ITDP Case Studies - Great Plains B2B eCommerce implementation and Great Plains Development using Dexterity & SQL Integration. See Microsoft CRM Integrations and Microsoft CRM SDK, C# programming. B2B dotStore eCommerce UK and B2C dotStore eCommerce UK implementations

Client: SMITH ANDERSON GROUP

Industry: Packaging and Paper Products

Profile:
Smith Anderson & Co Ltd was founded in 1859 and has been intrinsically environmental ever since. Initially using old paper, as well as rags, the mill specializes the use of recycled waste materials. Once a compromise, this has now become a scientific art. 95% of the raw materials for paper production at Smith Anderson are post industrial or post consumer waste grades.

Such materials include drinks cartons, shredded paper, old cardboard boxes, phone books etc. The Group was formed in 2000 and now comprises Paper Production, Bag Conversion and Envelope subsidiaries all dedicated to recycling the environment, back into the environment. With the population finally demanding more environmentally advanced packaging, essentially paper, Smith Anderson are poised to maximize growth whilst minimizing waste. Making paper matter…….again and again!

Situation:
To cope with the competitive market and the innovation in the paper industry Smith Anderson Group decided to replace their legacy business information systems and manual operation with business solutions that will answer their need to be efficient in production and distribution of orders to their customers. Among the company first tasks was to create the operational system and financial infrastructure which are linked. After evaluating a number of technology providers, Smith Anderson Group chose Kinross Computer Systems, a Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner based in Scotland to implement Microsoft Great Plains as a solution to their business needs.

Our Approach:
From the start it was clear that Microsoft Great Plains does not provide a total solution for Smith Anderson Group and the development of a vertical solution is necessary. Kinross Computers System requested us, ITDP Solutions Limited to assist them with the design, development and implementation of the vertical solution (the CPS and PDS products) to achieve a successful and total solution. Working together with Kinross Computer Systems and Smith Anderson Group management, we designed and implemented a Microsoft Great Plains vertical solution for the paper industry with specifics to Smith Anderson Group business requirements.

Benefits:
By building the company’s financial and operations infrastructure on Microsoft Great Plains software with vertical add-on solutions, Smith Anderson Group has met its strategic objectives of high growth with minimal increase in overhead.

Application: Great Plains
Technologies: Microsoft Dexterity, Microsoft SQL Server Stored Procedures, Microsoft Visual Basic

Client: Nidera Handelscompagnie B.V. (NHBV)

Industry: Commodity Buying and Selling

Situation:
Data on Commodities is submitted to a central repository in Microsoft Excel format. The data needs to be validated, transposed and Imported by hand into Microsoft Great Plains. This is a lengthy process that requires business rules to be applied to each record.

Our Approach:
Establish a connection to the repository where the Excel files are submitted to. The files then get processed one by one by reading it into a suspense SQL database. A .NET Forms application launched from Great Plains provides an interface to Import, View, Edit, Delete and Validate these data records. The business rules can be edited and the solution can be extended to add an infinite number of fields to the Data Schema that is used for the commodity records. The data then gets transposed to a format excepted by a Xml Great Plains Import mechanism. Once the data is validated, the Xml is exported and imported into Great Plains. Exceptions are handled by a robust exception handling module.

Benefits:
The time from commodity inception to the time the records is visible in the Financial system is radically reduced. No double key in of data when broker data is received by the administration department. Business rules can be extended and updated as the industry evolves. Infinite number of attributes can easily be added to extend the data record.

Application: Great Plains
Technologies: Microsoft Visual C#, Microsoft SQL Server Stored Procedures, Microsoft Windows Forms

Client: Maxxxim

Industry: Business to Client eCommerce (B2C eCommerce)

Situation:
The client required a online B2C eCommerce Shop to sell products to the public. The solution needed to be easy to use; easily updated and contain order processing and credit card processing facility. The solution also required the web pages to be designed and updated independent of the eCommerce engine.

Our Approach:
ITDP Solutions installed dotStore for the client and got the eCommerce Solution up and running in a day. The html pages were then available for the web designer to apply the corporate identity and graphics to it.

Benefits:
Because dotStore eCommerce is the ITDP eCommerce Product , the turnaround time was quick and the cost was kept low. A lighter Access version of the online store was implemented that kept costs low as well.

Application: dotStore eCommerce Product
Technologies: Microsoft ASP and ASP.NET, Microsoft Access, XML and XSLT data technologies. Secure Credit Card Transactions

Client: Wightman & Parrish Ltd

Industry: Business to Business Internet Orders for Cleaning Products and Chemicals

Situation:
The client required a online B2B eCommerce solutions where Business Clients can log in and place predefined or new orders on the supplier. The orders need to be integrated directly into the Client's Great Plains System. Online orders needed to be available on the web, and Invoices needed to be visible.

Our Approach:
ITDP Solutions installed dotStore for the client and got the eCommerce Solution up and running. ITDP Solutions then applied the design template to the store to reflect the company's corporate image. The dotStore eCommerce Data Layer for Great Plains was deployed and the solution was delivered.

Benefits:
Because dotStore eCommerce is the ITDP eCommerce Product , the turnaround time was quick and the cost was kept low. A more robust SQL Server version of the online store was implemented to deal with high volumes of orders. Orders were now placed directly on the customers system saving time comparing it to the traditional fax based system.

Application: dotStore eCommerce Product (SQL Server Version)
Technologies: Microsoft ASP and ASP.NET, Microsoft SQL Server, XML and XSLT data technologies.

Great Plains Case Studies - Smith Anderson

Great Plains Case Studies - Microsoft Business Solutions

dotStore eCommerce Case Studies - Maxxxim