Shawly - a custom field worker solution

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How integrating Microsoft’s Power Platform with a legacy ERP opened a 100-year-old New Zealand manufacturer’s eyes to digital possibility

Shaw’s Wire Ropes have been around for over a century. Starting out as rope and rigging specialists, in recent years they’ve branched out into selling and servicing heavy machinery for forestry. But as the machinery arm of the business expanded, it created digital growing pains.

Integrating new digital tools with legacy ERPs can be a headache

In the early 2000’s, Shaw’s invested in an ERP system called Greentree, now owned by MYOB. Shaw’s IT Manager, James explains: “We bought Greentree about 20 years ago when our business had a narrower scope. While Greentree isn’t fancy, it's still stable and it works perfectly for our existing business processes because we’ve customised it a lot.”

However, Shaw’s digital needs have evolved beyond Greentree. James says: “As we’ve moved into machinery we now have significant field service requirements. Shaw’s technicians needed a tool to log hours, take notes, and manage parts when they service forestry equipment in the field, but Greentree didn’t have the capability for that.”

Head of Sales Beau recalls: “Originally we relied on our technicians to write everything down and hand it to someone to enter into the ERP. Then we moved to an online system, but it was still a manual process getting info from that system into the ERP.”

The gap between off-the-shelf software and enterprise solutions

Shaw’s first attempt at solving their need for an online field service system was a compromise. Servicing forestry machinery is a bit too niche for there to be a reasonably priced out-of-the-box tool. James says: “There’s vehicle workshop management software and field management enterprise software solutions, but they’re expensive, too complex for our needs, difficult to implement, and didn’t integrate with Greentree anyway.”

Initially, Shaw’s adapted an off-the-shelf field service product, but it was never ideal. Beau explains: “Inventory management relied on me updating our ERP with info from our field service app. We’ve 10 people in our field team, so that generates a lot of paperwork and I didn't have time to get to it every week. Inventory updates were delayed and we’d waste time looking for parts that'd already been used to repair a machine.”

James adds: “We got to the stage where manually entering jobs into our ERP was inefficient and put us at serious risk of missing chargeable items and time. We needed to make a change and develop a mobile app for our field team that integrated directly with our ERP.”

Situations like this is where Microsoft’s Power Platform excels

When I first started working with Microsoft’s Power Platform in 2019, it struck me what a fantastic tool it is for modernising legacy systems. Like Shaw’s, many businesses have an old ERP system that still works well, or where the benefits of replacement don't justify the cost. The Power Platform can build modern, mobile-friendly apps that solve your business problems and integrate with your legacy system. So, when Shaw’s got in touch in 2024, I was excited to come across a company that wanted to do exactly that.

James adds: “I prefer operating in the Microsoft ecosystem and I thought Power Platform could work for us. We talked to a few suppliers, but couldn’t agree on development platform, implementation, and ownership. Sarah inspired confidence because she listened and she spent time with Beau and our field team working out how different business areas would integrate with the new app. Don’t be afraid to shop around for the right technology partner.”

From parts to process, software projects can drive positive change

Together, we built a Power Platform app called Shawly that draws customer and inventory data from Greentree to create work orders. Technicians can check off tasks, add time and mileage, record parts, make notes, and upload photos. When parts are added to a work order, they're removed immediately from stock. Those work orders also create sales orders for billing. There’s no more double handling of data and inventory is always up to date.

James says: “Development was a fluid, collaborative cycle. Beau and I would throw stuff at Sarah. She’d come back with questions, or give us options and ask: ‘Would you prefer to work like this or like this?’ It was a real state of flow with progress happening all the time.”

The project was also a catalyst for reviewing and finessing some of Shaw’s processes. James says: “One great thing about Sarah is she’s able to take our ideas and translate them into better ways of operating. She doesn’t simply implement what we ask unquestioningly. She contextualises our requests and thinks about how they fit with the big picture.”

Beau agrees, saying: “There were areas where we’d got stuck in our ways because that's how we’d always done it. Sarah is great at taking the initiative and helping us explore options. She doesn’t present roadblocks. There’s always a solution to make things better.”

An experienced partner is key

Any legacy ERP system has its idiosyncrasies and until you rip up the floorboards, you won’t know what you’re going to find underneath. Choose a partner who’s confident working closely with tech companies to get to grips with your ERP’s API.

Greentree’s API documentation is minimal, so there was a bit of trial and error. I spent a lot of time with the MYOB support desk investigating how Greentree did certain things. However, MYOB were super supportive and made changes to the API just for Shaw’s.

Battleground experience with the Greentree API taught me its constraints. For example, when Shaw’s technicians service a machine they need a service kitset with oil, filters, and other parts. Greentree’s API can’t handle orders that bundle items a certain way, so I coded a workaround to plug that technical gap and make logging service kitsets smooth for the technicians.

Making your job easier

The Shawly app has been enthusiastically received by the Shaw’s team. James says: “We’re a successful, high performing business, so we’ve low tolerance for things that don't work. But if something's good, we're all over it, and this platform is awesome.”

In fact, the Shaw’s crew like the app so much that other teams are keen to add more features for their own needs. Beau says: “We keep shifting the goalposts because every time someone sees the new app they decide they’d like to add their own stuff too.”

The new system is already delivering efficiencies. Beau says: “Things are so much easier. My input into invoicing has gone from 50% to 10% of the process. The amount of time I put in is so much less, I can concentrate on other work.”

James urges businesses to look beyond time saved when it comes to digital transformation. He says: “We’re seeing great results in the workshop. But stats can’t tell the whole story. Beau could still be pegging away entering job slips into our ERP. This new app has freed up so many hours for him. He has more time to do cool stuff that's going to make him happier in his job. If you've got good people, don't waste them doing admin. Free people up. Enable them to be the best they can be, rather than getting stuck in drudgery.”

An enabler for the future of your organisation

James is excited about Shawly’s future potential, saying: “This project is such an enabler for the future. We were stuck with limited, costly options for mobile integration with our existing ERP. And because we’ve had our ERP for 20 years and developed all these niche tools, I was very aware we could spend all this money moving to the latest ERP and our team would say: ‘Our old system used to do this. Why doesn’t this system do the same?’”

“Sarah has given us options across the organisation. Now we’re on this platform, everyone has the ability to develop digital tools to make their jobs easier. I've worked in IT for a long time, I've been involved in many amazing projects and this project is a highlight of my career. Sarah is the best developer I've ever seen. I can't speak highly enough about her. She's made my life so easy and opened my eyes to possibility.”

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