Revving up to the next level

Suzuki GB PLC

Over 95 years old, the Suzuki brand is synonymous with quality, reliability and originality. The Suzuki name is seen on a full range of motorcycles, automobiles, outboard motors and related products such as generators and motorized wheelchairs. In 2004 Suzuki GB hit the number one spot for motorcycle sales in the fiercely competitive over-125cc sector.

The problem
Suzuki GB had two key drivers for change: firstly, they needed access to new JD Edwards EnterpriseOne functionality and secondly, their old version (B7322) of the software was no longer supported by PeopleSoft. The solution was to upgrade to version 8.9 which resolved these issues. However, the real problem was that the upgrade to 8.9 was far from straightforward, as their existing system was modified, and a one-step upgrade from B7322 to 8.9 was not technically possible. DWS were called in to design a low risk and cost effective process for managing the complex upgrade.

The work
The level of modification of the Suzuki B7322-based system was very high. The core system (i.e. standard JD Edwards objects) was modified and there were also many bolt-on modifications ((i.e. new Suzuki objects) designed to deliver additional functionality. In total there were over a 100 discrete modifications of varying levels of complexity and size. A further challenge for DWS was that the modifications had been created over several years to different coding and documentation standards. DWS developed an upgrade strategy for Suzuki that described upgrade paths for both the new Suzuki objects and the standard JD Edwards objects.

Upgrading new Suzuki objects: The majority of the development work in B7322 had involved the creation of new reports and interactive applications for Suzuki, affecting more than 500 different objects across the system. In order to analyse the amount of time required to upgrade these objects, a random sample was taken and a detailed impact analysis performed on this sample. The outcome of the impact analysis was to categorise the upgrade work on the sample objects by size and complexity. Based on this categorisation, DWS were able to apply the percentages of objects in each category to all objects to provide an accurate estimate to Suzuki for the cost and timescale for the project.

The upgrade strategy involved taking Suzuki from version B7322 to version 8.9 via Xe. This was seen by DWS as the most pragmatic and low risk approach. First, there was a technical upgrade of the core system and all new Suzuki objects from B7322 to Xe. This was followed by a technical upgrade to 8.9. Each of the new Suzuki objects had to be manually inspected for changes impacted by the upgrade and for interaction with standard JD Edwards objects. DWS had to identify the function of each modification, analyse the code and then re-write the modification where appropriate for compatibility with EnterpriseOne 8.9.

Upgrading standard JD Edwards objects: A high level audit of the standard JD Edwards objects was also undertaken. This involved identifying the changes that had been made to the standard JD Edwards applications, and estimating the amount of time that would be required to reapply these changes to the 8.9 versions of the objects.

The technical upgrade from Xe to 8.9 excluded modified standard JD Edwards applications, due to the extensive enhancements to these objects by JD Edwards between the releases. Therefore, the changes to the standard JD Edwards objects had to be reapplied directly at version 8.9. This reapplication process made extensive use of the Visual ER Compare Tool and the new Compare Mode within Forms Design Aid (FDA).

The result
The upgrade was successful and the resultant code was “cleaned” and clearly documented. The project was delivered on time and within the budget originally estimated.

The upgraded system has delivered new functionality and peace of mind to Suzuki. The availability of comprehensive documentation means maintenance and support are much simpler and more efficient. The 8.9 version also offers browser access for the dealer network at Suzuki which has enabled them to provide even better customer service.

Technical configuration
Environment
Software PeopleSoft EnterpriseOne 8.9 (SP 8.94_C1)
Database Microsoft SQL Server 2000
Hardware Intel NT
Runtime Fat Client, Citrix and HTML

Modules impacted
Purchase Order Management
Sales Order Management
Inventory Management
Distribution Requirement Planning
Forecasting
Electronic Data Interchange