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Protean ERP is a huge Enterprise Resource
Planning package from the same category as SAP and JDEdwards.
It provides an interface to all the business processes inside
an enterprise. Is is used in very large manufacturing environments
(food processing, pharmaceutical, chemistry, etc.) in Australia
and around the world, in the USA, UK, Germany, France, rest
of Europe, South Africa, etc.
In 1999 Adelaide Brighton Cement have started
the implementation of the Protean package throughout all their
manufacturing facilities (Adelaide, Perth, Geelong, etc.)
Mark One IT Consulting was the main company
engaged in the implementation, mainly on the business side,
while Better Software Pty Ltd were engaged to provide all
the necessary programming for interfacing existing processes
to the Protean set of applications.
We have developed significant expertise in
the Protean ERP package and have written several tens of applications
over the years. We have extensive knowledge of the Customer
Order Management, Inventory / Production and Financials modules
and about the Oracle/SQL Server database that sits behind
this package.
Applications were developed in Visual Basic,
Visual Basic.net and Crystal Reports with extensive use of
the Protean ERP Object Model and exposed interfaces.
The following paragraphs of some of the components
and applications that we developed, give an idea of the extent
of our expertise with Protean ERP.
Custom Action Servers
Development of customised 'actions' (programs)
for such purposes as the production of Despatch documentation
and Invoices, and the integration of these tools into the
Protean Order Automation process used within the Customer
Order Management module and the Delayed Event Processor. These
tools are then also integrated with the Protean Forms service
in order to direct printed output to the required printer
across a multi-site implementation without user intervention.
Enquiry Tools
A variety of 'generic' enquiry tools have
been developed that give a more 'user-friendly' presentation
of information that is resident in the Protean database. Some
of the enquiry tools we have developed are:
- Debtor Enquiry - allowing the selection of a Trading Partner
and the viewing of all open items for the Trading Partner.
Optionally can display historical 'closed' transactions.
Enquiry will also give 'open aged balances'. User can select
to only view items from certain 'aged periods'.
- Receipt Enquiry - allowing the display of all receipts
for a Trading Partner, optionally within date range, and
the viewing of the invoices to which receipts have been
allocated
- Debtor Aged Balance Enquiry - enabling the viewing of
all Trading Partner Aged Balances on one display. Display
can be sorted by value. Display will show open items making
up the open balance of the Trading Partner highlighted.
A numerical and graphical history of period-end balances
is also available as well as comprehensive reporting and
history screens.
- Price Enquiry - enabling the entry of normal customer
order criteria, such as Trading Partner and Resource, in
order to verify the 'Pricing' setup. This facility simulates
the Protean Market Profile defaulting and Pricing process
that is performed in Order Entry. The enquiry will give
a breakdown of the 'base' price, retrieved from the Price
Sheets, the discounts applicable, retrieved from Discount
Sheets, and the applicable Conditions and Charges.
System Administration Aids
A variety of 'generic' tools to assist with
system administration and maintenance have been developed.
These include:
- Selection Lists by Trading Partner Enquiry - enabling
easy identification of which Selection Lists a specified
Trading Partner is part of.
- Selection Lists by Resource Enquiry - enabling easy identification
of which Selection Lists a specified Resource is part of.
- Market Profile/Discount Sheet/Price Sheet By Selection
List Enquiry - enabling easy identification of where a specified
Selection List is 'assigned' (used).
- Market Profile/Discount Sheet/Price Sheet By Trading Partner
Enquiry - enabling easy identification of where a specified
Trading Partner is 'assigned' (used).
- Market Profile/Discount Sheet/Price Sheet By Resource
Enquiry - enabling easy identification of where a specified
Resource is 'assigned' (used).
- Market Profiles By Condition Enquiry - enabling easy identification
of which Market Profiles a specified Condition is used on.
- A series of 'exception' reports have also been developed
in order to identify potential 'set up' errors or omissions
Peripheral Developments
A variety of 'peripheral' tools have been
developed that also improve the functionality and capabilities
available to the Protean User. For example:
- Debtor Text facility - enabling the recording of multiple
text items against Trading Partners for historical records,
such as telephone conversations, letters sent etc.
- Despatch Note/Invoice Print - enabling the reprint of
Despatch or Invoice documentation.
- Debtor Statement Facility - enabling the production of
Debtor Statements, either for specific Trading Partners
or for a variable range of Trading partners.
- Sales Analysis Extract - automatic population of a Sales
Analysis extract table, performed after the Resource Accounting
process, which is then accessible by a full range of sales
Analysis Reports developed in Seagate Crystal Reports.
We don't write our software,
we craft it!
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