Aluminium facade construction
Compri Aluminium: custom software on MKG
Replacing an ERP is expensive and risky. At Compri Aluminium we did the opposite: the package stayed in place and we built on top of it what it cannot do itself.
- What changed
- No second administration alongside the ERP
- What we built
- Custom screens and integrations on MKG
- Where the data lives
- In MKG, which remains the source
The situation
Compri Aluminium works with MKG, an ERP package for the metal and manufacturing industry. In the office it does what it should. Outside the office it chafes: there are tasks the package does not know about and screens that do not fit the work as it really happens.
That is the point at which many companies end up with a shadow administration: a spreadsheet alongside, or a list someone keeps up to date. It solves the inconvenience and creates a bigger problem, because from then on there are two versions of the truth.
What we built
An extension, not a replacement
The starting point was that MKG remains the source of the data. Everything we built reads from it and writes to it.
Screens for their own work
Custom screens for tasks the package does not cover, built around the way people actually work at Compri rather than around the way the package is organised.
Integrations with MKG
The screens read from and write to MKG directly. So no copy is created that could drift out of step with the package.
Usable outside the office
The environment runs in the browser, so people who do not sit behind an ERP screen all day can use it too.
Extendable part by part
New requirements are added as separate parts. There is no need to wait until the package vendor includes them in a release.
What it delivered
The gain is not in a feature but in what did not happen: no second administration came into being. There is one place where the data lives, and the people who work with it every day can reach it in a way that suits their work.
- The existing ERP did not have to be replaced, with all the costs and risks that come with that.
- Requirements the package does not cover are now solved without waiting for a release from the vendor.
- Because the custom screens read from and write to MKG directly, no difference can arise between two systems.
The technology
The custom environment is built with Laravel and talks to MKG directly. We take the same approach for other MKG users, and we connect a range of other business packages as well: see our integrations.
Facing the same challenge? Read how we automate business processes without replacing your existing package.
Does your package fall short of what the shop floor needs?
Tell us where it chafes. Within 24 hours you will hear whether an extension on top of it is the answer, or whether something else is going on.