Legacy print POS modernized into an ERP running sales, stock and production in 25 shops

Context

Erbis transformed legacy point-of-sale software that had been released more than ten years earlier. Below we trace the modernization and evaluate the results.

Challenge

Our client is an established German digital printing company with a national network of printing shops. It has been in business for twenty years and has a good reputation and a stable customer base.

The company has dozens of shops in different German cities, offering personalized printing, assembly, binding, colour copying, laser personalization and more.

The client realized its point-of-sale (POS) software no longer met the expectations of a digital-first market. Tech-savvy customers and technology-oriented partners required a revision of selling operations, so the client asked us to update the POS software and move the sales process to a modern, automated mode.

Pre-development

We started with business analysis and an audit of the existing software, with three specialists: a business analyst, a software architect and a Java developer. The analyst researched the market, competitors, customers and trends; the architect and developer examined the existing documentation and studied how the current software worked.

As part of the review we studied the IT infrastructure, performed a code review and evaluated the current user experience, focusing on existing functionality, gaps in the feature set and a software upgrade plan.

Our engineers audited:

• Source code
• Application portability
• Program stability
• Data cleanliness and redundancy
• Application security and potential loopholes
• System architecture and database robustness

Before development began, we had a clear picture of:

• Changes to make to the current IT infrastructure
• Features to upgrade
• Features to remove
• Functionality to build from scratch
• Modifications to the existing UI/UX design

Solution

The legacy POS modernization ran over four years. Throughout, we stayed in constant communication with the client, discussed each stage and adjusted the development flow.

We assigned a team of eight: project manager, software architect, two back-end developers, two web developers, QA engineer and UI/UX designer. The team worked full time under the dedicated team model, devoting all of its time to this client on a monthly basis.

While refactoring the legacy POS we provided full-stack engineering: product planning, requirements management, architecture design, coding and quality assurance. We also provided technical support, communicating with the client’s customers, running training sessions and resolving product issues as they arose.

End product

The final product is a robust ERP for managing sales, customers, personnel and more. It improves point-of-sale operations and adds value across the workflow through automation.

The software includes CRM functionality with cash-desk management and a tool for setting prices and discounts from individual customer price lists.

It integrates with the accounting systems Simba and Plancom Repromanager, so users can export data for tax reporting. It also provides sales analysis, stock management, accounting, production control and more.

Architecture and tech stack

A Java back end on Spring with Hibernate persistence over MySQL serves a GWT front end, with Errai handling client-server communication. Export interfaces connect the ERP to the Simba and Plancom Repromanager accounting systems.

• Java
• Spring
• GWT
• Errai
• Hibernate
• MySQL

Results

The partnership produced modern, reliable ERP software installed in 25 printing shops in Germany. The client appreciated the work and reported these benefits after implementation:

• Automated workflow
• Reduced manual work
• Faster completion of repetitive tasks
• More efficient operation
• Better management
• Faster decision-making
• Happier customers

What made it work

Erbis’s takeaways from this engagement:

• Audit before you plan. A code, data, security and UX audit produced a precise list of what to keep, upgrade, remove and rebuild, which is the foundation of a four-year roadmap.
• Modernize in stages, not in one rewrite. Four years of staged work, with the client reviewing and correcting the flow at each stage, is how a decade-old POS became an ERP without a big-bang cut-over.
• Own support as well as delivery. Training sessions and direct customer communication are why 25 shops adopted the system rather than tolerated it.
• Integrate with the accountant’s tools. Export to Simba and Plancom Repromanager kept the finance workflow intact and removed a reason to resist the new ERP.