TIGGES
The Company:
TIGGES GmbH & Co. has been manufacturing high-quality special fasteners since 1925 and is one of the world’s market leaders in this segment. This family-run enterprise is based in Wuppertal, Germany, and has also been operating a production plant in Malaysia since 1992..
The Initial IT Situation:
A self-developed ERP system supports all business activities. All applications were developed in ILE RPG on the i-Platform system and are run with a 5250 green screen. The entire app comprises around 1.5–2 million LoCs and around 450 screen formats; around 50 users work with the application.
The Challenge:
TIGGES wanted to switch the existing complex, highly specialized ERP system to a Windows user interface with a corporate design, without any noticeable loss of performance.
TIGGES therefore began looking for a sustainable concept for the mid to long-term modernization of the existing system.
The Specific Demands:
- System i is to remain in use as a stable, established hardware platform.
- All programs and display files should remain intact so that the transition is as effortless
as possible.
- Application development should be more orientated on business processes in the future.
- As much of the existing application logic as possible should be able to be integrated and transformed in the target environment as securely and economically as possible.
- End users should get the fastest possible modern, ergonomically appealing interface with added value. This investment should also be sustainable when future updates are made or extensions are added. Users should not experience any disadvantages over the green screen.
- A step-by-step changeover, i.e. smooth migration, and a seamless mixed mode between old, modernized and newly developed applications has to be possible.
- Developers’ existing know-how should remain valuable and usable. The technology selected should be easy to learn for the RPG application developers.
The Strategy:
For TIGGES’ needs, IBM’s business language EGL (Enterprise Generation Language) offers very good solutions. With the tools and know-how from PKS, existing applications could be modernized (GUI) and integrated with new developments in EGL.
The Solution in Detail:
- PKS transformed all of these demands into a coherent proposal and trained us, the TIGGES project team, in the new technology during a three-day workshop.
- The entire interface was roughly transformed to a featureless GUI. Since this step went without a hitch, we proceeded by giving the interface extensions like radio buttons or checkboxes.
- Preselected apps were extended with tabs and enhanced with groupbox elements.
- Key users tested the interface in practice. This allowed us to identify other apps that the extensions could also be used in. This initial changeover took around three months and we refined the layout over the next two months after that.
- As an additional feature, the application was connected to the existing DMS system. This was done with subfile selections and buttons on the program and GUI side.
- Thanks to the quick implementation with the PKS Server Builder and Universal Client, users were provided with a graphical user interface and thus additional benefits within a short period of time.
- The developer team now had the necessary leeway to modernize the development environment towards EGL.
Features and Benefits:
- After just a short phase of acclimatization, users accepted the new interface and, on the whole, found operation was simpler.
- New users have an easier time adapting to the Windows interface.
- Erroneous input is prevented by checks and radios.
- The corporate design look increases the overall quality of the interface.
- Thanks to the connection with search functions in the DMS/workflow system, the systems can be used together and multiple data entry can be avoided.
- The software is a full-scale replacement for the existing application.
- The transition to EGL and its advantages can be carried out easier with this simple intermediate step.
- The expected result is easier to assess and display.
The customer:
“As a “Value Trader” we need to adapt our solution portfolio extremely quickly regarding the demands ofour customers. We are working with partners around the world who provide us with technology that enables us to do so in absolutely the best and fastest way.”
What the Customer Says:
“We are very satisfied! The path to EGL migration has been paved and with the solution from PKS, the transition will be carried out smoothly and right on target.”
Mr. Ralf Klemm
Dept. of IT Organization at TIGGES
www.tigges-fasteners.com |
