Harvey R&D

In 2003 I was asked to help out the R&D department. This is some of the work I have been involved with, working with the engineering and production teams. Filemaker still plays a major part of these processes and it is a testament to the versatility of the platform that it can integrate so well with such a diverse range of 3rd party systems.

The most stand out of these is the IoT Production workflow which has now produced over 50,000 devices, integrating with Ayla, AWS, IFS and Salesforce platforms, making the Harvey i-Lid one of the most succesful connected products in Culligans portfolio.  Which is nice, as I am listed as one of the inventors on the patent.

Dealer Finance App 2024

Prior to the switch to IFS and Salesforce, Harvey's offered a finance service for dealers to offer to their customers. As this was beyond the MVP of the transition, I came up with a completely new, fully automated solution through which we could offer aproved dealers a self service wrapper to the Novuna platform and include a bullet proof integration to CitiBank for fully automatic payouts. As you can imagine I had to deal with loads of compliance hurdles to deliver the solution, which I did and managed to provide a unique custom solution that benefited our dealers, their customers and also reduce the workload for the Finance team. 

The dealer would use the app to raise an application with Novuna, they would then send the customer the application forms to sign electronically. Once the customer had signed, my system would then contact the dealer to arrange an installation. Once the installation was complete the dealer would enter the serial number of the Softener into the app which verified that against the order held in IFS and when that was satisfied we would trigger an api call to Novuna to issue payment to Harvey's. When that payment was received it automatically triggered CitiBank to pay the dealer the balance minus the handling fee.

For maximum compatibility it was delivered through web direct, with a custom environmet for the dealer, and a separate environment for the office. All automations are triggered from Novuna callbacks. A server side automation handles the transactions using an urn:iso:std:iso:20022:tech:xsd:pain.001.001.03  CitiBank Faster Payments API

The net result is the Finance team now need to do nothing. It was a hit.

Salt Delivery System 2021

One of the problems of the transfer to SalesForce and IFS was the fact that we didn't have an easy method to allocate salt between DHL and our team of Van drivers, so I came up with a FileMaker Integration with IFS that gave the Office team a simple way to manage salt deliveries and the van delivery drivers an iPad app that allowed them to plan their routes and mark the orders as delivered. 

Built completly around IFS, its a great example of how you can integrate FileMaker with 3rd party enterprise software, extending its functionality that is beyond the its scope of the core product.

Project Alloy Data Migration Tool 2020

When Culligan bought the company back in 2018 I knew that it would be very unlikely that my bespoke FileMaker solutions would continue driving the company forward and by mid 2020 culligan had decided that all of its EMEA acquisitions would be centralised on a common platform based on a hybrid of  SalesForce CRM and IFS ERP platforms. So my task for the next 12 months was to build an dynamic translation tool that allowed business as usual right up to the day of switchover to the new platforms on July 6 2021 in a hard cutover.

This was no small task as both platforms have very different schemas, datatypes, degrees of normalisation so I had to write translations twice, with continual refinements up until migration day. It was a project of epic scale not only in complexity, precision, stress and the sheer number of hours worked, it was also not hugely exciting as ultimately it just had to spit out a bunch of CSV files for the team at Accenture to ingest into both platforms from Microsoft Excel.... but hey, that's what they specified so thats's what was built.

Harvey Salt Shop Magento & Shopify integrations 2018

With the new Harvey website(s) came online salt sales. First version was Drupal based site with a Magento Salt Shop replaced a year later by  a second version running on Wordpress with a separate Shopify hosted  salt shop. I had to write fully automated FileMaker integrations for both verisons that would capture orders and process fulfilment through DHL api or our own salt delivery drivers through an iPad custom app using the FMgo. This automation was server side only.

Retail iPad  v2 2016

Interactive rebranded customer version. Utilising all major functions of FileMaker 16 iOS SDK and automatically deployed via Apple MDM.  Dynamic local device content management from Filemaker Server allows us  to rapidly update field based apps while maintaining the ability to work offline in poor signal areas, enabling us to add new features safely and securely.

The redesigned app was geared as a richly guided selling tool rather than just to simply capture order data, and it significantly increased sale closure on the day of the rep visit.

