Case Studies

Baustoff Union

Baustoff Union (BU),is a leading provider of building materials, construction services and equipment rental services in Bavaria, the largest state of Germany. BU uses SMH ERP since 1997, a solution from LANSA's business partner S.M.Hartmann. The ERP solution's functionality was originally RPG based, but has been modernized and extended with LANSA technology over the years, including an extension that provides users with mobile access. Mobile apps created by SMH with LANSA's LongRange, allow BU's management to use their iPads and iPhones to view key metrics and relevant company figures. BU's customer representatives in the field are equipped with mobile devices to access all relevant customer information and, using GPS information, map the best route to a customer. The SMH solution has supported BU's exceptional growth and has helped to achieve dramatic efficiencies.
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BOSTES

The Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW (BOSTES), is the certifying authority responsible for the content of syllabus materials and the delivery of high school examinations for New South Wales, the most populous state in Australia. LANSA's development and integration tools are at the heart of the BOSTES IT infrastructure, including for its onscreen marking application, MarkManager.

Recently BOSTES has provided mobile apps, developed with LANSA's LongRange, to those markers that need to visit schools for the marking of non-written Higher School Certificate (HSC) exam subjects, such as drama, music, dance, visual arts, design & technology and industrial technology. This itinerant marking process involves hundreds of markers travelling by road and air to all corners of the state.

The app allows markers to instantly record their comments and archive photos, audio and video recordings of exam works. Markers also use the app to refer back to recordings of benchmark examples, helping them to apply strict and specific assessment criteria. In addition, the app contains the marker's travel and accommodation schedule and, using the device's GPS, shows them how to travel to and from the school to their accommodation. The app integrates with the BOSTES IBM i based exam marking system.

Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy Stores

Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy Stores, privately owned by the Braum family, operates 280 stores throughout Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Missouri and Arkansas. Braum's used LongRange and RPG to develop a series of native mobile apps for its 40 district and 10 area managers in charge of the stores. The apps, developed by one of Braum's RPG developers, run on various iOS and Android devices and integrate with Braum's IBM i applications and data. The first app allows managers to access and respond to customer feedback, as well as track the progress to ensure the customer's concerns have been addressed. This app, delivered while Braum's was still in the LongRange 30 day trial period, provided immediate ROI as it was replacing a cumbersome paper-based process. The other apps, also delivered in a matter of weeks, provide managers with data regarding sales, inventory, staffing and contacts.
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Fruberica

Fruberica, based in the Netherlands, imports vegetables and fruits, mostly from Spain and Morocco, and distributes these to retailers and wholesalers in Europe and the rest of the world. Fruberica's quality inspectors test the produce on ripeness, colour, firmness and a range of other quality attributes in order to be able to quote the right price and  to deliver the right goods to the right customer. The produce is usually distributed within 24 hours of receipt and it is of enormous importance to promptly record the inspection results.

Until recently Fruberica's quality inspectors used a paper based system to record their findings. They then hurried from the warehouse floor to the office, where the information was manually entered into Fruberica's IBM i-based ERP system, Freshng from RPO ICT Solutions. This method of recording became inefficient, especially during peak season.

Using LongRange, RPO developed a custom mobile app to record the 14 quality attributes Fruberica uses. The app also includes a facility to link produce photos to a delivery. Fruberica's inspectors now use the LongRange app on iPads and their inspection results and photos are available in real-time on the IBM i to the Freshng ERP system. The mobile solution has improved accuracy and efficiency significantly.
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FTZ

FTZ is Denmark's largest wholesale supplier of parts, tools and supplies to the automotive industry, with the capacity to deliver over 100,000 different items directly from stock. Its fleet of 370 cars and trucks deliver multiple times per day both to the automotive aftermarket as well as to the assembly line at car factories.

In addition to ordering parts on FTZ's website, customers now have to ability to use a FTZ Mobilkat, a native mobile app developed with LANSA's LongRange. Users of the mobile app have the same userid & password and access the same products and information as in the web catalogue. Users can search for parts by the usual search criteria, or they can use the device's camera/barcode scanner to find a part. An order created in the Mobilkat app can be saved for further processing in the web catalogue (or vice versa), which is handy when orders created on the workshop floor need to be finalized or consolidated by someone in the office.

