TEXAS INDUSTRIES. Overview & Goal. Organization. Solution & Results

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1 TEXAS INDUSTRIES Our first Oracle ADF Mbile applicatin tk 10 weeks frm beginning t end and nw we can rll ut updates as well as a new applicatin in 4 weeks. One week t build the applicatin, tw weeks fr testing and user feedback, 1 week t release t the Apple App Stre (Ggle Play is cnsiderably quicker). True rapid applicatin develpment (RAD) with releases n a mnthly basis! Bala Venkataraman, TXI Chief Architect Cmpany: Texas Industries Lcatin: Dallas, TX URL: Industry: Cnstructin Materials Technlgies & Services: Oracle JDevelper / Oracle ADF Oracle ADF Mbile Oracle WebLgic Server Oracle Database Oracle EBS Oracle BI Apple Push Ntificatin service (APNs) Ggle Clud Messaging service (GCMs) REST/JSON Web Services Ggle Maps Trimble fr Real time Lcatin Cmmand Alkn Dispatch Applicatin Prject Scale: 2 ADF Develpers 3 BI Develpers 10 weeks t develp and g live Credits: Terry Marshall, TXI Bala Venkataraman, TXI Oracle Prduct Management Overview & Gal TXI, Texas Industries, is in the cnstructin industry supplying cement, aggregates and cncrete t custmers fr ver 50 years. TXI is the largest supplier f cement in Texas and has significant peratins in Califrnia. TXI annual revenues are rughly $900 millin, emplys 2200 peple and is publicly traded n the NYSE under the symbl TXI.. The cncrete prcess frm mix t pur has a windw f 90 minutes t cmplete befre the cncrete becmes unusable. Cnsidering the time sensitive nature f each jb, Ready Mix (cncrete) custmers regularly called the TXI Dispatch Custmer Service asking, Where is my truck? TXI recgnized the need fr a business-t-cnsumer (B2C) mbile applicatin that custmers culd easily dwnlad t their mbile devices and quickly check their rders and truck details securely withut having t call TXI. Organizatin The intended users f the mbile ReadyTrac applicatin are cnstructin custmers that have placed large rders fr cncrete. These custmers needed the ability t track cncrete delivery trucks en rute fr timed precisin f scheduled purs. In the cncrete business time is f the essence with a max windw frm mix t pur f 90 minutes befre the cncrete has begun t slidify. Oracle ADF Mbile allwed us t rapidly develp ur ReadyTrac mbile applicatin which integrates with ur Cmmand Alkn system allwing ur custmers t precisely schedule their jbs and track the cncrete vehicles en rute t their site in real-time. Terry Marshall, TXI CIO Slutin & Results Oracle ADF Mbile allwed TXI t reuse existing web services and g-t-market with their mbile applicatin in 10 weeks time. This included develpment, QA and time t release the applicatin thrugh the Apple and Ggle Play app stres. With Oracle ADF Mbile, ne cde base was used t deply native applicatins fr bth ios and Andrid devices. The capabilities prvided by ReadyTrac include: Get alerts when trucks leave TXI s plant and arrive n the custmer jb site. Mnitr hw many cubic yards f cncrete have been pured and hw many are still en rute. See the date, time, rder number, cubic yards rdered, lcatin and mre details fr past and future purs. Track trucks lcatins utilizing GPS technlgy frm the time each truck leaves the plant t the time it arrives n the custmer jb site. 1

2 In additin t the ReadyTrac Mbile B2C applicatin, TXI has 3 additinal Oracle ADF Mbile prductin applicatins: TrackMan This mbile applicatin is leveraged by TXI s internal sales team and prvides summary detail by regin n all custmer activity. Cnsidered a sister applicatin t ReadyTrac, TrackMan allws the TXI sales team t view every custmer and every plant f TXI with drilldwn functinality as seen in the ReadyTrac applicatin. This applicatin tk 8 weeks frm develpment t prductin. WaitTime WaitTime is als an internal applicatin fr TXI sales cement divisin and this slutin expses Oracle BI infrmatin. Every TXI custmer truck is prvided with a tracking tll tag which allws fr mnitring f the number f trucks in line at a plant and hw lng it actually takes a truck t get thrugh the plant with a lad. This applicatin tk 8 weeks frm develpment t prductin. TXI Calc TXI Calc was the riginal prf f cncept applicatin fr Oracle ADF Mbile. A first attempt was t develp a mbile applicatin using Xcde and Objective C. This tk 3 weeks t develp and was specific t ios devices. TXI then lked t Oracle ADF Mbile and the same applicatin was develped in 4 hurs and that cde base was used t deply tw native applicatins fr ios and Andrid devices. Technical Details TXI had previusly develped a web based applicatin using Oracle ADF t track cncrete trucks t custmer sites. Additinal functinality included the ability t mnitr hw many cubic yards f cncrete had been pured and hw many were still en rute. Oracle ADF Mbile allwed TXI t reuse this existing cde base and expse the infrmatin thrugh REST/JSON web services which were cnsumed by TXI s ReadyTrac applicatin. The web services delivered rder infrmatin, truck data and additinal detail riginally captured in TXI s Cmmand Alkn Dispatch system. The real-time lcatin f the delivery trucks was captured via a Trimble Navigatin sensr which prvided anther integratin pint using REST/JSON web services. The service layer was built frm scratch using Oracle JDevelper, the same tl used t develp the mbile applicatin. TXI develped EJB/JPA entities that were expsed via REST web services that expsed data as bth XML and JSON. ReadyTrac custmers can subscribe t push ntificatins inside the mbile applicatin such that they will get alerts whenever a truck leaves the plant and/r the truck reaches the jb site. The custmer can turn n push ntificatins at a prject level. The push ntificatin is supprted n bth ios (Apple Push Ntificatin service APNs) and Andrid (Ggle Clud Messaging service GCMs) platfrms. There are tw cmpnents t this prcess. Client Side The custmer is prmpted if they wuld like t allw push ntificatins when they access the ReadyTrac applicatin fr the first time. If the custmer allws push ntificatins, a unique device registratin tken is captured and stred in TXI s backend server using a REST web service. This is used t send the push ntificatin paylad t APNs r GCMs depending n the device. The custmer stres their push ntificatin alert preferences at a prject level under prject ptins as seen belw. TXI als stres the custmer preferences in their backend server using a REST web service. 2

