JBuilder/400 Case Study: Acrux Integrated Solutions, Inc.

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Project Preview

ACRUX INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS, INC.
Rockford, Illinois, USA

OVERVIEW
Acrux Integrated Solutions is a professional consulting organization specializing in information systems technology hardware and software solutions. The corporation's Manufacturing Systems division integrates systems that enhance clients' use of business control systems technology. Most of the manufacturing sector business solutions produced by Acrux are built around IBM AS/400 midrange computer systems and utilize MAPICS, the manufacturing systems software with the world's largest application base.

SITUATION
Inventory data collection for the AS/400 has traditionally involved proprietary solutions software. Available data collection software was severely limited in what it could do. With the variety of tools and methods available for inventory data collection increasing all the time-bar-coding, touch screens, RF, hand-held scanners, wands, keyboard entry, and more-Acrux wanted to develop a flexible system that would capture inventory transactions and pass them to an AS/400 or other database server. They needed an open-architecture system that could capture transaction data from any kind of input device and be interfaced with software from any vendor. The transactions themselves could vary widely, from collecting point-of-sale data to tracking material flow in a manufacturing process to recording classic end-of-year physical SKU inventories.

SOLUTION
Convinced that Network Computers were the key to successfully accomplishing the portable, multi-platform solution it wanted, Acrux set out to develop a Java-based solution. Considering several Java tools, developers first evaluated Visual Age, but when JBuilder became available, they found it so powerful and easy to use that they adopted it for all Java development. Using JBuilder/400's industrial-strength tools, developers were able to telescope three planned stages of development into two, reducing development time by more than four months.

Customers who have experienced the new Java-based inventory transaction data collection system are very enthused, because it is so flexible. Whether the inventory transactions are being passed to a Java server on the local LAN, or via Internet to a server halfway round the globe, the transactions are handled quickly and reliably. Companies will be able to preserve their investments in enterprise-wide business solutions while taking advantage of robust new developments to enhance system capabilities.

Key Advantages:

Acrux could not find an available application that was open enough to operate on any platform. The Transaction Data Collection system will fit into anyone's network, no matter what kind of system it is; no special wiring is required.
The first system releases interface with the AS/400 using MAPICS Enterprise Resource Planning software, but the system is designed so it can interface with other database servers and business software, such as SAP or SSA, as well.
JBuilder allowed developers to reuse components extensively, and with JavaBean technology, any changes in the bean would be automatically carried to all descendant components.
JBuilder's dynamic class loading allows developers to create a base class, then at run time define what the class looks like, delivering immense flexibility in tailoring the data collection system for individual customers.

TECHNOLOGY

Database server		DB2/400
Network		Ethernet or token-ring, connected to the Internet
Other technology		Network computers
Legacy System		IBM's data collection software

DEVELOPMENT

Timeline

6 developers built the network computer client Java server components in 3 months. First customer beta sites in March, 1998. Production release for April, 1998.

CUSTOMER COMMENTS
"We're opening the door to all kinds of data collection opportunities for our customers. Java and network computing have been the keys, and JBuilder/400 has been the tool that helped us make it happen. JavaBeans made it incredibly easy to design the user interface, and dynamic class loading was a huge breakthrough for us, too."

—Bryan Ross, Project Development Engineer,
Acrux Integrated Solutions, Inc.

PARTNER CONTACT
Visit Acrux Integrated Solutions, Inc.'s website at www.acrux.com.