How We Reduced Import Time from 7 Days to Just 2-3 Hours with Delphi 11.3
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Industry
Construction
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Project type
Software modernization, Software development, Feature Enhancement
days was the importing time before modernization
hours is the max importing time after modernization
is the Delphi version migrated to
Description
Our client was a technological company from Austria that delivered software solutions for the construction industry, including manufacturers of various items, materials, and equipment for this market.
One of the aspects that the client’s team was working on was the development of an intelligent system for the automated design of building facades, windows, doors, etc. This system enables the automatic generation of projects and instructions for both automated and manual production. For this, it relies on a row of CAD components. These components are generated based on processing a large number of price lists from various suppliers worldwide.
Though such a solution boasted high demand, some obvious tech issues could jeopardize the trust of end users and could cause serious attrition.
The main problem was the fact that all component price lists were processed too slowly. As a result, users couldn’t rely on the prices because they always needed to ask for updates from a vendor directly. This resulted in significant confusion and, in some cases, made the application of the system practically useless.
The client also noticed that the process of importing price lists consumed too many memory resources. This had a negative impact on the software efficiency and caused a lot of errors.
The key task for Softacom was to find the reasons for such tech issues and address them. The final goals of these efforts were the reduction of memory resource consumption and the streamlining of the process of price list import.
Apart from this, it was also necessary to enrich the solution with new functionality based on the employees’ requirements.
- “The process of importing even a small price list takes several hours. When it comes to lists from major suppliers, the process can take up to a week.”
- “Moreover, we don’t have the possibility to control this process. Various types of tech issues can lead to errors, and we need to run the process of data import once again from the very beginning.”
- “Due to such delays, we can’t timely update our data and keep the information on the prices and the volume of available materials relevant.”
Project team size
- 1 Delphi developer
Solutions
Our work started with a deep analysis of the ongoing state of the software and setting the key project milestones. For coordinating the process, we chose the Scrum methodology with 2-week sprints. This approach allowed us to stay flexible and seamlessly introduce all the required updates and changes.
In the framework of the project review, we detected serious memory leaks and subsequently fixed them.
The code review let us identify the areas and moments when the most time was lost in processing price lists. To address these issues, we decided to migrate specific parts of the project to a newer Delphi version (in our case, it was Delphi 11.3).
The next stage of the project realization was the development and implementation of new functionality. One of the most important features was the analytical Excel report generator for price lists. It can be expanded with easily pluggable modules in the project code.
Softacom Project Manager
For our client, slow imports directly affected how efficiently employees could perform their tasks. By fixing memory leaks and moving to Delphi 11.3, we reduced waiting time from days to just a few hours.
Outcome
- Thanks to our efforts, memory consumption during the data import process has been significantly reduced. Now, the memory resources that are necessary for the process are utilized efficiently. This prevents the sudden software crashes that occurred during the processing of the price lists received from the largest suppliers.
- The import time has been drastically reduced. Small price lists can be processed in 5-10 minutes instead of hours. Large price lists are imported in 2-3 hours instead of days or even a week. As a result, the import time was cut by 95%.
- We have also successfully implemented an analysis tool for price lists. Analysts can use the software to perform routine tasks with the price lists and generate customizable Excel reports with the results of data analysis. New routine processes can be easily added and executed in accordance with analysts’ requirements.
