Review on BM by Noreen Lopez MNIMH

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Review on BM by Noreen Lopez MNIMH

Postby bmadmin on Fri Sep 29, 2006 12:25 pm

Review

Batch Master Software from Herbs and Helpers – Part 1

This software promises to be everything a herbal geek like me could ever want - Full traceability of everything I ever buy, or make, or give a patient, or even spill; Reminders of when to place an order so that I don’t run out of that vital ingredient; Price comparisons; Order forms; Invoices; Sales monitoring, both by month and by product, Reminders to ditch stuff that’s going out of date, a selection of customised labels, and even a catalogue feature including pictures and your company logo. Wow!!! I’m hoping that it will also start paying my bills (from its very own bank account!). Seriously though, this does appear to be just what I was looking for. Traceability is an issue that all of us need to start grappling with in a big way if we hope to continue to practice in the way we want. It is part of our duty of care to patients in so far as needing to know exactly what went into a medicine someone reacts to – either positively or adversely. We also need to know when something is reaching its use by date. And whether or not we like it, I am fairly sure that in the not too distant future, it is not just retailers and wholesaler producers who will be legally bound to ensuring traceability and monitoring of good manufacturing processes. In the meantime it is simply just good practice, and I for one want to be getting my act together. Furthermore, traceability is also about our duty of care to the environment and the growers. If, wearing my conservation hat, I am asking my suppliers to assure me of the sustainable and ethical sourcing of plants like Harpagophytum and Hydrastis, then surely it is my responsibility to monitor how much of herbs like these I am using. Nuff said, back to Batch Master.

A concern I had on first hearing about this software was whether it could cope with the products I make myself since not only do I hold an alcohol license for tincture making, but I also make up ointments, creams, lotions, and a small number of stock teas and compound syrups. Simple – I list myself as a supplier and take it from there, or so I am assured.

Another useful feature is that the system allows you to have an open backorder for medicines you can’t make up yet due to waiting for an ingredient. It’s also helpful to have a facility for exporting and emailing reports in whatever format suits you.

There are two major stumbling blocks however. The first is personal and will not apply to everyone, but will probably ring a few bells with some of you out there. Despite my opening paragraph, I am not really a “geek”. Well at least not a techno-geek. I have always had a great affinity for nature and a great fear of computers. That is, until the week I decided to pull myself together and enter the last decade of the last century. That was the week I burst into tears at the university library on discovering that not only was I considered an alien entity for coming with a baby in tow to an academic establishment, but I was not going to be able to take any books out for my assignment if I could not use a computer as they had finally got rid of all other options. That was the same week that one of my other sons (aged 4) was shown off at the parents open day at nursery to prove how wonderful their new computers were for toddlers to learn on. Well I bit the bullet and painfully taught myself the basics. I have gradually built my skills and overcome my fear – to an extent… But DATABASES – they still scare me shxxless, and this folks, is a database, there’s no other word to describe it. Now last year I gave myself a big pat on the back for learning how to use powerpoint in my teaching, so, I tell myself, this year, Batch Master is my new opportunity for growth… I’ll just tell myself that another few times I think!!
From what I can tell so far, this will NOT be an insurmountable challenge, as everything seems to be very well worked out and fairly logical. I don’t have to worry about creating “macros” and such like – I just follow the step-by-step guidelines in relatively Plain English, and input the information. The software takes all my data and organises it for me. Right then, I’m persuaded, but I do have to say that the more I “play” with the system, the more I feel that some training might be very useful… how about a seminar on this then???

The second major problem really is more of a stumbling block for me, and very possibly for many herbalists with existing practices. It is also the reason that this is a review in two parts, and I cannot promise when part two will be written. Sadly I cannot avail myself of all the wonderful data processing that this software is capable of until AFTER I have input the data! How annoying is that!! And I can’t do it in my sleep either unfortunately (though I can think of better dreams to occupy my nights). The reality of my practice is such that I would probably have to close completely for a week in order to input the initial stock, which is what everything else hinges on. (Lorraine tells me she managed in 3 days, but then she doesn’t have children). Now I do manage to do an annual stock-take for my accounts each year, but that does not include recording suppliers, batch-numbers, date of manufacture, date of receipt, etc etc, as this does… Some time ago before I knew that this software was being developed, I started keeping batch-records on paper in a filing system, and built it up slowly as I went along – whenever I got some new stuff in or made a new batch. I might be able to just transcribe much of this into the database, but it doesn’t cover everything, it doesn’t tell me how much I have of everything right now, and It would still be very time consuming. An advantage of the system is that you thankfully don’t have to complete the whole initial stock input in one go – you can save some and return to it later. Its also really helpful that there is a starting list of over 1000 items to work from giving both Latin and Common names of a range of both Western and Chinese (but not Ayurvedic) herbs. My current plan is to “employ” one or more members of my family to assist at an undetermined point in the future when I can reasonably close down for a bit (during bad weather so that I can’t go harvesting or work in the garden instead, which sounds much more appealing than inputting data) A useful feature is that there are different levels of access for users, so that “lesser” assistants can’t trash the whole thing. Phew. That just leaves me to do the trashing. hmmm

