Boost, phase converters, and accounting packages
Hello, I am David Sharman. This is where I will try and keep a diary of interesting things that happen to us here at Boost. Well, the sort of things that interest us and will provide a record we can look back on to get a sense of perspective. Some of them may also interest you - especially if you are interested in phase converters; renewable and distributed energy; and the problems that face a small manufacturer.
Our core product is a phase converter. We've been making these for 48 years. A phase converter transforms single phase electrical power (the sort that one gets in a standard 3 pin plug) into 3 phase electrical power (the sort that requires either a 4 or 5 pin electrical plug). They are quite useful but also a niche product. Boost Energy Systems started life in 1957 as Boost Electrical Engineering. We changed the name when I took over because we could see that we would expand our products to move beyond phase converters. This is happening slowly. I took over about 18 months ago and most of our progress has been in phase converters - enough progress that we have had to move premises twice. We joke that our core competence is building workshops !
There are three of us directly working for the business right now: myself who is a general engineer; Dalibor Golubvic who is our assembly technician; and Ahmed Mulla who is an engineering student doing a piece of research for us. We also have quite a close working relationship with Peter and Selina Burton at Isomatic UK; and George and Hristo Nachev at Isomatic Lab. From time to time Mr Ali works with us when we have abnormal demand levels.
Right now is the quietest time of year for us. This means we can get some of our systems sorted out ready for the rest of the year. This week I am trying to figure out if we ought to move onto an accounting system - and if so if it is one that should also be extendable to a manufacturing resource system. If any of you have suggestions then let me know. Top contenders appear to be Opera and Sage. SAP are trying to convince me that they can scale down to our business but they are not very convincing. Sage don't seem very customer responsive which rather puts me off them (I am looking at Sage Line 50 FC by the way). Opera seem to get it but I am wary of being locked in too quickly. Another one might be Mamut. Right now we run off spreadsheets and ring binders which has the advantage of being flexible and compatible with doing the books on my kitchen table in the evenings. I'll let you know more as we work through the problem.
Our core product is a phase converter. We've been making these for 48 years. A phase converter transforms single phase electrical power (the sort that one gets in a standard 3 pin plug) into 3 phase electrical power (the sort that requires either a 4 or 5 pin electrical plug). They are quite useful but also a niche product. Boost Energy Systems started life in 1957 as Boost Electrical Engineering. We changed the name when I took over because we could see that we would expand our products to move beyond phase converters. This is happening slowly. I took over about 18 months ago and most of our progress has been in phase converters - enough progress that we have had to move premises twice. We joke that our core competence is building workshops !
There are three of us directly working for the business right now: myself who is a general engineer; Dalibor Golubvic who is our assembly technician; and Ahmed Mulla who is an engineering student doing a piece of research for us. We also have quite a close working relationship with Peter and Selina Burton at Isomatic UK; and George and Hristo Nachev at Isomatic Lab. From time to time Mr Ali works with us when we have abnormal demand levels.
Right now is the quietest time of year for us. This means we can get some of our systems sorted out ready for the rest of the year. This week I am trying to figure out if we ought to move onto an accounting system - and if so if it is one that should also be extendable to a manufacturing resource system. If any of you have suggestions then let me know. Top contenders appear to be Opera and Sage. SAP are trying to convince me that they can scale down to our business but they are not very convincing. Sage don't seem very customer responsive which rather puts me off them (I am looking at Sage Line 50 FC by the way). Opera seem to get it but I am wary of being locked in too quickly. Another one might be Mamut. Right now we run off spreadsheets and ring binders which has the advantage of being flexible and compatible with doing the books on my kitchen table in the evenings. I'll let you know more as we work through the problem.
posted by David Sharman at 8:26 pm
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