SureFire ONLine MFG Introduction and FAQ for Manufacturers

What is SureFire ONLine MFG?

SureFire ONLine MFG is an Internet-based software product designed to handle the order entry, manufacturing, shipping, and invoicing of manufactured products. SureFire ONLine is loaded with your product information, including your customer pricing options, and your cutting and fabrication information. You log into SureFire ONLine from any computer in the world that has an Internet connection (there is NO software to install). You use SureFire ONLine to enter orders you receive from your customers, and SureFire ONLine will price those orders based on that customer’s pricing, and create the factory paperwork required to accurately manufacture those orders, including all cutting and machine settings. SureFire ONLine provides scaled, dimensioned drawings of your products, showing clearly all dimensions specified by your customer. SureFire ONLine is divided into several different modules, so you can decide what makes sense for your company right now, but still be able to add additional capabilities later. With SureFire ONLine, you only pay for what you use.

SureFire Customer Order
SureFire Opening Chart
SureFire Production Order

Who is SureFire Systems, Inc.?

SureFire Systems, Inc. is a company that has been in the software business for window and door companies since 1996. Our products focus on the precision manufacturing of windows and doors based on customer requirements, including custom alignments in multi-unit openings. We have provided software to companies that range in size from $500,000 to $100,000,000 in annual sales, and continue to run their factories from order entry through all plant fabrication and manufacturing (including machine interfaces), and into shipping and invoicing. We are now bringing that expertise to smaller companies for the first time with SureFire ONLine, designed specifically for the small to medium manufacturer that doesn’t want to pay $250,000 for a software package to run his business, but wants the efficiencies an integrated software tool can bring to his company. SureFire ONLine is based on the same product engine we use in our expensive ERP systems.

How much does it cost?

SureFire Systems, Inc. provides SureFire ONLine for a fixed monthly fee, based on the Modules that you want to use in your business. There are no long term contracts, and you can stop using SureFire ONLine at any time and pay no additional fees. Since it is an Internet-based software product, there is an initial Setup Fee for each module to establish and reserve capacity on our Servers. We have additional services we can provide to make using SureFire ONLine easier, including product setup and training, but those are completely optional. The Base Module includes 5 hours of phone support per month from our Support Staff, and that increases with each Module. Please refer to our Order Form for Module Monthly Fees and Setup Fees.

View Module Descriptions

SureFire ONLineOrder Form (Protected)

Why an ONLine system versus an Installed system?

Our most important design goal was to keep it simple. The simplest model is one that just works every time you need it, wherever you are. This can only be done using an ONLine program accessible through the Internet to any computer that has an Internet connection. You as the user have no responsibility to maintain hardware, do backups, protect your data with firewalls and ensure appropriate security. You simply log into SureFire ONLine and do your work and get the value of the software with no additional complexity. You never have to worry about keeping the software up to date, as the latest version of SureFire ONLine is automatically available to you every time you log into SureFire ONLine.

If there is nothing to install, where is my data located?

Being an Internet-based software product, all of the information you enter about your products and customers, including orders, is stored in a secure database located on our Servers. The Servers are located in state-of-the-art data centers by a third-party hosting corporation that has thousands of clients world-wide. You data is protected by hardware firewalls, secure encryption, and physical protection. The data centers are designed to have continuous uptime, with multiple power and communication sources, so you are always able to access your data. Only people you give access codes to can get into your data, and you can change those codes at any time. You also get to decide what each person can see of your data by restricting the privileges they have in a very simple “Capabilities” screen.

Can I rely on being able to get to my data when I want?

SureFire ONLine is hosted by a third-party, international corporation that hosts major, branded websites for very large corporations worldwide. SureFire Systems, Inc. has carefully chosen this company based on its size, stability, and reliability. We have taken further steps with this company to ensure that SureFire ONLine is maintained in such a way as to prevent any single failure of hardware or power or communication lines from disrupting your ability to access your data. These steps are expensive and state-of-the-art for establishing and maintaining reliability.

How easy is SureFire ONLine MFG to use?

SureFire ONLine has been designed from the very beginning to be very easy to use. SureFire ONLine is new software written specifically for the “online” environment, not just a “moving” of our existing application onto the Internet. Our design goal from the beginning was to create a software product that required NO training for you to be able to get things done. Everything you want to do is laid out in front of you. SureFire ONLine is organized by the things you work on – based on the modules you have subscribed. You’ll see clearly marked tabs for customers, quotes, orders, production schedules, invoices, service tickets, items, vendors, purchase orders, bills, and a place to do the setup and set your preferences for SureFire ONLine. Our existing clients continue to give us feedback that SureFire ONLine is the easiest to use of all the “other” software tools created by other window manufacturers and software companies. SureFire ONLine is also completely multi-lingual, so a user who has their browser set to “Spanish” will see all of SureFire in Spanish, while the user right next door sees the same page in English.

What is your Help system like?

