Customer Spotlight: Huge ERP

About Huge Software

Huge software (Pty) Ltd is a subsidiary of Huge group. We specialise in Enterprise resource planning (ERP), accounting software and customer relationship management for engineering, manufacturing, wholesale distribution, professional services and other business industries.  The system has been cloud based for over 18 years, previously known as Webaccounting and only targeted in the accounting space with Job Costing module to track all costs to a job.  In the past two years the system has fully upgraded to a full ERP system with Job scheduling been one of the modules added to the job costing module.  Our products have constantly evolved over the years making sure that we stay at the top of our game with the latest technology

Moving to Scheduling

A problem we faced was needing to visually display job tasks and activities on screen where a user can easily move entries around.  After researching multiple software platforms on the market, we came across Bryntum.

The website was easy to read and gave us many examples of where we could use the products within our system.  The three products which caught our attention were Bryntum Gantt Chart, Bryntum Calendar and Bryntum Scheduler. The final decision made was to go with Bryntum and run the demo version within our system.  The process to put the system into action and begin testing out the software was seamless.  Once this trial was successfully completed and met our requirements, we went ahead and purchased the products.  After a quick live chat with Bryntum, we easily setup a meeting with staff who helped us to understand our license requirements.

The subsequent purchase of the three products simplified matters after the incorporation of the Gantt chart, Calendar and Scheduler within the ERP system. With the Bryntum products, we were able to greatly enhance our Job costing module.  We also modified some components to fit our needs and the result is outstanding.

Easy configuration

Below is an example of how we used the Bryntum config system to configure the fields in the General tab of the TaskEditor popup.

taskEdit : {
    items : {
        generalTab      : {
            items : {
                percentDone : {
                    step : 5
                },
                startDate:{
                    format:'YYYY-MM-DD'
                },
                endDate:{
                    format:'YYYY-MM-DD'
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

The case study we are currently busy with is a client who manufactures roofing products, downpipes and flashings. They have 15 teams with a staff of 50 assigned to over 200 jobs ranging from small jobs to large projects which take over 6 months to complete.

The costing of all the materials and various scheduling time logging is what our system manages and records. But, the client wanted a visual solution which enabled them to edit and move jobs across the various teams.

The Gantt chart gave us the ability to view various jobs and activities and to update percentage complete just by dragging the progress bar handle.  We were able to move the task activity bar to a different date seamlessly.

The Scheduler is showing work Task activities broken down by Team with drag and drop capabilities

Why Bryntum?

We chose Bryntum for a number of reasons but one was because their software integrates easily with Sencha Ext JS.  It was logical to incorporate a mature product that is ready to use and compatible with our application framework.  This introduction of a component into the main system reduced our development time resulting in a visually working product.

It took us less than two days to have the Bryntum Scheduler up and running.  And once you have one of the components working, it is very easy to have the other products from Bryntum working and operational.

Huge Software looks forward to a long prosperous working relationship with Bryntum. Well done on excellent products!!!