Announcement from Sage UK 31st January 2019. Preactor will cease to be a feature of Sage 50 Manufacturing Controller or Sage 200 Manufacturing
The version of Graphical Planner that is shipped with the Sage Manufacturing products, has not changed significantly in a sustainable period of time.
Siemens (Preactor), the software vendor, are no longer maintaining Graphical Planner and have focused development on alternative software offerings.
Effective from 01 February 2019 the software enters extended support.
All software support will cease 31 October 2019.
The keys for the software cannot be extended beyond 31 October 2020.
Get in touch with Qi to discuss the future of Sage Manufacturing
Is it troubling that Siemens who has partnered with Sage on this product since Sage purchased the application from a third party developer in 2002 deems it commercially unviable to maintain the licensing? Whilst it is common knowledge that functional upgrades in Sage 50 Manufacturing ceased some years ago, is this an early warning sign for Sage 50 Manufacturing users that it will be declared End Of Life within the foreseeable future? Only time will tell.
Certainly for the time being Sage continues to maintain compatibility between the Sage 50 Accounts and Sage 50 Manufacturing databases. A new version of Sage 50 Accounts is released every year but clearly to make use of it Sage Manufacturing users also have to install the necessary update to maintain the interface between the two Sage solutions. It is not uncommon for Sage 50 Accounts users not to make full use of their annual upgrades because of the additional process of linking their Sage Manufacturing.
Migrating from Sage 50 Manufacturing
It is interesting to note that Sage 50 Manufacturing does not appear to be listed on the Sage website. It is Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management’s website exposure that those visiting are invited to explore. Is this Cloud ERP system an obvious choice for small to medium sized businesses to migrate to if Sage Manufacturing becomes end of life?
Thought for the Day – Sage 50 Manufacturing. Is it time to migrate to Dynamics 365 Business Central?
Migrating to Dynamics 365 Business Central with Qi Ltd might be worth investigating sooner rather than later if you have concerns about the roadmap for Sage 50 Manufacturing and what will best serve small to medium sized businesses moving forward.