Service: custom software development
Solution type: desktop application
Business area: B2B services, retail, sales automation
Customer: An Australian software development company
Period: 2003
Key problems
Sales automation became one of the most actual problems now. The customer proposed an “open” solution for sales automation. It addresses order entry, point of sale (POS) operations, and data collection & management using mobile or stationary devices. The unique aspect of this solution is application of remote CE devices, which store, process, and remotely access data, and then synchronize data with the host system as required. This solution enables the head office network to share the synchronized data between multiple remote devices.
The described POS System facilitates order entry, invoicing, purchasing, and inventory management for the wholesale, retail, foodservice, and hospitality industries. The proposed solution is targeted at the global market, with the language, currency, taxes, and other local settings easily configurable.
Serious problems arose from the need for data synchronization between multiple devices, such as PDA, bar code scanners, customer displays, magnetic stripe readers, smart cards, EFT/POS, telephone caller IDs, etc. The Customer needed to find developers with excellent programming skills and a strong knowledge of different operational systems and devices involved. The Arcadia, Inc. team met all the requirements, and it was able to find the needed solution on time and within the budget as well.
Solution
Arcadia, Inc.'s team designed the multi-user, multi-lingual distributed Point of Sale (POS) computer system. The POS System features included: order entry via PPC, order processing via PPC and PC LAN, data storage and handling, synchronization/updating of all remote field data to the corporate or home/office-based LAN. Due to embedded load balancing and fault-tolerance, the system is scalable for different configurations ranging from a few remote devices to hundreds of them.
Multi-platform development technique was used, so the distributed system can support specific devices (such as printers, smart card readers, bar code scanners) from different producers. The implemented technique of plug-in modules allows to achieve a high degree of customization for different industries.
The main principle of the technical solution offered by Arcadia, Inc. is flexible architecture that can be modified according to the changing requirements. Eg, business level components are separated from the database, and a unifying interface is provided between them. This allows to switch easily to new database drivers, to reflect quickly the changes in business and database components, and to adjust the architecture to support wireless LAN communication.
Arcadia, Inc.'s team participated in the system engineering starting with the specifications design.
Technologies used
- Windows 98/NT/2000/CE 2.11/CE 3.0
- C, MFC, XML
- TCP/IP level communication, HTTP level communication
- CE driver for native CE database
- OPOS-based access to POS specific software
- object-oriented database
- distributed database synchronization
- system service level programming
- object-oriented design and implementation
Duration and scope
14 months / 70 person-months