Canadian Furniture Retailer Migrates Mainframe to Web-First Technologies
At a glance -
the essentials
Leading Canadian Furniture Retailer
- One of Canada's largest furniture and home electronics retailers - operating 194 stores and five distribution centres - relied on a mainframe EDI solution built in BMS Map, COBOL, and JCL. The legacy system was not scalable, could not support real-time XML messaging from vendors, and required fax/email for Purchase Order communications, causing significant delays in vendor acknowledgements, shipping confirmations, and delivery date predictions. High maintenance costs, shrinking COBOL expertise, and lack of web and integration capabilities made modernisation urgent.
- Migrated the entire mainframe EDI application to a Java Enterprise stack using the NxTran tool for semi-automated COBOL-to-Java conversion
- UI screens rebuilt in HTML5, Bootstrap, and Angular from BMS Map files; COBOL programs converted to Java; business logic implemented via Spring REST services
- JCL batch programs converted to Spring Batch with Quartz Scheduler; VSAM data files migrated to DB2 using Kumaran's inbuilt tools; COBOL and SAS reports converted to Crystal Reports web-based reports
- Application delivered within the proposed time and budget; customer entrusted enhancements, support, and maintenance to Kumaran post-delivery
- Full mainframe EDI application migrated to HTML5, Angular, and J2EE - delivered on time and budget
- 15-year strategic IT partnership - development, re-engineering, maintenance, and new systems
- Real-time XML messaging with vendors replacing fax/email Purchase Order processes
- VSAM data migrated to DB2 using Kumaran's inbuilt migration tools
- Customer entrusted enhancements, support, and maintenance to Kumaran post-delivery
From legacy mainframe EDI to modern web-first technologies - on time, on budget
One of Canada's largest furniture retailers partnered with Kumaran to modernise its mainframe EDI application to HTML5, Angular, and J2EE - completing the migration on time and within budget. Using Kumaran's NxTran tool for semi-automated COBOL-to-Java conversion, the engagement delivered real-time XML vendor messaging, Spring Batch job scheduling, Crystal Reports web reporting, and VSAM-to-DB2 data migration. The success of the engagement led the client to entrust Kumaran with ongoing enhancements, support, and maintenance - cementing a 15-year strategic IT partnership.
The Background
The retailer's archaic EDI solution had become a bottleneck across its supply chain. With 194 stores and five distribution centres to support, the inability to process real-time vendor messaging, acknowledge Purchase Orders digitally, or predict delivery dates with certainty was directly impacting customer satisfaction. The legacy COBOL/JCL mainframe system had served the business well, but high maintenance costs, a shrinking pool of mainframe expertise, and lack of web integration capabilities made a full modernisation to Java and web-first technologies the only viable path forward.
Want to know how we achieved these results?
Contact us today to learn more about our mainframe modernisation approach and the success story behind this engagement with a Leading Canadian Furniture Retailer.
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