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Case study
Rea Magnet Wire

Rea modernizes its customer experience with a new QAD-integrated web responsive app

Company
Rea Magnet Wire

Rea Magnet Wire supplies magnet wire for motor, transformer and automotive manufacturers around the world. 


Founded in 1933, Rea is now the largest producer of magnet wire in North America and employs more than 1,200 people in its Fort Wayne, Indiana, headquarters; its five plants; and its four joint ventures in North America and China

In short // TLDR

Challenge

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Discontinued

Needed to replace their InfoPath-built complaint management application when InfoPath was discontinued.

Integrate with QAD

The solution had to be seamlessly integrated with QAD, their Progress-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.

Responsive design

A rich user experience with responsive design and modern look, with sophisticated functionality that replicated all existing features.

Solution

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Deep features

The Servoy platform offered the deep and rich features needed for a rich UX and complex business logic.

Perfectly integrated

The solution used Servoy’s tight integration with QAD to create a seamless integration with their ERP.

Expert guidance

Rea Magnet Wire received guidance from Servoy, making the shortest path to success.

Full version
Challenge
Rea decided to replace its customer complaint management application, which it had built in SharePoint using InfoPath, when Microsoft announced that InfoPath was going to be discontinued. Rea wanted its new application to replicate existing features, such as access to the employee directory in the domain network, messaging, workflows, email notifications and the ability to attach documents. But Rea’s in-house development tools couldn’t produce the rich user experience and modern look the company wanted, including responsive web design.

Another problem was that the existing customer complaint management application was not connected to QAD, Rea’s Progress-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.

This led to information discrepancies and wasted time for the customer service team. Rea wanted its new application to integrate seamlessly with QAD’s Progress backend in order to cross-reference products and inventory and to process returns efficiently.
Tapping into the experience of the Servoy consultant saved us a lot of time. He showed us how to get started, create a menu structure, put application security in place, call the business logic and connect the database in Progress. He was always willing to go the extra step to make sure we got what we needed.

Ron Mihavics  // Project Manager at Rea

Solution
Rea considered Servoy’s rapid application development platform because of its ability to tightly integrate with QAD and Progress and because its mature offering includes deep and rich features, out-of-the-box frameworks, and full development capabilities. In response to Rea’s inquiry, Servoy produced a proof of concept (POC) demonstrating its integration with QAD, through reuse of the Progress business logic and database, and its handling of document attachments and workflows.

Rea selected Servoy for its new development. Ron Mihavics, project manager at Rea, says, “Servoy truly wowed us with the POC. It was amazing to see a modern web app using all the concepts we had sketched and have it delivered in only a couple of days. Servoy added features we didn’t even dream could be done. 

The look and feel was so skillful and visually appealing.” Dennis Rausch, vice president of information technology at Rea, adds, “Most vendors do a demo with a few screenshots from other projects, but Servoy created a POC using our own data. We were much more comfortable knowing that we could actually build this.”

The six-month project ran using agile methods. Rea had no experience with this development environment, so it hired a consultant from Servoy and a consultant from Progress Services. Both were invaluable. Because of his expertise in QAD, OpenEdge and Servoy, the Progress consultant was able to contribute immediately. 

Mihavics adds, “Tapping into the experience of the Servoy consultant saved us a lot of time. He showed us how to get started, create a menu structure, put application security in place, call the business logic and connect the database in Progress. He provided many good ideas throughout the project and even helped with some of the developments. He was always willing to go the extra step to make sure we got what we needed.” Rausch adds, “In fact, this is true of the whole Servoy team; they do anything they can to help us succeed.”
 

“Time is money, so we needed a development platform that is fast and easy to use for maximum productivity”

Benefits
Rea is proud of how sophisticated and robust its new solution is. It includes richer features than the team had imagined and Servoy can closely match user requirements. The tight integration with QAD and the Progress backend delivers accurate and reliable data, and the validation workflows safeguard against errors. Crucially, user feedback has been excellent.

The project, which is almost complete, will go live by the end of 2018. As Dennis Rausch says, “We’ve all experienced poor customer service, but when it’s done right, it makes all the difference. Our new application takes the customer experience to a new level.” By tightening its processes and eliminating wasteful errors, Rea also saves money. 

Rea’s IT team is exploring other applications based on the Servoy platform. Thanks to Servoy, Rea can now tackle projects that involve business processes. The team’s list of future developments includes a system for processing supplier corrective action requests and an application to manage internal and external audit findings. 

The same visual appeal that seduced the IT team after the POC also works wonders for internal customers. A developer can create a prototype of an application in four days in response to new requirements. Mihavics comments, “Before, it used to take a couple of months, by which time users had moved on to the next problem.” 

Rausch concludes, “Time is money, so we needed a development platform that is fast and easy to use for maximum productivity. It makes more sense to take advantage of outside innovation rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. We also mitigate the risk by doing something that is repeatable and reliable. With Servoy, we know it’s going to work because we use components that already work for others.”
 
Servoy offers a low-code, high productivity platform that is deeply integrated with QAD and Progress to dramatically lower the development time and cost of building custom applications for organizations running on QAD ERP.
The end

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