Already using Info WorkPlace (IWP) to provide extensive reporting across their MAPICS XA manufacturing application, The Carondelet Division also wanted users to be able to access and use data in their reports and, most importantly, eliminate the time-consuming and error-prone task of hand-keying data from "green-bar" reports! Complementing IWP, they chose ValetMiner to accomplish these objectives.

ValetMiner is an easy to use data access and analysis tool that uses spooled report files as a source of data. The unique facilities of its PrepP component enable straightforward access and download of authorized spooled reports from the iSeries. Using ValetMiner you can simultaneously view the original report; data extracted from the report; user-defined summaries, which analyze the report data; and dynamic charts which are linked to summary reports. Printing selected pages, searching for specific information, copying selected data, formatting and exporting data to a favorite spreadsheet is a breeze. ValetMiner can be used in many different ways. In MetalTek's Carondelet operation, ValetMiner has in particular been very successfully employed to automate the extraction and export of data to Excel spreadsheets. 

As Joan McCready, IS Manager, points out, "Choosing ValetMiner for this task has been the right decision. With about five minutes instruction on loading reports and models, end users can take over the data transformation duties for themselves. With just another ten minutes of instruction they are also able to learn to create their own models - it is that easy!" 

The IS department currently use ValetMiner extensively to extract and manipulate data from 15 - 20 reports on a weekly basis, another 5 - 10 reports for month-end activities, plus any number of reports on an as-needed basis. 

Often users just want to locate certain information quickly without wading through a massive report. As Joan illustrates, "…we needed summary information about sales commissions paid in the past six months and the past year. The MAPICS commission report gives all the detail, with summary information at each break level. Using ValetMiner, that 800+ page report for the past year was reduced to a 64-line Excel worksheet." 

Using ValetMiner instead saves us money year after year. Productivity cost savings alone more than justified our investment in ValetMiner." 

Use of ValetMiner is not limited to iSeries reports. In fact, output from any program that can be printed to a disk file can be transformed using ValetMiner. One such use at The Carondelet Division is to move data from a third-party Windows-based melt optimization program into the MAPICS IM transaction off-line load file for updating raw materials inventory. "We went from spending two hours per day re-keying this data, to a 5-minute daily process using VisualBASIC programs and Access database lookup tables to convert the data from the melt program values and formatting to MAPICS values and formatting." 

Deploying ValetMiner can be achieved within a day and the IS involvement and effort has been minimal. As Joan observes, "So far the use of ValetMiner is restricted to just the IS staff and our cost accountant. With such a short learning curve we can have new users up and running in five to ten minutes, so we are planning to extend this to our Accounts Receivable clerk, the data entry clerks in Sales, and the Production Scheduler." 

Using PrepP to select, download and convert iSeries reports for use by ValetMiner streamlines what would otherwise be a messy procedural process. Joan likes things to be as simple as possible for her users, "PrepP is a super feature and makes the whole process of getting reports to ValetMiner seamless … great for users." 

Joan concludes, "Valet Miner is the most amazing utility that I have ever found in my professional programming career! Taking the report data through ValetMiner into a spreadsheet allows the end-user to sort and sum to their heart's content, while I can focus my time on other tasks at hand. Being able to turn 'dead' report data into 'live' spreadsheet or database data that can be analyzed further, gives us the information we need to continue to grow our business. 

As long as end-users come to the IS department with 'green bar' in hand saying, 'I need this sorted by x,' or 'I want to use this data in my spreadsheet,' there will be a critical place for ValetMiner in our business. As long as I work in the IS department, there will be a copy of ValetMiner available! Using ValetMiner alongside IWP provides a fantastic reporting and report mining combination"

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