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fANUARY l, 2000 is less than rwo j and a half years away, so it's very important for building material dealers and distributors to take action now on the Year 2000 Problem in their computer systems.

Here's the problem: for several decades, software developers and progrzrmmers have written programs and databases with two-digit date fields (so that, for example, 1997 is recorded as 97). This was done mainly because the disk space and memory in computer systems was very scarce and expensive. Every chance to save space was valuable, and the date fields were an obvious place to start.

Now that disk space is more affordable, and even small PC desktop systems have plenty of space, a potential problem is how the systems will process the date fields when the calendar rolls over from 1999 to 2000. Many computers will record this as 99 moving to 00; in other words, they will read the New Year as 1900 instead of 2000.

Numerous potential problems such as sorting by date (accounts receivable aging, for instance) could arise. All calculations and processes based on two-digit year data are likely to fail completely or yield incorrect results. Age calculations for routine tasks will be wrong, sorting routines will not work correctly, and many businesses could face crippling problems and severe logistical issues due to an inability to process orders, invoices, shipments or anything else that involves a date past December 3t,1999.

There is also a popular misconception that computer problems won't begin until midnight on December 31, 1999. In fact, many computer systems that utilize long-term planning horizons may start providing incorrect dates as much as a year or more before the year 2000 roils around.

Experts recommend that year 2OO0-compatible systems be in place by early 1999 atthe very larest.

The first step is to begin examining how much the problem will affect your own system and business. Assess all the software you are using-not just your main application software, but also your operating system software, the software on your sales reps' laptops, office applications like word processing and spreadsheets, everything.

Determine which programs have compliance problems, prioritize them, decide what action to take, and go to work fixing the problem. "Working closely with your software provider is extremely important at this stage," says Chip Wilby, v.p. of finance, Cleary Millwork Co. "Expert software consultation in this area is a must. Every application must be inspected, corrected, and tested."

It is critical that upper management be involved and leading the charge to prepare for these changes. The Year 2000 Problem cannot be brushed aside. and it cannot wait-

Project management is very impor-

Once you have evaluated which programs to change or replace, decide whether to re-write your existing software or replace the non-2000-compliant software application with a new software package.

Re-writing your software is a very complex task. Whether you are using in-house programming staff or contracting with an outside programming firm, it will be a very time-intensive and expensive proposition. Recently, an outside programming firm analyzed a millwork distributor's existing software and quoted $75,000 to make it year 2000 compliant, based on the amount of programming work needed. The distributor decided to convert to new software.

Testing is the most extensive and time-consuming step-and one for which most companies usually set aside insufficient time. If you are rewriting your software, you should be in the testing phase no later than mid1998. Plan on extra disk space or even a new processor to handle the testing process.

Story at a Glance

Turn of century could cause systemwide computer lailures ... dont wait unti 1999 to ensure you are 2fi10 compli-

The other alternative is to add a software package that fits your business needs and is also year 2000 compliant. The evaluation process should include making sure that the software company has been thorough in their own testing procedures to ensure all the new date fields, databases and reports will handle the new century change. This may also provide your best opportunity to totally upgrade to newer, better technology, and software that more closely meets your business requirements.

Whichever route you choose, you cannot afford to wait any longer to begin tackling the year 2000 issue. To delay may be perilous for your business.