System configuration chart
Customer Transaction Control System of the International Distribution Division (4 locations)
System scale
- Number of forms (Including sub forms): 40
- Number of tables: 43
- Number of queries: 109
- Number of reports: 97
- Number of macros: 11
- Development started: April 2011
- Production environment started: June 2011
* Functional expansion of the system is still ongoing.
System overview
- Customer Transaction Control System of the International Distribution Division
- In the IT Promotion Section, we are building “the customer transaction control system of the International Distribution Division” by introducing dbSheetClient, under the cooperation of the sales manager who possesses the Certificate of the Custom Specialist. This system is an Access application, made into a Web-enabled system. The system uses daily information to, in one go, automatically create quotes, which will be issued by sales personnel, and forms of information of customer transactions, that include invoices from orders and custom clearance ledgers of reports required by the Customs Clearance Law.
- 1. Customs clearance/work result data
- The registered customs specialist inputs data of the customs clearance work.
- 2. Quotation management
- The sales personnel inputs data for the quotation.
- 3. Customer management
- The sales personnel inputs customer data.
- 4. Ledger management and other lists
- Export declaration ledger, Import declaration ledger, Customs Dept. Code, HS Code, Types of Declaration, Bond area code, NVOCC ... Ledger master, etc.
Policy of the systems development
Building of a system specialized in the international distribution and customs clearance, which has been demanded by our business expansion, became an urgent issue. On the premise of the following conditions, we examined the introduction of the system.
•The International Distribution Division (user of the system) and the IT promotion department (Admin. Dept.) work together to achieve a further developable system development and maintenance in a short time.
•The system must be stable and usable at many locations connected by VPN, and realized at a low cost and in a short time.
•The system has to be equipped with internal control functions (security functions such as authentication management and log management) to be connected to the accounting system in the future.
Reason we adopted dbSheetClient
When we looked around at middle ware and development tools to enable system development along with the above policy, we found "Excel/Access Web solution," dbSheetClient of Newcom around October 2010. On Newcom's website, a user case of Fuji Xerox was introduced which showed their need for "In-house development," "Reduction of the development cost," and "Equipped with internal control system," which was also the system our company was aiming for. We then participated in a dbSheetClient seminar in November, and felt strongly that this was the development tool we could introduce in a short time.
The following are the reasons we adopted dbSheetClient.
1.We can select a development approach to use existing Access resources and cope with users' needs flexibly and promptly.
2.The system allows the IT Promotion of our company to continuously develop and conduct maintenance so that the development cost is kept low and this enables us to promptly cope with the demand from the work sites.
3.There is proven evidence for stable web systems working at VPN bases even with narrow bandwidth and overcoming the troubles unique to ACCESS at LAN sharing.
4.The system is equipped with internal control functions (Overall IT control) such as the authentication management of users and monitoring of the log management (history of operations).
5.Newcom, the maker of dbSheetClient, has a Support Center, enabling us to contact them by telephone and e-mail.
System development patterns and the introduction effects
Between November 2010 and January 2011, the system outline, input windows and output forms were spelled out. Then, we made a prototype based on the Access system operated in an affiliated company by the end of March 2011. Our personnel from the IT Promotion Div. attended a training session for the dbSheetClient development from April to make the Access program into the Web system. During the development process (ACCESS, dbSheetClient, and SQLSever 2008 R2 were used), we received precise support from the SE at Newcom’s support center, and we could start official operation from June 1st as requested by the International Distribution Division. We are very satisfied. Currently, the system is used in four locations (Marketing and Sales Department of the International Distribution Division, Shikoku Office, Osaka Office, and Tokyo Office), and functional improvement/expansion such as adding forms has been carried out daily.
Results from installation seen from the IT Promotion which built the system:
1. Secure WAN sharing of the Access program has been realized without spending much time on the user program.
2. The system was developed in a short time, and functional addition/modification requests after the official performance started were addressed inexpensively (development duration = about two months, outsourcing cost was not necessary)
3. The internal control framework was built, which allows for whole company deployment, such as connecting to the accounting system. This is a system for monitoring ID authentication and log management (operation history) by using the strong security function.
- Screen capture of dbSheetClient/server system log information list
- Screen capture of dbSheetClient/server system log information detail
From the viewpoint of the operators from IT Promotion, while three months have passed since the official operation began, work efficiency has steadily increased because troubles are addressed one by one, reflecting the detailed requests from lessons to the system bit by bit. From the manager's viewpoint of the div., the new system gives us a lot of hope because although accumulation of data such as quotation, invoice, and custom clearance has just began, the new system provides the capability to analyze them with various parameters, once accumulated for half a year or a year.
About the future
At first, we will develop an operational manual to improve the usability for users (Custom Specialists and sales people). Also, centered on the IT Promotion Dept., we want to deploy the system to other departments such as the Sales HQ. In the future, we want it connected to the new accounting system.
Since dbSheetClient is compatible with Excel as well as Access, we want to make a centralized administration of the operational data through making input on Excel Worksheets from various business locations, and utilize it to build a highly efficient in-house system.
(*) Case with Fuji Xerox Co. introduced about the in-house development, cost reduction and internal control function