Download PDF
Smals Gets Big Savings from Webmethods Entirex
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - API Integration & Management
Applicable Industries
- Healthcare & Hospitals
Applicable Functions
- Discrete Manufacturing
- Business Operation
Use Cases
- Process Control & Optimization
- Predictive Maintenance
Services
- System Integration
- Software Design & Engineering Services
The Challenge
Smals, a leading Information and Communications Technology (ICT) services organization in Belgium, had invested years of development in 42 specialized COBOL applications. Once Smals had created a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), the organization needed an efficient way to establish communications between the SOA and these core mainframe applications. Effective communication between the systems of the CBSS and Smals is crucial for a swift processing of millions of transactions. “When one of our members wants to process a declaration—for example for registering a new employee in their system—they send an electronic message to the CBSS that uses an IBM mainframe,” Vanneste said. “Formerly, this message was passed through to Smals’ BS2000 mainframe, where the request was processed by one of the 42 specialized COBOL applications and answered.
About The Customer
With more than 1,700 employees and annual revenue of €193 million, Smals is one the largest ICT shared services organizations in Belgium. Smals was started in 1939. Today, it operates three state-of-the-art data centers and a variety of mission critical platforms, including over 1,700 servers and over 300 business applications. As a not- for-profit organization, Smals works for more than 60 Belgian government organizations in social security and healthcare. In addition to hosting, housing and outsourcing, Smals has a strong focus on development, mainly on the Java platform. They also provide more and more support and assistance to their members to let them run business applications cost effectively.
The Solution
webMethods EntireX proved to be the perfect solution. Smals had already used Adabas and Natural for many years—and was impressed Software AG was able to create a proof of concept for webMethods EntireX in just two weeks. Vanneste turned to Software AG that proposed using webMethods EntireX. Smals was already familiar with the Software AG portfolio as the company had used Adabas and Natural for a long time. “At first, we were sceptical about EntireX,” Vanneste said. “We doubted it could do the job. But we were seriously amazed when Software AG created a proof of concept within two weeks which proved that EntireX was the perfect solution. We instantly decided to follow this route and started implementing the solution. A test environment was developed and we performed many tests.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
Related Case Studies.
Case Study
Hospital Inventory Management
The hospital supply chain team is responsible for ensuring that the right medical supplies are readily available to clinicians when and where needed, and to do so in the most efficient manner possible. However, many of the systems and processes in use at the cancer center for supply chain management were not best suited to support these goals. Barcoding technology, a commonly used method for inventory management of medical supplies, is labor intensive, time consuming, does not provide real-time visibility into inventory levels and can be prone to error. Consequently, the lack of accurate and real-time visibility into inventory levels across multiple supply rooms in multiple hospital facilities creates additional inefficiency in the system causing over-ordering, hoarding, and wasted supplies. Other sources of waste and cost were also identified as candidates for improvement. Existing systems and processes did not provide adequate security for high-cost inventory within the hospital, which was another driver of cost. A lack of visibility into expiration dates for supplies resulted in supplies being wasted due to past expiry dates. Storage of supplies was also a key consideration given the location of the cancer center’s facilities in a dense urban setting, where space is always at a premium. In order to address the challenges outlined above, the hospital sought a solution that would provide real-time inventory information with high levels of accuracy, reduce the level of manual effort required and enable data driven decision making to ensure that the right supplies were readily available to clinicians in the right location at the right time.
Case Study
Gas Pipeline Monitoring System for Hospitals
This system integrator focuses on providing centralized gas pipeline monitoring systems for hospitals. The service they provide makes it possible for hospitals to reduce both maintenance and labor costs. Since hospitals may not have an existing network suitable for this type of system, GPRS communication provides an easy and ready-to-use solution for remote, distributed monitoring systems System Requirements - GPRS communication - Seamless connection with SCADA software - Simple, front-end control capability - Expandable I/O channels - Combine AI, DI, and DO channels
Case Study
Driving Digital Transformations for Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices
Diagnostic devices play a vital role in helping to improve healthcare delivery. In fact, an estimated 60 percent of the world’s medical decisions are made with support from in vitrodiagnostics (IVD) solutions, such as those provided by Roche Diagnostics, an industry leader. As the demand for medical diagnostic services grows rapidly in hospitals and clinics across China, so does the market for IVD solutions. In addition, the typically high cost of these diagnostic devices means that comprehensive post-sales services are needed. Wanteed to improve three portions of thr IVD:1. Remotely monitor and manage IVD devices as fixed assets.2. Optimizing device availability with predictive maintenance.3. Recommending the best IVD solution for a customer’s needs.
Case Study
HaemoCloud Global Blood Management System
1) Deliver a connected digital product system to protect and increase the differentiated value of Haemonetics blood and plasma solutions. 2) Improve patient outcomes by increasing the efficiency of blood supply flows. 3) Navigate and satisfy a complex web of global regulatory compliance requirements. 4) Reduce costly and labor-intensive maintenance procedures.
Case Study
Harnessing real-time data to give a holistic picture of patient health
Every day, vast quantities of data are collected about patients as they pass through health service organizations—from operational data such as treatment history and medications to physiological data captured by medical devices. The insights hidden within this treasure trove of data can be used to support more personalized treatments, more accurate diagnosis and more advanced preparative care. But since the information is generated faster than most organizations can consume it, unlocking the power of this big data can be a struggle. This type of predictive approach not only improves patient care—it also helps to reduce costs, because in the healthcare industry, prevention is almost always more cost-effective than treatment. However, collecting, analyzing and presenting these data-streams in a way that clinicians can easily understand can pose a significant technical challenge.