Why the App?

We want our customers to have their job’s information on their palmtop. The aim is to provide information in one place, at any time.

What are the functionalities of the App?

It will disseminate information – right from the time we receive the job in our ERP to the time the plate reaches the customer. The whole journey of the job can be tracked online. Instead of an interaction between customer and my team, the App will do the job. There live chat as well as video conference as part of its functions. All the email communications can be integrated into the App. Whenever an email is sent to the customer about his job, the customer will get an alert on the App. And until he responds to the email, he will continue to get reminders. We think this will reduce the approval time, as well as speed up the job completion process.

What platform is the App based on?

That’s confidential. But it is available on both the Google Play Store as well as the iOS App Store.

How have you ensured that there’s consistency across the platform, and across carrier networks?

We have worked on a very reliable platform that has performed well on both the Android as well as the iOS operating systems. And it is free.

Now that you also have an App, how prepared are you with your delivery system?

As I said, the App is integrated with our ERP. We already have this features on our ERP, so for us, it’s just taking it to the next level. For example, our ERP triggers a job-ready mail with all the details to our customers. These features are incorporated in our ERP for the last two years. So, it’s sort of an extension of our ERP, and have brought this to our customers' palmtops.

What’s the modus operandi of your delivery system?

There are two types of delivery of flexo plates – one is manual, where the customer gets a notification that his job is out for delivery. From there on, the customer can actually track the person who out for delivery of his plates. On the other side, if the job is sent by courier, the customer gets a notification which has a link and the docket number, which redirects the customer to the respective courier’s website allowing him to track his consignment.

A lot of brands talk about the confidentiality of their product, particularly during a launch. Do you think the App helps?

Yes, absolutely, because, the App can be downloaded, but the activation is controlled by Veepee. In a company, who is our customer, if multiple persons have downloaded our App, we will activate only that many functionalities to the person the management wants us to. We limit the access of the information on the App to a specific user. I think this only increases the level of confidentiality.

Maintenance after the launch?

There’s not much maintenance needed, because as I told you it’s an extension of our ERP, which is robust. We have been running the App for the last two months, with about 80 users already. Yes, we have had issues because it’s been indigenously developed, and there have been bugs coming up, but we have been able to patch them. 

Upgrade?

We have been constantly working on the App. So with each bug eliminated, it’s an upgrade. Further, as we upgrade our ERP, the App gets upgraded.

What’s next from Veepee?

Good question. I would love to have some sort of chip on our plate, which will give us a lot of information as to what’s happening with it on the press. It’s a dream.