Om Logistics needed to upgrade its outdated IT infrastructure to meet growing customer demands and compete in a rapidly expanding market. It developed an integrated ERP system using Intel Xeon processor-based servers and Linux operating system. This provided a robust, scalable solution for online consignment tracking, increased functionality, and platform-neutral access for 400 customers. As a result, Om Logistics significantly increased market share while reducing costs through improved efficiency and reliability.
Can exit-intent technology really increase your conversion rates?Conversion Fanatics
The world of online shopping is plagued by the frequent practice of “visitor abandonment,” which occurs when visitors arrive at your site, browse for a bit, but ultimately navigate away without purchasing anything.
Organizations in every industry are prioritizing digital transformation to enhance their business agility, profitability, and competitive posture.
Yet many companies’ core systems are difficult to enhance or update, or they’re completely outdated, which drives up the costs and risks
associated with delivering mission-critical innovations.
Alpha Recycling is one of the fastest growing east coast recycling providers and the largest catalytic
converter processor in United States characterized by huge volumes, an own fleet of freight vehicles and
dedicated teams of field buyers. Processing over 150 000 converters monthly, its crucial advantage over
competition is a modern business model that relies on innovative IT solutions.
By being able to instantly and accurately assess the profit range for each converter thanks to a specialized
application with a mobile client, the Alpha Recycling buyers can offer highest market prices to individual
and institutional scrap sellers. In the meantime, a state of the art back-end ERP takes care of financial
transactions, price lists, accounting and reports while communicating through several commercial API’s.
PGS Software was proud to build this very specialized and comprehensive solution.
Can exit-intent technology really increase your conversion rates?Conversion Fanatics
The world of online shopping is plagued by the frequent practice of “visitor abandonment,” which occurs when visitors arrive at your site, browse for a bit, but ultimately navigate away without purchasing anything.
Organizations in every industry are prioritizing digital transformation to enhance their business agility, profitability, and competitive posture.
Yet many companies’ core systems are difficult to enhance or update, or they’re completely outdated, which drives up the costs and risks
associated with delivering mission-critical innovations.
Alpha Recycling is one of the fastest growing east coast recycling providers and the largest catalytic
converter processor in United States characterized by huge volumes, an own fleet of freight vehicles and
dedicated teams of field buyers. Processing over 150 000 converters monthly, its crucial advantage over
competition is a modern business model that relies on innovative IT solutions.
By being able to instantly and accurately assess the profit range for each converter thanks to a specialized
application with a mobile client, the Alpha Recycling buyers can offer highest market prices to individual
and institutional scrap sellers. In the meantime, a state of the art back-end ERP takes care of financial
transactions, price lists, accounting and reports while communicating through several commercial API’s.
PGS Software was proud to build this very specialized and comprehensive solution.
Season 3 Semi Final Business Case Scenario Submission of Submitted By : Lingraj Meher - From Team Wright | Submission Date & Time : 2021-03-14 03:32:32
Ims10 ims mobile - IMS UG May 2014 Sydney & MelbourneRobert Hain
The evolution of IMS throughout its 45 years makes it a perfect partner in the current Mobile Revolution. By leveraging IMS integration capabilities, IMS clients can easily extend the business value of their existing IMS transactions and databases, have a fast time-to-market, and reduce the TCO for their Mobile infrastructure. This session discusses a variety of options in integrating Mobile with IMS.
Project Integrated Distributors Incorporated
Project Details:
Integrated Distributors Incorporated (IDI), a publically traded company, has its home office located in Billings, Montana. IDI has more than 3,000 employees in the following locations:
· Billings, Montana, 600 employees
· Sao Paulo, Brazil, 580 employees
· Warsaw, Poland, 975 employees
· Sydney, Australia, 340 employees
· Tanzania, Africa, 675 employees
· Japan, China, and Hong Kong, 700 employees
IDI has accounts with major market retailers, federal governments, and large state governments. IDI operates a fleet of trucks in each country and has network interface agreements with subcontractors for freight forwarding, storage, and delivery.
IDI is responsible for the movement of goods, from multiple manufacturers and distributors to its clients, in a timely and efficient manner using cost-effective methods. Alternatively, IDI may transfer this responsibility to one of its JVs or SAs, if it is more cost-effective and the income differential is within acceptable limits.
IDI is also under pressure for several of its competitors in the logistics industry. The competitive market is driving IDI to improve its routes, delivery methods, fleet vehicles, and other facets of its business to increase profits (a strategic goal) and to reduce costs. The company realizes that the information technology infrastructure has been neglected for some time and that many operating locations are running on outdated hardware and software. On several occasions last year, IDI suffered no less than four network compromises through one of its JV Internet sites that led to the disclosure of sensitive and strategic information on contracts and mergers.
The chief information officer (CIO) made a strategic presentation to the board of directors and executive management to first assess the aging infrastructure and then, develop a multi-year phased approach to have all sites (except for JV and SA) on the same hardware and software platforms. Now that the funding has been approved for the infrastructure assessment, the CIO has asked you to update your passport, and buy some new luggage.
