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In this magazine ten customers of Thinkwise Software talk about their successes with the Thinkwise Software Factory
Citation preview
TOP 10
COMPANIES A
BOUT THEIR
SUCCESS WITH THE
SOFTWARE FA
CTORY
Top 10
Reference
cases4
Top 10
Reference
cases5
Content An introduction 7
Hydroflex HydraulicsCompany profile 10
Reference case 12
Sligro Food GroupCompany profile 16
Reference case 18
K onink lijk e ZeelandiaCompany profile 22
Reference case 24
K S ProfielCompany profile 28
Reference case 30
WilaCompany profile 34
Reference case 36
Robert van der Linden,
Hans Keukenschrijver
and Victor Klaren
>>
Precious WoodsCompany profile 40
Reference case 42
Royal Huisman ShipyardCompany profile 46
Reference case 48
Theodoor Gilissen Bank iers Company profile 52
Reference case 54
ProfextruCompany profile 58
Reference case 60
P1Company profile 64
Reference case 66
Top 10
Reference
cases6
Top 10
Reference
cases7
In practice many companies appear to
struggle with their IT The required soft-
ware modifications are risky or impos-
sible, there is a lack of knowledge or the
time-consuming changes are no more
than inefficient makeshift measures in a
system that has become unmanageable
In short, the outdated central information
system has become a restraining factor
This does not apply to the businesses in
this booklet We have prepared ten cases
of organizations, where Thinkwise Software
has deployed the Software Factory over
the past years These are companies from
different branches, large and small and with
or without their own IT development team
However different they may be, they also
have something in common: they were
curious, they were open to new techno-
logy and have carried out pilot projects
They all saw how the Software Factory
from Thinkwise worked on their own sys-
tem, with their own data and their own
lay-out The management, the IT depart-
ment and the end users They found that
the system could be developed quickly
and it was indeed very easy No more time
and energy consuming maintenance, but
an ICT system that creates new possibili-
ties for the business
>>
‘The business world has been
rapidly changing during the past
twenty years. Internet, technologi-
cal innovations and new legislation
have had an enormous impact on
business. Management is changing
at a rapid pace, which means that
IT support must keep in line with
new business needs. How do you
deal with this as a company?
An introduction
Our secret: the Thinkwise Software Fac-
tory, which automates the develop-
ment process This model driven soft-
ware development system allows you to
rapidly integrate, develop and customize
applications Outdated systems can be
modernized, irrespective of the underly-
ing technology The speed of software
development is five to ten times higher
and maintenance, in particular, is greatly
simplified With your ICT innovation you
will therefore make a sustainable saving
on your costs and increase your com-
petitive power
We would like to thank the ten selected
companies for telling their success sto-
ries in this booklet In each interview
you will read about their ambitions, the
challenges they encountered and the
ICT solutions they chose
Perhaps this will inspire you to learn more
about the Software Factory
We wish you much reading pleasure!
Thinkwise Software
Top 10
Reference
cases8
Top 10
Reference
cases9
Top 10
Reference
cases10
“The newer versions of
the Software Factory in-
clude very rich functional
screens, for which the
standard is actually more
than sufficient.”- Arjan Jonas
IT manager at Hydroflex
Hydraulics
Top 10
Reference
cases11
Hydroflex Hydraulics delivers to divergent
target groups With its comprehensive
range of products the company is a part-
ner for electrical contractors, producers
and technical distribution businesses
Hydroflex Hydraulics delivers to the ship-
building, coachwork and machine building
industry, cold storage, agriculture, cleaning
technology, the petrochemical and off-
shore industry
This modern and ambitious company
supplies many goods from renowned
producers directly from stock to the
customers To offer an even wider range,
Hydroflex Hydraulics has an advanced
assembly workshop for the assembly of
high pressure hoses This department
has been organized in such a way that a
switch from routine assembly to large serial
production can be made within minutes
Hydroflex Hydraulics has many years of
testing and rinsing experience They carry
out both static and cycle tests and can
supply test reports and certificates
From their logistics centre in the Nether-
lands daily shipments are delivered not
only to customers in the Benelux, but also
much further afield Hydroflex Hydraulics
has its own delivery service and goods
transport and a special emergency sprint-
er All this makes Hydroflex Hydraulics a
versatile, professional and service orient-
ed company
Hydroflex Hydraulics in Oud-
Beijerland has been active in the
Benelux since 1968 as a stock-
keeping technical wholesale
company and offers a wide range
of hydraulic accessories. All prod-
ucts and services are first rate and
are produced and designed ac-
cording to the current standards in
the present-day hydraulic sector.
Company profile: Hydroflex Hydraulics
Top 10
Reference
cases12
IntroductionEvery company and organization benefits
from a streamlined operation The ICT in-
frastructure forms an important basis to
achieve this Hydroflex Hydraulics, based
in the Dutch province of Zuid-Holland, has
already been running a perfect operation
for many years, partly because the com-
pany dares to take the necessary steps in
ICT That has been the case since its very
beginnings The continuous endeavour to
achieve efficient operating procedures, in
combination with the use of cost-saving
resources, found a response at Thinkwise
Software in Apeldoorn They provide the
underlying ICT environment with their
Software Factory
The ambitionHydroflex Hydraulics is a small, healthy
company that places the bar at a high
level both internally as well as externally
Daring choices are followed by common
sense and determination This already
started with the foundation of the com-
pany, around forty years ago ICT turned
out to be an indispensable part of the
operations
Arjan Jonas, IT manager at Hydroflex Hy-
draulics: “We dare to take decisions and
will also work with young businesses In
1999 we opted for a software package
from an upcoming supplier The software
was not yet fully completed, but that’s
how things go sometimes Unfortunately
that supplier went bankrupt in 2002 and
that was a problem for us It was not re-
sponsible to continue to work with that
software package You cannot operate
without a software package, so we were
forced to look around for another solution
We then came to the idea of contacting
Victor Klaren, who we knew from his
Top 10
Reference
cases13
time at this company, before he had left
them In the meantime he had become
the Technical Director of Thinkwise
Software We approached him with the
question of whether he could offer inter-
mediate support in the event of calami-
ties And then he came up with his new
solution This was the very first version of
the Software Factory and we were consid-
erably impressed ”
The discussion took place at the end of
2002 and at the beginning of 2003 Hy-
droflex Hydraulics started working with
the Software Factory
The approachA developer from Thinkwise came
to Oud-Beijerland to help with the
development of the applications,
because Hydroflex Hydraulics wanted
to carry out the development of the
software itself in-house
ChallengeHydroflex Hydraulics had need of an entirely new, perfectly working and
easily modifiable software package that matches the philosophy and method
of working of the organization
SolutionAll business applications and peripheral systems were replaced and
re-developed with the help of the Software Factory
Benefits• Developfast,cheapandsimplecustom-builtapplications.
• Agoodinsightintotheentireapplicationthroughtheuseofmodels.
• Easilyimplementbusinessideasintheapplication.
• Inchargeinyourownhouse,independentmodificationofapplications.
>>
Top 10
Reference
cases14
Within a year everything was dealt with,
including data conversion tests, and at the
beginning of 2004 the finished product
was completely ready for use To everyone’s
full satisfaction Jonas: “Through time we
have continuously grown with the new
versions Initially we started with model-
ling the application with the Software
Factory, but then manually adjusting the
created screens The newer versions of
the Software Factory include very rich
functional screens, for which the standard
is actually more than sufficient ”
The generic character of the screens ap-
pealed to Hydroflex Hydraulics Jonas:
“You don’t have to search for functional
changes or examine what everything is
used for We continually develop towards
standard screens and that suits us fine We
have meanwhile replaced our complete
ERP package with the Software Factory
The only thing that we have not replaced
is our accounting module We didn’t think
it necessary to develop that ourselves
due to its straightforward character Our
development is simple: all logistic opera-
tions take place with the help of the Soft-
ware Factory application and the financial
transactions that arise from this are im-
ported by means of a specially developed
link into our accounting package And
that works perfectly ”
“Looking back we can say that during the
entire conversion we have applied the
philosophy and structure of the previous
package as the starting point From that
basis things are re-built and developed
further The views of the end users are es-
pecially taken into account If you listen
to them and then apply the results in the
applications according to your own judge-
ment, then you can only benefit from this
You can easily carry out a modification
and present it to the end users This is the
manner in which we now work with the
Software Factory We have finished it off in
such a way that we are now able to do all
the interesting things with it”, says Jonas:
The result“The ICT infrastructure at Hydroflex Hy-
draulics works just as perfectly as the entire
operation”, says Hans Keukenschrijver,
Commercial Director of Thinkwise
Software He makes no bones about his
admiration for the efficient and cost-
saving manner in which the company
works “The quality aspect is deeply
engrained in the structure of the com-
pany Very solidly I find it an honour that
the Thinkwise Software Factory has made
a contribution to this right from the start ”
Arjan Jonas, in his turn, is also very posi-
tive about the contact with Thinkwise
“We already knew Victor Klaren of course
for many years and we have their
developers here in house The contact
has always been enjoyable and this
creates a good relationship and also trust
There has always been excellent support
from Thinkwise, but in the meantime we
have built up sufficient knowledge to be
able to develop ourselves Certainly with
the new Software Factory It contains so
many tools that make development work
far easier We no longer think back from
the finished product, as we once did We
now think first from the model I find it
very enjoyable to work with For us the
Software Factory is a fantastic invention ” ◆
Top 10
Reference
cases15
“For us the Software Factory is a fantastic invention.”- Arjan Jonas
IT manager at Hydroflex Hydraulics
Top 10
Reference
cases16
“We can also perform this
ICT transformation and
standardisation with the
help of our strategic part-
ner Thinkwise Software”
- Maurice van Veghel ICT director of Sligro Food Group
Nederland BV
Top 10
Reference
cases17
The Sligro Food Group was founded in
1935 as a wholesaler in margarine, fats
and oils In 1946 an expansion of the as-
sortment followed with foodstuffs, where-
upon in 1961 the first Sligro self-service
wholesaler was opened This formed the
basis for the present network of 45 Sligro
branches across all of the Netherlands
Through the combination, over many
years, of take-overs and autonomous
growth, which surpassed the total market
growth, the Sligro Food Group has grown
into a player that is active in all the major
segments of the food retail and food ser-
vice markets in the Netherlands
Customers have available over 60,000
food and food related non-food products
In addition, many services are offered in
relation to this, for example, in the area of
franchising
There is intensive cooperation between
the separate business activities within
the Sligro Food Group For example, there
is collective purchasing, combined with a
direct and detailed margin management,
continuous tight cost control and a com-
mon integrated logistic strategy
The group synergy is further promoted
by the development of common ICT sys-
tems, collective real estate management
and through management development
at the concern level
Food retail and food service
companies, which focus them-
selves directly and indirectly on
the Dutch market for the inner
man, are active within the Sligro
Food Group. This takes place with
Food Service as a wholesaler and
with Food Retail as wholesaler
and retailer.
