One of the most remarkable implementations of Daybook Enterprise 6 and of 4D is at Creamer Media's Engineering News, South Africa's leading publication covering all facets of engineering, including automotive, construction, energy, telecoms and transport.

It all started in the mid 1990s. Engineering News was growing rapidly, with data about subscriptions, accounts and other critical applications dispersed across different computer systems. The need for integration was striking. The company's vision was to find something blending the power of enterprise software with the simplicity of the Apple Macintosh. The solution appeared at a computer show in Johannesburg through a demonstration of Modulus, Enterprise 6's predecessor.

Engineering News started to use the Daybook software suite in 1997 to manage subscriptions and other customer relationship functions. The next priority was accounting. Within a year, all main business functions and processes including financials, distribution, sales, marketing and customer service were integrated, sharing one single 4D database.

In a recent interview, Charles Hayter, Engineering News' General Manager of Production and Systems, confirmed: "The main benefit of Daybook is that all information in concentrated in one single source. You input data once, and it can be used through many applications, minimising risks of errors, time wastings and staff frustrations. I am very happy with the software and with the support I get from Daybook."

Engineering News plans to extend the reach of Enterprise 6 by integrating Internet applications and to leverage additional innovative software tools from Daybook, including Caliban, the Web Wizard.

Creamer Media case study