Case study
Ticketing interface
More than 20 years ago, Camtek was asked by one of its clients to design a new ergonomic, fast and easy to use interface to gain productivity on the ticketing system. Thanks to the proximity and the collaborative creation mode, the data warehouse (DWH) is created and will become the pillar of the Camtek offer.
The initial opportunity
The Procars company, an urban and interurban transport network in Provins, France (77), has a productivity problem. The resources of the engineering and methods office are often mobilized on repetitive tasks of data processing. In 2000, the ticketing application was not very automated. The data files of the theoretical offer (runs, routes, lines) are produced manually. The data entry and processing tasks for this ticketing application are time consuming. It seems relevant to design a computer program to automate these tasks. This analysis can be generalized to other transport applications, such as the AVL. The underlying question for Camtek: should the software be a one-time, local solution or the opportunity for a new way of doing business, with a competitive advantage?
The DWH Solution
This request from Procars required an initial phase of analysis of the data set used. The databases are subject to versions, with a history, and must be able to participate in simulations, with rollbacks. The interface between the operator scheduling application and the ticketing system must take into account technical specificities. Technical specificities that will be different for the ticketing of another client who will have chosen another ticketing application. Technical specificities that will be different according to the applications concerning the AVL. Technical specificities that will evolve with a change of application (a new ticketing application or a new version of the ticketing application).
Each transport network has its own application environment for operator and scheduling, ticketing, AVL, passenger information, reporting, etc. with applications that evolve or are replaced. Designing a specific interface between two applications will require a total of a large number of interfaces. And above all, this approach is very restrictive in time: each change for an application will require a review of all the interfaces linked to this application!
It is therefore important to distinguish between two types of interfaces: the upstream interfaces (operator and scheduling data) with their own specificities, and the downstream interfaces (with a multiplicity of applications for ticketing, the AVL, etc.) with their own specificities. It also seems relevant to create a data warehouse, to rely on a structuring framework for the data model. Camtek will favour the repository proposed by Transmodel, with the vision that the interfaces must be perennial to the changes of the applications and the successive versions of these applications.
The data warehouse (DWH) will link the upstream and downstream interfaces. A pivot format will facilitate the processing of all these data. Camtek's ambition is to design a generalization and factorization solution applicable to all types of transport networks, using all types of applications.
DWH CAMTEK
The diagram of Camtek theoretical referential
Photo by Luke Michael on Unsplash
Key figures
1 day
= the implementation of a new DWH
0.5 day
= the implementation of a new ticketing interface with the DWH
1 to 2 min
= the production of the ticketing data files from the DWH
up to 40
= the number of uses of the ticketing interface per year
An agile and collaborative approach
The specifications of the ticketing system selected by Procars (Monetel, currently Conduent) are detailed in a document of more than 30 pages. The method proposed by Camtek is interactive. Camtek prototypes a first data file for the ticketing system and the Procars team evaluates its performance. The tested interface will then evolve with new functionalities, in its presentation and its ergonomics. The use implies a visualization of the data. The interface must not appear as a "black box". It must allow to follow all the steps of import and production of data export files.
The originality of the DWH is that each interface is split in two, distinguishing between imported data (upstream) and exported data (downstream). The change of the ticketing application (Wix, Conduent, ...) is facilitated, independently of the operator and scheduling data (e.g. Hastus) which will also be used by other business applications (operation, planning, handbook, ...). Thus, each module is parameterized to communicate with the other modules. Each module is independent, all respect the rules dictated by the architecture.
The exchanges between Procars and Camtek, with the evolution and testing phases, allowed the production of the ticketing interface in 2 months. Procars was involved from the prototype phase to the implementation. At each stage, Camtek translated the new needs expressed by Procars into functionalities and uses. The global approach of DWH allowed Camtek to propose to other clients interfaces adapted to their applications environment. These interfaces are still in place and active and they evolve with the changes and new versions of the applications.
Camtek's added value
Camtek develops IT solutions based on very concrete requests, often not formalized in a specification. The Camtek method: a first prototype, an implementation in test mode. The interface is completed as new needs and changes occur. Each Camtek interface is realized in an iterative and experimental way, tested throughout the deployment process, continuously improved, as close as possible to the users' needs and practices.
Camtek offers scalable interfaces and a partnership in the design process. Camtek does not promote off-the-shelf solutions, but a cooperative and trustworthy mode combining the client's business expertise and Camtek's expertise. Thus, following a first request from Procars, more than 20 years ago, Camtek designs and develops interfaces in partnership and listening to users.