Company profile: Sligro Food Group
Top 10
Reference
cases18
IntroductionIn the past Sligro especially focused its ICT
on the functionality and ‘keeping every-
thing running’ Nowadays elements such
as functionality, efficiency, effectiveness
and commercial opportunities are the mo-
tives behind Sligro’s IT initiatives This also
applies for the field organization and the
Food Service Regional Sales Managers To
optimize the cooperation between the
field organization and the back office
and to better streamline the provision of
information to management, Sligro de-
veloped the Field Organization Support
Model (BOM), Sligro’s CRM application
The ambitionMaurice van Veghel, ICT director of Sligro
Food Group Nederland BV, has a clear view
of the core values which he stands for with
his ICT department: entrepreneurial, cost-
conscious, eager to learn, driven and on top
of things “ICT can make a contribution to the
exploitation of commercial opportunities,
also in the world of food retail, food services
and logistics”, says Van Veghel “However
that does demand a complete change, both
on the ICT side as on the business side of
Sligro We have to make the transition from
technology to customer focused And we
have to work proactively: and stay ahead of
the game How are we going to do that? In
the first place by IT leadership and by creat-
ing support throughout the organization,
but also by performing our own software
development We make use of IBM Power
Systems (System i) servers They are often
still provided with the well-known ‘green
screens’ That also needs to change as well
End users demand it We can also perform
this ICT transformation and standardisation
with the help of our strategic partner Think-
wise Software ”
Top 10
Reference
cases19
Sligro went in search of a solution to sup-
port this process Although Microsoft
Dynamic CRM was well received by the
business, the Sligro ICT department was
somewhat less enthusiastic about it The
problems lay, in particular, in the large
amount of customization required in Dy-
namics, the interfaces with Sligro’s Power
Systems (System i) and the dependence
on Microsoft
A proposal was made to have Thinkwise
Software develop a demo application, so
that the business could make a choice
between the various alternatives The
demonstration from Thinkwise was very
well received, because the application
on the System i was integrated with Ex-
change, Sharepoint and PDAs The choice
was made: the new software would be
developed with the Thinkwise Software
Factory
ChallengeSligro Food Group wanted to make a complete change, both on the ICT side
as well as on the business side, to exploit commercial opportunities
The solutionWith the help of the Software Factory the choice was made for the develop-
ment of a Field Organization Support Model (BOM)
The benefits• Highqualityoftheapplicationandafactorof15lesssourcecodeto
be maintained
• SeamlessintegrationwithOfficesystemssuchasMSExchangeand
Sharepoint
• Improvedprovisionofinformation:allcustomerinformationisstored
centrally and available on-line, via mobile devices
• Structuralimprovementofthecustomerfocus.
>>
Top 10
Reference
cases20
The approachIn October 2009 Sligro took the decision
to start developing the Field Organization
Support Model (BOM) with the Thinkwise
Software Factory, says Luuk Oers, Project
Manager for BOM at Sligro “With the de-
ployment of an extra SQL Server we were
able to carry on development on our
existing IBM Power Systems platform ”
The development project for the BOM ap-
plication was started in-house by Sligro
with the help of the Thinkwise Software
Factory
This software development robot au-
tomates the development process and
can be deployed among other things to
modernize System i (iSeries) environ-
ments, such as are in use within the Sligro
Food Group In the Software Factory the
electronic drawing (the so-called Meta
Solution Definition) lays the foundation for
the automated development process of
database, business functionality and user
interface The advantage of this meth-
od is that changes in the specifications
automatically lead to modifications in
all three of these layers The application
therefore automatically remains consistent
Through the continuous development
of the Software Factory, Thinkwise users
are able to incorporate the newest
methods and technologies with retro-
spective effect into their applications
“Sligro has its own development depart-
ment”, tells Victor Klaren, director of Think-
wise Software “Thinkwise Software is the
tooling supplier to facilitate Sligro in this
In fact Sligro performs ninety to ninety-
five percentage of its development itself
in-house We occasionally provide sup-
port with specialised questions ”
The resultAgenda management, the planning of
appointments, is an important com-
ponent of BOM For this purpose a link
was created with Microsoft Outlook
Van Veghel: “We can provide the Food
Service Regional Sales Managers with
the latest information through the con-
nection with their personal PDAs” All
customer data can be retrieved through
the integration with the IBM Power Sys-
tems (System i) Links were also made
with Microsoft Sharepoint to be able
to manage documents from BOM on a
Sharepoint site In this way everything
can be administered at one central location
“There are actually three links”, says
Klaren “The contact persons are main-
tained in BOM and are transferred to
Exchange, appointments always go to
and fro, and the e-mail runs via Exchange
These are also registered in BOM, partly
for archiving, but also for business intel-
ligence purposes such as the analysis of
appointments The whole forms a very
user friendly CRM application that is pro-
vided with all facilities ”
“There have been a number of reasons
why we have purchased the Thinkwise
Software Factory”, says Hugo Jaspers,
head of IT at Sligro “One of the reasons
was the time that we needed to develop
our applications in RPG, this was far too
time consuming We wanted to develop
software faster with Thinkwise From our
own research it now appears that the
productivity with Thinkwise Software is a
factor of four higher Quality is an aspect
that is actually even more important
That has become much higher, because
there is less code written: approximate-
ly 1/15 of the code in comparison with
RPG In addition the code is generated
automatically Improvements that, for in-
stance, take place later in the functional-
ity of the integration with the graphical
user interface, are made available with
retrospective effect in all our systems
Finally, with the Thinkwise Software Fac-
tory, we are now able to provide our ap-
plications with tremendously rich func-
tionality BOM is proof of that!” ◆
Top 10
Reference
cases21
“With the Thinkwise Software Factory we are now able
to provide our applications with tremendously rich
functionality. BOM is proof of that!”- Hugo Jaspers
head of IT at Sligro
Top 10
Reference
cases22
“The final objective of our
search for a new develop-
ment environment was to
renew the entire ERP envi-
ronment, but then step by
step. The Thinkwise Soft-
ware Factory was the solu-
tion that fitted perfectly”
- Dick Geuze ICT Development Manager at
K onink lijk e Zeelandia
Top 10
Reference
cases23
At Zeelandia everything revolves around
quality, innovation and inspiration This
basic assumption is given substance by
translating knowledge into opportune
solutions and ideas for the customer The
wishes of the baker are a central priority
Innovation forms the core of the Zeeland
strategy In the modern R&D department
and test bakery all knowledge is collected
about new processes and techniques This
results in innovative products that closely
match with market and consumer trends,
and offer new opportunities for the Dutch
baker
Furthermore the knowledge is translated
into cost reducing solutions Every product
is examined from both the baker’s as well
as from the consumer’s point of view to
determine the correct mix of technical at-
tainability and commercial opportunities
Zeelandia spreads the principles of sound
Dutch entrepreneurship far across na-
tional borders Bakers in more than
seventy countries work with Zeelandia
products In Europe the Zeelandia prod-
ucts are mostly sold via subsidiaries and
joint ventures Sales outside of Europe
also take place via distributors and agents
The Royal Zeelandia Group is a fast
growing Dutch family business
that focuses entirely on raw
materials for the bakery trade. The
company has been recognized
as a reliable supplier of quality
products for more than a hundred
years and specializes in the
development, production, sales and
distribution of bakery ingredients.
