Custom Business Process Automation Software – integrating business systems to reduce manual labor and errors

Paper orders carried by hand between departments slow a business down and invite mistakes. For this project, Techlancer developed custom business process automation software that connects two core business systems, delivering:

• Labor reduction
• Error reduction
• Business Process Improvement

Client: Custom chemical solutions manufacturer

Problem

Our client’s order workflow ran on paper — literally. Staff would periodically walk printed orders by foot from the customer service department over to the manufacturing departments. Whenever a customer called back to adjust an order, that meant more paperwork and yet another trip to manufacturing. The client knew there had to be a more efficient way to do business.

Solution

We built custom software that integrates two business systems to reduce manual labor and cut processing errors. The core of the solution is a one-way data sync from order processing (Sage accounting software) into a laboratory information management system (LIMS).

The software identifies orders in the accounting system and imports them into the LIMS for production. Orders that need staff attention surface in a manufacturing portal within the LIMS web application — eliminating paperwork and keeping information flowing between systems and departments.

Results / Outcomes

• Labor reduction
• Reduction in errors
• Improved inter-department communication
• Paperless strategic initiative — this was the first step toward eliminating the need to print orders for internal processing and production
• Business Process Improvement

Capabilities Demonstrated

• Business Process Improvement
• Business Process Automation (BPA) software development
• Custom 3rd-party software integration
• Web App Development
• Business Process Improvement Assessment
• Web Portal Development

Overview

We began with a business process improvement assessment. At a high level, it looked like this:

1. We sat down with the client to review the current process, from order entry through manufacturing.
2. We held a brainstorming session with the client to define the ideal system for relaying new and changed orders between departments — focused on what it would take to eliminate paper entirely.
3. We then worked with the client’s Sage 100 consultant to understand the Sage process they had developed.
4. Once we were confident a custom software solution could address these issues, we provided the client with a cost and time estimate.

With the assessment complete, our developers got to work on the custom software. At a high level:

1. The LIMS SQL server periodically polls the accounting software server for order information and syncs LIMS with Sage orders. Any changes to notes or instructions are handled during the sync, and users are alerted if an error occurs while parsing data from the accounting software.
2. The custom software then identifies orders that are new or changed and reviews the order details.
3. If an order consists entirely of stock products, the process moves directly to shipping.
4. If an order requires manufacturing, the software alerts the manufacturing staff so they can review and approve it for production.

Features

• Software integration with accounting software
• Windows Task Scheduler
• Exception handling and alerting

Technologies

• Microsoft SQL Server
• VB.Net
• Entity Framework
• Sage 100

Need custom business software?

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