized when the Satelite Plus Modular Manufacturing option (team pay) is
employed.
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Can
manual entries or corrections be made to an operator's earnings?
Yes. A wide variety of manual pay adjustments can be used and all adjustments are audited
to the system audit history file. Adjustment may be made during the day while operators
are still working, to any stored value in any prior day during the week, and to any stored
value for any day during the prior week. The latter may be made up until either the net
payroll is processed or the gross payroll interface is run. In addition, adjustments can
be made to quarter-to-date information for those installations that compute an on-demand
(sometimes referred to a quarterly) average.
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Is
there a mechanism to show groups of operators current status data?
Yes. The Message Board Facility is an optional feature of Satelite Plus. It uses a
"message board" or "data sign" to show selected information to a team,
section (department), or an entire plant. Each message board can be configured to display
performance information for a single team or section, summary performance information for
the entire plant, or information from multiple sections or teams. The letters on the
message boards are visible from a considerable distance, so that members of a team or
section can easily see the displayed information without sacrificing any work time. The
Message Board feature is available for Satelite Plus Realtime installations only. For
"combined" batch and realtime installations, the message board can only display
information for realtime sections.
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Does Satelite Plus
support team earning concepts?
Yes. The Satelite Plus Modular Manufacturing option (SPMM) is an optional feature of
Satelite Plus that supports team earnings. It includes the following software components:
- Pay calculations that support commonly used modular pay schemes to compensate operators.
These pay calculations can be configured in many different ways to provide flexible forms
compensation.
- Provision for teams to use Satelite Plus terminals to capture time and attendance, track
production, and monitor performance and costs.
- A Message Board display panel that can continuously show the team how well it is
performing.
- Flex-Time options providing the operators with some flexibility in establishing their
work hours.
Every company that implements modular manufacturing does so differently. The SPMM
feature is not intended to provide automated support for all of these practices. Instead,
it is intended to provide the following basic support for most implementations:
- Capture time and attendance
- Capture production and incentive earnings
- Calculate gross payroll by apportioning earnings among team members
- Display production and productivity information
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Can
Satelite Plus tell which operator worked on a bundle by job?
Yes. The Satelite Bundle Operation History function lists the number, name, date and the
number of units done by each operator on each job for any bundle. This information is most
often used by quality inspectors to return garments to the responsible operator.
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How
does Satelite Plus track the progress of trainee operators?
Trainee operators can be separately identified by their employee status code and can be
reported on separately on a daily and/or weekly basis. Further, Satelite currently
provides12 different training curve formats, each of which provide for calculating
additional pay or bonuses relative to a trainee's progress a curve. In addition, operators
can be tracked on separate curves for each job on which they are being trained or
retrained.
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Does Satelite Plus
track operator skills history?
Yes. Satelite Plus automatically records skills history for all operators for each job on
which they work. This skills history file may be used for inquiries to locate operators
that have specific job skills and it can be used in line balancing to aid in estimating
the potential output of work by an operator on a given job. Inquiries show all skills that
a given operator has and all operators that each have a given skill.
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How
does Satelite Plus help increase an operator's productivity?
It is not uncommon to see operator productivity improvement of 5-20%, mostly attributable
to the automatic operator pacing and motivational feedback mechanism of the Satelite Plus
realtime terminals. Counters are automatically displayed on the realtime terminal to pace
the operator at a preset efficiency level. The operator knows how many units must be
completed in a given amount of time to maintain this efficiency. The target efficiency
level can be set by the operator to pace themselves and can be automatic set as a result
of training curve processing. In addition, there is substantially reduced job content for
bundle ticket processing and the system provides instant access to an operator's earnings
and performance information. The latter cuts down on wasted operator time often spent in
counting coupons and calculating their earnings.
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How many
off-standard categories can Satelite Plus handle?
Satelite Plus provides 24 separate off-standard categories, any grouping of which can be
combined with on-standard time to compute an operator's "on-standard"
efficiency. Further, the system automatically computes earned value and excesses for each
off-standard category. Separate pay methods can be applied to each category and the user
can specify various controls to each, e.g., inhibiting production, combining for pay
calculations, use for on-standard efficiency, allow adjustments, included time for skills
history, etc.
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Can I
key on an employee's social security number?
The Satelite employee number is five digits and this is used for the main key into the
employee master file. However, the system can be set to require a social security number
for each employee and can issue a warning message when a duplicate social security number
is entered.
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Does Satelite Plus track
employee absences?
Yes. The Satelite Plus Absence History component provides for tracking all employee
absences. Records are automatically added to the history file for any time worked which is
less than an operator's shift time. Supervisors may manually add or modify absence history
records to set appropriate absence reason codes for each instance. Absence information may
be displayed on the CRT or the history file can be used by query programs for user-defined
reporting.
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Does Satelite Plus
produce employee address labels?
Yes. Address labels can be printed from Satelite Plus.
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Can I download
employee data into Satelite Plus?
Yes. One of the standard Satelite Plus interfaces allows employee data to be downloaded to
Satelite Plus to initialize and/or update the Employee Master file. A separate interface
is provided for external systems which compute employee averages to download those into
the Satelite Plus database.
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Can
I upload gross payroll information to an external net payroll?
Yes. Gross payroll information may be exported using the standard Satelite Plus gross
payroll interface, or the optional ADP © interface.
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Does Satelite Plus handle a
net payroll?
Yes. Users can choose a gross payroll only or a gross-to-net Satelite implementation.
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Does
the net payroll handle 401(k) and cafeteria plan deductions?
Yes. Both 401(k) and cafeteria plan (section 125) deductions are handled.
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Does the
net payroll handle W2 reporting to magnetic media?
Yes. Magnetic media reporting is included with the net payroll system. Output can be to
tape in DOS diskette format. The latter output must be transferred to a diskette if the
host computer is the AS/400.
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How many personal
deductions does net payroll allow?
Satelite allows for 13 personal deductions in addition to the standard tax deductions.
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Can I override the
standard tax table calculations?
Yes. Employee taxes can be automatically modified by any of the following overrides:
- "A" = Add specified amount to normal tax calculation (plus or minus)
- "R" = Replace (Use specified amount instead of normal tax calculation)
- "%" = Straight percent of gross taxable pay
- "F" = Value in amount is percent of federal tax to be used for tax
calculation. If an "F" is used for federal taxes, the calculation will default
to the "%" type described above.
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Can manual checks be entered?
Yes. Manual checks can be entered with the same information computed for automatically
generated checks.
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Can I void a check?
Yes. Voids for checks can be entered. If the voided check exists in the current payroll
calculation run the voided information is automatically displayed on the screen.
Otherwise, the void amounts are manually entered.
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Does
Satelite Plus allow for general ledger account interfacing?
Yes. Each element of an employee's pay may be directed to a separate general ledger
account. A file and report is generated detailing the amounts charged and credited to each
account by date. A maintenance program is provided to set up the accounts for verification
and a maintenance program is provided that allows linking each pay element to its
associated account.
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