Sales force accesses real-time IBM i sales data and enters orders on the go from mobile-optimized web portal
Hornady has grown steadily over the years and along with this growth comes a need to streamline ordering processes and to access important business intelligence from the web on a variety of devices. BCD has provided integrated solutions and services to support Hornady's growth, including real-time web-based sales reports with Clover and a mobile-optimized order entry application developed with WebSmart ILE. Nexus Portal is the point of entry to access to these applications. Nexus users and group structures govern access to the portal and provide customized menus with multiple levels of authority.
BCD took the design I laid out and made it real. The level of cooperation and working together was never a problem. They completed the job in a shorter time than expected, provided detailed documentation, and the project management and accountability were top notch.
J.M., Special Projects Manager
Real-Time Sales Chart 
Monthly Sales Report 
Real-Time Inventory 
Mobile Order Entry Developed with WebSmart 
Mobile Order Entry Developed with WebSmart 
Mobile Order Entry Developed with WebSmart Challenge
As Hornady's sales force grew, so did demands for accurate, dependable sales analysis information for management, territory representatives and sales reps. Sales reports were sent out via mail on a monthly basis, but Hornady required real-time reporting and graphing that was accessible via the web.
J.M., Special Projects Manager for Hornady, was tasked with finding the right tools to build an application that could fulfill these requirements. "We were looking for a more robust query tool to replace Query 400. Being able to use conditional statements was a big thing. As well, the graphs made nice looking reports," he says.
Hornady also required a faster, easier way for sales representatives to enter orders and check inventory. At the time, sales representatives entered trade show sales on a printed order sheet then entered orders manually when they returned to the office. Because the sales force didn't have real-time access to inventory, they had to phone the office to acquire this information.
Solution
Mobile Friendly Sales Portal
"We had seen Clover before and really liked it, so our hearts were set on it," says J.M. After evaluating Clover, J.M. also installed Nexus Portal to provide a single, secure point of entry for Hornady personnel to access the Clover programs. Clover is BCD's business intelligence tool for building real-time web reports and dashboards that access multi-platform data.
J.M. decided to contract the services of BCD's Professional Services team to assist with the project. He sketched out the application, consisting of numerous graphs and drill-down reports, such as sales by customer, monthly sales, shipments by date range and item availability.
BCD provided an accurate estimate for the development and development proceeded on time and on budget, with the actual time for project work coming in within five hours of the total estimated hours and well below the high end of the initial development estimate.
BCD later added a menu toggle to Hornady's Nexus Portal to support small screens like iPads. Hornady personnel can hide the menu as necessary to maximize their viewing experience.
iPad Order Entry Application
Following the development of their sales reporting applications and portal, Hornady also hired BCD to assist with the development of a mobile Order Entry application. BCD developed the application using WebSmart ILE, BCD's rapid web application development tool, and optimized the layout for tablets with jQuery's mobile UI framework.
This application enables Hornady's sales reps to efficiently enter orders on iPads when they are in the field. Some of the application's features include:
- Search for products, drill down by category and filter by item details and trade show specials.
- Calculate customer-specific pricing and overrides with show pricing if less.
- Inquiry of all orders for a tradeshow or all orders for a specific customer.
- Confirmation emails that are sent to the rep and/or customer.
- Ability to enter a new client's information.
Results
In an unsolicited email as their initial project drew to a close, J.M. wrote, "I am more than pleased with the work BCD has done for us. The developer did one heck of a job and the output looks great. We are closing things up and I have put this out to the salesmen. They are very pleased and excited."
When asked to comment on the advantages of the new system, J.M. added:
- The first advantage is current data in the hands of our salesmen.
- Next, reduced phone calls because the information is now available on the web.
- Our salesmen now look like they know what they are doing when they walk into a customer's store.
On interacting with BCD support and the development process:
- Working with BCD is a treat. The support personnel bend over backwards to help with a question or solve a problem. They are all knowledgeable and courteous.
- BCD took the design I laid out and made it real. The level of cooperation and working together was never a problem. They completed the job in a shorter time than expected and the documentation of the work done is detailed and understandable.
- The billing on the project was also top notch. When involved in a project like this, I like to see where the money is going. The detailed billing left no questions, making them easy to approve and forward on for paying. There was never a question or concern.
About the Organization
Hornady Manufacturing was founded in 1949 by Joyce Hornady. Like many successful companies, Hornady was born out of one man's vision of a better product for his own use. Joyce Hornady was an ardent shooter and needed a steady supply of good, accurate bullets.
For almost 60 years, Hornady Manufacturing has been manufacturing quality bullets and ammunition and has grown into the world's largest independent producer of bullets.