wfn.org | Y2K computer conversion slows publishing house

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

April 20, 1999	News media contact: Joretta Purdue*(202)546-8722*Washington
10-71B{207}

BALTIMORE (UMNS) - Making the United Methodist Publishing House's computers
ready for the year 2000 has taken a toll of time and money, but the worst is
over officials assured the organization's board of directors April 16-17.

President and publisher Neil M. Alexander explained that the organization
sought a software package that would function in the year 2000 because a
custom system was determined to be impractical and too costly. As much as
possible the publishing house tried to adapt its business practices to use
the purchased programs, but this "proved harder than expected," he said.

"We employed a world-class firm to guide the software conversion project,
and [their staff] found that the changeover was both more difficult and more
costly than they had forecasted," Alexander said.

Tammy Gaines, who directs the telephone sales unit, reported that of 231
conversion issues identified, 77 percent had been resolved and work
continues on the others. As one example of the complexity of the task, she
cited the UMPH distribution center's switch from using five different
programs to handle various kinds of standing orders to just one. 

Changes have occurred that affected every area of sales including telephone
order processing, selling at the Cokesbury stores and the generation of
customer bills to accurately reflect sales tax status. Eventually customer
service tracking will be fully automated, she said. 

Larry Wallace, UMPH treasurer, explained how the new system changed the
recording of sales by replacing the time the order was sent to the warehouse
with the time it was actually shipped. This difference led to an
understatement of sales when compared with the previous year. Adding an
estimated $2.8 million difference to the $55.14 million recorded yields a
total restated sales of $57.97 million, exceeding comparable last year's
figures of $57.2 million by $740,000.

Jerry Heare, board sales committee chairman from Austin, Texas, noted that
curriculum sales are lagging as many churches are buying teachers' manuals
without purchasing the students' books. The computer conversion prevented
compilation of sales figures for several months, Heare said...

Several new resources were shown to the board, including the first video
from the 30-session Christian Believer, a new adult study in a format
similar the successful Disciple series. The new series combines scripture
with the reading of classical Christian doctrines. The first six training
events for leaders will be held this summer.

Other new items introduced included the Dictionary of Biblical
Interpretation, which has been in development for more than a decade and was
released in March; the Catacomb Project, a study for youth on the book of
Revelation; and a soon-to-be-released set of 12 brochures for helping
parents communicate their faith to their children.

Special guest, the Rev. Minerva Carcano, presented highlights of the
Connectional Process Team's draft report and received responses from the
board members. Carcano is head of the writing team for CPT which was created
by the 1996 General Conference to lead the denomination in a
"transformational" direction. 

Next meeting of the Board of the United Methodist Publishing House will be
Sept. 28-29 in Nashville, Tenn.
# # #

Note: For more information on the resources mentioned, contact the United
Methodist Publishing House at (800) 672-1789.

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