Dia System is a Brazilian software house that specializes in Information Technology applications for car dealership businesses, working for top international brands. One of the many products it has developed is SisDia, an information system for business management that is specifically designed for vehicles, trucks and agricultural machinery.
In 1998, Dia System was approved by Toyota as the company that would implement this product in its 122 dealerships in Brazil.
Dia System had to develop a fast solution for Toyota’s sales area in Brazil, which would also be in line with the Japanese company’s sales best practices program (TSW). What was needed to match Japan’s cultural profile was a strongly dynamic tool that would not be too complex while at the same time delivering great productivity.
And that’s where GeneXus came into the picture (through the hands of
Heurys), joining Dia System and Toyota in 2001 in an effort that continues to this very day. GeneXus emerged as the right tool for the job, as it enabled the development of a software that is both high on productivity and on quality: “
My first approach was to study GeneXus’ architecture. What initially attracted me was the possibility of quantification offered by its language, the fact that it is a tool designed to work with several databases and that encapsulates the complexity of Query. More recently I discovered WebService’s abstract development, and the more I explore the more convinced I am of using GeneXus, because, among other things, it is a technology that saves a lot of development time and effort,” says Marcelo Chinalia, Project Manager at Dia System.
Around that time, Dia System developed the
Sales System application for Toyota, basing it on GeneXus. Why was GeneXus chosen to create this application? “
The strongest features we saw were its abstraction from modern technologies, the fast process for building the conceptual data model, the speed with which first-time users can be trained to use it, the high productivity it delivers and the standardization of behaviors with Patterns and integral use of record management with Business Components,” Chinalia recalls.
According to the project manager, GeneXus provided an easy way to develop mission-critical applications while offering high productivity and potential, and the technological advantage of event-oriented development and Java generated applications. It made it possible to respond quickly to the demands of customers with complex technical needs, and by providing the capacity to develop robust, safe and efficient web solutions it gave the company an edge over the competition.
This solution also allowed Toyota Brazil to have complete, highly-accessible and up-to-the-minute information from its network of distributors, thus helping it identify areas for improvement and strategically plan its actions in the Brazilian market. In this way, Toyota Brazil was able to strengthen and consolidate ties with its distributors, thus enhancing the quality of its products and services.
Technical features of the Toyota Sales System:It is a Web Information System used by the network of Toyota dealerships.
It records and controls information of businesses working with end consumers.
Two versions are available for system operation:
1.
TSW is the version designed for dealerships certified and approved by Toyota Brazil under the Toyota Sales Way program. This program establishes an eight-step sales system, in addition to other procedures aimed at assessing the quality of customer service and satisfaction.
2.
Light is the more simplified version, which basically consists
of online integration (via the Internet) of dealerships and factories to streamline showroom flow and vehicle reservation, and the exclusive Toyota
Post-Service Follow-Up (APS), which monitors customer satisfaction.
The Win application recently evolved into a Web environment to respond to the need for online integration via WebServices and product development with Web 2.0 resources.
The Toyota Sales System is a Web solution made available and implemented in the servers of every Toyota distributor throughout Brazil. The application is used via the web browser from the distributor’s Intranet. The user logs into the system and completes the information on certain pages in the system, depending on his or her permits. In addition to the traditional process for storing data in the database of the Toyota distributor, there are online processes that send and/or receive information from Toyota Brazil in order to provide continuity in the application’s operation. All of this connectivity was developed with
WebServices and digital certificates.
The most critical factor was the time involved in developing the solution. In the application’s first months of operation in the network, certain quick adjustments were needed, and the patches and releases were made available very frequently (once a week). Another very critical factor was a great demand from customers to have highly dynamic Web screens. That was solved with Javascript frameworks and components. This required a somewhat different software architecture for development, which would make it possible to reuse rules and code.
The solution was developed using Web Panels with external Javascript libraries to deliver an application with Web 2.0 appearance. All the transactions are Business Components. SDTs are used to capture, display and process information among Webpanels and BCs. By using the digital certificate compiled in the application, SOAP envelopes are generated manually for all the WebServices. The database is Informix. The application is generated in Java and both the database and the Tomcat that runs the application are on Linux servers.