Year-End Checks

AJ Piscitelli, PMPProject Manager | ERP Solutions Provider | Cloud Architect As we enter December, most of us are adapting to scaled-down gatherings and mostly online gift shopping. It’s also a good time to go over things to make sure you’re all set for the holidays and be ready to go for the new year. These are a few of the checks that I do around this time, which may …

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A Phishing Story – Part 2

AJ Piscitelli, PMPProject Manager | ERP Solutions Provider | Cloud Architect This is the second part of a true story from an IT Vendor dealing with a phishing attack at a small contracting firm, « ABC Contracting. » If you have not read the first part, you can find it here: Phishing Story Part 1. As with Part One, the names and identities of people and companies in this story have been changed …

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Carriage House Door: Achieving Cost Insight and Control

Carriage House Door managers knew the company was successful, but they lacked immediate insight into the many custom garage doors they make each week. “The challenge,” says Shawn Guthrie, director of manufacturing for Carriage House Door, “is how do we improve without dependable visibility? We needed to know more than the gross numbers to grow and improve the experience for our customers.” Carriage House Door handcrafts gorgeous wood garage and …

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A Phishing Story—Part I

AJ Piscitelli, PMP
Project Manager | ERP Solutions Provider | Cloud Architect

As we head towards the end of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, I thought I’d discuss what I consider one of the most dangerous cyber threats today: Phishing. Phishing is when attackers try to steal personal information from you by pretending to be someone else, fake surveys, or other forms of social engineering. It is the most successful strategy that attackers use to gain access to your network. Attackers are getting more and more sneaky and creating more ingenious traps to capture your credentials and personal information.

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Midway Windows & Doors: Doing Fabrication Their Way

Located on Chicago’s South Side, Midway Windows and Doors claims a rich legacy of unmatched quality and unparalleled customer service—a distinction that has earned this manufacturer of new construction, replacement windows and patio doors the unrivaled devotion from their customers throughout the Midwest. Midway culture Vice President Artie Strauss describes the family-owned business in humble terms. His grandfather Arthur started Midway in 1964, eventually passing the torch to his son …

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Tipping Point

« Before COVID-19, the issue was people couldn’t hire, » Batcha says. « Now, some people still have the issue of not being able to hire or get people back to work but it’s also partly about keeping people spread out, because you want to limit the number in a facility. The questions for manufacturing have become how to distance and how to minimize contact. »

What are VLANs and Why Should I Use Them?

AJ Piscitelli, PMP
Project Manager | ERP Solutions Provider | Cloud Architect

With so many active threats today, it is important today to protect your most important resources. By segregating your network, you can lower the attack surface area of your equipment. We discussed this a bit in my last blog entry about separating your Wi-Fi networks. But do you segregate your network while still allowing some traffic?

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Securing Your Wi-Fi

AJ Piscitelli, PMP
Project Manager | ERP Solutions Provider | Cloud Architect

A recent poll that I gave as part of a presentation a few weeks ago showed that nearly all fabricators in our industry are using Wi-Fi at their facility. I can’t remember the last time I visited a facility that didn’t have Wi-Fi available. But are you exposing yourself to attacks by using Wi-Fi at your facility?

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FEN-TECH Implements FeneVision ERP Software

Window manufacturer FEN-TECH has recently implemented FeneTech’s FeneVision ERP solution in its manufacturing facility in Superior, Wisconsin.  FEN-TECH president Pat Heytens distinguishes his company as a small manufacturer that takes on difficult jobs. “We do what other window companies don’t want to do. Since it’s such a small segment of what they do, a lot of companies outsource their geometrics and specialty-shaped windows to us. In fact, we have some …

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Reduce Capital Spend by Using the Cloud

AJ Piscitelli, PMP
Project Manager | ERP Solutions Provider | Cloud Architect

As we start to get used to the new normal of operating under a global pandemic, a lot of you may be looking at those long-term improvement projects, wondering how to get started. The costs associated with this health crisis keep coming and may have drained your available capital to improve your infrastructure. Even those of you who have been operating during the downturn may be concerned about spending your cash reserves on updated equipment. So, does this mean you should put off upgrading?

No, of course not.

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FeneTech User Conference Winds Down

The FeneTech Virtual User Conference ended today for customers in North and South America and Australia. Customers from Europe and Asia will continue attending the virtual conference with two sessions scheduled for next week and another for the following week.  This is the first-ever time in the company’s 24-year history that the conference has taken place on a virtual platform. With over 200 users from all over the globe registered …

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18th Annual FeneTech User Conference Begins

The FeneTech Virtual User Conference began today, marking the first-ever time in the company’s 24-year history that the conference has taken place on a virtual platform. With over 200 users from all over the globe registered for this year’s online version, FeneTech is excited to share with their customers the software’s latest enhancements. Matt Batcha, a business development liaison for FeneTech’s window and door manufacturers, found the interaction between him …

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FeneTech to Offer Free Virtual User Conference

After canceling their annual user conference last month, FeneTech, Inc. has plans in place to offer its customers a user conference after all—in a virtual environment. “To be sure, this is a challenging time for everyone, but we’re all in this together,” stated Ron Crowl, FeneTech Inc. President & CEO. “Why not use this time to prepare a return to normal armed with an arsenal of tools to make your …

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Back it up!

AJ Piscitelli, PMP
Project Manager | ERP Solutions Provider | Cloud Architect

Yep, we’re talking about backups. Though you should back up a bit. We’re supposed to be practicing social distancing!

In case you weren’t aware, today is World Backup Day. This day serves as a good reminder to check up on our backup strategy. Also, due to the social distancing requirements to slow down the spread of COVID-19, a lot of businesses are currently closed. You may be working from home, managing your IT infrastructure remotely. Now that the load on your internal network is lower and you aren’t dealing with as many day-to-day issues from your users, it’s a perfect time to regroup on your backup strategy. Below are five questions you should ask yourself to get started.

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FeneTech User Conferences Canceled Amid COVID-19 Emergency

FeneTech has made the difficult decision to cancel their annual user conferences scheduled for June 1-3 in Aurora, Ohio and June 9-10 in Vienna Austria. “Nothing is more important to us than the well-being of our customers and employees around the world,” affirmed FeneTech Inc. President & CEO Ron Crowl. “FeneTech’s annual conferences are our chance to share with our users the exciting enhancements we’ve made in our ERP software …

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