The app is available for iOS and Android devices and used by thousands of car mechanics at workshops through the country. The single source server component of the app runs on IBM i and is developed and maintained by the same small in-house development team who also look after the FTZ's ERP system and web catalogue. The app is multi-lingual and supports Danish, English, French, Japanese, Czech and German users.
FTZ is supported by LANSA partner Futura Data.

GF Inc

GF Inc is the leading supplier of industrial packaging and fastening products in Western Canada through its GF Packaging and GF Fastening divisions. GF has built a mobile app for its sales representatives that allows them to view customer details, sales history, product information and inventory status, and to update quotes and orders. The app, developed with LANSA’s LongRange, integrates in real-time with GF’s IBM i-based ERP system and is deployed on a mixture of iPhones and iPads by over 35 sales representatives. The app is helping GF to get more orders and to get orders confirmed sooner. The app has been received extremely well by the salesforce and app usage is high, averaging to about 100 to 150 touches per rep per day. The app is GF’s 3rd generation of mobile apps, replacing both a native Blackberry app and an HTML5 web app. GF’s users feel the LongRange app is the most functional and robust.

Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp.

Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp., U.S.A.'s consumer products division in Lincoln, Nebraska, has replaced its card-based Kanban system with an electronic solution. The new eKanban solution was developed by KMM's in-house development team and integrates with KMM's ERP system. Assembly and warehouse staff access the solution from iPads with native mobile apps developed with LongRange from LANSA. Staff on the floor also use the mobile apps for cycle counting, scrap reporting, recording of inventory location moves and other warehouse and assembly related tasks. Kawasaki launched its first series of mobile apps in just 2 months, from installation to going through the tutorials, development, testing and implementation. The solution is saving over US$ 3,500 per day, delivering very quick ROI.
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Mincron Software Systems

Mincron Software Systems, based in Houston, Texas, is a leading provider of software and business service solutions for wholesale distributors, logistics companies and other businesses requiring integrated enterprise software solutions. Mincron used LongRange and RPG code to build a native mobile app that integrates with its IBM i-based ERP system. The app, which was built in five days, allows travelling sales staff from companies using Mincron's ERP system to inquire into customers and products, use the GPS to Googlemap their route to the customer, scan barcodes using the device camera/scanner, enter sales orders and submit them for processing, view sales history in Google charts, and more.
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Musashino Duskin

Musashino Corporation, based in Koganei city, Tokyo, is well-known in Japan for its management philosophy and for its Duskin franchise business. Its ‘Duskin Cleaning Service' provides rental and sales of floor mops, door mats, air & water purifiers and other cleaning goods. Duskin's sales staff visit about 150 clients each day to collect used commodities and replace them with new products.

Previously staff used to work overtime in order to print the individual client lists and consolidate the necessary inventory by sales person. In the evening, overtime was often required again to compare the number of expected and actual distributed items and update the ERP system. The paper-based method was also prone to inaccuracies.

Now sales staff uses a mobile solution that allows them to download the required client lists from Musashino's IBM i-based ERP system in the morning. During the day they can work offline and update the lists with actual numbers where needed. Upon returning to the office in the evening, the client lists are synchronized to Musashino's IBM i, automatically updating the ERP's inventory and invoice information.

The solution, developed with LANSA's LongRange and deployed to iPads, has helped to make the collection and distribution of products faster and more accurate. In the past, daily data entry and account settlement used to take about 20 to 30 minutes per sales person, now it is instant.
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STRATTEC Security Corporation

STRATTEC Security Corporation, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in USA, is the world's largest producer of automotive locks, keys and related security access control products for global automotive manufacturers and the aftermarket. STRATTEC used LongRange and RPG to build a native mobile application for its warehouse staff that integrates with the company's System21 inventory management system. Once the solution is fully rolled out, warehouse staff will use their iPads to scan picked orders, update the order status and trigger invoicing.
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