Information about the assessment provided to you indicates that the current state core infrastructure (switches, routers, firewalls, servers, and so on) must be capable of withstanding 10-15% growth every year for the next seven years with a three-to-four-year phased technology refresh cycle.
There is a hodgepodge of servers, switches, routers, and internal hardware firewalls. Your review also disclosed that much (almost all) of the infrastructure is woefully out-of-date in terms of patches and upgrades. This operational neglect has unduly increased the risk to the network, in terms of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Since this will be a multi-year technology upgrade project, something must be done to reduce IDI’s exposure to vulnerabilities to increase the overall security profile and reduce the risk profile.
.
KCS is .NET Web Application Development Company in India. We have Developed Online Custom ASP.NET Development Solutions and Microsoft Certified Developers Professional for ASP.NET Web Services.
1. Advanced Functionality
Increases Om Logistics’ Ability
to Meet Customer Demands
with Reliability and Security
Logistics
Collaborative Value Chain
Intel®
Processors and
Linux* Operating System
Intel®
Xeon®
processor
Case Study
Challenge
Solution
Business Value
In 1999, Om Logistics was a relatively new logistics company with plans for rapid
expansion. However, its ability to keep pace with growth and respond to increasing
competition was severely limited by an outdated IT infrastructure. The company needed to
extend the infrastructure from two branches to all 65 branches of its business. In addition,
customer demands for advanced functionality, such as the ability to track consignments
online and the ability to receive e-mail alerts 24 hours a day, needed to be addressed. Data
security was also critical for customers, many of whom were competitors with each other.
A robust, stable infrastructure was essential to making these services available.
An Om Logistics IT team developed an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP)
solution to handle its business end-to-end. For this effort, the company deployed
two-way Intel®
Xeon®
processor-based servers and Intel®
processor-based front-end
clients, all running the Red Hat* Linux* operating system (OS), for secure, reliable
performance. The system handles 700 concurrent users, including external access
for up to 400 customers. Linux OS-based Java*-enabled mobile phones enable
tracking of the Om Logistics truck fleet in near real-time. Integrating consignment
tracking, billing, accounting and contract management has streamlined the entire
business operation.
The robust performance of a solution built on Intel processor-based servers and PCs
running the Linux operating system has enabled Om Logistics to increase its service
offerings and provide its customers with enhanced functionality. Now the company is
better able to help customers manage their procurement process while reducing costs
with just-in-time parts delivery. As a result, Om Logistics has been able to significantly
increase its share of market. At the same time, the stability and reliability of the solution
has reduced downtime and service costs, enabling Om Logistics to deliver value to its
customers and enhancing its ability to compete in the market.
Background: A Growing Business Opportunity
Om Logistics is a leading supply chain management company in India, known for its efficient handling of
surface, sea, express, train and air cargo. Among Om Logistics’ customers are many of India’s recognized
corporations in the automobile, pharmaceutical, textile, electronics, white goods, food products and other
industries. The company enjoys nearly 50 percent market share in inbound logistics for the automobile
sector. It manages the parts inventory for its automobile sector customers out of its own warehouses and
ships inventory to shop floors across India “just in time” for each day’s production.
In 1999, the automobile sector in India was growing rapidly. Om Logistics saw a business opportunity in
serving the daily production needs of automobile manufacturers across India. However, to take advantage
of this opportunity, the company needed to rapidly upgrade its IT infrastructure to be able to handle an
escalating number of transactions reliably, while meeting customer expectations for enhanced functionality
and timely delivery.
2. 2
The Challenge: Measuring Up
to Customer Expectations
Om Logistics customers have several overriding expectations.
They want their consignments to arrive on time and intact, and they
want access to current status information about shipments in
transit. The company’s IT infrastructure presented a significant
bottleneck to meeting these customer expectations.
In 1999, Om Logistics had only 20 computers, and only two of
their 65 branches were computerized. Performance was slow, and
system stability was becoming a critical issue. According to S.K.
Goel, vice president of IT at Om Logistics, “We were losing our
accounting and customer data frequently because of one virus or
another, hard disk corruptions or simply the operating system
getting hung and requiring a reboot. This meant our team was
working late almost daily to manage data recoveries.”
The software Om Logistics was using had been developed by an
independent solution provider on a proprietary platform. It
supported only two functions: consignment notes preparation and
invoice preparation. Customers wanted more advanced
functionality, such as the ability to track consignments and receive
e-mail alerts. In addition, because Om Logistics works with a
variety of companies, some of which are in competition with each
other, data security and confidentiality were of prime importance.
Many essential functions were performed manually, impeding the
ability of Om Logistics to meet the rising expectations of
customers. Change had become a business imperative.
