Re: [mv] MiniVend and ERP systems (de_DE: Warenwirtschaftssysteme)

[cfm@maine.com]

******    message to minivend-users from cfm@maine.com     ******

On Sun, Jun 25, 2000 at 04:22:00PM +0200, Stefan Hornburg wrote:
> ******    message to minivend-users from Stefan Hornburg <racke@linuxia.de>     ******
> 
> 
> Hello, MiniVendors !
> 
> First let you thank for the spirited discussion about HTML editors,
> your contribution will substantly improve my speech at the LinuxTag.
> 
> I hope that the next theme gets a similar echo. Has anyone of you
> experiences with MiniVend and interfaces to
> enterprise resource planning (ERP)
> systems (or "Warenwirtschaftssyteme" in German) ? 


We do use it as **one** interface to the Intranets we build.  Everything
we build is database driven, so minivend is just one way of talking
to the core databases.  Anything else that can talk to the database
is also an input (or output).  Curses interface, scripted parsing,
etc....  In that sense, we use minivend as a giant session manager 
for the cgi interface.  It's all transactions, whether a sale or the
parcelling of internal data.

Typically the first step is using minivend to put our client's customers
data online so they can visit account history, reorder items and so
forth; that gets tied into catalog.  Far and away the hardest part
by several orders of magnitude is helping the client organize the
data at their end so it makes sense.  The next step is helping them
train their customers to use it.  Their customers have to be
organized too.  There is a lot of in-house work flow.  Minvend ends
up being a small part of it.

<philosopy>
There is a great amount of pressure on businesses to integrate their
back end systems.  Lots of them don't see it yet: "Oh, we'll just
manage it with a manual web interface and enter products manually"
while two doors down the hall there is AS400 that could dump
products and accounts DB nightly (or real time)  **ACCURATELY**
and **AUTOMATICALLY**.  Hmmm, in a way we have a lot of experience 
where minivend is NOT an interface to ERP system ;^).

This is a huge steamroller that will crush many medium sized businesses.
The first players in a field that get the integrated package (ERP) up and 
running will have a tremendous service advantage over others in their
field.  There will be little warning when it happens in any particular
field; the market leader will be invisible until rollout and then will
appear **boom**.   Most of these will take more work than booksellers 
and financial services but the outcome will be similar.  I'm wondering
if the promotional products industry isn't about to get it's clock cleaned
right now; see something like iprint.com.

See also: Internet: The great leveller:  Caterpillar, D9.
</philosophy>

I don't know if that helps.


> 
> Any comment, if send to the list or to me privately, will be
> greatly appreciated.
> 
> Ciao
>         Racke
> 
> -- 
> LinuXia Systems && Cobolt NetServices, eCommerce and more
> Shop- und Datenbanklösungen mit MiniVend, Firewalls auf Debian-Basis
> http://www.linuxia.de - http://www.cobolt.net
> -
> To unsubscribe from the list, DO NOT REPLY to this message.  Instead, send
> email with 'UNSUBSCRIBE minivend-users' in the body to Majordomo@minivend.com.
> Archive of past messages: http://www.minivend.com/minivend/minivend-list

-- 

Christopher F. Miller, Publisher                             cfm@maine.com
MaineStreet Communications, Inc         208 Portland Road, Gray, ME  04039
1.207.657.5078                                       http://www.maine.com/
Database publishing, e-commerce, office/internet integration, Debian linux.
-
To unsubscribe from the list, DO NOT REPLY to this message.  Instead, send
email with 'UNSUBSCRIBE minivend-users' in the body to Majordomo@minivend.com.
Archive of past messages: http://www.minivend.com/minivend/minivend-list