Delphi
VCLChallenges
In order to successfully compete in the typical ERP areas alongside established brands such as SAP or Navision, it is necessary to individually cover the demanding scenarios of their customers. The microtech solution is not an off-the-shelf ERP system, but can be flexibly adapted to the needs of small and medium-sized companies. Over the years, they have always been able to keep up with the times with Delphi and re-use and modernize existing program code. This means a very high investment and innovation security.
Results
With Delphi's decades of experience and 35 years of expertise, microtech GmbH has a very modern ERP system on the market that can rightfully be called sustainable.
As a satisfied Embarcadero Delphi customer, microtech GmbH can provide its software to over 15,000 customers. Customization and Individualization with on-board tools is the unique selling point of the application. This is where the strength of the company and the microtech ERP system lies.
microtech ERP-System
Company
Microtech GmbH has been in existence for 35 years and has established itself in the SME sector with its highly customizable ERP system. The company has two locations in Germany and one in Austria, and works together with 150 certified partners. Currently, about 120 employees work for microtech GmbH.
Application
The microtech ERP system consists of modules for merchandise management, financial accounting, payroll accounting, production, and e-commerce, as well as warehouse logistics and shipping, and can be licensed individually by the customer.
Customizability with on-board tools is the unique selling point of the application. Customers can create and adapt their business processes and workflows individually without additional programming effort, and they remain intact even after version updates. Business partners and experienced users can make the adjustments themselves.
Individualization goes so far that users can even show and hide the visibility of fields in tables or forms. This makes it very easy to show additional master data as detailed views for all data.
This means, for example, that users can directly display further details about the product in a sales list from the online store, see in which warehouse the product is located, and view the stock in this warehouse—all in one view.
This is achieved by a specially developed framework that provides all the functionalities in all product modules. The application currently has a volume of approximately 8 million lines of program code, a significant part of which is accounted for by this framework. Performance optimization has highest priority, meaning calculated values are calculated only if they are displayed.
The developers at microtech are particularly proud of the rules editor, which was developed over years of work and can be operated independently by the user. Rules here can be not only color highlights but also overarching conditions such as a sales restriction from 18 years, which then automatically becomes relevant across all modules.
Rules Editor
Our ERP system was the first to run on the Windows 3.11 operating system at the time. Over the years, we have always been able to keep up with the times with Delphi and re-use and modernize existing program code. This means a very high investment and innovation security for us.
Martin Eckes, Chief Product Officer (CPO), microtech GmbH
The e-commerce module, which is available as an option, has direct connections to the store systems of Amazon, eBay, Otto, Shopware, and more. All product details, stock levels, discounting, and more are defined in the microtech ERP system and synchronized with the respective store system. The processes can be applied individually for each system.
E-commerce Sales Diagram
The system is developed in Delphi 11, based on the VCL framework
Successful customers bring successful customers
As a satisfied Embarcadero Delphi customer, microtech GmbH can provide its software to numerous successful customers.
The sports and Bundesliga club 1. FSV Mainz 05 manages not only its more than 14,000 members with the microtech ERP system but also all work processes, from financial accounting and merchandise management as well as the fan and online store. The replacement of a previously used open source system was completed there within 4 months.
The famous Berlin luxury and traditional department store "KaDeWe" (Kaufhaus des Westens) is another example of how the software developed with Delphi is in use at renowned companies. Here, the focus is on comprehensive warehouse management of the decoration department in a 2,700-square-meter warehouse.
Because it is not only high-percentage but also highly professional, microtech is used by the company Whiskey.de as the heart of the entire infrastructure. More than 600,000 customers and approximately 2,400 articles are managed. An over 80 percent degree of automation for orders saves the company a lot of time and money.
Conclusion
The uncompromising customizability of the microtech ERP system makes it possible to simplify complex business processes without limiting functionality. Processes can be automated, and data-based decisions can be made easily. With Delphi's decades of experience and 35 years of expertise, microtech has a very modern ERP system on the market that can rightfully be called sustainable.
Address Management
Currently, customers use the software on-premise, but the development team is already in the phase of offering it as a cloud service in the future. The basis for this will of course be the existing Delphi code base, which must be made cluster-capable and prepared for secure data transport so that it can also be accessed with web front ends. The objective here is to develop the transformation from an existing two-tier to a three-tier architecture model without existing customers’ even noticing.
Like many companies, finding good staff is a challenge. Microtech does this by training its own apprentices. The materials from delphilernen.de serve as a very good basis for the training.
To me, it is very fascinating that with Delphi we can use existing code for years, and thus our knowledge over and over again. Therefore, I wish that this will remain in the next years and decades with stable versions.
Christoph Schindler, Head of Development, microtech GmbH