The Solution: An End-to-End
ERP System on Intel®
Processor-
based Servers and PCs Running a
Linux* Operating System
A four-member development team, led by Goel, took on the task of
designing an end-to-end enterprise resource planning (ERP)
system capable of providing the enhanced functionality their
customers were demanding. The development team determined
that Intel®
Xeon®
processor-based servers running the Linux*
operating system would provide the reliable and robust back-end
infrastructure they needed to maintain 24x7 availability with minimal
downtime, while allowing them to easily extend support to all 65
branches of the company. Intel®
processor-based laptops and
desktops running Linux operating systems would be deployed
company-wide to provide access to the ERP system and to run
open source productivity software applications. Goel says, “We
found this combination fully met, and at times exceeded, our
performance, security and uptime requirements.”
To develop the ERP system, the development team used the
open source COBOL programming language on the Red Hat*
Linux operating system. They also deployed tracking, billing,
accounting, contract management and human resource modules
to streamline back office functions and integrated them with the
front-end ERP system.
Om Logistics has deployed more than a thousand Intel processor-
based PC clients running the Linux operating system throughout
the company. Client systems range from the mobile laptops used
by managers for productivity applications and e-mail access to the
desktop ERP clients used by back-office staff for data entry and
shipment tracking.
An online consignment tracking system completes the solution by
enabling tight coordination with branch offices and allowing Om
Logistics to inform customers about the current status of
consignments. Linux-based Java*-enabled mobile phones are
deployed throughout a fleet of 2,000 trucks. These phones
automatically generate SMS messages indicating the exact
location of each truck. Messages are sent every 15 minutes to the
“Having decided on the Linux* OS
and Open Source products,
the Intel®
Xeon®
processor-based
server was a natural choice.
We found this combination fully
met, and at times exceeded, our
performance, security and
uptime requirements.”
S. K. Goel
Vice President-IT, Om Logistics Ltd.
3. 3
ERP servers, where the status of each shipment is immediately
updated for web-based access. “Most other inbound logistics
companies are able to do so only once in six hours, giving us a
competitive advantage,” says Goel.
The servers handle 192,000 such updates a day. Om Logistics is
planning to deploy 3,000 more Java-enabled mobile phones to
extend coverage to its field staff as they make deliveries. “There
have been no problems in terms of handling the load of these SMS
messages on the server. We feel that our Red Hat* Linux* OS and
Intel®
Xeon®
processor-based servers are well equipped to handle
substantial growth,” Goel adds.
Today the ERP system handles 700 concurrent users spread over
220 locations. Every day as many as 400 customers track their
consignments on the system and give instructions for delivery of
production parts. The ERP system offers a platform-neutral
interface to these customers, who can access the system from any
environment. An end-to-end solution built on Intel processor-based
systems running the Linux operating system has enabled Om
Logistics to successfully implement a customer-facing business
model with an open collaborative environment.
Business Benefits: Robust,
Scalable, Platform-neutral
Interoperability, at a Low Cost
of Ownership
Om Logistics now has an online system that enables it to
constantly stay in touch with customers. Customers can check the
availability of their parts and enter delivery instructions, allowing Om
Logistics to handle just-in-time delivery of parts needed to meet
production schedules. Customers can track the movement of parts
from the location of origin to their shop floors. Some customers
have even implemented a gateway into their own production
system to incorporate the flow of information from Om Logistics
into their production planning process.
At the backend, Om Logistics maintains bills of material for its
customers’ products. The company ensures that inventory will be
available when needed by working with suppliers throughout India
to keep stocks replenished. It then tracks customer requirements
and delivers parts as they are needed. For example, a customer
may plan to manufacture a certain number of cars of a particular
model during a particular factory shift. The end-to-end delivery
chain keeps the production line moving smoothly, while helping
the customer save inventory costs and better manage
requirements. As a result, Om Logistics has seen its customer
base and market share increase substantially.
When Om Logistics made the decision to migrate to Intel
processor-based servers and PCs running Linux OS, the primary
decision criteria was to build a robust, scalable and highly
functional solution. Cost was not a major consideration as the
company felt that it was in its best interest not to compromise the
quality and functionality of services.
However, the company soon found that the cost advantages of its
new IT infrastructure enabled it to deliver a competitive value to its
customers in the face of rapidly increasing competition from local
companies and global players setting up shops in India. In Goel’s
words, “It was then that we realized how smart our choice was.
We had not only achieved good functionality, robustness and
scalability. We had managed to do so at lower cost due to our
choice of technologies.”
Automatically generated e-mail alerts and an online consignment
tracking facility for customers have brought call center traffic down
dramatically. In addition, the computing infrastructure built on Intel
processor-based servers and PCs running the Linux OS has
proven to be quite robust. With downtime minimized, service costs
“Our customers are absolutely
delighted with the enhanced
functionality and reliability of our
systems and services. Today, we
are recognized as the leading
company not just in market share
but in our efficient use of
technology as well.”
Ajay Singhal
Chairman and Managing Director, Om Logistics Ltd.