Actian Case Studies IoT Integration in ERP: A Case Study of Global Shop Solutions

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	IoT Integration in ERP: A Case Study of Global Shop Solutions Actian

IoT Integration in ERP: A Case Study of Global Shop Solutions

Actian

Technology Category	Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Database Management & Storage Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
Applicable Industries	Electronics Equipment & Machinery
Applicable Functions	Facility Management Warehouse & Inventory Management
Use Cases	Additive Manufacturing Manufacturing Process Simulation
Services	System Integration Training
Challenge	The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized the manufacturing industry. The replacement of expensive PLC-based devices with cost-effective IoT-enabled devices has become a norm. Global Shop Solutions, a provider of a popular ERP solution for over 40 years, faced the challenge of meeting customer demands for IoT-enabled options. They needed a lightweight, embedded database solution that could interact efficiently with the Actian Zen database, the core of its ERP solution. The challenge was to find a serverless database that could be embedded within these inexpensive devices to store and process information. Using a tool like SQLite could meet the need for a small-footprint serverless database capable of collecting data, but sharing the data with any server-based database would require a middleware layer to transform the SQLite data into a format that another database could ingest. Read More
About Customer	Global Shop Solutions is a leading provider of ERP software solutions for the manufacturing industry. Their ERP software provides applications needed to deliver a quality part on time, every time from quote to cash and everything in between including shop management, scheduling, inventory, accounting, quality control, CRM, global shop support and more. Available in the cloud or on-premises, their manufacturing customers benefit from real-time inventory accuracy, improved on-time delivery, lower administrative costs, increased sales and improved customer service. The company's headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas includes a state-of-the-art R&D facility and Global Shop Solutions training center. Through its offices in the U.S., Mexico, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the company supports thousands of manufacturing facilities in over 25 countries and nearly 30 industries. Read More
Solution	Global Shop Solutions found the solution in Actian Zen Core edition, a serverless version of the same Actian Zen database that supports their ERP system. This lightweight, serverless database interacts seamlessly with Actian Zen Edge, Enterprise, and Cloud editions, ensuring a powerfully integrated, high-performance ERP solution. As Actian Zen Core edition uses the same security models, data types, and data formats as the server-based edition of Actian Zen, moving data securely between an IoT device and the Global Shop Solutions ERP system requires no ETL and no middleware. This eliminates the need for Global Shop Solutions to create and manage an entire infrastructure layer, and also eliminates what could become a processing bottleneck in a customer’s manufacturing environment. Furthermore, the performance of Actian Zen does not require the ongoing attention of a DBA, making it an ideal solution for Global Shop Solutions customers with understaffed IT teams. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Database Management & Storage

Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)

Applicable Industries

Electronics

Equipment & Machinery

Applicable Functions

Facility Management

Warehouse & Inventory Management

Use Cases

Additive Manufacturing

Manufacturing Process Simulation

Services

System Integration

Training

Challenge

The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized the manufacturing industry. The replacement of expensive PLC-based devices with cost-effective IoT-enabled devices has become a norm. Global Shop Solutions, a provider of a popular ERP solution for over 40 years, faced the challenge of meeting customer demands for IoT-enabled options. They needed a lightweight, embedded database solution that could interact efficiently with the Actian Zen database, the core of its ERP solution. The challenge was to find a serverless database that could be embedded within these inexpensive devices to store and process information. Using a tool like SQLite could meet the need for a small-footprint serverless database capable of collecting data, but sharing the data with any server-based database would require a middleware layer to transform the SQLite data into a format that another database could ingest.

About Customer

Global Shop Solutions is a leading provider of ERP software solutions for the manufacturing industry. Their ERP software provides applications needed to deliver a quality part on time, every time from quote to cash and everything in between including shop management, scheduling, inventory, accounting, quality control, CRM, global shop support and more. Available in the cloud or on-premises, their manufacturing customers benefit from real-time inventory accuracy, improved on-time delivery, lower administrative costs, increased sales and improved customer service. The company's headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas includes a state-of-the-art R&D facility and Global Shop Solutions training center. Through its offices in the U.S., Mexico, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the company supports thousands of manufacturing facilities in over 25 countries and nearly 30 industries.