Company profile: K onink lijk e Zeelandia
Top 10
Reference
cases24
IntroductionZeeland supports a large number busi-
ness activities with ICT and has its own IT
department at the head office in Zierik-
zee Since the company operates interna-
tionally, ICT is deployed for the national
and international branches with standard
and in house developed custom-built
applications
Until recently Zeelandia developed all its
applications in a custom-built system in
RPG on the IBM System i platform, but in
recent years they have been acquainting
themselves with modern development
environments A search that finally led to
the use of the Thinkwise Software Factory
The ambitionAlready in 2003 Zeelandia decided to
start looking at new, modern devel-
opment environments Dick Geuze, ICT
Development Manager at Koninklijke
Zeelandia: “We consider that RPG is
coming to the end of its life Especially
when it concerns integration with Win-
dows and with the web We also ran up
against limitations in our development
capacity We noticed that the ageing
technology had repercussions on
school-leaving developers, who had
little to no affinity with RPG The lack of a
graphical shell played an important role
In short, reason enough to renew ”
Between 2004 and 2006 an extensive
selection of tools took place and Zee-
landia investigated various solutions
Various screen scrapers and develop-
ment environments were examined The
conclusion of the investigation was that
the tools were often developed in a tradi-
tional manner with all the disadvantages
that brings, such as long development
Top 10
Reference
cases25
times, high maintenance costs and long
learning curves
“In the end we have not pursued any of
these solutions, because there was too
much specific knowledge required”, says
Geuze “The final objective of our search
for a new development environment
was to renew the entire ERP environ-
ment, but then step by step The Think-
wise Software Factory was the solution
that fitted perfectly ”
The approachIn 2007 contact was made with Thinkwise
Software Subsequently in 2008 various
meetings were initiated, an extensive
workshop was held on site and there was
even a reference visit organized At the
end of 2008 the agreement between Zee-
landia and Thinkwise Software was com-
pleted Seven pilot projects were defined,
ChallengeZeelandia wanted to modernize the entire organization and equip its own
software factory step by step with user friendly software
SolutionZeelandia defined seven pilot projects that were developed for a year to-
gether with Thinkwise Zeelandia could then experience that the Thinkwise
applications are accepted and that it is user friendly, workable software The
ERP environment is now largely being replaced by the Thinkwise Software
Factory
Benefits• AutomaticdevelopmentofapplicationsforWindowsaswellastheweb.
• Retentionofknowledgethroughre-useofexistingapplications.
• Basicversionsarealreadyavailableforthebusinessafterafewdaysfor
evaluation and acceptance
• Phasebyphasetransitionwithmodelledconnectionstotheexisting,‘old’
RPG environment
>>
Top 10
Reference
cases26
which would be developed together with
Thinkwise during one year A final test,
firstly to gain even more certainty, but
also as a good introduction to Thinkwise
for the various departments within Zee-
landia
“It clicked immediately with Thinkwise”,
Geuze tells “The Thinkwise Software Fac-
tory concept greatly appealed to us It is
not only tooling that we can use, such as
NET, but there has already been a great
deal of thought given to the development
framework, for example with pre-defined
templates Through this users are able to
quickly produce applications according
to the definition of their data model Al-
though these have not yet been completed
with business rules, the applications can
be built and demonstrated quickly to the
organization This gives quick insight into
the functional specifications and into the
wishes of the end users We were already
very enthusiastic about this in the first
pilot with Thinkwise ”
The first project that was tackled was the
Recipe Service, an application that re-
cords the recipes of the products for the
bakery and which also provides insight
into them via the web Since this applica-
tion is deployed internationally, this pilot
was immediately also a test for the web-
enabling of the application and for the
multi-language function in Thinkwise
Along with the Recipe Service application
Zeelandia developed six other applica-
tions in the Thinkwise Software Factory
during the pilot phase Projects that were
all rounded off successfully
The resultZeelandia has developed various applica-
tions with the help of the Thinkwise Soft-
ware Factory A good example of its use
is the support of local marketing plans
with a software application With this
new application, which is available for
all Zeelandia branches via the web, the
management can gain insight into the
market position of the Zeelandia subsidi-
aries Each international branch is obliged
to use the application, so that corporate
can gain insight into the international
state of affairs
Geuze: “Thinkwise Software Factory is
tooling that also runs on the IBM System i
platform and supports DB2 for the System
i So the DB2 knowledge of our employees
is not lost Furthermore we can transfer to
the newly developed applications, with
connections to the existing, ‘old’ RPG
environment This therefore involves
minimum risk Thinkwise has included
the recording of requirements at various
levels in their tooling, this is then used to
be able to complete the development of
the application We are able to equip our
own software factory with the advantage
of standardization The documentation
and uniformity are also important ad-
vantages Applications are developed in
an unambiguous fashion and everything
is recorded in a central system that pro-
vides insight for everybody So this is also
an enormous step forward in continuity
for Zeelandia ”
The evaluation after the pilot year in 2009
was very positive Currently in 2010, Zee-
landia is developing at full steam with the
Thinkwise Software Factory Geuze: “The
pilot projects had the objective of prov-
ing to our organization that the Thinkwise
applications are accepted, that it is soft-
ware with which people can work in a
user friendly manner, and that it satisfies
the requirements and expectations of the
users” It has been very positively received
by the end users and the developers also
reacted very positively We are unani-
mously of the opinion that the Thinkwise
Software Factory is a very good tool A
perfect addition to what we now already
have The intention is now to replace most
of our ERP environment Furthermore we
can also now use Thinkwise perfectly for
applications that make use of informa-
tion that is locked up in our ERP system
We can therefore offer a complete solution
for the Zeelandia organization That we
can also call in Thinkwise people for the
development of our applications if we
face capacity problems, is the icing on
the cake!” ◆
Top 10
Reference
cases27
“We are unanimously of the opinion that the Thinkwise
Software Factory is a very good tool. A perfect addition
to what we now already have”- Dick Geuze
ICT Development Manager at K onink lijk e Zeelandia
Top 10
Reference
cases28
“The Thinkwise Software
Factory doesn’t focus on
programming, but on
business modelling. Since
you start with modelling,
you can already see at an
early stage approximately
what the end result will
look like, without having
already invested many
hours in development”
- Sander Esk es Finance and Organisation
Manager
Top 10
Reference
cases29
During its fifty year existence KS Profiel
has undergone strong growth and de-
velopment The objective at the start was
the trade in and production of steel cold
rolled profiles Until 1978 it was still only
trade, after that production also started
Bodywork and construction were subse-
quently added at the end of 1980, mak-
ing it necessary for the company to ex-
pand Due to strategic take-overs in 1996
and 2007 KS Profiel now produces strip
steel and cold rolled profiles from vari-
ous types and qualities of steel
Along with the profiles and the strip steel
the company also develops systems KS
Profiel has three modern factories for this
purpose, an up-to-date engineering and
design department and its own tooling
shop The company now has available
three sliting lines, nineteen profiling lines
for welded and/or punched standard and
special profiles and two decoil lines Every
factory has its own specialization and
delivers worldwide
Kontinex Staal B.V. – in popular
speech KS Profiel – was founded in
1975. The family company started
at that time as a distribution busi-
ness and is now a manufacturer of
strip steel, cold rolled profiles and
plating materials. The KS Profiel
products are used, for example,
in the building trade, furniture in-
dustry, warehouse construction,
building of portable units, green-
house construction, steel con-
struction, body work and trade.
All products are made-to-measure
for the customer.
Company profile: K S Profiel
Top 10
Reference
cases30
IntroductionAlmost all standard ERP packages are
focused on converging business pro-
cesses, by which different components
or ingredients are combined into one
product But what if your business
process is divergent and you produce
different finished goods from one raw
material? KS Profiel could not manage
with standard software and decided to
develop an ERP package itself with the help
of the Software Factory from Thinkwise
The software was developed and imple-
mented within one year, at a fraction of
the costs that would have been incurred
with the choice for standard software
The ambitionJacco van Helden has worked at KS
Profiel since his graduation at the end
of the 1980’s The systems analyst has
worked in more or less all departments
and understands the company processes
through and through It is then no wonder
that Sander Eskes, the Finance and Organ-
isation manager, asked him to think about
a re-design of the business processes and
the associated ERP software
Van Helden: “We grew quickly, but our
processes were still focused on a small-
scale approach Furthermore, we are very
customer oriented, which means that
if a customer calls with a rush order, we
do out best to help him They would plan
such an order in between running orders,
with the consequence that the whole
planning shifted It was just like a sliding
puzzle If things went well, we solved the
puzzle, but it occasionally happened that
through a rush order other orders could
not be delivered on time In short, it was
necessary to bring more structure into
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our processes, so that we could improve
our planning and increase efficiency ”
In 2004 the search started for an ERP
package that could support the newly
designed processes, that was flexible and
could be modified to the continuously
changing processes Van Helden and
Eskes came across Thinkwise Software,
the supplier of a software development
tool with which non-IT personnel can
themselves develop customized software,
supported by at most one or two
Thinkwise software engineers They were
immediately convinced of the concept
“The Thinkwise Software Factory doesn’t
focus on programming, but on business
modelling Since you start with modelling,
you can already see at an early stage
approximately what the end result will
look like, without having already invest-
The challengeAfter enormous growth KS Profiel was ready for a new design of the business
processes with the associated ERP software Due to the nature of the business
processes the company could not manage with standard software
The solutionKS Profiel decided to develop an ERP package itself with the help of the Software
Factory from Thinkwise The software was developed and implemented within
one year, at a fraction of the costs that would have been incurred with the choice
for standard software
Benefits• Modellingoftheapplicationiscarriedouttogetherwiththebusiness.
