News & Views, August 2000

To simplify your quest for software updates, enhancements, and templates, we have added the ability to search through the downloadable software database by keyword. We have also enhanced the Frequently Asked Questions section with similar search-by-keyword functionality.

We used mrc’s recently installed CGI capabilities to generate this application. When you perform a search, you are actually querying our AS/400 database. Let us know if you’d like to deploy a similar capability on your own Web site!

You can try out the new feature here: http://www.mrc-productivity.com/members/

FYI: You will need your user name and password to logon to this area.

The mrc-Productivity Series has supported Web applications since 1998 with Java applets that access AS/400 data in real-time. We have increased the capabilities of our Web applications by developing new Web/CGI templates. The interface is straight HTML, which resembles the Web pages that Internet users see every day. This also opens the applications up to almost any browser, making it the perfect method for more business-to-consumer uses.

Another important benefit of using the mrc-Productivity Series to generate Web/CGI applications is the ability to effectively paint the screen. With Web/CGI applications, the mrc user needs to know little or no HTML to make changes to the screens. The tool generates an RPG program and an HTML skeleton. This skeleton contains only the HTML layout, much like the DDS of a display file in a green-screen application. You can use the mrc-generated skeleton, or apply your own look to it. The skeleton is just a source file member, updateable with PDM directly on the AS/400 or, after exporting that source file member to your PC, with any HTML editor.

From your existing or new inquiry specification, choose the desired template type and press F17 to generate your Web/CGI retrieval application. All the standard mrc features like edit words, calculations, External Object™ support, searching, and Smartlinks™ are supported.

Using the Web/CGI templates in a production environment will require client/server licenses, but even customers who never purchased any client/server licenses can try running the applications from one PC in their network. Also, anyone with a TCP/IP network can create mrc Web applications and run them internally — many customers do that instead of client/server applications to get a client interface without the expense of client/server applications.

Download update MRC8000712 or an mrc cumulative update to try it. If you have an AS/400 at V4R2 or higher and the mrc-Productivity Series, then your AS/400 could be serving Web applications today. Choose either Web/CGI or Web/Java template types and you are ready. Some AS/400 configuration is required, but those simple steps are detailed in the online mrc manual. As always, our product specialists on on call to help you.

As the manufacturer of arguably the most famous shoe of all time — the canvas All Star — Converse and the history of sporting footwear walk hand in hand. In order to maintain their competitive edge as a global enterprise, Converse needed to utilize the ever-increasing range and depth of information available across the company. Ian Warne, as head of IT, chose JBA to implement a strategic solution that would enable each arm of the company to access and work with a large amount of common, up-to-date information. Fed from the UK and USA, it would be a one-stop data point.

After comparing the reporting tools available, one stood out: the mrc-Productivity Series. Offering Java, data mining, green-screen generation, Web-based AS/400 access, and the most powerful report writer available in one integrated product, the mrc-Productivity Series offered the best way forward within a JBA business system. "The mrc-Productivity Series enabled us to fully utilize our data within days, not weeks," Warne explained. "It was crucial to get detailed information out of the system and maximize our investment."

Taking Control of IT

The desire to present easily digestible information from the JBA business system, in a form that was relevant to company mechanics, drove the implementation of the mrc-Productivity Series. The tool suite gave Converse the freedom and flexibility to present the data in the way that worked for them, rather than the way imposed by JBA, and access information that would otherwise be unavailable from a practical point of view. These abilities are even more vital today, as JBA source code is no longer available to its customers for customization.

The ability the mrc-Productivity Series gave Converse to write new RPG and VB code without employing any programmers was beneficial in two core areas. The code worked independently over the files without affecting the JBA code, maintaining the integrity of any program written by JBA, and so allowing continued support for each one.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it allowed Warne to maximize the skills of his staff. Before the mrc-Productivity Series, they had an IT team of 6, primarily concentrating on supporting just the UK, two of whom were programmers. By deploying standard JBA wherever possible and using the mrc-Productivity Series, they now have just five staff supporting nine countries. The structure of the department has been optimized. With no need for permanent programmers, he could employ those with business enthusiasm and knowledge, able to quickly utilize information, build applications, and offer working solutions.

The Converse Bureau

With the system infrastructure taking shape, Warne could concentrate on delivering his vision of a one stop data point. His aim was to take this further than simply providing the information; it would include tools by which the user could easily extract and analyze the information that they wanted, whether it be internationally or domestically, utilizing everyday Excel® skills.

Here is where mrc’s strengths bore fruit, acting as the bridge, facilitating the transfer of data in a form that could be accessed by the user and manipulated quickly and easily into a report that was relevant to that individual. No longer would IT be bombarded with requests for everyday reports. The users were empowered to drive the system and the ‘Converse Bureau’ was born.

Updated every week, the Converse Bureau contains up-to-date company-wide information from the JBA system, allowing the more efficient running of the business fundamentals, such as stock levels, orders, and deliveries. This information was not the end result, it was merely the set of building blocks for each individual to use to develop reports, analyze fluctuations and patterns, build orders, and effectively manage their area of the business.

The success was so immediate that Converse is already reaping the benefits of increased profitability. Ian Warne estimates that "within 1999/2000 the Converse Bureau is on target to produce a profit improvement of 2 percent plus.

The Future’s Bright

This is only the start. As more applications are developed through the mrc-Productivity Series, so they will be added to the Converse Bureau. Those under current development include Debtor Analysis, Forecasting/Planning, and Trial Balance.

From here they plan to gain further efficiencies. The quicker the information is made available and the more up to date it is, the easier it becomes to achieve the optimum business performance. Web pages seem to offer the most attractive alternative to the CD format currently used and here too, the mrc-Productivity Series is perfectly placed to continue to take a leading role. As David Spindler surmised, "The mrc-Productivity Series continues to open up possibilities for Converse - AS/400, client/server, Java - the sky’s the limit. As a pure data extraction tool, mrc can’t be beaten. The more you use it the more you find it can do."

By marrying the respective strengths of JBA and mrc, Converse has in a very short time been able to change the way the company operated, making IT work effectively for everyone. The impact of being able to access and use up-to-date company information can be felt throughout the company, already delivering increased efficiency and profitability.

mrc offers training sessions at both your location and ours. Visit our education area for more information on our education services, or click here to view our schedule for the entire year. (You will have to log in with your user name and password to visit this area. If you need login instructions, please click here first.)