
Global Retailer Modernises ERP - 318 Oracle Forms Objects Migrated to Web
At a glance -
the essentials
Global Personal Care Products Retailer
- A global leader in personal care products - operating across 30+ markets with 500,000+ active distributors - was running an in-house ERP application in Taiwan built on Oracle Forms 4.5 in character mode on HP UX with Oracle 7.3.4/8.1.7. The client needed to modernise the entire application to a web-based GUI environment, covering 318 objects across Finance, Product Management, and Order Processing modules. The unique complexity: the application ran entirely in Traditional Chinese character set, requiring all three tiers to be configured accordingly throughout the migration.
- Deployed Object*Converter 6i tool to migrate the Oracle Forms 4.5 character mode application to Oracle Forms 6i on a 9i Application Server web deployment
- Migration covered 182 Forms, 87 Reports, and 49 Parameter Forms - 318 objects in total - preserving existing design, logic, and PL/SQL while upgrading to Forms 6i features
- True Mouse Navigation implemented for an intuitive modern GUI experience; all three tiers configured for Traditional Chinese character sets
- 318 objects migrated - 182 Forms, 87 Reports, 49 Parameter Forms — to web-based GUI
- Traditional Chinese character set preserved across all three tiers
- Character mode application successfully deployed to web via 9i Application Server
- Existing functionality, design, and business logic fully preserved post-migration
- Improved performance, look and feel, and code compatibility delivered
From character mode ERP to modern web GUI - 318 objects migrated
A global personal care products retailer partnered with Kumaran to modernise its Taiwan ERP application from Oracle Forms 4.5 character mode to a fully web-based Oracle Forms 6i GUI environment. The engagement migrated 318 objects across Finance, Product Management, and Order Processing modules, preserving all existing functionality while introducing modern web deployment via a 9i Application Server. The project's defining challenge was its Traditional Chinese character set requirement - every tier of the architecture had to be configured for Chinese language support, making this one of the most technically distinctive Oracle Forms migrations Kumaran has delivered.
The Background
The client's Taiwan branch ERP system had been built on Oracle Forms 4.5 in character mode, running on HP UX with an Oracle 7.3.4/8.1.7 database. As the business expanded across 30+ global markets with over 500,000 active distributors, the character-based interface was no longer fit for purpose. The client needed a modern, web-accessible GUI application - but the Traditional Chinese character set dependency across all application tiers added a layer of complexity that required a specialist migration approach.
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