Design
Design:
The process of defining the architecture, components, interfaces and other characteristics of a system or component.
A key part of any software development process is transforming a requirement into a design. Applying experience gained through 30 years of design experience to the appropriate design tools and techniques provides improved design.
Database Design
A good database design provides the solid foundation for any system.
There is a system still running for one client using the database designed in 1988, moving from Oracle Version 6 through successive versions.
While each database type Oracle, SQL Server, Access(!) have their own features and functionality the basic priciple of database design stay the same.
A number of database designs prepared on behalf of clients have been implemented on multiple vendor platforms (Designed for SQL Server , implemented on SQL Server and Oracle and vice versa.)
Systems Design
Designing a system can be as simple as designing a number of programs and user interfaces which deliver required functionality. It rarely is that simple. The designer must be open to identifying hardware, software and processes which support the business requirement and producing a coherent solution to the requirement.
Systems Design Domains
Retail
Grain Assembly and Payment
Laboratory Management
Milk assembly
Milk Payments
Share Registration
Inventory control
Weighbridge Systems
Fertilizer Manufacture
Agri-commodity Trading
Meat Processing
Pig Farming
Animal Feed Processing
Interface Design
One area of particular interest is that of interface design. Interfaces between business systems and between data collection systems (Such as weighbridges) and business systems require not only flows of Master and Transaction Data , but also control of the flow and interventions to manage unplanned events.
| From | To | Commercial | Data Collection | Process control | ERP | Data Warehouse | MES |
| Commercial | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | ||
| Data Collection | √ | √ | √ | √ | |||
| Process Control | √ | √ | |||||
| ERP | √ | √ | √ | √ | |||
| Data Warehouse | |||||||
| MES | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ |
Notable interface design projects include
- designing the interface solutions between a number of Commercial (Bespoke and Packaged) systems and a SAP implementation.
- designing the interface between a process control system and a MES system to support batch traceability.
- Design of the protocol for the interchange of data between a Commercial system , a weighbridge system and a process control system.
These interface designs have been implemented using 'old fashioned' flat file methods and tools and techniques such as SAP XI and a broad mix of XML based solutions.
Data Warehouse Design
A good data warehouse design delivers timely analytical data to the user without compromising the underlying operational systems.
By matching the database design skills built up over 30 years to the Dimensional modelling techniques more recently acquired, we deliver Data Warehouse Design solutions which match your needs.