Direct intergration with Hitachi Capital API allowed us to offer finance directly from the iPad where a credit decision and approval was near immediate.

Harvey Service and Installation iPad app 2015

Designed to converge the installation and service departments workflow, this iPad solution eradicated the complex paperwork trail and made the whole process real time. Time from installation to final account setup was reduced from two weeks to just two minutes. Another added benefit being Installation work can now be allocated to service engineers in periods of peak demand. The solution is highly scalable, In 2013 we had 10 installers we now have in excess of 50 and growing. The solution allows for self employed installers too, including managing their invoice requirements. The iPad also allows placing part orders directly on our our main ordering system, giving the users 24/7 flexibility and simplifying the role of stores.

Door Canvasser iPad app 2015

Originally to be outsourced (quotes came back between £17,000-£50,0000 to develop) this project came back in house and was completed in one week at zero cost. The iPad was given to a team of canvassers with postal addresses allocated to canvass and was designed so we could gather information live to our Lead system. It included customisable scripts so we could ask tailored questions on the door and also included the ability of recording call backs and also book appointments. It was integrated into the Retail iPad so the full order process could be followed on the device. The app also allowed us to monitor the effectiveness of the canvassing team in real time back at the office on a custom control dashboard.

Remote Diagnosis Water Softener Data Logger 2014

Designed and built a unique solution for remote field monitoring of Water Softeners in customers houses for fault detection, replacing the existing archaic method of filming pressure guages.

Built on a linux SBC it was controlled by a FileMaker Server solution that captured data and automatically ingested and analysed data. A second client version of the app allowed for deeper analysis and archiving.

The softener being tested in this video was damaged due to a small leak in the house plumbing, were it was slowly being pressurised above 10 bar causing it to fail structurally. The logger identified this where 6 previous engineer visits couldnt identify the issue.

Retail iPad 2014

Designed as a tool for sales representatives to close and process orders in the field, this app controlled all of their appointments on a rolling calendar, capturing customer orders and organising a installation bookings with the office. The app could generate tailored quotes as well. Designed as a full facsimile of the paper process the company had been using for thirty years, the reps quickly adopted the workflow. Commissions were also calculated on the device so the rep could see at a glance how they were doing. The most significant feature of the Retail iPad was that everything synchronised with the Retail system in real time, minimising delays in processing sales and reducing cancellations

Retail system 2013

Up until 2013 the retail department was completely paper based. Appointments were managed by card index, Rep & InstallerDiaries were photocopied sheets posted out weekly. In 2012 I finally managed to get the go ahead to build the Retail management system and streamline the multiple manual processes. Leads were directly integrated from the website and phone system, Diaries allowing for the flexible working days and times of our self employed representatives were automatically displayed for incoming leads based on territories. Installer Diaries allowed rapid booking availability based on job complexity and areas covered by specific installers.  The Retail system automates workflow between all other company systems and eliminated a mountain of paperwork. In its first year it contributed to a 40% growth

Directory & Order Management system 2008

Designed and built our second generation Integrated CRM and order processing workflow system. Retail Customers and Dealer Order systems merged into one workflow. Highly customisable and granular order rules controlled by templates allowed us to manage our various dealer brands. Flexible enough so that we could offer anything at what ever price for whatever customer, while strict enough to make sure that nobody could unwittingly sell the wrong item to the wrong customer.

New Factory IT and Comms 2004-2006

Designed and implemented the entire IT infrastructure for the newly built factory. The building was saturated with network points to allow for maximum growth. Local office nodes connected to the backbone over fibre at 1GB speed and every network point was power over ethernet allowing plug and play expansion.

The telephone system was VOIP over SIP. I also reverse engineered the phone system so it communicated directly with database systems so we knew which customer was calling and found their details before we even answered the call.

New Product Launch & IT Transformation 2001-2004

Despite being hired as the IT Manager, my background in TV got me thrown into designing marketing material for new softener launch in 2001. I designed and programmed various computer based AV presenters for sales reps in 2002-2003. Shot, edited all video and created original 3D motion graphics content. Worked on various media communications and product launches for dealers and retail channels ever since.

In 2004 actually started my official IT role by networking up the old factory and building initial database systems. The rest, as they say, is history.