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Vitalograph
5 . The Project
5.1 eBusiness Solution
5.1.1 Business Dimension
The outcome of Vitalograph’s eBusiness steering group was a rollout
plan for the company for the coming years.
Broken down into four distinct phases, the plan outlined the company’s
eBusiness strategy.
- Phase
One - Creation of website for up-to-date corporate
presence
- Phase
Two - Creation of a dynamic site with corporate
look and feel
- Phase
Three - Analysis and specification of eServices
(including eCommerce and eTraining)
- Phase
Four - Implementation of interactive services
Phases One and
Two were the focus for this project – getting the site up and running
(and standardised across the different geographies) and the creation of
a medium from which to distribute the technical support information that
was held by the R&D team.
In addition to providing support, the website also provided:
- Product
information
- Technical
data
- Comparisons
to other equipment
- Product
leaflets (in PDF)
The technical
support section of the site provided not only access to the FAQs but access
to a wealth of other relevant documents including:
- Quick
reference guides
- User
manuals (in both English and foreign languages)
- User information
leaflets
- Service
information
- Legal
information
This wealth
of information saved both time and money for Vitalograph. No longer did
they have to distribute information by mail – it was all on the website,
in PDF format, ready to be downloaded by the interested party. In the future,
in line with many other manufacturers across the world, Vitalograph expects
to be distributing manuals and other information to customers electronically.
This will either be on a CD in the box or, more likely, via the website.
The main benefit of this approach is that materials are always up-to-date
(once printed, they immediately become out-of-date).
The website architecture was designed with Vitalograph’s future requirements
in mind and could easily be adapted to handle:
- Software
updates - Allow for distribution of product software
updates or patches (which currently have to be distributed
to all parties on a CD-ROM)
- Training
Materials - Distribution of training materials (again,
currently distributed on CD-ROM)
- Customer
orders – It is likely that an ordering system
will be implemented thus allowing customers and
distributors to order online. This will significantly
reduce production lead times and delivery times.
- Supplier
queries – Key supplies will be able to log
into the MRP system via the website to check stocks
of their products. When stocks hit a certain re-order
level, the supplier will be able to automatically
replenish stock levels.
For Casey, the
critical part of the project was getting the design of the infrastructure
right. Getting the right infrastructure in place meant that the addition
of extra functionality in the future would be relatively straightforward.
One of the things developed as part of the project was a corporate web style
that all countries had to adhere to. This created a stronger brand presence
on the web and allowed all pages to be linked from one central page.
5.1.2 Technical Dimension
The Vitalograph website was built using HTML, the foundation of all web
design. The main technology behind the website was the Microsoft Access
database, created by Shane O’Neill, which held all the information
for the FAQ PDFs. Using a query in Microsoft Access (basically a set of
instructions that extract the required data from a database) O’Neill
was able to quickly and easily pull the relevant information and order it
by product. This information was then saved as a PDF document for publishing
on the website. This process happened once a month for each product that
Vitalograph produced, thus ensuring that documentation on the website was
always up to date.
Much of the time on the project was spent with the web designers designing
an infrastructure that would allow Vitalograph to extend the services offered
on the site. These service extensions could include:
- Availability
of training materials (that are currently distributed
either on CD or by email)
- Links
into the MRP system allowing customers and other
Vitalograph offices to place orders directly into
the system
- Supplier
links to the MRP system allowing suppliers to monitor stock levels in
the factory and automatically replenish stocks as and when required
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