3 ReadyTrac Applicatin Prject Optins page Server Side There is a java prgram that runs every 3 minutes in Oracle WebLgic server (WLS). This prgram creates a JSON paylad based n each custmer s preference. This paylad is stred in a queue n TXI s backend server. In the case f APNs, TXI cnfigured the APNs certificate and included it in the keystre. The JSON paylad is then sent t APNs r GCMs depending n the custmer device type. An errr cde is returned if there was a prblem sending the paylad t the device. If a prblem exists, TXI captures the errr cde and updates the queue table accrdingly. This typically ccurs when the custmer has received a new device r has stpped accepting push ntificatins. By leveraging device native push ntificatin services, Oracle ADF Mbile fully and seamlessly integrates int device s ntificatin and alert capabilities. Oracle ADF Mbile als prvides hks t allw push ntificatins t trigger custm lgic that can set the prper applicatin cntext fr end users. Push ntificatins are critical t TXI s ReadyTrac applicatin in rder t ensure the custmer n the jb site gets ample ntificatin t prepare fr a pur. Fr authrizatin TXI assigns a private key t each custmer at the time f registratin. Every REST URI request frm a mbile device is hashed using that private key based n the user lg-in. The hashed value is passed as a parameter in the REST service call. On the server, TXI cmpares that hash value with the hash value generated n the server side fr the URI and the uid s private key. Only a match will allw the call t g thrugh, therwise an errr is raised. When it cmes t authenticatin, TXI stres ReadyTrac users in WLS under the security realm. This is dne after a ReadyTrac user registers and their accunt is 3

4 activated. WLS stres the passwrd as a hashed value. A REST web service uses the WLS java api t validate uid/pwd cmbinatins when the ReadyTrac user tries t lgin using their mbile applicatin. This will be replaced using Oracle ADF Mbile s security mdel in a future release. Business Value ReadyTrac slves critical issues fr TXI in that it reduces the wait time n calls int the TXI Dispatch Custmer Service frm what culd be minutes during peak hurs dwn t instant access with the Oracle ADF Mbile slutin. This increases custmer prductivity and prvides cst savings in scheduling resurces alng with cmplete transparency and knwledge f where custmer trucks are in real-time. Mbile Benefits: Imprved custmer satisfactin Differentiatr frm a sales perspective in clsing deals. N cmpetitr mbile applicatins in this space. Reduced staffing csts fr Dispatch Custmer Service as custmers can nw check status via their mbile applicatin in real-time. Oracle ADF Mbile Benefits: True rapid applicatin develpment resulting in faster time t market fr the applicatins N develpment training required saving training and staffing csts One cde-base t deply tw native applicatins n ios and Andrid resulting in significant cst-savings True multi-channel deplyment thrugh extending existing web-based applicatin t mbile devices Onging Develpment Develpment already underway r n the radmap fr the future at TXI includes updates t the ReadyTrac mbile applicatin and expsing Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) services. ReadyTrac A new feature t be included in the ReadyTrac app is ne called NearMe. The idea is that if yu re at a jb site yu have visibility int jbs that are ging n within a 2 mile radius f yur lcatin. This feature is designed fr external users. Oracle EBS The intent is t expse cmmn business functinality internally in rder t increase emplyee prductivity by creating easy t use applicatins with real-time integratin int TXI s ERP platfrm. The current functinality planned fr mbile develpment includes; View AP invice status Receive gds and services Apprval Wrklist 4

5 Applicatin View TXI s ReadyTrac Mbile Applicatin has a rich interactive user interface. Frm left t right yu have the splash screen, lgin, a view int yur prjects with data visualizatin gauge cmpnent, truck tracking with GPS integratin and truck tracking details. ReadyTrac Splash Screen ReadyTrac Lgin ReadyTrac My Prjects ReadyTrac Tracking Map ReadyTrac Truck Tracking Screen 5