Problem: A reprographics shop purchased a canned back office solution to perform their accounting functions. The software allowed them to manage their accounts receivables and payables as well as their general ledger. It also had a sales order entry module that allowed them to take orders and to invoice customers. However, the standard sales order entry screens did not capture enough information to sell their various products and services. The shop needed to be able to capture dimensions, number of copies, number of originals and the number of prints. Also, the software could not accommodate the various pricing methods for their items and services.

Solution: We created a desktop application solution using Microsoft’s .Net platform which allowed them to create quotes, orders, invoices and returns for their items and services. There are also pricing interfaces that allow them to price their items and services using document dimensions (prints, originals, square footage and copies). The application would take sales orders and organize them into batches which would then be imported into the back office for invoicing. The process uses web services to interact with the back office software so that any upgrades to the back office can be isolated to the back office itself and its web service, leaving the desktop application unchanged. Both the desktop application and the back office sit on top of Microsoft’s SQL Server database product.