1. Rick Weaver, Excel Industries Gary Yang, Roundview Technologies
Case Study – Building Robust and Transparent QAD 3PL Interfaces Using QAD QXtend and Dell Boomi
Rick Weaver, Excel Industries
Gary Yang, Roundview Technologies

2. About Excel Industries
Founded and located in Hesston, KS in 1960’s
Began as a cab manufacturer for John Deere
First manufacturer of “zero turn radius” riding lawn mowers
Outstanding build quality – commercial grade
Company growth over past 10 years has been due to move into residential market and partnerships with retail (Lowes)
Over 1200 U.S. dealers and more than 40 distributors worldwide
2 product familes – Hustler Turf, Big Dog

4. About Roundview Technologies
Founded in 2010 (
QAD Service Partner
Dell Partner (Boomi)
Specializes In QAD Technical Consulting
Extensive Experiences In QAD Services Including QXtend, Dell Boomi, .Net UI, CSS, Enterprise Financials, Advanced Customizations, etc.
Global Resources in QAD Technologies, .Net, J2EE Custom Developments

5. About The Wagner And CHR Project
Growth drove need for more space – new warehouse in KC
Company move to reduce shipping costs for whole goods
Wagner – warehouse partner to manage inventory in KC
Finished goods shipped directly to KC warehouse
Responsible for receiving and managing all inventory
Receive shipping information from CHR and from Excel
CHR – 3PL to plan and route shipments of mowers to dealers, distributors, and retail partners
Take order information from Excel and plan shipments including multi-stop shipments
Send load plan data to Wagner to coordinate pickup of shipments

6. Challenges Changes in business rules
Only allowing shipments based on available inventory
More structure to order fulfilment process
Managing inventory/shipping in warehouse that does not have QAD
Managing flow of orders to shipments between multiple parties
Material Orders, Shipments, Load Plans, Inventory changes
Solution would have to be transparent and allow end users to easily identify data issues
Solution had to be reliable and fault tolerant
Solution had to accommodate high volume of document interchange

7. To Meet The Requirements And Address The Challenges
Excel Chose The Combination Of QAD QXtend Integration Framework and Dell Boomi
Excel was the first customer who implemented QXtend successfully (2005)
Dell Boomi Messaging Middleware supports the real time communication using web service (QXtend) and AS2 protocols
Roundview’s unique architecture provides full visibility of the messaging status

8. QAD QXtend Integration Framework And Dell Boomi
QXtend is the integration framework from QAD
QXtend is the adapter to QAD EA that allows QAD to communicate with 3rd party applications using standard Web Service protocols
QXtend is NOT a middleware, so the request/response model does have some rigidity for inbound transaction processing
After evaluating 56 or so middleware solutions, QAD has partnered with Dell and recommend Boomi as the middleware to work in conjunction with QXtend

9. Messaging Middleware – Why We Need It?
QXtend Web Service Is Synchronous - SOAP over HTTP(s)
Need For Queuing Mechanism
QXtend Is Only An Adapter
Failed Message Retry And Exception Handling Can Be A Challenge For Third Party Caller
Transformation And Message Orchestration – Dealing With Text Files, For Example
Need For Data Encryption
Enterprise Service Bus Is Becoming A Standard In Corporate IT

10. Messaging Middleware QAD EA MES PLM Workflow QMS Web Portal 3PL
Payroll
MES
QXtend
PLM
ESB / EAI (WebSphere MQ, Oracle Fusion, MuleSoft, Boomi, BizTalk, etc)
Banks
Workflow
Corporate Systems
QMS
Web Portal

11. Dell Boomi (http://www.boomi.com)
A Cloud Based Messaging Middleware Solution
Configuration And Developed Objects Are Stored in Boomi Cloud
Runtime Environment (Atoms) Can Be Deployed In The Dell Cloud, QAD Cloud Or On Premise
Queuing Feature Assures Message Delivery
More Flexible XML Structure (examples)
Customizable alerts
Various Adapters That Covers All Common Connection Protocols
Development Of Boomi Is Done Via the Graphical User Interface, Almost All Done Via Drag/Drop And Configurations
We Have Certified Boomi Consultant On Our Team

12. Dell Boomi – Integration Platform As A Service (iPaaS)
Social Networks
PaaS Apps
Cloud Services
SaaS Apps
Integration

