Iron Valley
Iron Valley, a sporting goods distributor based out of Birmingham, Alabama, used Presto to modernize their green screen warehousing application on IBM i. IT Director Todd Glassford says the goal of the project was to allow warehouse workers the efficiency of accessing information and performing tasks on a modern web interface rather than a green screen.
Using Presto, they were able to transform their application into a point and click, mobile accessible web UI within two weeks. Their warehousing application is now more intuitive and easily accessible than ever before, while maintaining its functionality and performance.
Challenge
Over the years, Iron Valley’s warehouse management team found it increasingly difficult to introduce new users to their application. The majority of warehouse workers are millennial staff who are accustomed to working with web interfaces, and the resulting cost of training new users on green screens was quite high.
In addition, the green screen application could only be used at designated work stations, as it was not mobile-accessible. As a result of these combined factors, only a handful of employees were actually using the application.
Iron Valley’s management knew they needed an updated warehousing system that they could open to more users. They also wanted to ensure that their modernized application could:
- be enhanced and maintained by RPG experts
- leverage existing RPG code
- be accessible from a web browser on any device
- run using existing hardware
Solution
Iron Valley selected Fresche as their modernization vendor due to their renowned expertise in IBM i. Their Presto solution gave Iron Valley the ability to modernize and mobile-enable their application without touching any underlying code. It also provided millennial users with a modern Web UI they’re familiar with, thus reducing the time and cost of training new personnel.
“Presto modernized our warehouse application really quickly and our RPG developers did all the work – the project only took two weeks! Our millennial staff now have the web UI they wanted,” says Todd Glassford.
Presto gave a modern web interface to Iron Valley’s many green screens, including those for which they didn’t have the source code. Using the drag and drop feature in Presto’s visual editor, they customized their application with charts, tabs and dropdown boxes, which resulted in improved workflows and better displays.
Iron Valley modernized application was easily deployed to a much larger user base than before. It can now be accessed from a browser on any device, thus eliminating the need for client access installation. This solution was also implemented without the need to hire web developers or update existing hardware.
Results
With their newly improved application, Iron Valley has seen their warehouse productivity increase. Workers now have quicker access to information and can navigate their application more easily. Users are very satisfied with its ease of use.
The improved application has benefited Iron Valley’s management team as well. “Management likes being able to securely access our application from their mobile devices and being able to point and click. The charts give them a high-level view of the data – and they can access it anytime.”
This was also a much more cost-effective, low-risk project than alternative modernization solutions such as a code rewrite or platform migration. Presto leveraged the power of IBM i and existing RPG code and developers to create a solution that increased usability, added functionality and improved user experience.
