A Next-Gen User Interface for Labeling Software

The Client

Our Clients is a vendor of one of the leading ERP systems for print production management. The Client’s system has everything you need to effectively manage your label conversion and flex pack business, including estimations, raw materials inventory management, order management, financial management prioritization, job costing, resellers tracking, reporting, and IoT: equipment status monitoring, interaction with printing machines, and more. This software is specifically designed for label printers and flex pack manufacturers, focusing on their specific needs and requirements.

The Challenge

The client’s system was initially developed in the 1990s and their team had continued to expand its functionality over three decades. However, the user interface (UI) had not received significant updates during this period. Despite its powerful capabilities, the client’s system was undermining its image as a modern, high-tech product. As competition increased, the company faced the risk of losing market share if they didn’t find a solution to modernize the look and feel of its software.

To address this issue, our Client help from First Line Software in creating a more up-to-date visual interface for their system.

Our Approach

The previous software was built in a 4D programming language and would require significant time, effort, and money to completely overhaul the system. It had its own development environment and coupled with its database, would display information for the clients. Additionally, there was not much documentation about how the system was developed.

Rather than undergo a complete rewrite of the system, First Line Software recommended that the best approach would be to design and integrate a new user interface for Client. The project lasted approximately 12 months, beginning with discovery through to the release of the new interface at LabelExpo 2022.

The Team

First Line Software assembled a team of industry professionals to work on the client project. To kick things off, we allocated two highly skilled experts to design a solution fit for the Client’s end user. They were supported by three additional specialists, who remain allocated to the Clients’s ongoing maintenance needs.

Our team also collaborated with the development and senior management team at the Client’s side, receiving the necessary guidance to maintain existing functionality and allow for easier integration for future enhancements.

The Solution

First Line Software designed a sleek and modern interface for the Client, improving the user experience for their customers and creating a competitive advantage in the marketplace. The Client launched Version 9 of their software at LabelExpo 2022 and received positive feedback from customers and leads alike, driving an exponential increase in sales activity.

To Be Continued…

Our team continues to actively support the Client and is building an API Gateway hosted on AWS. This new API will allow customers to manage the client’s systems installed on servers located deep in physical printing facilities.

In future phases of work, our team will also rewrite the system in a more modern programming language to complement the development of the Gateway API. This will enable the Gateway API to access the new cloud version of the system.

There are additional plans to create a cloud data storage module, as the majority of the client’s customers are large printing companies that accumulate a lot of data. This data requires to be stored, manipulated, properly composed, shown at different angles, prompting the creating of an analytics module.

Stay up to date with First Line’s work with other clients by following us on LinkedIn.

Learn more about Print Technology development with First Line Software.