Customizable Enterprise Mobility Solution for Industry Automation

Client Background

SCHAD (now part of Fluke Corporation) provides enterprise asset management solutions based on SCADA and CMMS systems. Its applications are used by global leaders in manufacturing, automotive, utilities, and other industries enabling them to automate operations and prevent equipment failure.

Business Challenge

The client needed to build a solution based on the legacy product EXTEND7000. SCHAD also required a hybrid mobile application that would be accessible on multiple platforms and would have offline and online data synchronization. The software product had to be customizable depending on specific business requirements to meet the varied need of the company’s clients.

Transformation

N-iX engineers built the architecture of the solution to meet the growing customization and scalability challenges. The developers have worked on the server-side, back-end, and front-end components of the product created a hybrid mobile application based on PhoneGap framework and implemented online/offline mode synchronization.

Value delivered by N-iX

Customizable enterprise mobility solution that integrates CMMS and SCADA functionality;
Hybrid mobile application accessible on multiple platforms;
Seamless integration of offline and online modes, which ensures all time access to data.

Location

United States

Industry

Hi-Tech Manufacturing Consumer Electronics

Partnership period

January 2013 - present

Team size

Team location

United States

Services

Dedicated Development Team Software Product Development Mobile Application Development Software QA & Testing Software QA & Testing

Expertise delivered

Enterprise Mobility IoT

Technologies

Java Back-end: Java, Phonegap, Apache Camel, Apache Maven, Apache Tomcat, AngularJS 1.x, PouchDB, Spring 4, CouchDB, MQTT

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Client’s goals:

SCHAD was looking for a reliable development partner that could build a functional solution based on the legacy product EXTEND7000, as well as support and extend the existing version of the product. The team received the task to design and develop the solution that would help enterprises to integrate their IBM software with SCADA and CMMS systems. In addition, the customer sought to build a hybrid mobile application that would be accessible on multiple platforms.

Challenges:

Offline and online data synchronization

N-iX development team faced the challenge of seamless integration of big amounts of data when the users switch between offline and online modes. Thus the engineers had to devise a fully self-contained solution that would enable consistent synchronization of the database.

Customization

SCHAD provides mobility solutions for such global brands as Toyota, Honda, ASDA, DPD, Munich airport and many others. As the operation principles of these companies differ significantly, the developers had to maximize the flexibility of the product and adjust it to diverse clients’ needs and business requirements.

Implementation:

N-iX Dedicated Development Team:

Designed the architecture of the platform applying latest coding practices to match integration challenges with various CMMS systems
Developed full lifecycle of the new solution including design, development, testing, and deployment of server-side and client-side components
Built a hybrid mobile application using the PhoneGap framework, thus the product can be accessed via multiple platforms
Employed a wide range of technologies including Java 8, Spring 4, Apache ActiveMQ, IBM Maximo, Phonegap, AngularJS 1.x etc.
Came up with the solution for seamless synchronization of offline and online modes
Enabled customization of the system using JavaScript as a core technology
Provided quality control to guarantee error-free operation of the product
Performed investigation, analysis, and technical support of the legacy system
Performed R&D activities of various technologies and solutions to meet the customer’s business needs

Result:

Scalable enterprise mobility solution that integrates CMMS and SCADA functionality
Hybrid mobile application based on Phonegap framework and accessible on multiple platforms
Seamless integration of offline and online modes, which ensures all time access to the data regardless of the connection status
Customizable and flexible solution that can be used by businesses operating in different industries

PARTNERSHIP OVERVIEW

SCHAD engaged N-iX to develop a complex enterprise mobility solution in 2013. Since then he dedicated development team has provided full cycle development of SCHAD Mobile Work Management. At early stages of cooperation, N-iX engineers performed investigation, analysis and support of the legacy system. Further, they created the architecture of the new solution to meet the growing customization and scalability challenges. The developers have worked on the server-side, back-end, and front-end components of the product.

In addition, the team has built a hybrid mobile application using the PhoneGap framework. Therefore, to ensure the efficiency and high performance of the software, they applied a wide range of technologies including Phonegap, AngularJS 1.x, HTML5/CSS3/JavaScript, Java 8, Spring 4, Apache ActiveMQ, Apache Maven, Apache Tomcat, IBM Maximo etc. In 4 years of fruitful cooperation, N-iX engineers have managed to build the quality product that meets the customer’s business requirements. Moreover, they continue working on the solution adding new features and extending its functionality.