The Bidmuthin Business Management System has been created using FileMaker.  It is a robust general purpose business management system, based upon integrated modules which include full accounting functions and which can be readily adapted to many types of industry.

Slide Show Tours

Click on the Slide Show Tours button on the left to step through a number of screen shots illustrating some typical basic workflows.  These slide shows are the largest part of this website.

The intention is to give an idea of what this particular solution does and the style of interface that we use.

They are currently "in progress" and if you would like to see a particular workflow then please send an email.

Development  History

The BMS has been developed over a number of years, in conjunction with other companies. Thus, structurally it has been particularly well thought through by a number of people.  Also it has gradually built up features, often with improved ways of doing things: (the neat way of doing stock explosions with it's reversed "list of all assemblies using this part" feature; and the fool-proof bank reconciliation method) are examples.

Throughout its development the BMS has been used by those who are, shall we say, not so skilled.  Therefore robustness and ease of use have been prime considerations. 

In 2004 FileMaker released v7.  A huge leap forward for FileMaker that dramatically improved the development environment, and eliminated any doubts about it's professionalism.  The main improvements were that all data could be consolidated into a single file using multiple tables; rather than the multiple files used by previous versions. Which in turn leads to many other improvements.  Improved robustness and reliability  (though to be fair, v6 was pretty good at that). Hugely increased data handling capabilities. Improved speed. Vastly improved security and account handling.  And a host of other improvements.

Thus it was decided to rewrite the BMS into a single file system using v7.  For a discussion on the pros and cons of rewriting from v6 to v7/8 vs straightforward conversion: see elsewhere.  But the upshot is that, like climbing a mountain, the journey seems overwhelmingly hard at times; but once you've reached the top, the view is magnificent and you're glad you've done it.  In terms of BMS the advantages of rewriting from v6 to v7 were far greater than one would have imagined from reading all the various manuals on the subject.

(A quick word about v8:   v8 adds some nice bits to v7, and although nothing radical, the improvements in v8 mean that even v7 is obsolete for the BMS and v8 is required)

Structure

The BMS is composed of a number of modules, or building blocks.  These are arranged into (very loosely) 4 or 5 overlapping sections:

Sections

• CRM  (Contact Relations Management)

•       Contacts and Companies for Clients

•                                                 Suppliers

•                                                 Others

•       Letter & Fax Writing & Filing

•       Mailshots

•       Tasks

•       Diary

•       Email sending & filing

•       Quotations

•       Real time status up-dating within Contact records from other sections.

• Administration

•       Quotations

•       Jobs  (more…)

•       Invoices

•       Purchase Order Processing

•       Products

•       Stock Control

•       Sales CashBook

•       Purchase CashBook

• Accounts

•       Sales & Purchase CashBooks

•       Sales Ledger

•       Purchase Ledger

•       Nominal Ledger

•       Nominal Ledger Entry

•       Nominal Analysis

• Email

•       Email sending & filing

•       Incoming Email – receiving & filing

•       Reply, Forwarding & Archiving

• E-mail shots

• Other

•             Reports sub-system

• Document Management

• InfoPlus (where everything else is stored)

• Jobs  (also shown as part of administration)

The reason why Jobs is apparently singled out is that this innocuous sounding module holds the key to the ready adaptability of the BMS.

Whereas most companies can be said to have more-or-less roughly similar requirements in terms of Contact Management , and roughly similar requirements in terms of Accounts (and even E Mail) - at least similar enough that adaptation is generally not considered a problem.  But when it comes to  Jobs (often  called Projects, or Sales or Order or Works Processing etc) the opposite is true.  The Jobs section  can be said to be the heart of the business and it is generally  the key point where one business differentiates from another.  

 The structure of BMS has been designed so that by substituting  the Jobs section with a different Jobs section – which can be a complete system in its own right with any number of tables or even files – then the structural integrity of the system as a whole, and the jobs section and integration can all be preserved.  And by being structured to enable such a substitution means that this can be accomplished at reasonable cost.

Similarities & Difference between Companies:  as described above, these are huge broad sweeps upon a delicate canvas.  That’s why, for more detail, and to see if Bidmuthin can help your company we invite you to contact us for a discussion.

(click here for contact details)