In the first article we mentioned the main characteristics that should have a software to be used as a Front-End with some functions of an Enterprise Resources Planning ERP:

• ODBC,

• Replication,

• Computed Views,

• Integrated e-Mail,

and we used the Lotus Notes example, but in principle will be possible to use other softwares with similar functions.

Now we will see a practical case, a system to detect and control - marketing, sales, new purchase orders - your aground products. As we know, the salesman prefer to sold new products only, and your aground products will be less and less sold.

We assume that your company already have an online managerial/accounting system, with evidently its own database.

1. We will use a method to transfer your managerial/accounting data to the Notes relational database, and although this last one has tools for that - ODBC for example - we recommended the purchase of a specific software for that purpose in order to be more flexible and with more powerful features, that must allow the following transfers:

• From Notes to your relational database

• From your relational database to Notes

• From a Notes database to another Notes database

• From ASCII files to Notes database

• From Notes database to ASCII files

• Synchronization of both databases

• Scheduled type transfers - in a defined time, or hour or minute or day, etc.

Normally this kind of software works with the following databases - and this probably include the database type used by your company:

ALLBASE/SQL, Btrieve, Clipper, DB2, dBASE, Excel, Gupta SQLBase, IMAGE/SQL, INFORMIX, INGRES, InterBase, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, Microsoft FoxPro, Netware SQL, Oracle, Paradox, Progress 6, SQL/400, SQL/DS, Sybase, Teradata, Files text, XDB, and also the databases types ODBC, client/server and desktop, etc.

2. We will decide what fields from your managerial/accounting system - here so called of dbCompany - you need in your new ERP. We can, for example

• To establish the relationship of one-to-one, field x in Notes field y in the dBcompany,

• Or we need a non-existent information, what fields we have to bring from the dBcompany to compute - in Notes - in order to obtain the desired information. We are speaking about "information", not of data.

3. We will decide if we need data transcriptions and/or data conditionally computed. A simple example would be the need - in Notes - to generate the resulting information x of the data y,k,z from the dBcompany.

4. Summarizing the above functions Second and Third - about each different product we need from your dBcompany:

• All the P.Os, products received, code, description, during the period t, with dates, quantities, costs, vendors, etc

• The whole sales, during the period t, with dates, quantities, sales prices, responsible salesman, etc.

5. We acquire - extract - those data, to be placed in specific Notes fields, and creating the Notes "Views".

We will continue in the next article.

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