• Low investment incomparison to the implementation of a standard ERP
package
• More valid business cases through a manageable and fast development
process
• Goodinsightintocostprices,planningandforecast.
>>
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cases32
ed many hours in development”, says
Eskes It is his firm conviction that this
ensures a far better connection with
the business “Because you can already
demonstrate something at an early stage,
the business can form a picture for them-
selves of the functionality that they will
receive You can actually demonstrate
something instead of just talking about
it If the business is satisfied with the
process model, data model and the
screens you can then get to work with the
specific business functionality ”
The approachIn 2006 KS Profiel started with a test of
the Relationship module The test period
was equally important for Thinkwise, says
commercial director Hans Keukenschrijver
“By modelling a part of the application at
an early stage, the organization sees what
its application will look like The develop-
ment process and the look and feel of the
finished product are immediately clear
and the mutual expectations are known
beforehand ”
The test was a success At the end of 2006
both companies therefore started with
the construction of the complete ERP
suite They approached this step by step
“You must split such a project into smaller
pieces and examine for each department
which functionality they need”, says Van
Helden
“A major part of that work had already
been done, because when the manage-
ment said yes to customized software,
they also immediately said yes to a thor-
ough process and organization change
This resulted in a better separation of
functions and a better division of respon-
sibilities The organization change and
development of the ERP package actu-
ally went hand in hand Both processes
had the objective of increasing the ef-
ficiency and gaining better visibility into
the consequences of certain decisions in
production If you have that insight, you
also have better visibility into the cost
price and you can make a good planning ”
In the new process sales indicate in which
week the products have to be delivered
Purchasing has to ensure that the raw
materials are available on time Produc-
tion has the freedom to adjust the plan-
ning within a window of, for example, five
working days “If, for instance, someone is
ill, then production can decide for them-
selves to bring forward another order”,
tells Van Helden Exceptions to this stand-
ard course of events are, of course, always
possible but now there is room for this “If a
certain order must absolutely be delivered
on a specific day instead of in a specific
week, it is now much easier to adjust the
remaining planning ”
The resultIn the meantime the basic package, that
is called KS4All, has been extended with
various additional functions and Van
Helden is still nowhere near to being fin-
ished “There are still another 21 projects
on my list One requirement, for example,
is to start working with barcodes, so that
we can introduce tracking & tracing into
production At the moment we still stick
hand written stickers on the rolls of split
coil and the finished goods We also want
to give customers access to information
about their order via Internet
There are countless possibilities to fur-
ther develop KS4All A business case al-
ways forms the basis of every decision to
develop specific functionality These
business cases are compact and only
incorporate the investment in time and
money necessary to build a piece of
functionality and the cost savings or extra
income resulting from this
“The good thing about this way of
developing is that the investment keeps
pace with the benefits We don’t have to
make any large one-time investments,
we develop step by step and there-
fore always quickly earn back this low
investment”, says Van Helden
“Furthermore, you decide for yourself how
long the development takes If you have
a good understanding of the process you
want to support, then developing the
software takes no time at all ”◆
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“We don’t have to make any large one-time investments, but
we develop step by step and therefore always quickly earn
back this low investment”, says Van Helden”- Jacco van Helden
Systems Analyst at K S Profiel
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cases34
“We now have far greater
control over the entire
process. We are ready for
the future with a clear
look and feel”- Hans Willemsen
General Manager at Wila
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cases35
From a purely traditional forge Wila has
specialized itself along the way into a pro-
fessional high-tech company with unique
products The latest breakthrough in their
search for productivity is the Universal
Press Brake Concept: standardized drill
holes so that specific holding systems can
be fitted which are permanently adjusta-
ble The Safety Click introduced in 1991, a
spring safety mechanism that makes pos-
sible vertical tool changes, is inextricably
linked with Wila’s New Standard & Ameri-
can Style tooling systems Furthermore
Wila introduced a crowning system under
the name Crowning Followed shortly
thereafter by Clamping, the system that
also aligns the tools
All these introductions are statements
of the transformation which Wila has
consciously chosen for to be able to arrive
at the company it is today: a modern and
innovative globally operating company
with numerous own patents for which
licences are granted Wila has partnerships
with renowned press brake manufacturers,
suppliers, scientists and universities
throughout the world
Wila was founded in 1932. The long-
established company in Lochem is
a global leader in high quality tools
for press brake manufacturers and
the plate processing industry. Wila
has all the specialist know-how
and experience required to supply
custom-made products. Innova-
tion plays a prominent role in this.
WILA has developed its own tool-
ing system that has already been
labelled as the New Standard by
the industry.
Company profile: Wila
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IntroductionThose who embark on something with
Wila, go for productivity, is a well-known
adage within the walls of Wila in the
province of Gelderland “With tooling
systems in the three global standards
American Style, European Style and New
Standard we are the specialist and mar-
ket leader in bending solutions Together
with our Universal Press Brake Concept we
increase the flexibility of the press brake
process”, tells General Manager Hans
Willemsen “We involve both mechanical
as well as human factors, because both are
of influence on the efficiency of the press
brakes And that is also our objective: to
remain a respected profitable company
with which existing and potential
customers, suppliers and employees
are happy to be associated Everything
that we do at Wila takes place against the
background of this principle ”
The ambitionKnowledge of the application, production
technology and innovation play an
important role at WILA “The continuous
research, development and testing of
new products is the basis of our success
Good ICT support is therefore crucial”,
says John Sangers, ICT Manager “For ICT
and ICT development it is our objective to
improve the effectiveness and efficiency
of the internal and external business pro-
cesses We have made the change from
project based working to process based
working To be able to control and moni-
tor all these business processes, we need
to be able to rely on good ICT support ”
Hans Willemsen adds: “ICT is, as it were,
a compromise between loadability and
flexibility Of course, we already had
an ICT environment, but due to all the
changes we decided to take a close look
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cases37
at our business model and the operations
management software, including produc-
tion We made insufficient use of the fact
that we perform recurring work This pro-
duced agreement problems amongst our
professionals, because everybody had
their own vision for each project We had
the need for another kind of informa-
tion management and have therefore
introduced our internal Wise system: a
project oriented, DOS based information
environment ” Seven modular products
were standardized and the entire
manufacturing process was dealt with
in different steps
Willemsen: “Around 2000 we decided
to make a complete change and went
from scratch to finished product We have
designed a complete new business model
that must serve as the starting point for
future development It was our ambition
ChallengeWila has undergone strong growth and progress A well oiled, adjusted ICT
infrastructure was indispensable Modern ICT, on the basis of manageable and
innovative custom-built software
SolutionThe concepts of the existing application are translated into models that Wila
can maintain independently The Thinkwise Software Factory automatically
creates the applications based on these models Thinkwise ensures that the
Software Factory supports the newest technologies The Wila applications can
therefore no longer age technologically
The old Wila custom-built system was converted in only a few days with the
Software Factory to a first basic version on an MS SQL Server platform, with
VB6 GUIs
Benefits• Manageableandinnovativemannerofsoftwaredevelopment.
• Applicationscaneasilyadaptwithnewbusinessmodels.
• Benefitfromthenewesttechnologieswithretrospectiveeffect.
• Carryoutmodificationsandexpansionsourselves.
>>
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cases38
to do the same in less time The basis for
this was our existing business model We
needed a new system design and the cor-
rect software to support this ”
The approachInitially, Wila wanted to examine what
was available in the market that fitted in
with the current ICT infrastructure This
turned out to be an unfeasible notion
Despite this Wila still wanted to make a
flying start with a well-oiled, modern ICT
infrastructure In 2004 the company came
in contact with the Thinkwise Software
company in Apeldoorn and its product
the Thinkwise Software Factory Hans
Keukenschrijver, Commercial Director at
Thinkwise: “Wila was already engaged in a
package selection and were also looking
at MS Navision They came to the conclu-
sion that a standard package did not offer
them the required functionality Another
disadvantage was that these packages in-
troduced a different way of working They
came in contact with us via their hard-
ware partner with the question how they
could develop custom-built software in a
manageable and innovative manner To
give Wila a better idea about how special
the use of the Thinkwise Software Factory
was, their old custom-made system was
converted using the Software Factory
into an MS-SQL Server platform, with VB6
GUI’s, and this all in just a few days ”
Wila continues to invest in Research & De-
velopment, in production resources and
methods, in people and in the manner
in which they all work together This was
also extended to the collaboration with
Thinkwise John Sangers: “Thinkwise
supplied logistic consultants and we
continuously involved a group of key
users This last group were regularly shown
demo’s to which they could then react
The most enjoyable part of this way of
working was that the people actually con-
cerned with the ICT change, were involved
directly from the beginning and could
immediately express their views Through
this consultation structure between the
functional areas, a perfect agreement is
created Thanks to Thinkwise we have now
covered everything, from the first to the
last customer contact and everything in
between There is a workflow module
running on top of this, so that anyone
who carries out an activity can immediately
inform the following function in the chain
about this There is no energy wasted on
pointless matters This creates calm that
is essential for the development of every
employee and thereby of the organization
as a whole ”
Hans Keukenschrijver subscribes to this
view “Wila is a company with a clear focus
and healthy management Cost savings
and efficiency are excellent examples
of this If Wila takes up new initiatives,
they are always well considered and
well thought-out Wila has well-defined
projects with a clear objective It is
expected that Wila will quickly make use
of the possibilities offered by the Web
GUI coupled to their existing application
Then the branch in the United States can
also run it on their current application ”
The resultHans Willemsen is particularly satisfied
about the use of Thinkwise “We now
have far greater control over the entire
process We are ready for the future, with
a clear look and feel All our activities
greatly benefit from the improved
operating procedure and better
control information And what’s more we
are our own boss: and it’s good to be able
to continue to develop ourselves That
reinforces the trust in ourselves
Thinkwise offers support as an excellent
development partner and is a reliable
research partner for investigation into
the applicability of new technologies
Furthermore, we very much appreciate
the Thinkwise approach Additionally
there is also no lock-in We have
the freedom to cancel at any time
Involvement and enthusiasm are
anything but empty slogans for us Our
employees are continuously fed with
an increasing professionalization of the
organization as a whole This also applies
for each individual employee within
Wila We have also found that personal
touch with Thinkwise ” ◆
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“The continuous research, development and testing of new
products is the basis of our success. Good ICT support is
therefore crucial”
- John Sangers ICT Manager at Wila
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cases40
“If I can work with this,
then anybody can!”