Solution

Global Shop Solutions found the solution in Actian Zen Core edition, a serverless version of the same Actian Zen database that supports their ERP system. This lightweight, serverless database interacts seamlessly with Actian Zen Edge, Enterprise, and Cloud editions, ensuring a powerfully integrated, high-performance ERP solution. As Actian Zen Core edition uses the same security models, data types, and data formats as the server-based edition of Actian Zen, moving data securely between an IoT device and the Global Shop Solutions ERP system requires no ETL and no middleware. This eliminates the need for Global Shop Solutions to create and manage an entire infrastructure layer, and also eliminates what could become a processing bottleneck in a customer’s manufacturing environment. Furthermore, the performance of Actian Zen does not require the ongoing attention of a DBA, making it an ideal solution for Global Shop Solutions customers with understaffed IT teams.

Impact #1	The integration of IoT in the ERP system of Global Shop Solutions has resulted in a powerfully integrated, high-performance solution. The use of Actian Zen Core edition has eliminated the need for middleware to facilitate ETL, thereby avoiding potential bottlenecks in the customer's manufacturing environment. This has also eliminated the need for Global Shop Solutions to create and manage an entire infrastructure layer. The solution does not require the ongoing attention of a DBA, making it ideal for customers with understaffed IT teams. Furthermore, the opportunities enabled by the power and flexibility of Actian Zen are manifold for Global Shop Solutions. A Raspberry Pi device or embedded sensor can run Actian Zen Core for local data capture and processing. It could pass extracts or even whole data sets up to a local edge server running Actian Zen Edge edition—or on to a centralized system in a datacenter or the cloud running Actian Zen Enterprise or Actian Zen Cloud edition. This ensures Global Shop Solutions customers with an open path for evolving their operations and gaining deeper insights.

Impact #1

The integration of IoT in the ERP system of Global Shop Solutions has resulted in a powerfully integrated, high-performance solution. The use of Actian Zen Core edition has eliminated the need for middleware to facilitate ETL, thereby avoiding potential bottlenecks in the customer's manufacturing environment. This has also eliminated the need for Global Shop Solutions to create and manage an entire infrastructure layer. The solution does not require the ongoing attention of a DBA, making it ideal for customers with understaffed IT teams. Furthermore, the opportunities enabled by the power and flexibility of Actian Zen are manifold for Global Shop Solutions. A Raspberry Pi device or embedded sensor can run Actian Zen Core for local data capture and processing. It could pass extracts or even whole data sets up to a local edge server running Actian Zen Edge edition—or on to a centralized system in a datacenter or the cloud running Actian Zen Enterprise or Actian Zen Cloud edition. This ensures Global Shop Solutions customers with an open path for evolving their operations and gaining deeper insights.

Benefit #1	Cost reduction: The control and monitoring features of a PLC device costing $2,000 a few years ago can now be delivered by an IoT-enabled device costing less than $50.
Benefit #2	Elimination of middleware: The use of Actian Zen Core eliminates the need for middleware to facilitate ETL, reducing processing overhead.
Benefit #3	Scalability: The solution caters to Global Shop Solutions customers ranging in size from $10m to $1B in revenue.

Benefit #1

Cost reduction: The control and monitoring features of a PLC device costing $2,000 a few years ago can now be delivered by an IoT-enabled device costing less than $50.

Benefit #2

Elimination of middleware: The use of Actian Zen Core eliminates the need for middleware to facilitate ETL, reducing processing overhead.

Benefit #3

Scalability: The solution caters to Global Shop Solutions customers ranging in size from $10m to $1B in revenue.

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Overview

IoT Integration in ERP: A Case Study of Global Shop Solutions

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit