|
PISCATAWAY, NJ - QSSI, a technology leader in providing Distribution, Fulfillment, Warehousing Automation and Supply Chain Software, announced the deployment of PowerHouse/RF today. PowerHouse/RF represents a complete reengineering of the PowerHouse/WMS wireless terminal application software that supports the radio frequency subsystem of PowerHouse/WMS. As with other development projects at QSSI, emphasis was placed on Design Patterns and Object Oriented standards.
Wireless terminal communications for PowerHouse/WMS are carried out via four component applications. They are:
RF Builder A development tool that clients can use to change the visual presentation on the wireless mobile terminals (RF terminals).
RF Driver The application responsible for painting text based user interface on the RF terminals. Its role can be compared to that of an Internet browser.
RF Server The middle tier application between RF Driver and the database that provides logic to text based RF terminals. Its role can be compared to that of a Web Server.
TCP Server Maintains network connections between RF Drivers and RF Servers and provides load balancing as well as a user interface for monitoring and administrating these connections.
Collectively, these applications are referred to as PowerHouse/RF.
The new approach to wireless communications minimizes the dependency between screen design and business transaction processes such as receiving, putaway, or restocking. The user presentation layer (RF screen flow layer) can be easily modified to inexpensively satisfy needs of new clients. Sophisticated layers of code are now located in the business application layer or contained inside the Framework. Coding or modifying presentation aspects of terminal screens is simple. The programs responsible for user presentation can be easily adjusted to become a thin client running on Windows CE, or Java Operating System hand-held devices.
PowerHouse/RF is aimed at providing maximum information to RF terminal users, as well as at simplifying the user interface and optimizing the User/RF terminal interaction. Significant effort was placed on enhancing access to all the functionality of PowerHouse/WMS via RF terminals. Each RF screen comes with a configurable "Help" facility (translatable to user specific languages) for real-time on-line support. Clients may choose to have an active and creative role in modifying screens and screen flow design. Displaying new or different information on each screen can be easily added or removed by the client, without any need to change underlying programs. The client can customize many aspects of RF screen behavior by simply changing system configuration files. PowerHouse/RF was designed to support virtually any wireless/RF vendor product and any size terminal screen.
PowerHouse/RF is based on a Framework programming approach and uses Java as the language of choice. Frameworks provide a well-founded mechanism for code reusability and maintainability. Improved efficiency is achieved by separation of tasks between expert system (Framework programming) team and user interface programming team. PowerHouse/RF is built on two proprietary Frameworks: RF Server Framework (RF Terminal User Interface Class Library) and Open WMS Framework which consists of Java Beans representing warehouse entities such as Product, Pallet, Location as well as service classes which define actions on these Beans. This approach creates reusable programming libraries that are Design Pattern rich and allow fast access to well validated business logic.
PowerHouse/RF is accompanied by a new, flexible implementation of the Work Direction API. The API defines a set of interfaces, which separate work direction business logic from the rest of the system, and provides the ability to "plug-in" different Work Direction Modules. Similar to Open WMS Framework, Work Direction is implemented using Java Event Model type design (known in the Design Pattern Community as Observer) and is a perfect design pattern to use in programming warehouse management systems.
Employing a design that is based on business events enhances the implementation of scalable component-based systems. In an enterprise application system, various applications will be able to listen to particular business events (such as Delivery, No Stock, Truck Closed events). An external application, which registers itself as a listener, can extract information from these events and, for example, broadcast (e.g. send an e-mail) to a manager or customer service representative who has an interest in the event.
QSSI is a well-established software development corporation specializing in the design and implementation of warehouse automation and inventory control systems. Customers include Time Warner, Pets.com, Rust-Oleum, Owens-Illinois, and Rubbermaid. PowerHouse/WMS is QSSI's high powered, flexible, object oriented, client/server warehouse management system that brings real-time computerized management to the warehouse floor.
Quality Software Systems, Inc. is headquartered at 200 Centennial Avenue, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854. Phone is 732-885-1919; Fax is 732-885-1872.
|
