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AGCO, one of the world's
largest manufacturers, designers, and distributors
of agricultural equipment had recently moved from
a mainframe environment to an IBM System i one. They
needed a solution to speed up their print management
when running across Europe.
The speed of their original application although
fine for the UK was too slow when extended out across
Europe. This meant that the European operations
could not operate to the same standards as the UK.
AGCO needed a print workflow application which would
run on the IBM System i without any requirement for re-programming
their print applications. The application would
need to produce forms overlays which are transparent
to the end user. There were also other considerations
to take into account as AGCO had no need or budget
to replace their existing infrastructure such as
the Lan/Wan Networks and attached PCL printers.
Formatted print would require the ability to be
sent as email attachments, it was also necessary
to include an archiving tool in order to ensure
older documents could be reprinted in their original
form if required. All this together with the need
for an application which would run at comparable
speeds across the UK and Europe meant AGCO had their
work cut out investigating different solutions.
Peter Graham, Technical development Project Manager
for AGCO said:
“Although we knew it would take some time
to investigate a number of solutions it was very
important to us that we selected not only a product
to fulfil our current requirements but also one
that we could expand if the need arose at a later
stage. We are committed to moving forward with only
the very best product and not a quick fix solution.”
AGCO investigated a number of alternative solutions,
all of which performed adequately but lacked, in
one way or another, the ability to future proof
against changing business requirements. One solution
worked as a centralised print application but was
not flexible enough for local print solutions. Another
could successfully handle locally attached printers
and produced the PDF documents for archiving and
email but lacked functionality when outputting to
remote locations and re-directing prints to other
printers, it also worked only with postscript printers
that were IP attached. The third solution needed
to run on a separate LPAR with a windows Print Server
again this solution provided good functionality
for a local environment but users found it difficult
to re-direct prints and all printers needed to be
connected to the Server, requiring Postscript IP
attached printers.
AGCO started discussions with SpaceTec a leading
supplier of IBM System i products and services. SpaceTec
supply a number of integrating products for the
IBM System i designed for Print, Fax and Email Management.
SpaceTec provided AGCO with a trial of the InterForm400
software. InterForm400 handles the entire print
workflow of an IBM System i without any requirement for
re-programming print applications. Forms are automatically
selected based on print data or spool attributes,
and distributed to any PCL5 compatible printer in
their network. Interform400 also offers the ability
to create the documents in PDF format and includes
a zip feature so these documents can be emailed
to external users.
In order for AGCO to ensure the software matched
all their specifications they ran the trial for
2 months.
“We found that Interform400 fitted all
our requirements and offered additional benefits.
The main reasons for AGCO choosing InterForm400
is because of the following functionality.”
Comments Peter.
 Existing
spool files could be mapped requiring no change
to the applications.
All
software is centrally stored on the AS400, did not
require a PC client.
PCL
viewer on the AS400 allows the developer to check
as he is designing.
Spoolfile
edit facility, no coding necessary to create or
change spool file.
Can
use PCL printers, with AS/400 output connected via
SNA or IP.
Merges
the spoolfile automatically with the form overlay
with the AFC function.
No loss
of visibility from the AS400, viewed as a merged
or an unmerged spool file.
Acceptable
print speed to remote printers.
AGCO made the decision to move forward with the
InterForm400 product at the end of the 2 month trial.
AGCO have used two days training provided by SpaceTec
for 3 developers, one day for the AFC and PDF functions
and the second for the ZPL Zebra print tools. At
the end of both of these days they were able to
develop the applications. Some training was given
to remote IT operations, in restarting prints if
they have a printer problem, other than that the
end users did not require any training and as a
whole are unaware of any difference to the applications
as there have been no changes to the look and feel
of the forms.
Interform400 is used on a daily basis – currently
they have approx 30 forms which have gone live,
a number of forms are in development including the
new ZPL applications. AGCO have made the decision
to convert existing forms only when they or the
application require modification. All new forms
and applications are designed so that all of InterForm400
features can be utilised.
Once AGCO was running with InterForm400 they were
then able to investigate some of the additional
functionality offered by this product. Including
the email facility which is soon to be migrated
through InterForm400. AGCO were interested in the
ZPL printing functionality and took a days training
with SpaceTec to learn more about this option. Since
then they have started to use the ZPL print option
to produce warehouse labels.
“ Deployment of InterForm400 has been
a very easy and painless procedure for us. We selected
the product for its abilities to meet our requirements
now and in the future. We were very pleased at the
ease with which we could produce the warehouse labels
using the ZPL print option."
SpaceTec and AGCO have formed a very good relationship.
Any problems or questions have been handled promptly,
the facility to send and receive data (spool files,
designs, PTFs) via e-mail to be downloaded to the
AS400 is very useful.” Says Peter.
About AGCO
AGCO Corporation, headquartered
in Duluth, Georgia, is a global designer, manufacturer
and distributor of agricultural equipment and related
replacement parts. AGCO products are distributed
in more than 140 countries. AGCO offers a full product
line including tractors, combines, hay tools, sprayers,
forage, tillage equipment and implements through
more than 8900 independent dealers and distributors
around the world. AGCO products are distributed
under the brand names AGCO, Agco Allis, AgcoStar,
Challenger, Farmhand, Fendt, Fieldstar, Gleaner,
Glencoe, Hesston, LOR*AL, Massey Ferguson, New Idea,
RoGator, SisuDiesel, Soilteq, Spra Coupe, Sunflower,
TerraGator, Tye, Valtra, White, and Willmar.
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