Critical Issue:

A fast-growing manufacturer of high-tech materials outgrew its old Quality System and needed a new one. The old system was a MS Access system. Code was scattered over hundreds of forms, modules, queries and reports. The system was not easily maintainable and had numerous logic flaws. A flexible, dynamic reporting system was needed to replace aging MS Access reports. New business requirements were added including automated PDF generation a transmission via email.

Project Roles Provided:

Software Architecture, Software Development, Testing, SharePoint database maintenance, SQL Server DBA

Technologies Used:

Visual Basic .NET, Visual Studio 2008, SQL Server 2005. SharePoint, SSRS

Services Provided:

Architecture, implementation, and deployment services — client relied on Comdyn personnel for 100% of all phases of development, testing, and implementation. The new Quality System incorporates all customer requirements. During development, hundreds of nUnit tests were written to validate the code. Developers used solid object-oriented design techniques, including inheritance, and utilized advanced programming constructs, utilizing .NET generics. The reporting system utilizing the Report Viewer control shipped with Visual Studio. Report files were .rdlc format, similar to SQL Server Reporting Services, but generated at the application rather than at the server. The solution leveraged the built-in PDF export capability of the Report Viewer, without requiring third-party controls. Reports have the same design pattern and underlying technology as SQL Server Reporting Services reports.

Concurrent with the implementation of the Quality System, this client changed its ERP system from Syteline to Microsoft Dynamics AX. We developed numerous, complex integration points between the old and new ERP systems, using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), custom SQL code, and custom .NET applications. We integrated some of the client’s systems in other global facilities with the new Quality System, using custom .NET applications. The ETL processes were primarily written using SSIS.

Results:

A high-performance and maintainable system, using SQL Server 2005 and .NET Windows Forms. Code modules facilitate new feature additions. Accurate and attractive reports, generated quickly, and rendered either to the desktop viewer or sent via email as a PDF attachment. Modular design permitted parts of this system to be incorporated by other systems.