Zis Mac
Alan Zisman on the Mac
FileMaker Developer at the Heart of Environmental Company's Success
- 2010.08.05 - Tip Jar
Follow Alan Zisman on Twitter.
Popularity: 
Short link: http://bit.ly/dsvlsC
Database developers don't get no respect. Over the past 20 years, Steven Barer, of local database development firm Oak Bay Softrends in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, has built customized software based on the FileMaker Pro database.
However, he has received little public recognition for this sort of behind-the-scenes work that can change the way small to mid-sized businesses function.
Barer understands that custom database development is "not a glitzy business," but he contends that it can be "an integral part of the success of and, often a competitive edge for, many successful companies."
One of Oak Bay's clients, M&R Environmental in Burnaby, BC, began collecting plastic oil containers for recycling in 1994 with four employees and a single truck. At the time, it tracked customers and scheduled pickups using recipe cards. Now with a staff of 50, the company manages a fleet of 15 trucks.
Quickly outgrowing the recipe cards, it looked for off-the-shelf scheduling software. Finding nothing that seemed to do what it needed, M&R turned to Oak Bay in 1996. What it got started out as "a simple scheduling program," according to company controller Dani Mate, but "it was flexible enough that we could add in new functionality as it became necessary." Now, several rewrites later, she said "everything we do lives in this program."
Along with scheduling pickups and deliveries, it now keeps inventory of what has grown from one to 319 products: recycled antifreeze, plastics, oil, and more. A bridge to M&R's accounting software allows the company to invoice its more than 5,000 customers and to provide Mate with "information at my fingertips" as required.
M&R's FileMaker-based software evolved as the company grew; both Barer and Mate note that this required a close working relationship where Oak Bay had to learn about M&R's business and M&R had to learn about the capabilities of FileMaker. Along the way, Mate became an unofficial co-developer of her company's customized software. Now she feels she "can call and ask for changes and know that they can happen."
Company president George Mate noted that, while the initial costs seemed high for a struggling young business, "from day one, the software has been expandable."
He agreed that the collaboration between Barer and his wife has been "vital" to allowing the software to be customized to meet M&R's needs.
For M&R, the big test in the ability to modify the software came on July 1, 2003, when new regulations for the waste oil collection industry involved paperwork, invoicing and accounting. On that day, it was the only company in BC with processes in place for the change-over.
New releases of the core FileMaker product have brought new capabilities to M&R's custom solution. Now, for instance, it can export from the database to spreadsheets and use colour coding to make it easier to recognize different product types or other data categories.
Also new: sales reps can access product inventory and other information from their iPhones.
In total, 20 M&R employees involved in sales, scheduling, and invoicing have varying levels of access to the database.
George Mate suggests that, compared with his competitors, M&R has more effective software that has been able to evolve with the company's vision.
Added Dani Mate: "There's nobody in the industry that does what we do in terms of our data. Nobody. It's pretty impressive to be able to say to a client, here's a complete report of everything we've done for you, down to how many litres of waste oil we hauled away on Tuesday."
By opting for a customized database and by learning to work with the
software developers, M&R has gotten software that fits its needs
and that evolves as those needs grow and change. Concluded Dani Mate,
"It allows us to be more nimble than our competitors."
First published in Business in Vancouver, April 6 - 12, 2010 issue #1067.
Join us on Facebook!, follow us on Twitter, use our Google+ page, or read our RSS news feed
Alan Zisman is Mac-using teacher and technology writer based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Many of his articles are available on his website, www.zisman.ca. If you find Alan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.
Other articles by Alan Zisman
- 3 Ways to Use Microsoft Office on Your iPad, 2012.05.14. You can't run Microsoft Office natively on the iPad, but one of these workarounds may do the job for you.
- Adobe CS6: Why Buy When You Can Rent?, 2012.05.01. Adobe hopes its software users will switch to its $50/month Creative Cloud service rather than buy its software outright.
- iPad Dilemma: New iPad or Stick with the Old?, 2012.04.30. Compared with the original iPad, the New iPad has more power, a better screen, and a better camera, but does that really matter?
- More in the Zis Mac index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: Unitron Mac512, introduced 1985. Unauthorized Brazilian clone of the Mac 512K.
- May 23 in LEM history: 00: A computer I understood - 01: Mac: A dream fulfilled - 02: PowerKey - 03: 12" PowerBook better than 15" TiBook - 05: The First Macs - 06: What's in your workspace? - Picking the right laptop - Sun has set on the G4 - 06: Running your notebook using flash memory - 08: MacBook holds its own against Dell and HP
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Lion and the End of Bootable OS X Installers, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 2012.05.23. Mac OS X Lion is only available as an upgrade from Snow Leopard. Is this the end of bootable installers from Apple?
- Mac Pro on the Way Out or Changing with the Times?, Dan Bashur, Apple, Tech, and Gaming, 2012.05.22. No other desktop Mac offers a wide range of expansion options, but is that enough reason for Apple to keep the behemoth powerhouse Mac Pro around?
- iPhone 3D: Stereo Photography and 3D Movies for the Rest of Us, Anne Onymus, The Rumor Mill, 2012.05.22. Until now, stereo photography and 3D movies required expensive dedicated equipment. With the iPhone 3D, Apple will make it available to the masses.
- iPad 2 'Feels Like an Upgrade' from New iPad, Samsung Tops Apple in Smartphone Market, and More, iOS News Review, 2012.05.21. Also Apple to maintain tablet dominance, working in portrait mode, Wozniak would like to see end of walled garden, and more.
- MacBook Airs Top Ultrabooks, Boost MacBook Performance, MacBook Pro Update in June?, and More, The 'Book Review, 2012.05.21. Also Retina displays available now but costly, USB 3 expected in next MacBook rev, hybrid drives an affordable alternative to SSDs, and more.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals
- Best MacBook Air Deals
- Best iPad Deals
- Best iPod classic Deals
- Best Mac OS X 10.6, iLife, and iWork Deals
- Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals
- Best iBook G4 Deals
- Best Classic Mac OS Deals
- More deals in our archive.
About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact
Follow
Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac
on Facebook
Low End Mac Reader Specials
Macsales for the Right Mac Memory. Easy to Use Online Guide for no Guesswork! Mac Pro up to 128GB, iMac up to 32GB. MacBook/MB Pro, & Mac mini up to 16GB. - Macsales.com
Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Macpokeronline.com will show you how to download and play Poker on a Mac natively on your Mac in just minutes.
Favorite Sites
MacSurfer
Cult of Mac
Shrine of Apple
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac Museum
Deal Brothers
DealMac
Mac2Sell
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End Mac FAQ
Affiliates
Amazon.com
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay
