Likelihood to Recommend I would recommend DriveWorks to a college if they have similar needs to those I am personally experiencing at my university. Above all, I would not recommend it if the user needs to allow simultaneous access to a very high number of users (as is my case) since the software does not give this possibility. On the contrary, I would recommend it if a colleague needs to use software that works in the background and generates stand-alone models and prints for time reasons.
Read full review Implementation is by far the weakest link in the ECI/M1 process. Although the tool is powerful, the client is expected to drive the process of learning the tool, planning the meetings with consultants, identifying risks and making mitigation plans, etc. without any samples, guidance or assistance on the part of ECI. The tool is best suited to high volume, standard product manufacturers who build to inventory or to order without much variation. The shop floor routing and time tracking are straightforward if you can master the convoluted Unit Of Measure calculations. The tool is either hosted locally or accessed through Remote Desktop. Shop floor is web enabled but the main desktop for M1 is still a relay which makes connectivity a potential issue. Moving this platform to a truly web hosted environment would substantially improve connectivity and eliminate compatibility issues with Apple products
Read full review Pros Integration with other systems. Ease of use. Automation potential. Program UI. Read full review Manage inventory counts. Good precision on quantities in and out, through shipping, MI, MR, and receipts. Job costing shows great details on labor, operations, and materials to be used. I wished that would do better in outside operations that would return, but we still think it is great. Ability to track changes (changelog), showing all changes that had in a particular place. Such as where, when, and by whom a line item unit price was changed in a PO. Link, traceability, keeping history. If done correctly, it is amazing to keep the history of a part/lot. The amount of user rights/customization is unbelievable. It can be hard to set up in the beginning, but it is great that you can give some very specific access to a user, and it is not (in general) as a package. Read full review Cons In some cases, the exchange of documentation between different users is not so automatic. Some operations still have to be done manually. All the variables and design parameters introduced by the user are not always visible and can be analyzed simultaneously. Sometimes changing the parameters related to the characteristics of the products is not so easy. DriveWorks allows access to a limited number of users at the same time. This issue sometimes makes the use of the software difficult for many of our students. Read full review Some of the functions are pretty detailed - and so they take a while to generate screens and pages in reports. We actually use it for 2 companies we own - and it would be nice if the inter company communication was a little smoother. It's hard to share some data, and not everything is possible to be shared. Customized reports need to backed up before any updates to M1 or they're lost. It seems M1 overwrites the report folders everytime you run an update - so you have to keep track of what you've changed in Crystal Reports and restore it. Read full review Usability M1 is highly customizable in my experience. The grids are very easy to customize as long as the user has a basic understanding of relational databases. The reports are also very customizable but are a little more difficult without being a heavy Crystal Report user. Also, the field names, input forms, etc. can be customized as well, but this requires advanced programming knowledge. I would recommend using M1's professional support staff to make any of these types of customizations.
Read full review Support Rating Support has been great and timely
Read full review Alternatives Considered DriveWorks is similar to some of its competitors but there are areas where it excels in comparison. For example, DriveWorks has an easier integration with other systems in terms of automation. However, some of its competitors have an easier learning curve than opposed to DriveWorks. If a skilled user has knowledge of DriveWorks then it will not be an issue.
Read full review M1 does a good job of being able to handle our requirements. Some of our assemblies and sub-assemblies require a significant amount of detail and different levels in order to complete - and M1 handles that. Some of the other products I've used, or implemented else where fall short in being able to go as deep or as detailed as M1 is able to do.
Read full review Return on Investment DriveWorks helped us to increase the efficiency of our work thanks to the possibility to work remotely. The easy-to-understand graphical interface has allowed us to increase the interaction between our students. The impossibility of having many active users during the same session forced us to work at different times with multiple workgroups. Read full review Time savings having to only enter certain information once and have it follow through the entire order process from quote to cash Read full review ScreenShots