- A. van den Berg former Director of the A. van den
Berg family business.
PRECIOUS WOODS
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The Precious Woods Group was founded
in 1990 by a group of Swiss investors,
based on green, environmentally con-
scious principles The company focuses
itself on four segments: sustainable for-
estry management, plantations, the timber
trade and carbon & oil The activities are
supported by more than fifty years of ex-
perience with the application of tropical
hardwood, extensive research into the
characteristics of wood, advanced pro-
cessing machines and drying rooms, and
innovative technical advice and project
support Precious Woods has built up a
reputation with its strict controls on the
sustainable production and the quality of
the wood and continuously monitors the
level of its service
In 2000, Precious Woods was listed on the
Swiss stock exchange In the Netherlands,
the company under its present name is a
continuation of the A van den Berg family
business, pioneers in FSC certified tropical
hardwood, which was established as long
ago as 1913
Precious Woods Europe is the larg-
est supplier of FSC certified tropical
hardwood in Europe. The company
imports and markets more than
fifty types of tropical wood and
has available its own facilities for
the processing, sorting, drying
and storage of sawn timber. Un-
der the motto ‘Cultivate and save’
Precious Woods continuously
dedicates itself to sustainably pro-
duced wood and a healthy future
for the forests.
Company profile: Precious Woods
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IntroductionThe pillars of sustainable economic, eco-
logical and socially responsible entrepre-
neurship form the basis of the business
activities for Precious Woods, the importer
and supplier of timber It is not entirely
coincidental that these are also the three
pillars of the FSC (Forest Stewardship
Council), the international organisation
founded in 1993 that stimulates respon-
sible forestry management
The Precious Woods company, of Swiss
origin, that currently possesses forests of
almost 1 2 million hectares in Costa Rica,
Brazil and Gabon, was ready to make the
necessary changes to equip the organi-
zation for the social and economic reali-
ties of today The custom-made Business
Information System (BIS), developed by
Thinkwise, plays an important role in this
The ambitionPrecious Woods is a special company Ac-
cording to the CFO, Frank van der Hout,
The FSC hallmark is the cork on which the
company floats Once begun with the pur-
chase and re-planting of cleared grounds,
Precious Woods developed itself into an
importer and supplier of timber of world
stature With the income generated from
the listing on the Swiss stock exchange
land could once again be purchased
The growing size and the changes within
the company made a new profession-
alization round necessary The board of
directors was separated from the man-
agement and further plans for growth
were developed Ambitious plans for
growth In 2005 a (bio-)power station was
purchased in Brazil and the activities in
Gabon were taken over in 2007
PRECIOUS WOODS
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Van der Hout: “What we can offer, changes
each year Good information is therefore
the basis on which we can continue to
build In the past we almost had a monopo-
ly on tropical hardwood with FSC hallmark
but there is now far more competition So
we have to act far more pro-actively: we
inform customers about the status of their
order and about where a bundle of timber
is at that moment in the entire process Fur-
thermore our salesmen can approach the
customers far more actively and they visit
the customers more often It is therefore
important that they have the most current
information available With the help of IT
our time must be efficiently deployed to
further develop our company and improve
the service to the customer Furthermore it
is important to be able to quickly produce
quotations and have a good insight into
the stock That helps us to adequately an-
ticipate changes ”
ChallengeDue to the growing size, internal company changes and the need to channel these,
a new round of professionalization was necessary at Precious Woods Europe
SolutionThe development of a new Business Information System (BIS) with the help of
Thinkwise and its Software Factory provided a unique and flexible system that
positively influences the operating result The information is accurate, up-to-
date and complete and is available at the right time This forms the basis of this
comprehensive software solution
Benefits• Auserfriendlyandintuitiveapplication.
• Theapplicationimprovestheoperatingprofits.
• Traceability:insightintothefuture,in-transitandphysicalstock.
• Extensive,completecontrolandmanagementinformation.
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The approachPrecious Woods’ special activities and
business processes form a complex chal-
lenge for IT Among other things this is
due to the various stock locations (the
country of origin, in transit, the various
harbours, bundled at home base in Nieu-
werbrug or at processing companies),
with the substitutes (alternative types
of wood) and with the requirements of
the COC certification (chain of custody)
Furthermore wood is a special natural
product, with various characteristics, that
makes the application of article numbers
difficult Many ERP systems have a problem
with this Furthermore Precious Woods has
the intention to grow even more and has
changed its complete business model for
this
Thinkwise dared to accept the challenge
and developed a new Business Informa-
tion System (BIS) with the help of the
Software Factory, by which the developed
software could be easily modified to sup-
port the ambitious plans for growth
The development project was already
underway before Van der Hout joined
Precious Woods, but he is very enthusi-
astic “I know of no other software system
that can be modified in the way that
BIS can On top of that it is a very user
friendly system It fits in very well with our
company For instance, we now have
the correct insight into our stock and
quotations We can control operations
on the basis of this information We can
quickly and easily carry out modifications
and anticipate changes ”
The roll out of the new software was ini-
tially an improved version of the solution
that was already in use at A van den Berg
This has been gradually changed and
modified The remark made by Mr Van
den Berg, after he sat himself behind the
keyboard during the demo of the new
system, developed with the Thinkwise
Software Factory, was quite telling: “If I can
work with this, then anybody can!”
The resultClear and easily compiled management
information, based on accurate and
current data is for Van der Hout one of
the strong features of the Thinkwise
system “Personally, I would rather call
this the management control system
Nowadays we only work with real-
time management information The
availability of up-to-date graphical
management information is very important
for me I can produce all kinds of reports for
myself by just pressing one key and with-
out the help of an IT employee Due to the
specific design that has been chosen for
the Business Information System we can
now handle the available data and draw up
reports very flexibly Due to the Thinkwise
solution we now have more insight into the
supply chain and the stock It is our inten-
tion to use IT as a means to support the
business processes in order to structurally
reduce the stock levels ”
Apart from gaining a better insight into
the stock, Precious Woods must know the
exact origin of each bundle of timber, the
traceability of the timber or the so-called
FSC Chain of Custody (COC) The COC
certification is compulsory for all compa-
nies that produce, process, transform or
trade in FSC certified products “With this
information we know exactly what we have
in stock in the supply chain and therefore
know what we can sell and when we can
sell it Previously this knowledge was in the
heads of the buyers, now our salespersons
attain this data from our Business Informa-
tion System ”
Summarizing all benefits, Van der Hout is
a satisfied man “The improvement of the
business processes, insight into the stock at
the various stock locations and in finance
has improved immensely All this due to the
excellent cooperation with Thinkwise ”
The BIS has also resulted in cost savings
Even so Van der Hout does not want to
refer to IT as a tool with which you must make
financial savings “You can save costs, but
in my opinion IT is especially important for
improving business processes; if people
gain more time through computerization,
then that time can be used efficiently
to further assist our company and
improve the level of service towards the
customer ” ◆
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“The improvement of the business processes, insight into
the stock at the various stock locations and in finance has
improved immensely. All this due to the excellent
cooperation with Thinkwise”- Frank van der Hout
CFO at Precious Woods Europe
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cases46
“Our users were used
to getting everything
from us. Now we have a
standard GUI people
have to conform to it.
