Values & Approaches
OUR APPROACH TO ERP SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS
Tamlin Software Developers, Inc. has been implementing business solutions since 1991. Tamlin is an award-winning provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, accounting software, manufacturing quality control software, shop floor control software, materials resource planning (MRP) software, and enterprise optimization solutions that help small- and medium-sized manufacturers, food processors and distributors improve their operations.
As business consultants, Tamlin’s proven approach identifies a company’s business goals and then finds the best solutions to achieve them. We believe business automation is a valuable tool that can reduce costs, increase productivity and improve profitability, while maintaining—and even enhancing—our clients’ unique competitive advantage.
Forcing a company into cookie-cutter software can constrain a business from doing what they do best. Whether you need bar-coding, ISO support, or forward and backward traceability, Tamlin Software provides a complete solution engineered to meet your unique needs.
5 STEP PROCESS TO ERP SUCCESS
This proven method assures the best overall ERP solution for your company.
Step 1: Customer and Project Selection
Tamlin only accepts projects it knows will be successful. Therefore, our first step is to verify that Tamlin can successfully complete the project. Our due diligence includes systemized checklists as well as many years of industry experience.
We are not successful unless you are successful. If we are not confident in a successful implementation, we will recommend a vendor who is. This is our promise to you.
Step 2: Structured Needs Analysis
What are your business goals? The most important step in any project is to determine a company’s current and future needs. Only then can we determine the best solution to meet those needs.
Through years of experience, our project team has learned the best approach to needs analysis is to drill down to the detail level and see what the end-users need to do their jobs. For this, we use a time-tested needs analysis methodology called JAD.
In 1977, Chuck Morris and Tony Crawford of IBM conceived of a new way to approach system design and JAD or Joint Application Development was born. Since then JAD has been used for all types of projects, but it is especially suited for software development and system design.
JAD is highly focused on the end user’s needs and facilitates communication between the end users themselves and the solution provider. Because JAD is highly interactive it eliminates the types of problems found in other methods. Business procedures are often redefined during the JAD. The result is a comprehensive understanding of your business goals and associated needs.
Step 3: Detailed Design
“The devil is in the details.”
We clearly understand that defining and managing the details can make or break an implementation.
Therefore, a detailed design specification is the next step in our project methodology.
Using the needs analysis, our senior analyst creates a detailed design specification including: forms, reports, calculations, procedures, and database level descriptions. This is the complete technical specification used by our programmers. In addition, it outlines detailed data conversion and data migration plans.
Step 4: Project Management
Our goal is to bring your project in on time on budget. Once we determine the details, we develop a project plan to manage them. In this step, specific tasks and milestones are defined to measure our on-going progress.
Our project management methodology also tracks critical path issues, which assures that we can react quickly to any unexpected challenges. You’ll know exactly where your project stands as we work to keep you and your project team continually informed.
Through years of experience, these project management methods and procedures have proven effective. We eliminate the guesswork and give you the peace of mind in knowing you will have a successful project implementation.
Step 5: Quality Assurance
Delivering high quality software solutions requires rigorous testing and quality control procedures. We conduct three levels of testing to provide the best possible Quality Assurance.
Programmer Unit Testing: This first level of testing assures the coding complies with the specifications set out in the detail design document.
Project Manager Review: In this next level of testing, the project manager reviews the system against the client specification to determine the functionality at a system level. Any errors are sent back to programming, until they are correct.
Pilot Programs: This final level of testing is at the customer’s site. We install the software, migrate any data, and perform parallel entry to identify any problems or improvements before going into production. It is critical that the pilot program use actual client data. We have learned through experience there is no substitute for the real world.