Make or Buy

Purchasing or customized development - an important decision

We are happy to help. A software investment should be examined thoroughly. Before deciding for a product one can and should check verified facts and compare the features. Many decision-makers weigh the investment into a standard software against the customized development. Here you find some arguments to support this decision-making process.

Use of proven and established procedures

The usage of the modern open language Java, a database with standard SQL language scope and waiving to use proprietary products prevents dependence on the provider and his strategic decision. The language Java that has gained a lot of popularity recently has become the standard language and is taught and used at many universities and industrial businesses.

The operation independent of a platform in heterogeneous networks, operating systems and computer network environments is possible and used in everyday practice.

For substantial components subsidiaries of open source projects are available assuring a long-term availability of the products even after their commercial utilization. Dependence on proprietary decisions are reduced at best.

Widely used programming development environment and revisionist tools assure a long-term availability. Staff with the required qualifications will still be accessible on the market in the future.

These are the fundamentals for a sustainable investment decision - unfortunately not a matter of course in the IT. Many IT products that have been taken off the market prove the importance of a precise choice of product.

Option for a reference implementation

A visit of reference companies as well as a reference implementation in the own company is possible.

Low initial and running costs

The following costs and expenses can be allocated between a large amount of customers:

  • Development
  • Maintenance and 
  • Support

Usually a special staff is not necessary. Many AMS users demonstrably don't need own IT staff for the supervision of AMS. To the full extend the required services can be acquired on the free market, received from TTC or requested on demand.

The costs for the necessary requirements analyses gets underestimated in many software projects. Prominent estimates assume between 30% and 50% of the total sum of a software project. A problem often underestimated is the cooperation of employees from other departments and the additional burden resulting from this.

Choosing AMS ensures you a provider that really knows your sector, requirements and problems. For us the requirements analysis is an integral part of a project before submitting and offer - not afterwards.

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Shorter implementation period

Our product is instantaneously operational in many business areas without considerable adjustments. Required basic development is saved. An immanent characteristic of customised software is the long time that goes by between the decision to implement a new application system and the following comissioning of the fully functional software. Innovations are not recognised or (usually) more quickly accessible on the free market.

The time required for software development and the delays in development due to unclear and changing requirements are frequently underestimated and lead to considerable costs and delays.

The close cooperation between the IT department and the later users that is required at the analysis, implementation and the likely necessary fine adjustments of a self-development cause considerable time effort and high internal costs. Furthermore the top performers of each department usually need to invest a lot of time. The more the users are involved the more the ongoing operation is disrupted during the time of development. Buying a finished solution reduces this effort considerably and in the best case fully ceases.

AMS - the mature solution

  • Worldwide operation in 13 countries
  • 24/7 use
  • More than 15 years in productive practical application
  • >100 implementations worldwide
  • overall turnover unknown, currently approx. 60-70% of the German heat treatment market
  • through close and trusting cooperation with established companies from the plant and control engineering TTC is always up-to-date concerning heat treatment technologies.

Acquiring external expertise - an important argument

Software implementation as a chance to optimise working processes, avoid and eliminate additional work and consolidate data.

Through customised software the independence is usually preserved, at the same time the chance to import (economical and technical) expertise is lost. Mistakes or inadequacies in the workflows that might have been discovered when implementing standard and sector software stay hidden and are taken over into the software system (so-called island-development). On the other hand when preparing to implement a mature standard software, inadequacies are discovered quickly and optimising is still possible.

After years on the market TTC Informatik is not only seen as a software provider. Frequently we are working in the field of process and workflow optimisation together with our customers.

Integration between companies when standard software is widely spread

Market penetration in German-speaking areas simplifies staffing with AMS knowledge. AMS knowledge of applicants is seen as an „advantage" at many heat treatment companies since the training period can be reduced. Likewise the intuitive operation and orientation towards practical use facilitates the handling of AMS for lateral entrants as well.

Linking power ranges for integrated software

A declared goal of AMS is among others the link between the autarkic, administrative working areas with the process control systems. This task is taken by the technical AuftragsManagementSystem (job management system) TAM, represents a central function and supports the creation of transparency, reproducibility and in addition meets diverse requirements of different quality management systems. This includes a broad support of numerous heterogeneous process control systems.

No workshop costs or hidden "adjustment costs"

A clear promise - fixed price software implementation

We understand our customers and carry out a detailed analysis of your needs and an examination of your special requirements on-site before preparing an offer. This enables us to calculate fixed-price offers starting with the software, the required programming effort and our service as a complete package. We also accompany and serve you during the creation of new IT infrastructure.

Your benefit - clear control over the costs, no hidden additional expenses

External integration efforts (also called customising) are strictly differentiated from the AMS environment, estimated in detail and only represent a small part of the total project expenditures.

Internal optimisation measures have a direct, noticeable influence on the internal workflows and are often performed during the AMS implementation. Therefore a large part of the occurring costs can only partly be attributed to the software implementation of AMS. These would correctly be assigned to the regularly arising expenses of the continual improvement process and permanent business organisation.