Tugboat Signs Agreement with Quinn & Assoc. Combining Preactor’s APS with Workforce Rostering

NEWPORT BEACH, CA (January 12, 2011) – Tugboat Software has signed an agreement with Quinn and Associates Inc. Business Development Partner for Preactor software products, to offer finite capacity scheduling with Tugboat software products.

Combining Preactor’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) solution with Tugboat’s workforce rostering solution will extend the engineering process for manufacturing operations where production planning needs to be incorporated with rostering for a skilled workforce. Solving the roster for manufacturing large products that use a complex mix of highly trained resources applied over days and weeks on multiple projects now has a solution. In the past this problem is typically left to reactive processes including spread sheets and past practices.

Tugboat Software President, Patricia Schilling, explains, “It is important to create the space in the planning process so that rostering and the associated time-sensitive problems such as man-power availability can be solved in concert with planning without having to change your production schedule”. Tugboat’s automated rostering solution combined with Preactor’s order sequence enables this time-critical engineering step to provide real value for Preactor customers as well as manufacturers looking for both advanced planning and a workforce scheduling solution. The value is the ability for an order sequence to flow conveniently into a fully automated rostering solution.

Gregg Quinn, president and CEO of Quinn & Associates Inc, says “The combination of the two solutions offers a very powerful solution for a number of prospects in different manufacturing verticals. The integration of efficiency of shop floor resources and labor is a problem that has become more acute as commoditized manufacturing has increasingly moved offshore, while high-value, labor intense manufacturing increasingly becomes the norm in North America.”

The time span for manufacturing larger projects may be days and weeks. “In order to complete multiple projects on time,” Patricia explains, “creating a roster that is optimized for the best fit to available skills is a key engineering step. What Tugboat adds starts with capturing the results from Preactor, translating them into a labor demand and then converting this demand directly into a roster of skilled workers which matches Preactor’s production plans over time. This is a logical extension of Tugboat’s technology and will provide a competitive advantage to manufacturers,” concludes Patricia.

Since 1998, the principals of Quinn & Associates, located in Altoona PA, have provided Preactor® software and services to manufacturers in all verticals. Preactor, has been a steady recipient of awards each year for license sales and customer retention. Quinn & Associates is one of only three resellers inducted the Preactor® International Hall of Fame for net sales of $1M or more.