Organizational Completeness

Founded on several organizational development models, Pentad Systems, LLC integrates all necessary systems to manage information in simple to complex businesses. Areas of Managing, Site, Planning, and Operations are further expanded with systems that provide complete coverage of all the necessary informational requirements

Managing gives the leaders of the organization an overview into performance by combining data from the other four areas into a reporting, tracking, and tending scheme.

Site has all the maintenance modules plus the Loss control modules of incident investigation, housekeeping, hazard control plus facility management systems like utility monitoring, etc.

Personnel has the human resource information system, training systems, performance management and appraisal.

Planning has modules for capital, major maintenance, loss control planning, business planning, etc.

Operations has the systems for tracking and trending production and operations. The key in this area is tying together the tracking, trending, and feedback system with other machine control systems. Job procedures are also contained here.

Web-Based Deployment

Most small- to medium-sized business cannot afford the associated overhead with the purchase and maintenance of computer servers. In addition, they also cannot afford the associated manpower required to care for the hardware and software on the server plus develop and deploy a strategy to back-up and/or replicate the mission-critical data.

Our unique approach to system deployment eliminates these costs and headaches by transferring the responsibilities to an organization already designed and structured to most effectively handle these: our web hosting company. These firms maintain rooms full of the most advanced computer servers.

They maintain constant data back-ups while replicating data across servers to address hardware failures. Should a customer require one extra level of data security, Pentad Systems, LLC will provide data archives on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM per the customers' required specifications.

Remote Access

The existing paradigm for remote access has most companies (a) protecting in-house systems by constructing firewalls, and (b) providing remote access in-house systems for a subset of employees. These two efforts are in competition with each other.

Pentad Systems, LLC establishes a new paradigm by exploiting the emerging technologies of Internet Commerce security. Now, all functions of business systems can be accessed wherever there is an Internet device and connection. In addition, the issues with number of connections and licenses disappear as web-based systems are designed for maximizing the number of simultaneous connections with no additional expense.

Hardware Independence

The use of web-based applications specifically using the Dot-Net technology means that any device that can run a browser session can execute the applications and access data. Pentad Systems, LLC again breaks the paradigm that more powerful applications need more powerful hardware. Now any device such as a PDA, cell phone, or older PC can run the applications. There are no hardware limits other than browser requirements.

Zero Applications

The browser requirements also mean that the usual cadre of software applications (and the associated licenses, RAM, hard disk space, etc.) is not required.

PDA Accessibility

The emergence of Blue Tooth technology has created the reality that an employee can be in the field with a cell phone, and PDA (or lap-top) and wirelessly access any company system real-time. Pentad Systems, LLC will demonstrate this technology and the advantages to the customer.

Data Mining

There is much value, but great difficulty in coalescing disparate data into meaning knowledge. The vast array of computer systems, languages, databases, storage schemes, and programming styles have spawned a new industry that specializes in digging through all this data(mining) to bring together the correct combination that yields valuable business information.

Pentad Systems, LLC has built the foundation of all systems using the same structure, language, schemes, and programming techniques. Each system has been tested in large corporate organizations and proven truly effective. This ground-up-integration enables a simple interface to very complex knowledge discovery. Now floor-level employees can discern data and make effective decisions with information that would otherwise be cost prohibitive.

Example:
"Joe the equipment operator" has a malfunction of his press. He wants to determine the situations that cause his machine to produce off-spec product." He flips open his PDA, drills into the "OPERATIONS" tab and finds his machine performanace trend, draws a line to the "Site" tab and connect this to the PM frequency for the same machine, draws another line to the "Personnel" tab and links to the roster showing who has run that machine on the shift prior to and during the producing of defects, and then draw another line to the "PLANNING" tab to link to any major maintenance or capital upgrade plans for the machine or its process. When the links are all made, he clicks on a "Get Data" button. The system produces a search-engine-like hit list. He can click on any of the hits and see more detail. he makes the BIG HIT and sees that every time "Operator Bill" runs the machine and "Department A" 1 has manufactured oversized material, the press dies are damaged because Bill (an otherwise great operator) was never trained on abnormal processing requirements.

Custom Programming

With a solid foundation, most customers can use the integrated modules of the system "right out of the box." Since most industry custom-programming requests deal with cross-system communication, Pentad Systems, LLC requires little-to-no programming changes.

We do understand that most customers want changes made to fit their culture. The analogy is akin to building a house: Start with a solid design foundation of rooms, halls, and doors that most everyone will use. Later, decorate to the preferences of each tenant while keeping the underlying foundation unchanged.

Reduced Training Requirements

Any person understands the challenges with learning a new software package. Add to this the upgrades that each version brings. Multiply this by a dozen different packages that each average employee must have some degree of mastery with.

It is no wonder that over 25% of each employee’s time is spent on learning and experimentation with software. Now these hours can be re-directed to more value-adding efforts in expanding the business. Each of the applications offered by Pentad Systems, LLC has identical interface screens. Learn one and you know them all.

Data Store Singularity

A “data store” is a collection of similar information. Most companies have multiple data stores for the exact same information. HR has an employee listing used for the HRIS. Safety has a separate list for use in training and safety programs. Maintenance has a list of maintenance employees used in the Computerized Maintenance Management System.

Production has another listing for use in their operations for overtime, phone lists, etc. With multiple copies, changes to the employee roster must be replicated to every list in the organization. Again, most companies have these lists in Word, Excel, a mainframe, smaller custom databases, rolodexes, etc. Consequently, no two lists are exact or correct.

Pentad Systems, LLC strategically designs and deploys ONE DATA STORE for each collection of data and then enables the various systems to “share” or access that data store. The benefit from this arrangement is enormous. “Shopping” for the needed analysis (combination of data) is easy because a user just has to “visit” some combination of the necessary “stores.”