In 2021, we published a blog post about Infor Mongoose: The RAD Framework That Can Accelerate Digital Transformation. We explored how Mongoose allows for a simplified development process by tackling tech stacks, empowers faster and more effective app creation, and reduces costs by minimizing time spent on development.
In this post, we take a closer look at a frequently used Mongoose feature: customer complaint interface and reporting. This Customer Complaint System records and tracks the many components that comprise a customer complaint. For instance, Mongoose cross references sales order invoices and the line items that are reported to be of inadequate quality with manufacturing orders that identify the inventory (lots or batches) that were used to fulfill the particular sales order requirement.
Read below as we share a use case for Mongoose application development – helping businesses capture input from and collaborate with their customers. We also share our interface tutorial at the end of this blog post; and you can find the full-length demo on our YouTube Channel.
Client in Action
Struggling to capture product quality feedback
An American fine paper manufacturer struggled to capture feedback about product quality from customers. The company relied solely on a green screen to record, maintain, process, and complete the customer complaints. The green screen interface was command based and tightly coupled with various integrated systems, making it quite difficult and time consuming to use. Furthermore, the legacy system was not able to sort based on the different components of a typical customer complaint. The need to digitally transform this company’s customer complaint system was imperative.
Determining development requirements
After conducting discovery to determine the project scope and timeline, we discussed the requirements with the client. By doing this, we unveil the need to develop a complaint system outside Infor M3 that would support the client’s established systems. The following requirements were outlined as necessary for the new customer complaint system:
- Record new customer complaints and update them with information such as different stages of operations
- Work in line with how Infor M3 Business Engine is defined – for example, the mashup panel for different, but related information should be available on a single page
- Ensure that the information is easily understood by the user consolidating panel navigation, including browse functionality, and displaying sub files that contain a header (header/line text entries)
- Integrate with M3 in order to read sales order transactions and third-party manufacturing system that has products details of inventory and goods used to fulfill the original customer order
- Incorporate pre-existing matrix used to define defects, discoveries, and any other needed additional information
These requirements were an integral part of the Business Requirements Design (BRD), that would be used in the next steps of the project development.
Developing a system to compatible with existing technical infrastructure
Once the requirements were thoroughly outlined – both from functional and technical perspectives – the project was ready to move forward. The Doppio team first defined the specification and identified relevant activities needed to build the new customer complaint system. The requirements also specified that in addition to retrieving data from other systems (such as Infor M3 and ADC), the solution needed to provide a simple method of processing particular customer complaints within the application.
The main activities were defined as follows:
- Design the database and build it in Mongoose
- Create the main user interface (mashup screen)
- Design navigating between panels
- Create grids within different panels
- Create a new complaint with auto-updating number series maintained in Mongoose
- Adding fields and field-based action points referring to other fields and grinds on different panels
- Auto populate required fields based on actions performed
- Connect the complaint system with Infor M3 to retrieve sales invoice line items as well as with a third-party manufacturing order system to retrieve product details, and load data into the interface
- Browse functionality (within the grid as well)
- Calculate what is needed to determine fields that have dynamic values based on various manual entries
Managing customer feedback with ease and enabling further operations optimization
The goal of this project was met when our team developed the new customer complaint interface in adherence to the overall scope, timeline, and budget.
With the new interface, our client was able to reap the benefits of a simple, yet effective user interface that enables addressing and mitigating customer complaints. Users can now create and manage customer complaints using a web-based application with ease. The new complaint system can also be added to the Infor OS menu. Given the new system’s simplicity and intuitive interface, creating and managing customer complaints became a straightforward process. It also improved readability in the different components involved including sales order invoices, invoiced items with defects, production lots, financial documents, etc.
Our client’s management team can also use the database system designed within Mongoose to create reporting requirements that will allow for product analyses. Analyzing trends related to defects can help establish the necessary processes to improve overall operations at various stages of production. Furthermore, the entire customer complaint interface was designed with a flex-based layout, meaning that the interface could be run seamlessly on a laptop, tablet, or phone.
Overall, the digital transformation of one process decreases labor costs and increases overall productivity; which in turn, adds to the bottom line while allowing for more effective resource management across the organization.
Use cases for Mongoose
As we know, Infor Mongoose is an application development framework that allows users to design, build, and deploy applications quickly, from simple web features to complex ERP systems, with minimal programming language required (low code architecture).
Even with a robust solution such as Mongoose, customizations cannot be completely avoided. Every business employs different customizations to ensure that it can operate more effectively than it would using standard off-the shelf solutions. Additional customizations can include capturing more data to improve overall operations, integrating third party systems, and data storage into owned infrastructure.
With many extensibility use cases in the cloud environment, it is becoming increasingly common for companies to rely on cloud native application development framework technologies for their customized requirements.
Mongoose is one such product that not only supports all these features but also allows data to flow between a variety of systems – a must-have for businesses in today’s digital age. Specifically, data from every database table within Mongoose can be quickly accessed from any other application in and out of the Infor environment due to its architecture and use of the REST API framework.
With Mongoose – made available as part of Infor CloudSuite – businesses can design, develop and deploy applications securely in the cloud.
- Build applications ranging from simple to highly complex in a fast, scalable way
- Build applications which can extend the functionalities of the core ERP system
- Seamlessly integrate with Infor and third-party applications
- Build and deploy applications across different mobile operating systems such as Android and iOS phones and tablets
- Develop and integrate in eight languages
- Utilize an independent workflow engine
- Manage full user control and security settings
Wrap Up
Ready to improve your customer service and relationships? Get in touch with Doppio Group through this contact form to get the guidance you need.
You can find the full-length system demo on our Youtube Channel.
