Weighing the Value of the Web
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1. it was clear that an improvement in this process would result in increased revenue In accordance with a long standing commitment to excellence they looked for a way to improve customer service responsiveness and streamline internal processes that support this functional area through the application of technology In this instance their project definition called for a secure browser based extranet extension to a production order tracking system that would enable customers to review the status of existing orders including item numbers part numbers time shipped and the shipping agent Duane Danner a dedicated veteran RPG COBOL and Basic developer with 26 years of experience was chosen to coordinate the project With specifications in hand he spoke with several website solution providers and web development tool vendors gathered data pertaining to features performance and price and composed a spreadsheet The site development companies that he spoke with quoted between 50 000 and 70 000 to deliver the initial order tracking package Any subsequent changes or additions would result in additional fees Aside from being expensive from a dollars to value perspective the subsequent order tracking website would not be linked to the Weigh Tronix production System i database so any updates regarding order ship status would have to be periodically batched up and applied and therefore providing only a partial solution Unlike other vendors BCD let2. produce production ready applications using the 70 inquiry maintenance wireless reporting shopping cart online ordering and product catalog templates and then customize their programs using ProGen Macro Language PML or create their own templates Newville and Danner decided to review WebSmart They downloaded an evaluation copy from BCD s website www bcdsoftware com along with the user manual in PDF format He called for a temporary pass code and they were on their way In addition BCD sent me a hard copy of the user guide as well Unlike other vendors states Danner BCD let us evaluate the product without first making a financial commitment Because of the tutorial sample applications templates and the web knowledgebase Danner quickly became proficient He asserts that a big advantage with WebSmart is that it is simple to use There is nothing to get in the way of successfully building a site with WebSmart cites Danner The templates were a big help After you compile your program you can modify the RPG source it creates with PML It s all very straightforward He also noted that although much of his experience with WebSmart exploited skills he already had there were a couple of stumbling blocks that BCD s technical support team was helpful and responsive in resolving Weigh Tronix purchased WebSmart receiving unlimited developer seats and unlimited end users for 14 000 The initial development cycle
3. was only two weeks resulting in a fully functional production application A Quantifiable Asset Now rather than calling Fairmont Minnesota based Weigh Tronix to check on the status of an order customers can sign on with a user I D and Password to a secured page that resides at www weigh tronix com A 30 day order history is initially displayed When the customer sees the order number he is looking for he can determine if the correct items have been shipped and check for exceptions One click on the order brings him to the shipping page and he can see when and how the order was shipped By clicking on the tracking number the customer is linked to the shipper s website Real time order tracking information including estimated time of delivery is displayed through a dynamic link to UPS and Federal Express If a customer enters an order at 10 09 AM he can log in at 10 10 and see that the order is already in process Weigh Tronix has eliminated the need for staff to answer the telephone past 5 PM at their Midwestern US facility to handle inquiries from West Coast distributors and customers because the system is available 24 hours a day seven days a week Jim Rather Vice President of Marketing for Weigh Tronix comments Weigh Tronix is the first company in this industry to offer on line order tracking our competitors don t have it Improving communications in any industry is a major benefit to both the company and the people you are selling t
4. Weighing the Value of the Web How Weigh Tronix Improved Customer Service with WebSmart What the web is worth to your company can be weighed in dollars Like any prudent business investment the acquisition of new technology must pass increasingly rigorous analysis Obviously the benefit of the technology must outweigh the cost or it will be dismissed as an unwarranted expense This can be calculated in hard dollars using increased sales and decreased operating costs or in soft dollars by assessing competitive advantage and improved customer service On the other side of the scale is risk Organizations that disregard powerful new technology that they have not yet thoroughly validated may experience lost opportunities for new business or the departure of existing customers to companies that offer state of the art conveniences It is evident that the web has carved its niche However companies still argue that they have yet to find a problem that this solution can be fully applied to Weigh Tronix is one company that has clearly profited from their commitment to progress WebSmart is that simple to use There is nothing to get in the way of successfully building a site and the templates were of great help Duane Danner Weigh Tronix Inc A Heavy Weight Weight Tronix has among its clients U S Governmental agencies and top corporations In thirty years of doing business with organizations large and small Weigh Tronix ha
5. m 2007 BCDII
6. o When asked if he s comfortable with the level of security inherent with BCD s product given the fact that production data and systems are now accessible through the web Danner responded emphatically Yes The product offers great security One nice thing about WebSmart is that order numbers and account numbers don t appear in the URL Currently Danner is finishing up another automated order entry application that takes the customer number at login and displays all outstanding invoices with aging and calculates available credit WebSmart is a great tool we ve just scratched the surface with it so far At Weigh Tronix the heavy weight of full cycle customer service has been lessened through the implementation of a web based order entry order tracking system Newville says With the reasonable acquisition cost of WebSmart it was easily cost justified Our customers love it and we are very pleased with the end result It has allowed us to do things that we didn t think we could afford to do SHOWCASE EXCELLENCE Sward apex WINNER em Server Proven od Business Partner Winner of 35 Industry Awards 10 000 Customers 30 000 Software Products Sold WebSmart is distributed by IBM with i5 05 upgrades and new system sales on IBM s Try amp Buy CD WebSmart is included on IBM s iSeries Developer Roadmap and is IBM ServerProven 630 986 0800 sales bcdsoftware com www bcdsoftware co
7. s become the world s second largest manufacturer of precision weighing equipment counters and printers Weigh Tronix has based their success on three decades of continuous innovation Prior to 1971 all scales relied on mechanical means such as springs and counterweights to measure weight Weigh Tronix produced the world s first all electronic scale under the NCI brand name and dramatically changed the world of weights and measures Weigh Tronix also invented a unique device that has become an industry standard called the Weigh Bar a durable sealed weight sensor that is the core component to any truck or platform scale WEIGH TRONIX Weighing Products amp Systems Recently Weigh Tronix carefully evaluated the benefits of implementing a web based order tracking system for customers distributors and customer service reps at satellite offices Weigh Tronix ships hundreds of new and repaired instruments and parts on a daily basis but the company was spending an inordinate amount of time tracking these shipments To check on the status of an order a customer service representative would have to find the order number determine if it was filled and shipped find the shipper tracking number call the shipper which was either Federal Express or UPS and finally discover when it was picked up and where it was in transit This process could take up to 45 minutes Because Weigh Tronix customer service representatives are also responsible for new sales
8. us evaluate the product WEIGH TRONIX without first making a financial commitment Weighing Products amp Systems Duane Danner Weigh Tronix Inc Danner attended a training seminar conducted by a company that sells a System i based web development tool Following the seminar Danner quickly realized that this solution was unsuitable as well It was very complicated noted Danner Although I m not new to programming I m also not a web developer My existing set of skills did not get me very far with this solution and it was evident that we were going to have to contract for services with this company to get the project finished adding to the already high cost Dolly Newville the Weigh Tronix Information Systems Manager reviewed Danner s findings and determined that the high costs associated with implementing the web based order tracking system coupled with the uncertainty of whether customers would readily embrace the new system indicated either shelving the project or finding another alternative WebSmart Weighs In Danner went back to search the web and software product directories and found another web wireless development solution called WebSmart from BCD WebSmart he found is a portable PC based development tool for quickly developing and deploying simple to sophisticated System i Web Wireless applications WebSmart automatically produces dynamic HTML and CGI programs written in ILE RPG Developers could rapidly
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