Claris FileMaker Applications & Projects

Below is a representative cross-section the FileMaker development work that we have completed for our clients.  (Please note that in most instances, we are constrained from providing company or organization names by confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements.)

Sales & Marketing Tool - Beverage Company

This application was created for a large independent soft drink bottler located in the U.S.  The company needed a tool that would assist their field sales force in improving sales volume of existing products as well as assisting  in the introduction of new products.  The functionality requirements included specific product marketing, validation of existing sales and profitability, forecasting incremental revenues and income, and the ability to execute an agreement at the end of the sales process which is then emailed to the company's customers. 

The application also needed to be able to work in a disconnected state but also had to be able to synchronize with the head office at the end of the day.  In addition, preliminary agreements needed to be reviewed and approved prior to presentation, and after the agreements were executed, they needed to be processed by financial personnel.

The solution came in the form of an iPad application that runs on FileMaker Go.  Users complete their work on the iPad and then synchronize the accounts that have been updated to FileMaker Server as needed.  Approvers and administrators access what they needed using FileMaker's web capabilities, eliminating the need for FileMaker desktop clients.  Finally, updates to and from the company's main SQL database are conducted on regular basis using FileMaker's server side scripting capabilities.
FileMaker Beverage Sales & Marketing Tool - Product Selection Screen
Shelf selection screen with discounts shown
FileMaker Beverage & Marketing Tool - Account List
Display selection screen

Online Training - Medical Physics Company

This web-based application was an extension of a system built by us that essentially runs the entire business for the leading medical physics company in the U.S. This particular module was designed to provide continuing education training and certifications for its clients as well as its staff. The requirements for the solution included the following:
  • Allow our client to administer and update the various training materials, which consist of videos and slides.
  • Facilitate tracking and administration of users who have access to the system and what training they require.
  • Create a question library in order to generate interactive exams for each course. This was done by creating a system that randomly selects X number of questions out of a library of Y potential questions and then grading users as pass/fail.
  • For users that pass, generate certificates that can be downloaded as PDFs and printed.
  • Maintain records for all individuals who receive training, including modules taken and exam results, etc.
  • Provide facility level and student level training record access to their client's management so they can view their employees' records and track their progress.
  • Send reminders when continuing education credits are coming up for expiration so users can stay current.

We created a solution that accomplishes all of the above and more using FileMaker WebDirect. Starting with a secure login using salted and hashed passwords to management screens that allow hospital and imaging center managers to view employees and their training, our solution provides a full end-to-end experience for our client's customers.

We even provided a method for our client to track user satisfaction, which has averaged 9.4 out of 10 since going live in late 2021.
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Manager's console view
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Student list for a particular facility
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Student view of a particular course

Scheduling and CRM - Medical Service Provider

Our client provides non-invasive surgical alternative treatments for pain in extremities.  The company provides its services to patients at more than 450 hospitals and surgical centers in more than 40 states using mobile treatment units.  The company was looking for a way to schedule its units, keep track of patients and procedures, follow up on billing and insurance claims, and generate reports for management.

Our FileMaker solution provides all this and more, including graphical representation of facility locations using Google Maps' API and the ability for users to see their appointments on their mobile devices native calendars using the iCal file format.  This latter feature uses a FileMaker add-on whereby FileMaker acts as an iCal server.
FileMaker Medical Procedure Scheduling
Visit details with map to indicate location
iPhone Calendar app with appointments served by FileMaker
Calendar view on iPhone

Graphics and Document Management - Veterinary Pharmaceutical Manufacturer

This application was created to facilitate management of packaging development for veterinary medicines. 

The database allows for tracking of the department's various projects and along with their current status, including storing PDF and other images of the packaging, keeping up with approval status from both inside and outside the company, and tracking communications with various other departments (e.g., sales, marketing, etc.) to ensure that information included on the packaging is complete and accurate.
FileMaker Veterinary Medicine Graphics Management
Detailed product packaging image

Customer Report Access - Field Service Provider

Our customer provides on-site services to for equipment located at its client's locations, which may run from one stand-alone facility to a hundred or more. The reports are utilized by client management to assess the overall status of its equipment as well as to provide proof to the various regulatory bodies that govern their operations to ensure safety and compliance.

Since our customer's clients will often want to download the reports for an entire facility for multiple facilities at one time, we needed to create an application that could find and assemble all the reports, place them into a ZIP file, and then allow them to be downloaded.

To accomplish this, we used existing FileMaker container fields where the reports were stored, created a WebDirect user interface that allowed users to log into the system using a secure salted and hashed password, and used the BaseElements FileMaker Server Plugin to facilitate the creation of the ZIP files using on-server scripts.

Our customer and its clients were both thrilled with the results, as this allowed their clients to query FileMaker directly to get the reports they needed rather than having to contact our client, have them pull together the reports, and then email them out. The new system provides their clients with much improved service and immediate turnaround for their requests, while saving our client literally hundreds of hours of administrative work a year.
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Reports are on the right; any that are not needed can be removed before creating the ZIP file, which appears on the left and is ready for downlaod.

Project & Financial Management - Land Development Company

This application was created to allow this company to track all aspects of land development, including parcel acquisition, zoning, clearing & grading, installation of utilities, platting, street installation, and sales to homebuilders or commercial developers.

Part of the application included a similar functionality to Microsoft Project, as it allows our client to set up various tasks, assign them time frames, conditions precedent, etc., and then monitor the progress of each project and changes in the final completion time attributable to delays in various tasks included of the process.

The application also includes a financial element that tracks loan drawdowns and repayments, and also includes a section to track subcontractors and their performance on various jobs.

Service Scheduling & Management - Fortune 500 Services Company

This FileMaker application helped a diversified real estate services company to track all aspects of its commercial real estate services business. 

Its function included tracking all jobs, job revenues and costing; management and tracking of customers and contacts; performance assessment of associates; performance, licensing and insurance status of contractors;invoicing; report generation; and more. 

The system was used by more than 200 simultaneous users across the United States and Europe and was hosted by FileMaker Server in conjunction with Citrix XenServer. 

Retail Management - Jeweler

This application was created to help a jeweler with significant retail and online operations keep track of all aspects of its business.  It functional areas include sales & returns;  inventory by item type including component parts; purchases and special orders; incoming repairs and status; working with consignment items; customer lists for direct marketing; payment of bills and invoices and more.

It also generates barcode tags using a Zebra printer specially configured for generating jewelry tags, and handheld scanners are used to record sales, take inventory, etc.

We are in the process of creating special layouts for use with FileMaker Go on iPads and iPhones to allow salespeople untethered access to the database across their various showrooms, including the ability to process credit card sales from their handheld devices.