Legacy Manufacturing System Modernization
Your old system still works. We connect it to everything else, so you don't have to replace it.
Your business runs on an old system: maybe an AS/400, an older SAP, or something custom-built in FoxPro or Visual Basic years ago. It looks dated and new staff find the green screens hard, but it reliably handles the accounts, stock and orders. The trouble is it can't talk to newer software, so people retype information in and out of it, and someone keeps telling you to replace the lot.
We keep the old system doing what it does well and add what it is missing: connections to your newer software, simpler screens for staff, and proper reports.
What you get: less retyping, staff who can use the system more easily, reports you can trust, and the choice of when to replace it, rather than being forced into a big, risky project now.
Keep and Connect, or Replace?
| Question | Keep and Connect | Replace |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Usually much less: connections, new screens and reports | A much bigger project: new system, moving the data and retraining everyone |
| Time | Improvements added step by step, each useful on its own | A long project before anyone sees the benefit |
| Disruption | Small. The old system keeps running | Large. The whole business has to change how it works |
| What your team knows | Kept. Years of business rules stay in place | Lost. Everything set up and learnt again |
| Risk | Low. Small additions while the old system keeps working | High. Replacement projects often run over |
| New features | Connections, easier screens, reporting and scanning added where needed | Newer features, but no guarantee the new system fits how you work |
In practice: old systems often do their core jobs very well, after years of refinement. Age alone isn't a reason to replace something; being unsupported, unreliable or unable to do what the business needs is. If that is where you are, we will tell you honestly.
Ways to Get More From an Old System
1. A Connection Layer
What it does: We build a small layer in front of the old system that newer software can talk to. The old system itself does not change.
For example: your production system picks up open orders from the AS/400 through the connection layer, and sends finished quantities back the same way.
The starting point for most projects
2. Easier Screens
What it does: Replaces green screens with simple screens in a web browser, on a PC or tablet. The old system still does the work behind the scenes.
For example: operators enter production figures on a tablet at the machine instead of walking to a terminal.
Makes the old system easier for new staff
3. Connecting to Online Software
What it does: Links the old system on your own server to online software, securely, so they exchange information automatically.
For example: online store orders go straight into the old ERP, and its figures appear in Power BI reports, without anyone retyping.
Newer tools without replacing the core system
4. Proper Reporting
What it does: Copies the figures out of the old system each night into a reporting database, where proper reports and dashboards run.
For example: sales, production and stock reports in Power BI, without slowing down the AS/400 that the factory relies on.
Better reports without touching the old system
5. Replacing One Weak Area
What it does: Moves one thing the old system does badly into newer software, while the old system keeps the rest. The two are kept in step automatically.
For example: a newer stock system such as Cin7 or Unleashed runs the warehouse, while stock values stay in step with the accounts in the old ERP.
Replace weak areas one at a time
6. Scanning on the Floor
What it does: Lets staff in the warehouse and factory use handheld scanners or tablets that update the old system as they work.
For example: supervisors check schedules on a tablet, and scanning material and finished jobs updates the AS/400 straight away.
The old system's information, out where the work happens
What a Project Can Include
| Type of Project | What's Included |
|---|---|
| Connection layer | A secure way for newer software to read and update the old system, with written notes and testing |
| Connecting online software | Linking the old system to online production, warehouse, reporting or accounting software, kept in step and monitored |
| Easier screens | Browser-based screens that replace green screens for the tasks staff do most |
| The full set | Connections, easier screens, scanning on the floor and reporting, planned as a whole |
| Reporting | Figures copied out to a reporting database automatically, with dashboards on top |
| Ongoing support | Watching the connections, fixing problems, updating them, and adding new ones as needed |
Compared with replacing: keeping and connecting a working system is usually much cheaper, quicker to show results and less disruptive than replacing it. Cost depends on how many systems are involved and how much needs to be built, so we look at your setup first and give you a fixed quote after a free initial chat.
The Technical Side
For whoever looks after your systems:
- API facade: a REST API layer in front of the legacy system that translates requests into database queries, file operations or the system's own interfaces, and returns JSON. Authenticated, documented and tested.
- Platforms: IBM i (AS/400), mainframe, SAP R/3 and ECC, older Oracle, older MES and SCADA, Visual Basic and FoxPro applications.
- Cloud connectivity: secure connections from on-premise systems to cloud MES, WMS, BI and e-commerce, using the facade, file exchange or message queues.
- Reporting: scheduled extracts to a data warehouse (for example Azure), with Power BI on top, so reporting queries never hit the legacy database.
- Protecting the old system: caching and throttled queries to avoid load, testing against patches, documentation of the legacy logic we touch, and a written migration path for eventual replacement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Keep the Old System, Lose the Retyping
Tell us what your old system runs and what your team retypes in and out of it. We'll tell you honestly whether to keep it and connect it, or start planning a replacement. Start with a free initial chat, or book a $5,000 Process & Systems Audit for a full written assessment.