That saves us a lot
of work”
- Bernhard Bergman ICT Manager at Royal Huisman
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cases47
Royal Huisman is one of the world leaders
in building advanced sailing yachts
The customers rarely come from the
Netherlands and are generally very
wealthy About four hundred permanent
employees work at the shipyard which is
now 126 years old
The length of the yachts varies from 30
to 90 metres The designs originate from
international architects and are devel-
oped within the company by a team
of draughtsman and engineers The
yachts are built at the exceptionally well
equipped shipyard of 30,000 square me-
tres, where advanced technologies form
a perfect combination with the highest
quality in traditional craftsmanship
Royal Huisman works together with spe-
cialist companies who each in their own
field are of world stature within the yacht
building industry In this way the shipyard
can combine the benefits of its method of
working with the newest developments
and expertise of specialist suppliers
Royal Huisman Shipyard is spe-
cialized in the building of luxury
custom built sailing and motor
yachts for international custom-
ers. The family business with a
unique share in Dutch maritime
heritage was founded in 1884
and in 1984 acquired the hon-
orary title ‘Royal’. For its designs
and constructions the shipyard
applies the characteristic Intel-
ligent Engineering™ approach,
based on a flexible infrastructure,
specialism and technologies that
are almost unique within the
yacht and shipbuilding industry.
Company profile: Royal Huisman Shipyard
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IntroductionIn the north of the Dutch province of
Overijssel lies the small picturesque vil-
lage of Vollenhove A peaceful location
that nevertheless enjoys international
recognition in wealthy circles The ex-
tremely luxury sailing yachts that are
built at the Royal Huisman Shipyard are
world famous and attract mainly foreign
multimillionaires To be able to produce
this branch of water sport, Royal Huisman
makes use of an extensive ICT infrastruc-
ture
The ambitionFor many, a sailing boat is mainly some-
thing with which should be sailed
However, the clientele of Royal Huisman
Shipyard expect far more They want the
best of the best To meet these require-
ments and store all the information from
the customers, the company based itself
for many years on information that was
stored in a chaos of Excel spreadsheets
and Access databases It was a laborious,
complex collection of two hundred da-
tabases, at least sixty Excel spreadsheets
and ten kinds of GUI’s in which little co-
herence was to be found
Putting applications into use costs a lot of
time and manpower, without even talking
about the associated costs “It must
be possible to do this differently”, says
Bernhard Bergman, ICT manager at Royal
Huisman “But it looked like an almost
impossible task to bring about change ”
However, on one fine day in 2006 Berg-
man received a telephone call from
Thinkwise As a Deus ex machina this
offered him the solution
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cases49
The approachThe ICT department started sorting out
the many databases in 2006 Firstly the
data from all the Access databases was
read in That involved a great deal of cut
and paste Bergman: “Because officially
they were databases, but effectively it
was one large flat table, in which a vast
amount of data had to be deduplicated”
In addition a datawarehouse was built to
run all databases under SQL Server and
make much better use of the available
data using business intelligence tech-
niques The two hundred databases with
associated applications were reduced to
twenty with databases related to each
other
Important achievement: the use of a uni-
form GUI that is forced by the Thinkwise
Software Factory Bergman: “Our users
ChallengeRoyal Huisman wanted to quickly modernize and make more manageable the
old databases and spreadsheet tables and achieve this with as little manpower
as possible
SolutionUsing the Software Factory a datawarehouse has been built to run all
databases under SQL Server and make much better use of the available
data using business intelligence techniques The amount of data was reduced
and relationships were defined, partly by the use of a uniform GUI
Benefits• Fastdevelopmentandmaintenanceofapplications.
• Nounwantedproliferationofapplications.
• StandardizedRoyalHuismanWindowsandwebuserinterfaces.
• Integrated,interactionandreal-timebusinessintelligence.
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cases50
were used to getting everything from
us Now we have a standard GUI people
have to conform to it That saves us a lot
of work The strength of the tool is that it
also produces the GUIs And it makes a dif-
ference that you now have to fathom out
fewer screens If you now understand one
screen, then you understand them all ”
Royal Huisman subsequently prepared
the conversion to the new technology
by describing the old functionality, the
data model and the requirements for
the new functionality That was worked
out in more detail in the model of the
Software Factory, the database and all
standard screens The Software Factory
generates them for each data model
together with all user functionality, such
as filtering, printing and process steps
for Windows and the web The model
contains all the data about the application
to be developed, and information about
how the database is built up, the busi-
ness functionality, help text structures
and all screens These GUIs are not gener-
ated; they interpet the model
The screen components are standardized
and contain all functions such as adding,
changing and deleting records, searching,
filtering, sorting, printing, exporting to Ex-
cel The front-end is built up dynamically
by interpreting the model The compo-
nents are available in Net and Java and
are suitable for Windows and the web
The Software Factory can be fed with
data from older applications and this is
then converted to new technology The
knowledge resides in the model and is in-
dependent of the technology that is used
The resultNew applications are now built immedi-
ately in the Software Factory An exam-
ple is the so-called Briefing book This
application retrieves action items from
reports of discussions with customers
for which departments have to under-
take action The departments can be
controlled from the database Another
example is the inventory database in
which the various engineering depart-
ments can keep track of which items
must be installed in the various areas of
the ship There is also a database with
the complete coding of the ship; each
activity has a code, which can be used for
control and calculations Since develop-
ment is done a lot faster, this unburdens
the ICT department
Bergman considers it a major benefit
that the ICT department has been able
to take control of the management of
the data sources “Everything is located
centrally and neatly arranged We also
know what data there is and if other de-
partments need it In the past we didn’t
even know that it existed There is there-
fore no longer any unwanted prolifera-
tion of applications Everything is better
protected and we make central back-
ups We previously also made backups,
but only if it was on the network and
then you missed quite a lot”
And Bergman is still nowhere near to
being finished “The project work lists
are now in numerous Excel sheets One
per ship! That has to be done differently,
since many actions are needed to just
add one action item to the Excel sheet
We are going to import the sheets That
is the basis for the distribution of new in-
formation on databases
In the future we will also be able to en-
ter work list items remotely via the web
The model can easily produce that You
can gain access to the model in various
ways Previously you had to develop two
different applications for this Now we
generate one application from the mod-
el in two different user interfaces: one for
the web and one for Windows Due to
the Thinkwise Software Factory we can
now manage excellently with our ICT in-
frastructure We are without doubt very
satisfied with Thinkwise ” ◆
Top 10
Reference
cases51
“Due to the Thinkwise Software Factory we can now manage
excellently with our ICT infrastructure. We are without doubt
very satisfied with Thinkwise”- Bernhard Bergman
ICT Manager at Royal Huisman
Top 10
Reference
cases52
“The business is happy;
they can now generate
very complex fully
custom-built mortgage
quotations, in a much
shorter time.”- Hans de Wit
Project Manager in the Theodoor
Gilissen Bank iers PMO
department.
Top 10
Reference
cases53
Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers is a subsidi-
ary of KBL European Private Bankers (KBL
epb), a network of private banks active
in ten European countries with around
three thousand employees In turn KBL
epb if part of the Hinduja group, one of
the largest financial service providers in
Europe
Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers has the
ambition to become the best performing
private bank in the Netherlands, for both
customers as well as employees Hereby
the select group of wealthy customers
is assured of broad financial expertise,
clear customized advice and transparency
in costs
Always sound, where possible innovative
and independent in the offered services,
Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers has an
eye for today and the future, with the
corporate values: Ethics, Professional
and Energizing
Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers offers all the
advantages of a small, specialised bank:
high quality advice from professionals
with a high level of involvement, experi-
ence and expertise Theodoor Gilissen
Bankiers applies distinctive standards
and values, is objective and independent
The bank grants no credits to companies
quoted on the stock exchange and is no
party during share emissions
Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers is an
independent private bank, spe-
cialized in investments, capital
planning and financing. For more
than 125 years the bank offers
high quality services and customi-
zation in the area of income and
capital structuring, investment
and financing to wealthy private
individuals, foundations and as-
sociations.
Company profile: Theodoor Gilissen Bank iers
Top 10
Reference
cases54
IntroductionComputerization and information tech-
nology have become extremely important
in the financial sector during the past
twenty years In the slipstream of this the
relevance of the control on the ICT also
grew At banks almost all activities, pro-
cesses and procedures are recorded in
information systems This involves large
cash flows, with many risks It is therefore
extremely important to monitor the
reliability and continuity of these ICT
systems and simplify their use
In line with this the nucleus of banking
activities and products consists of ad-
ministrative processes Confronted with
changing legislation and the require-
ments made by the DNB and AFM super-
visors, Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers looked
for a manageable, structured and easily
modifiable IT system
The ambitionSome aspects of ICT are specific for the
banking sector In contrast to many com-
panies within the manufacturing industry
banks mostly make use of branch specific
software packages Hans de Wit, Project
Manager in the Project Management
Organisation (PMO) at Theodoor Gilissen
Bankiers: “Many processes in the manu-
facturing industry and logistics are the
same A standard ERP software package
is a good solution The processes at banks
differ strongly from this Banks therefore
need specific packages The nucleus of
banking activities and products consists
of administrative processes by which cash
flows and customer details alternate with
each other You then want the underlying
system to work perfectly You can’t get
away from that Information technology
no longer stands on its own, but has
become an essential part of the operation
Top 10
Reference
cases55
So you have to look at what you can do
for yourself and what you have to have
done externally ”
From way back Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers
is used to developing and adding all kinds
of peripheral applications in-house, often
developed from scratch The disadvan-
tage was that an enormous proliferation
of applications arose and control over
them was completely lost De Wit: “We
have around 240 employees and have
our own development department with
four developers Our central bank applica-
tion was Bank/View, that ran under Open-
VMS on an AlphaVax Furthermore we
had many peripheral applications on SQL
Server and we developed in VB and NET
The maintenance of these peripheral ap-
plications cost a lot of time ”
De Wit expressed the ambition of the
ChallengeTheodoor Gilissen Bankiers wanted a structured development environment to
develop business applications in a uniform manner ‘Carrying out maintenance
and modifications in the applications is of great importance due to changes in
legislation and business requirements
SolutionTwo business applications were replaced and re-developed in two separate
projects with the help of the Software Factory: the Mortgages Module and the
Independent Capital Management intake application More business applica-
tions and peripheral systems will follow in the future
Benefits• Uniformmannerofapplicationdevelopmentthroughamodeldriven
approach
• Applicationshaveaintuitivelookandfeelandareeasytouse.