SureFire ONLine has extensive help built in to every page you see. There is context help on every field and button on the page that shows up at the top of the page, as well as floating tips for each field as well. Many pages have narrated movies explaining how to use that page, giving actual examples of what you can do on that page. All of this is completely free to use, and is literally at your fingertips.

How long does it take to get up and running on SureFire ONLine MFG?

To be useable, SureFire ONLine must be loaded with your products and customers. Depending on the modules subscribed, you may also need to add your vendors and raw material items as well. Customers and other lists are easily uploaded to your SureFire ONLine account, or can be keyed in manually using SureFire ONLine. To get you products into SureFire ONLine, you would subscribe to the “Product Definition” module, and in there you can find templates for all the major types of windows and doors. You would then copy and modify the template to match your particular choices and options for your products, adjust the daylight opening settings, and then load in your price book. SureFire Systems, Inc. also offers as a service the setting up of your products for a fixed fee, based on the number of different products you provide to your customers.

What are the modules I can add and what do they cost?

SureFire ONLine is divided into modules to enable a customer to choose only those modules he feels he needs for his business. As a SureFire ONLine customer, you start out with the Base Module, which is the most basic module, yet does most of what you need done as a small manufacturer. Additional modules are available to help with specific areas of the company, such as InHome Selling, detailed factory data management, inventory control, service tickets, and more. Please see our Order Form and our Modules brochure for complete details and costs.

View Module Descriptions

How many users from my company can be on at the same time?

The Base Module of SureFire ONLine has allowances for 5 employees from your company to be on SureFire ONLine at the same time. If you need more than 5 to be on at the same time, you can add users to your account for a small fee. When you add a new Module, it also comes with an increase to the number of your employees who can be on at the same time, since new Modules add new functions that employees need to use.

I added a Module that I don’t need anymore. Can I drop the Module?

You can drop a subscribed-to Module at any time you wish. All Modules carry a Setup Fee that must be paid to enable that Module for your account. If you unsubscribe to a Module, and then decide a few months later you need to re-subscribe to it, you will be charged the Setup Fee again for that Module.

How does SureFire ONLine benefit my shop?

SureFire ONLine’s concept is to make it easy and completely visual for your Customer Service employees to enter the windows and doors desired by your customers. SureFire ONLine draws the product in front of your entry people and lets them print Acknowledgements to send to the customer to verify that what was entered is exactly what the customer wants. Once that work is done, everything that the factory floor needs to know about how to manufacture the product is completely specified by SureFire ONLine. If using only the Base Module of SureFire ONLine, we generate a single page for each window that shows the drawing of the window and all the parts for the window with the exact cutting and machine settings required to fabricate each part correctly. Details such as hinge dimensions, balancer length and strength, glass sizes, and more are all included. Our goal with SureFire ONLine is to incorporate all the information required from all sources, so you would not need any reference materials on the floor anymore – it would all be resident in your Product Definition, and presented to your employees as they need to know it to do their jobs. And since all your employees are working from the same data store, any changes you make to the product formulas or sizes are instantly available to all employees, from order entry to the factory, so you don’t need to worry about someone not getting that change to the glass size, or new screen size.

SureFire Production Order

What about giving my customers a system to use to quote my products?

With your Product Catalog and pricing in SureFire ONLine, you can choose to make it available for your customers to use. With some simple setup, your customers can have their own private access to your Product Catalog in SureFire ONLine, and use it to quote THEIR customers. They would see your products and would have the pricing you have assigned to them, so they would know exactly how much they are paying you for the products. Once they have quoted and sold a job using your products, they can transmit the order electronically to you so that you don’t have to re-enter the order in your SureFire ONLine. You would just review the order, print it out if you wanted, and then put the order into the factory, all without having to enter anything. Your customer will find it just as easy to enter your products as you do, since the two systems are the same. Not only does your customer enter quotes and orders using SureFire ONLine, but we make certain statistical information available to you about how much he is quoting in dollar volume, and a dashboard that shows his buying history and product mix.

I want training in how best to use SureFire ONLine MFG. How do I get it?

Your best approach is to view the videos SureFire Systems, Inc. has already created that deals with specific functions or pages of SureFire ONLine. The videos you watch are freely available to you. If you want personal attention, SureFire Systems, Inc. uses a software product that allows us to see your Desktop after you have given permission. You have to explicitly give permission each time you want us to help you. Using this software, we can take you through the use of the system right there at your desk. You are billed for this personalized training at our normal hourly rate, and it is added to your next SureFire ONLine monthly statement.

So what is the difference between Support and Training?

As mentioned elsewhere, SureFire ONLine comes with a certain amount of free telephone support for each Module. The difference between Phone Support and Chargeable Training is simply one of time. Phone Support is asking a question and getting an answer, and should take less than 10 minutes. Anything that takes over 10 minutes in a single phone call is considered Training, and is chargeable.