13. Dell Boomi – Market Leader For iPaaS (Gartner)

14. Dell Boomi – Intuitive User Interface

15. User Can Review Inbound & Outbound Message Processing Status Via Message Monitor
QXtend Outbound Becomes The Repository For Asynchronous Inbound Transaction Processing
SI QXtend Calls To Populate Intermediate Table
Firewall
Boomi
Atom
Queue
QDoc
Wagner
AS2
UI API
QXtend Inbound
MFG/PRO
MFG/PRO
QAD DB Set
AS2
SI API
QDoc
CHR
AS2
QXtend Outbound
SOAP
Event
AS2
DDP

16. Key Design Features Of Roundview Solution
We Strive To Utilize Standard QXtend Functions To Minimize Custom Architecture
Choose QXtend Outbound Direct Data Publishing For High Volume Data Export From QAD, and Event Based Messaging For Real Time Data Extract
For Inbound Messages, We Have The Following Processes To Ensure Delivery:
3rd Party System Sends Data To Boomi Via Web Service
Boomi Queues The Message And Converts It To QDoc, Sends To QXI Via SI Adapter. The Data Is Stored In Custom Repository Tables First To Avoid Exposing QAD Transactional Issues To Boomi
Custom Tables Triggers The QXO Processing Of The Messages Which Are Sent To QXI For QAD Transactions
Message Monitor, Which Is A .Net UI Plug-In For QAD .Net UI Client, Can Be Used To Track The Inbound & Outbound Message Processing, And Allows User To Resubmit Message If Failed (Due To Record Locking Or Data Setup Issues)

17. Wagner 3PL Interfaces QAD To Wagner Material Order Shipment Interface
Real Time Interface Initiated From MO Maintenance Screen (With Shipment)
Event Based QXO Message Sent To Boomi Via Web Service
Boomi Sends The Message Via AS2 Protocol To Wagner
Delivery Status Updated In QXO DB Using Custom Response Parser
Inbound Sales Order / Material Order Shipment & MO Receipt Interfaces
Wagner Sends Data To Boomi Via AS2
Boomi Queues The Message And Converts It To QDoc, Sends To QXI Via SI Adapter
Custom Tables Triggers The QXO Processing Of The Messages Which Are Sent To QXI For QAD SO Shipment and MO Shipment & Inventory Transfer Transactions
More Interfaces In Development For Wager Interfaces Phase II

18. CHR 3PL Interfaces QAD To CHR Sales Order / Material Order Interface
New Or Updates To Sales Orders / Material Orders Are Sent To QXO Via DDP (Direct Data Publish)
QXO Message Sent To Boomi Via Web Service
Boomi Sends The Message Via AS2 Protocol To CHR
Delivery Status Updated In QXO DB Using Custom Response Parser
Inbound Load Plan Interface (In Order To Prevent SO / MO From Being Updated Once CHR Places It On Load Plan)
CHR Sends Load Plan Data To Boomi Via AS2
Boomi Queues The Message And Converts It To QDoc, Sends To QXI Via SI Adapter
Custom Tables Triggers The QXO Processing Of The Messages Which Are Sent To QXI Custom SI Program
QAD Sales Order / MO Maintenance Modified To Block Changes Once Load Plan Is Available

19. QXtend Message Monitor
One Of The Most Important Aspects That Defines Successful Interface Project And Failure Is The VISIBILITY Of Message Processing State
Message Monitor Is A QAD .Net UI Plug-In
User-Friendly Tool To Check For Message Processing Status And Data:
Browse Widget Can Retrieve Large Set Of Data
Workbench Type User Interface Provide Rich Data Content
User Can Re-Process Failed Message From Here If Needed
Key For Our Effort To Enable Business To Take Control Of THEIR Data

21. Conclusion
The Boomi / QXtend Integration Framework Does Provide The Complete Visibility To The Interface Status
Message Monitor Empowers The Business To Handle Status Check, Root Cause Analysis And Issue Resolution
Alerts Provides Prompt Notifications When Exception Occurs
The Framework Is Robust And Scalable
Boomi Message Queuing Ensures Message Delivery
Decoupling Of Message Processing From Boomi To QXtend Dramatically Reduced The Failure Rate
More Interfaces Are Expected To Be Built On This Platform
Common Interface Structure Makes The System Easier To Maintain And Trouble Shoot

23. Questions? Rick Weaver At Rick.Weaver@excelii.com
Gary Yang At / LinkedIn