• Applicationdevelopmentandcarryingoutmodificationsiswell-organised
and easy and is done very quickly
• TheSoftwareFactorysupportsandmakesuseofmarketstandardssuchas
SQL Server and NET
>>
Top 10
Reference
cases56
bank: “We wanted to develop a common
user interface with the same look and feel
It must be possible to carry out modifica-
tions of applications more easily and the
development process must be manage-
able In the end it is the intention that
the development and management tasks
increase the quality and the flexibility of
the ICT services Our peripheral systems are
very important for us and it is these systems
that require the most maintenance through
changes in the business and legislation ”
The approachTheodoor Gilissen Bankiers decided to
look in the market and see which parties
could lend a helping hand An introduc-
tion to Thinkwise Software followed in
2008 The first contact was not entirely
convincing So Thinkwise accepted the
challenge to convince Theodoor Gilissen
Bankiers and a pilot project was started
An Independent Capital Management
application was developed, in which the
capital managers enter all required and
legally obliged information of a customer
The bank can then determine whether it
is possible and permitted to open an ac-
count for the customer in question
Hans Keukenschrijver, Commercial Direc-
tor of Thinkwise Software, tells how the
application was developed: “We opted
already at an early stage to involve the
end users in the development process by
demonstrating the application to them
before implementing it In this way they
could provide feedback and we could
modify the design of the application ”
Keukenschrijver explains why Thinkwise
applies this way of working: “By listening
closely to and communicating with the
customer you can fine tune things quick-
ly and thoroughly This saves you a lot of
time and effort Moreover you can make a
realistic estimation of what the customer
wants and which costs this involves In
the end it is all about being able to offer
the customer what he wants ”
This way of working went down well with
Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers Thinkwise
was subsequently requested to start up a
second project This project included the
development of a Mortgages Module
With this application fully custom-made
mortgage quotations can be generated
for the relations of Theodoor Gilissen
Bankiers
De Wit: “The nice thing about it is that ac-
count is taken of all kinds of exceptions,
information that now generally resides in
the heads of the persons producing the
quotation It is therefore a custom-built
module and that works very satisfactorily It
is really made for people with knowledge
of the business ”
The resultHans De Wit is very satisfied about the
result that Thinkwise was able to achieve
with the Software Factory “The business
is happy; they can now generate very
complex fully custom-built mortgage
quotations, in a much shorter time ”
De Wit emphasizes that it must be possible
to carry out a modification to an applica-
tion in a controlled manner “You want to
avoid that through the modification certain
controls in the application are put out of
operation The Software Factory is the solu-
tion for this Thinkwise has demonstrated
that it can produce excellent tailor-made
applications in an efficient and cost-effec-
tive manner And quickly; the largest steps
were taken within three months ”
Although Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers
have the licence for the Software Fac-
tory, the bank outsources the develop-
ment on a project basis to Thinkwise The
modification of applications remains in-
house to keep the costs of maintenance
within limits
“We know that we can leave the devel-
opment to Thinkwise with confidence It
is a professional company with a great
deal of business knowledge That also
matches the philosophy of Theodoor
Gilissen Bankiers ” ◆
Top 10
Reference
cases57
“Thinkwise has demonstrated that it can produce
excellent tailor-made applications in an efficient
and cost-effective manner. And quickly”- Hans de Wit
Project Manager in the Theodoor Gilissen Bank iers PMO department.
Top 10
Reference
cases58
“The new situation is
a major step forwards.
Especially in the area of
making modifications”
- K oos K oster Director at Profextru Production
Top 10
Reference
cases59
Profextru has almost a half century of
experience in the development and pro-
duction of plastic profiles and plastic
applications In addition, the company
excels in two plastic systems Firstly Pro-
fextru is the manufacturer of the Prolock
This patented plastic sheet pile wall is de-
veloped and produced in their own, fully
computer-controlled factory This wall
offers a sustainable alternative for non-
certified tropical hardwood that is still of-
ten used for the protection of river banks
Secondly there is the Combiboard These
high quality plastic wall panels have dif-
fering applications In the agricultural sec-
tor the panels serve as pen partitions and
partitioning walls, but they are also used
in car washes and other projects
In addition, especially for the construc-
tion branch Profextru has developed
some specific brand products, such as
Profort and Pro Panel wall panels, which
are brought to the market via a dealer
network The company has its own plas-
tics crushing plant and tooling shop
In the highly developed company in the
Dutch province of Overijssel quality is al-
ways of paramount importance with all
business processes Profextru character-
ises itself by innovation and control That
makes possible a strong combination of
innovation and computerization It is the
aim of Profextru to maintain and improve
the acquired market position
Profextru is Europe’s largest
processor of re-used plastics.
Profextru Production produces and
sells their own, patented profile
systems from synthetic materials
for the ground, road construction
and hydraulic engineering sectors,
and partitioning walls for the
agricultural branch, such as
systems for river bank protection
and stable construction. Through
specific research into specific
applications unique and sustain-
able quality products are designed
and produced.
Company profile: Profextru
Top 10
Reference
cases60
IntroductionIn practice it is often not easy, if not impos-
sible, to find an ERP package that fully sat-
isfies the requirements and wishes of the
company At Profextru Production they de-
cided to approach this differently And the
decision they took was not an obvious one:
as a non-software development company
they chose to develop their ERP system
themselves A system that must perfectly
fit with their own requirements A chal-
lenge that they didn’t enter into alone, but
for which they strengthened the ranks with
the use of the Thinkwise Software Factory
from Thinkwise Software in Apeldoorn
The ambitionProfextru Production develops, produces
and sells and is therefore involved with
many logistic processes A faultlessly
working IT system as support is not an
unnecessary luxury Initially Profextru
worked with a standard ERP package, but
that turned out to not fully support the
usual processes
Werny de Koning, project manager at Pro-
fextru: “We worked with an ERP package
that makes use of a character-based user
interface When it was decided within the
company to make the foremen also re-
sponsible for the planning it turned out
that this didn’t work They missed the
overview across all production lines ” For
Profextru this was the moment to trans-
fer from a character-based interface to
a graphical presentation By presenting
the quantity and type of products for
each production line graphically, the fore-
men were given a tool to enable them to
produce the planning However such a
graphical presentation turned out to be
unattainable with the ERP package The
registration of production, which was
Top 10
Reference
cases61
maintained in Excel, got bogged down by
the large amount of data ”
And that was not all Since along the way
more and more was automated in the
factory, there arrived more new machines
and as a consequence of that increasingly
more PLCs (Programmable Logic Con-
trollers) This provided and generated so
much data that the ERP package could
not handle it De Koning: “Our standard
ERP package was no longer satisfactory;
it no longer fitted in with our method of
working After that it turned out that the
manner in which we wanted to work with
the scanning of barcodes also didn’t fit in
with the way of thinking of the supplier of
the former ERP package ”
At that point Profextru decided to set up
a system together with an engineer’s bu-
reau that worked with an Access front-end
ChallengeAs a non-software development company, Profextru wanted to develop its
own ERP system, in a manageable and cost efficient manner The new soft-
ware must raise the competitive strength of the organization, through full
support of the business processes and it must be easy to carry out modifi-
cations
SolutionWith the help of the Thinkwise Software Factory the old character-based ERP
system was replaced by a new application using MS SQL Server and NET screens
Benefits• Carryingouteasy,fastandcontrolledmodificationsintheapplication.
• Independencefromexternalsuppliers.
• Excellentpossibilitiesformanagementinformationintheapplication.
• Moredecisiveoperationsthroughshorterleadtimes.
