I have been working with mashups with several customers, and even if the customers are in different businesses, I can clearly see that a lot of the demands from the users don't differ that much. In the purchase area for example, I have used the same purchase mashup template for several customers. I have only changed smaller things, to make the mashup turn from a template into a perfect tool for the purchaser.
Starting from a template reduces the development time, but most important, it makes it much easier for the users to explain what they want. As you all know, starting from a blank piece of paper is harder than giving feedback on an existing solution.
The purchase mashup template I have used contains of two main tabs, one showing proposals, and one showing purchase orders.
The tab showing proposals is based on PPS170, planned purchase orders. You start by clicking on the proposal you want to work with. The material plan is shown (MMS080) in the bottom of the screen, and if you change tab you will see supplier and item details. You can change, release and create orders using the buttons.
Tab 1, Purchase proposals
The second tab shows purchase orders, and it is based on PPS220, purchase order lines. The bottom of the screen shows the same information as the first tab shows, materialplan and item/supplier details.
The buttons allow you to confirm and close the order, and to print documents.
Tab 2, Purchase orders
When I use this template as the base, it doesn't take much time to develop the perfect purchase mashup for a customer. The users can test the template, and then we add/change buttons, maybe add some more information (like for example agreement prices or possibility to receive goods) and then we are ready to deploy the first version!
If you want to know more about the mashup templates we have at iStone, please contact me, or talk to your iStone consultant! We have templates for the main application areas in M3, and we will present more details about some of the mashup templates in the blog further on.
