GAINSystems Software

We were using a Google Sheet to build our social media calendars, then downloading them and sending it to clients. With all of the approvals and revisions required it was easy to lose the most up-to-date document. GAIN has solved all of that and saved everyone time when it comes to reviewing work and planning calendars.

Pros

The platform is extremely user friendly. Without much training you can jump right in.

Cons

There are no analytics for social, and there are some hiccups when it comes to shared Facebook posts or event links.

Good software implementation team.

Pros

Easy to use tool, canned screens
Implementation team easy to work with.

Cons

Custom reporting to fit our Business needs

Pros

Being able to upload forecast for customers, channel forecasting.

Cons

Not balance buying every sku when looking at orders.

Gains helped us to really improve the way we manage our inventory
The only issues we are facing are linked to files transfers between Gains and our ERP (Server connectivity issues, partial data transfer)

Pros

- Service level management per product class
- It really improved the way we work between our different Spare Parts Centers (USA, Europe, Asia...)

Cons

- BOM demand
- Forecast made on sporadic items (items with really low demand)
- files transfers between Gains and our ERP

Pros

Has nice graph functionality
Ability to make customized multi tier reports

Cons

Not very user friendly
has limited functionality
tends to hang or crash quite often or when trying to run big reports
limited reference material and no help function

Its shortened our forecast review cycle a fair amount, but the functionality is not well understood or trusted outside of the demand planning teams.

Pros

I like that the software does a huge amount of "heavy lifting" from a statistical analysis POV and the logic used is really well thought out.

Cons

The version we are on is dated and it can be unwieldy to use. We've also done too much customizing in some with the features and tables, so troubleshooting data issues can be difficult.

The KPI's are helpful but do not match up with our systems calculations.

Pros

The forecast models and MAD determination the ease of building out orders

Cons

I like the software it is not very intuitive or user friendly the instruction manuals are not helpful.

Pros

Our Rep is very responsive to our needs/wants. Rep Detail screen provides a lot of detail on a single screen. Like ability to drill down into PIPE. Ease of creating and running queries and MTRs. Ease of approving AROs. ERO Management is convenient. we are anxious to get started on Production Optimization.

Cons

GAINS format is not the best fit for manufactures requirements or conform to Planning & Procurement standards (APICS). Data integrity is questionable due to it's unpredictability - one day it works and next it doesn't which causes a lack of trust from Users. Need to have separate file for archive as AROs remain in PIPE after approval causing confusion when analyzing. Failure by GAINS to communicate system updates to their clients. System noise caused by daily changes to calculated safety stock, ORQs and forecast within lead time.

One place to see supply, demands. and forecasts unlike our legacy system. Ability to see more data at a time.

Pros

Visual KPI's that are customizable to our wants, multi-tier reporting functionality, restrictions queries allowing users to quickly access there ARO's, and waterfall for forecasts.

Cons

Inability to customize some of the calculations but most are able to customize. Exporting is our version requires CSV file then conversion to XLS.

Pros

The system's versatility has interested other divisions of my company. We are currently using the system for inventory management of manufacturing sites. Each site has it's own way of dealing with inventory; the inventory systems differ per site and some sites have consignment inventory. GAINS has allowed us to configure the system on a site-by-site basis which makes our analysis a lot less tedious.

Cons

We are currently using an older version of GAINS where the user interface isn't very intuitive. It's sometimes hard to know how get certain data to show up on screen.

Forecasting tools that help manage our demand and inventory management tools.

Pros

Solid functionality, easy to use and the system is easy to set up per user. The screen layout for the main forms that we use contain all relevant data so users are not having to jump from screen to screen. Report writing feature allows you to create spreadsheets that can be used with execution forms. Online processing for forecasting and inventory optimization. New innovative ideas every year that apply to what we are looking for.

Cons

Implementing new functionality can, at times, take longer then expected. We always get there but it would be nice if the process was less complicated and time consuming.

Pros

Simply put "It Works" It also is highly customization and flexible and has allowed us to achieve a high service level at an optimal inventory investment.

Cons

The reporting tools are somewhat difficult to understand and we have found them challenging as a team to use.

Pros

If you've used any supply chain optimization software before learning the software is very quick. The multi-echelon optimization screen is great for drilling down to find where BOM & dependent demand is coming from. The multi-tier reporting is great for building just about any report you want. Users can customize their portal screens and queries to their own preferences.

Gains Systems does a great job with user training and an annual research group conference. The conference reviews new functionality that was added from the prior year, shows potential new functionality that is in development, and surveys customers to gauge interest and identify areas of improvement.

Cons

One of the things I don't like about the software is there is no alert showing if there was a problem with data processing. In other supply chain optimization software I have used, there is an indicator which shows if data processing completed successfully or if it failed.

The support from Gains has been challenging lately. They hire a lot of new college grads to work as analysts. It seems like they are having an issue keeping them. We worked with three different analysts in under two months because the first two quit. Our implementation took longer than normal and it's been a challenge trying to get support in the last remaining open issues we have. This seems to be because of the turnover issue.

It forecasts our worldwide business nightly allowing us to service our customers.

Pros

The flexibility and capability to set up and manage our forecasts worldwide. The customer service is second to none.

Cons

Some of the functionality is underdeveloped and not as advertised. We are excited to use a feature only to find out it does not work as we expected.

Pros

It takes a lot of guess work out of procuring items. It allows you to see all the data needed to help you make the right decision when purchasing parts and materials. We have 11 military sites so it also allows me to see where I need to transfer parts around to keep aircraft flying.

Cons

Can't copy and paste using your mouse. Also having to break the query every time you want to do a Forecast Review on an item. These are minor yet slow you down in the heat of the battle.

We trust this software to be the tool we use for inventory replenishment. Overall this software is a major contributor to how we run the business on a daily basis.

Pros

GAINS is very predictive and does a great job helping with replenishment. We simplified the way in which we use the software and it has proven to do a great job with forecasting. Our inventory positions have been drastically reduced due to this utilization of GAINS, which has created efficiencies for our inventory managers.

Cons

There are a lot of advanced modules within GAINS that we do not utilize, which is due to the goal of simplification to align our business model with that of the software. It can be challenging sometimes to have to modify the code to match our business practice. It seems sometimes that a lot of resources within our organization, as well as within GAINS, need to get involved to accomplish modification of code.

Pent up demand has been seen many times by our users where we trust the data only on Mon-Wed, then we ignore GAINS for Thurs-Fri. This pent up demand has been challenging for us to work around and is the least liked thing within our company.