Software Development Under Control
Customer: Brightstar Corporation
Brightstar Corporation was founded in 1997 and is now the largest wireless value-added service provider in the Americas. The have their Worldwide Headquarters in Miami, Florida and a total of 24 facilities in 18 countries. They provide product, inventory management, logistics services and custom-tailored solutions found nowhere else in the wireless industry.
At Issue:
All Logistics companies have quality issues with shipments, and this is especially true of international companies that must deal with international freight carriers, customs, and spotty infrastructure. As a new and rapidly growing company Brightstar had managed to keep their quality issues at industry lows, but their volume was such that even these small percents added up to large numbers of units. They needed a better way to control the quality issues that arise during transit.
The Solution:
Using Microsoft's ASP.NET, a subsidiary Intranet system was created to allow the
business units to report their problems online.
Once reported, the problems are addressed by quality control personnel in Miami,
who then update the status with every action they take.
The users reporting the problem can always see the status of their problems when
they log in, in a visual and easy to understand fashion.
This system was written in ASP.NET 1.1 and SQL Server 2000.
Each problem has a certain workflow and this is reflected in the visual cue of green
boxes being equal to task completed, yellow in progress, and red not yet complete.
This system is used by many in South and who do not speak strong English, so the
system is multi-lingual, supporting English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
All the details related to the issue resolution are recorded within the system.
This system provides a quick to understand metaphor for seeing if the quality problems
have been resolved, as the user simply waits for their line items to 'Go Green'.
Only authorized issue resolvers can actually update the records, keeping the system
secure and accurate.
At Issue:
Brightstar needed a way to keep a better forecast of upcoming inventory demand in the disparate locations across the Caribbean. They had many different units and lack of a unified method of submitting forecasts. A system has been attempted, but it was over budget, over time, and under functional. They needed a working solution fast to keep their relationship with the Caribbean carrier strong.
The Solution:
This system provides a secure login for users in various business locations, and
once logged in, they can only access functions and data that have been assigned
to them.
This system was created in ASP.NET 2.0 and SQL Server 2005. Additionally, support
infrastructure was created with SQL 2005 SSIS.
From a central launch page the user can access all of the functionallity in just
one or two clicks.
They can enter data, view reports, administer the system with a self-service set
of tools, and update the products to be tracked.
The heart of the system, which is the forecast data entry, allows the user quickly
to see what information has been entered, and what information still needs to be
entered.
They can select a series of metrics to work with and they will be taken to the data
input page.
The administration interface provides for complete self service in the vast majority
of maintenance tasks.
The data input page allows them to enter one line of data at a time, keeping data
fresh and preventing loss in times of intermittent connection.
The Role Based Security provides flexibility and security, allowing the users to create their own roles as necessary.