I believe that the absolutely best time to have access to a program like Batch Master would have been when I was first setting up in practice – before I got my initial stock and before I had any patients. If one incorporated this into one’s setting up in practice preparation, then I believe it could be fantastic. I would be interested to know how anyone who has done this has got on. I really think it is worthwhile to perhaps try out the 30day free trial, input a selection of data and have a play with it. Then if you decide its for you, just reinstall it from scratch to input your real data.

Techno-Niggles:

• You absolutely have to have a back up system used on a regular and frequent basis. And you MUST NOT FORGET YOUR PASSWORD!! Failure on either of these could end up being expensive!

• When setting up the system for your own requirements you need to create some lists such as product category and units of measurement. It seems that the only way these lists will be displayed is in alphabetical order. I would rather it was by frequency of use. Not a big issue if you don’t have that many items in your list.

• In my case I really want to keep track of what ratio of my stock is organic or not (and ideally wildcrafted and fair-traded) but there are no empty field boxes to create this as a query (I know, I said I was glad I don’t have to deal with macros and such!) The way I decided to get round this was to duplicate everything in the categories list, so that OG and non-OG tinctures are two separate category types. Then the list does get long and being alphabetical is a pain.

• The other thing about these lists is that it is always possible to add something new, but I have not found an option for deleting a category type or unit if I made a mistake (there may well be one but I haven’t found it.)

• I’m not really clear on whether it will be possible to use the system for keeping track of consumables like bottles. In theory I think it should be, and this would be very helpful since its good to have an idea of when one is running low on bottles. The difficulty is that I get patients to return bottles for recycling, and so I never know how many are out there in someone’s kitchen waiting to be brought back….

• On starting to use the system, I am still a bit worried about how to get it to handle things I harvest or produce from harvested plants since the product records ask for a “reorder quantity” which I cannot estimate in such cases owing to the variety of factors which influence a harvest quantity .. I pick however much I pick!

• I think it may also be somewhat of a challenge for those of us who make up medicines while the patient is there. Inputting the required data may be a bit more time-consuming, but then I currently hand-write two pre-printed labels (one is the list of ingredients) and an invoice, so it may in fact be easier – watch this space.

• The “waste” facility in which one does product adjustments to account for spillages, ingredients for my own stock formulations, things that are out of date or gone off etc seems very complicated to me despite obviously being very useful. It is perhaps the area in which I am most likely to require help or training.

A final niggle I have is not about Batch Master at all but rather about me - I have to admit that my self-discipline is not always sufficient to ensure that absolutely everything I ought to do each day gets done (!) My ability to make the most of Batch Master will depend on the thoroughness with which I record everything…. That is an issue for me to be working on, and I am!

What has been great about my Batch Master experience so far is that Lorraine is VERY helpful, always willing to try whatever it takes to get over teething problems, and willing to look at updating the program to take account of the quirks of my computer – e.g. my version of Access is so old, there were problems at first in downloading the software. There is a very comprehensive help-file, some useful tips and faq, as well as an on-line forum for support. There is also an option to have a practice visit for help with setting up the system if needed.
I feel that it is really good to have the product support of another herbalist who uses the program herself and was involved at all stages of its development, from the perspective of a “user”, and who therefore understands our needs (and eccentricities!) Batch Master promises to be a great asset. Part 2 of this review will report back on whether it lives up to its potential in daily practice.

Noreen Miller-Lopez, MNIMH

Batch Master is currently available to herbalists at an introductory price of £150, but can be obtained on a 30 day free trial basis from Herbs and Helpers who can be contacted at info@herbalmedicineuk.com . Information is available at www.herbalmedicineuk.com
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