December 10, 1999

Response to Inquiry about Bar Code Vendors

We have implemented QAD ver. 86.D with Eagle as our bar code solution. We were very impressed with their product at the time of the demo, and I have to admit, that once we had installed it at our various locations, we can look back at the entire process, and feel very confident that this was the best decision. And it must be noted that Datanet has recently file Chapter 7, which makes their future very unstable. Allow me to explain what we feel are Eagle's Strong points concerning, price, implementation, and integration.

1) The base price, was very reasonable compared to other solutions. They utilize standard equipment, and their software is probably the best buy for vanilla software for bar coding. We had to customize some of the software to meet our needs, which I will speak of in the integration portion.

2) The implementation and support is second to none. The response time for our requests were met either on time, or ahead of schedule. Never once did we have to wait for Eagle in order to complete any of our implementations. The greatest part of this relationship is the all future support calls are handled in the same manor, very prompt and courteous. Their support during our conversion, was a tremendous help, and allowed us to concentrate on other issues, knowing that we would have very little problem with the bar coding process.

3) Integration - You will find out that Eagle's only business is with QAD. They do not sell to any other software supplier. So they are very committed to the success of QAD, and are also very confident of that success, or they would have diversified into other ERP packages. The one advantage of Eagle to other bar code supplies is it's integration factor. Yes we did pay more money for the customization, but it was worth its weight in gold. We purchase QAD with the intent of not customizing it, to avoid issues with conversion to new versions, which we are waiting for 9.1 to be release to convert to. What is great about Eagle, is that we are able to get information in and out of QAD, which can not be done directly in QAD. They have also worked with QAD's EDI product to make sure that the proper turn around data on the ASN's is available on the labels and shipping documents. All of our customization of the Eagle product, was not only cheaper than trying to customize QAD, but we were able to get it a lot faster and with confidence that it would work.

If you haven't gotten a clue as to where I stand with the Eagle product, then let me put it in one sentence. Eagle is the ONLY solution in my opinion for bar code requirements. I say this with no hesitation, and feel that any company with QAD, would be foolish not to consider Eagle, no matter what the cost. You will make up any difference in the long run. Well I know this was a bit longer explanation then you probably wanted, but I do hope that it gives you an idea of our experience with Eagle. I would welcome you to contact me directly, or to contact Eagle. I have taken the liberty of adding the e-mail addresses of the President of Eagle, Bill Paone, and our direct contact, Jim Miceli. I am sure that if you were to contact them directly, they would not mind. I have also left my phone number and of course you have my e-mail address, incase you would like to talk to me further, or even if you would like to make arrangements for a site visit at our company. Good Luck

Lowell Johannsen
ERP Project Manager

Cascade Engineering, Inc.    Grand Rapids, MI     1 616 975 4959