Search all projects for a product - D-Tools Forum

ekalpakoff · 07-16-2010, 04:48 PM

I love providing feature requests!

Lets say an item the we would spec into a variety of project, say a touch panel, gets recalled. I would like to be able to search my project database for projects with the recalled item in them so I can quickly respond to the recall.

Another scenario, an item get input into the database incorrectly, say a DVI to HDMI interconnect was incorrectly labeled as a straight HDMI cable. I would like to be able to search for projects with that part in them and replace the part before it causes a delay in the field due to the wrong cable being spec'd.

ChristianB · 07-19-2010, 05:51 AM

Good call. +1.

**Dave Kirn** · 07-20-2010, 12:08 AM

It's a cool idea, however that is more of a CRM software function than a design/engineering software function.

ChristianB · 07-20-2010, 05:03 AM

Well, do not totally agree. In D-tools, you can register serial No's on each product within a project. To keep documentation up to date you need to be able to 1) know what projects you have been using that product and 2) be able to replace the product in the PDM and update the product with the new serial No. To physically replace the product in X No's of projects, you usually need to create a WO or a SO.

ekalpakoff · 07-20-2010, 03:14 PM

Out of curiosity, is it typical that after building a project in D-tools people are inputting in some fashion all of the items in that project into their CRM?

**Dave Kirn** · 07-20-2010, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by ChristianB

Well, do not totally agree. In D-tools, you can register serial No's on each product within a project. To keep documentation up to date you need to be able to 1) know what projects you have been using that product and 2) be able to replace the product in the PDM and update the product with the new serial No. To physically replace the product in X No's of projects, you usually need to create a WO or a SO.

To clarify - I think it would be a great feature to have in D-Tools, but since it is not a feature right now I was just sugesting that you could accomplish that with a CRM system as that is one of the features of most CRM systems

**Dave Kirn** · 07-20-2010, 05:54 PM

Originally Posted by ekalpakoff

Out of curiosity, is it typical that after building a project in D-tools people are inputting in some fashion all of the items in that project into their CRM?

Yes, alot of dealers are using D-Tools to design and engineer their projects and then using another software to manage their cleint relationships.

Depending on the CRM system and dealer needs some manually enter on the inportant products, others export the project info from D-Tools and import it to the CRM software.

Then there is TigerPaw that directly integrates with D-Tools.

ekalpakoff · 07-20-2010, 10:23 PM

Interesting, We use a web based CRM but we don't use it for product tracking, it's been trouble enough to get the sales team to use it. Are you using TigerPaw Dave?

**Dave Kirn** · 07-21-2010, 12:47 AM

Originally Posted by ekalpakoff

Interesting, We use a web based CRM but we don't use it for product tracking, it's been trouble enough to get the sales team to use it. Are you using TigerPaw Dave?

We are considering becoming a partner for TigerPaw, they have been trying to get us working with their software since CEDIA last year. They have a nice software solution and it integrates with D-Tools so you can have all of the project details in your customer record in TigerPaw.

When I was a dealer I spent a lot of time researching a CRM software system that would work with our business and ended up using Microsoft Dynamics and creating our own system - it was a huge investment in time getting it setup as we wanted. Since that time TigerPaw has made a lot of advancements to their software and now I would say that it is the best solution, especially if you are using D-Tools.

If you have any interest in a demo of how it works with D-Tools let me know and I can get something setup for you.