>>
Top 10
Reference
cases62
and an MS-SQL back-end Following this
Thinkwise Software was approached with
the question of whether they could pro-
duce a graphical planning on the basis
of the data from this database The ball
started rolling
The approachProfextru Production had already previ-
ously had good experiences with Think-
wise Software, and therefore again made
contact Profextru was taken with the
fact that Thinkwise could ensure that the
information from the old ERP package
could be included in the new environ-
ment and that all standard data also
remained available
After insight into the planning was provid-
ed graphically, it was decided to examine
whether an interactive management in-
formation cockpit could also be designed
in the same way “It was pointed out to us
that it is possible to produce data cubes
with MS-SQL to provide even more insight
into the data This was for us the solution
to compile all kinds of management in-
formation reports for ourselves”, says Koos
Koster, director of Profextru Production
There followed a period in which the
processes within the organization were
recorded and it was examined how these
processes could best be supported It
soon turned out that customization was
the solution The cooperation with Think-
wise Software turned out to be a smart
move Koster: “I found it an enormous
challenge We are not software develop-
ers and therefore had no experience with
the development of these kinds of large
and complex systems ” De Koning adds:
“I am first and foremost a mechanical
engineer I have a lot of affinity with soft-
ware development and have developed
applications in Access The disadvantage
of Access is just that modifications in the
application cost a lot of time and energy
Also the inclusion of security or controls is
not easy in Access ”
With the Thinkwise Software Factory this
was very quickly a completely different
story The potential of Thinkwise’s model
driven software development makes it
possible to develop custom-built appli-
cations, in-house and cost efficiently This
also applies for smaller organizations
The resultKoster: ”We can now define the process
at a very abstract level, then translate
it into a model and after that develop
an actual application ” During the de-
velopment it turned out that with the
new system, for instance, it was easier
to make modifications and carry out
changes
De Koning: “It helped that I already had
a lot of experience with the processes
and information flows within the com-
pany through the implementation of
the management reports Employees
who are familiar with this quickly saw
the added value From a development
perspective it is pleasant that the Soft-
ware Factory approached the develop-
ment of software in a different manner
We no longer have to carry out a modifi-
cation manually at different locations in the
system or in applications By selecting a few
references, the modification is applied at
all locations in the system ”
In the new situation there are two linked
databases in use The Thinkwise Soft-
ware Factory uses one database for the
production and one database for the
logistic processes such as order pro-
cessing, purchasing, sales and invoicing
Thereby use is made as much as possible
of the existing data
De Koning: “The new situation is a ma-
jor step forwards, especially in the area
of making modifications We are now
able to make necessary modifications
ourselves and are no longer dependant
on an external party This has greatly im-
proved the lead time Our company has
become far more decisive operation-
ally for which we have to pay tribute to
Thinkwise ◆
Top 10
Reference
cases63
“Our company has become far more decisive operationally
for which we have to pay tribute to Thinkwise”- Werny de K oning
Project Manager at Profextru
Top 10
Reference
cases64
“As a company it is impor-
tant to offer and continue
to offer quality. This calls
for a professional attitude
and execution. We found
both of these at Thinkwise”
- Edwin Slegtenhorst Product Manager
Top 10
Reference
cases65
P1 was founded in 1981 and has grown
substantially through the years This is
partly due to the take-over of Parking
Management Nederland in 2006 and the
addition of Parkeergroep Nederland (PGN
- Parking Group Nederland), founded in
1995, under the name of P1 On street B V
As an independent, market oriented com-
pany, located in the Hague, they know
what interests the parker and they offer
various services for the operation and
management of parking facilities, which
pay for themselves and resolve mobility
issues P1 investigates crucial develop-
ments in parking behaviour, charges
and environmental factors and provides
insight into them for the customer The
P1 Quick Scan® is an outstanding instru-
ment to make an appraisal of the fea-
sibility of parking facilities In addition,
P1 focuses on the complete offering of
parking management including recruit-
ment of personnel or the drawing up of
operational, maintenance, disaster and
communication plans Professionally and
efficient Smart and well thought-out
With an excellent price/quality ratio and
in accordance with the highest standards
P1 in The Hague is a service pro-
vider in the area of street and
garage parking, and operates
parking garages. P1 provides the
administration and exploitation
of over sixty parking facilities in
the Netherlands. P1 is responsible
for the management of parking
facilities for municipalities and
real estate developers and offers
assistance in finding solutions for
issues regarding mobility man-
agement.
Company profile: P1
Top 10
Reference
cases66
IntroductionIn the mobility world, standing still has
been an important topic for decades
Where people want to drive they are
standing still and where they want to
stop they are driving around, looking for
a parking place Traffic black spots are
spreading uncontrollably across cities,
residential areas and business office loca-
tions As a result more and more parking
facilities are being built with correspond-
ing costs and permits
P1 is involved as a service provider in the
area of paid parking Also due to an excel-
lent ICT application for permits, designed
by Thinkwise Software, P1 is well in con-
trol in this area
The ambitionPaying with plastic Booking a parking
place by phone or via the Internet These
are only a few examples of innovations
to make paid parking easier and more
convenient Innovation and ease of pay-
ment, this trend is gaining substantial
momentum, according to Edwin Slegten-
horst, Product Manager and Henk Otte,
Operations Manager at P1 Slegtenhorst:
“As a company it is important to offer and
continue to offer quality This calls for a
professional attitude and execution We
found both of these at Thinkwise Policy
execution must be an optimized process
And besides, it must also be an easily
scalable process ”
P1 is involved in the issuing of parking
permits, subscriptions and exemptions
and the enforcement thereof Slegten-
horst: “We are working for a large number
of municipalities, which all have their own
parking permit policies, with their own
regulations, different kinds of permits and
Top 10
Reference
cases67
exemptions and zone divisions Along
with that, we also have to deal with the
complexity of waiting lists at municipali-
ties The financial justification of permits
is also important All the permits granted
must be financially justified This is a brief
account of all the things that are involved
when issuing a parking permit So it is ac-
tually quite an involved process ”
P1 therefore wanted a structured parking
permit application Such an application
had been developed at an earlier stage
and although it met the requirements
on a number of fronts, the shortcomings
turned out to be slightly too great “The
gap had become too large We could not
initiate a professionalization process, as
the system didn’t support that”, says Otten
Slegtenhorst lists the facts: “We were
dealing with different databases, which
ChallengeThe provision of a professionalization round to improve the scalability and
user friendliness of the system for both the customers as well as the users
of P1
SolutionThinkwise designed a renewed web-based parking permit system with a large
number of new functions A link was also made between the web shop and the
permit application
Benefits• Auserfriendlyandverycompleteapplication,thatoptimallysupportsthe
business processes
• Newrequirementsandtechnologiesareeasytocarryoutintheapplication.
• Theapplicationiseasilyavailableviathewebforallbranches.
• AsdevelopmentpartnerThinkwiseprovidesthedevelopmentofthe
application
>>
Top 10
Reference
cases68
were written in the wrong language To
make changes we always need a pro-
grammer and the system turned out to
be easily hacked We thought it was time
for improvement For our ‘street parking’
section our parking permit and subscrip-
tion system, (PVAS), had to become more
customer and user friendly and it had to
relieve the customer’s concerns We started
to look for somebody to assist us with this
professionalization process
The approachOtten: “Thinkwise was brought to our
attention We had some talks with them
and we thought about what we wanted:
to develop the software ourselves or to
have it done by someone else Think-
wise subsequently developed an initial
version of an application for us That
convinced us ”
The company located in Apeldoorn
went to work with the functionalities
of the initial version that were consid-
ered suitable and produced an updated
PVAS It was a customized client-server
application for the management of
parking permits, scratch permits, sub-
scriptions and exemptions With the cur-
rent application the parking permits of
more than ten municipalities are man-
aged: accurately and structured
Otten: “Our first impression was that
Thinkwise slightly underestimated the
complexity of the project, but they de-
livered an excellent job In 2006 the ap-
plication was activated for the first time
for Parking Group Nederland, as it was
then called Meanwhile an upgrade
is being developed, as it is our wish to
work fully web based ”
This upgrade does not mean for PVAS
users that the entire application has
to be redeveloped, but only that other
GUIs are used, which visualize the
existing model Also several process
improvements and new functionalities
are being carried out in the application
Slegtenhorst: “We are looking forward
to a great future with this application
Thinkwise provides a link between our
‘web shop’ and the permit application,
which means that two separate appli-
cations can make use of each other’s
functionality You should make the
operations as simple as possible Since
Thinkwise provides core applications
with a sound foundation, we are able
to progress for the time being with
the present application That gives us a
trusted, safe and good feeling ”
The resultP1 is happy with the result In the final
application, the company can enter all
the parking regulations, manage the
various permits and the corresponding
fees and generate every possible type of
management information with the built
in ‘cubes’
Otten: “P1 also focuses on the term of va-
lidity and fee determination of permits,
subscriptions and exemptions Thanks to
the new application the term of validity
of the permit can now be automatically
determined, at a type of permit/zone
level That is, we can specify different
rules for each type of permit It is pos-
sible to enter a fixed end date, a fixed
emission period and a flexible end date
in days, months, a quarter or a year
Thinkwise has also fully automated the
fee calculation New fees can be defined
in advance and can be specified by type
of permit/zone combination ”
“These are only a few examples of the
possibilities” according to Otten “Let me
just say, that we are now able to offer
every customer a complete package of
what is very complex material ”
In short, Otten is enthusiastic: “We, as a
professional organization, have absolutely
benefited from the Thinkwise application
This professionalism is something we
want to retain and continue After all, the
number one represents an important
part of our name ◆
Top 10
Reference
cases69
“We, as a professional organization, have absolutely
made progress thanks to Thinkwise”.- Henk Otten
Operations Manager
TOP 10
COMPANIES A
BOUT THEIR
SUCCESS WITH THE
SOFTWARE FA
CTORY
© 2011 Thinkwise Software
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TOP 10
COMPANIES A
BOUT THEIR
SUCCESS WITH THE
SOFTWARE FA
CTORY