Client showcase

Morton Blacketer has helped many clients to achieve IT goals. We have worked across industries, locally and internationally, to provide the best IT solution.

Agrilink

Austereo
Bell's Line
Business & Financial Strategy Pty Ltd

CareSearch
Courts Administration Authority (SA
Dept. for Environment & Heritage (SA)
Dept. for Educ., Training & Empl. (SA)
Elec-Air Pty Ltd
Gramp Skin Pathology
Mt Barker District Council   

University of Papua New Guinea

University of South Australia

Company background

Agrilink Holdings Pty Ltd is an Australian company providing specialist technology and services to irrigated markets worldwide. Agrilink is focused on the sustainable management of agriculture, providing integrated monitoring systems backed up by agronomic expertise .

The company has its Corporate Office in Adelaide, South Australia, with regional offices across Australia and in the USA, and employs nearly 70 staff.

Agrilink’s customers include the major corporate and innovative growers. Data from Agrilink’s monitoring systems are relayed via radio telemetry to the grower’s PC, enabling growers to make irrigation scheduling, chemical scheduling and other operational and crop management decisions.

Agrilink employs software and hardware R&D specialists, in order to continually enhance its product capabilities

Business situation

Agrilink have remote weather and soil moisture data collection devices located around Australia.  Raw data was collected from the devices by a number of separate personal computer (PC) systems. 

Agrilink wanted to store all data from their remote collection devices in a single database, and develop specialised data processing and reporting functions to increase the value of their information.  They also wanted information to be available over the Internet, with subscriber access user name and password protected.

Solution

Morton Blacketer designed a new database and developed a software application to enable the automatic import of raw sensor and device configuration data.  Old records are now overwritten with new information every half hour and user interfaces have been set up to enable specialised processing and reporting over the Internet.

As the user required much of the data to be presented in a map format, Morton Blacketer worked with ESRI, and their geographic information system (GIS) software products, to provide the ultimate, end user functionality.  This required the data for mapping to be stored in both the Morton Blacketer and ESRI databases.  Applications were developed by Morton Blacketer to enable statistical reporting on selected sensors and daily statistics.  Users can now find out the maximum daily air temperature, total daily rainfall and relative humidity in their region. 

Agrilink uses mathematical modelling to interpret the likelihood of disease outbreak, based on variables such as air temperature, humidity, rainfall and crop type.  Morton Blacketer incorporated these models within software to automatically calculate indices for various crop diseases.  Users subscribed to the Agrilink website can now establish the likelihood of a disease, such as powdery mildew, affecting their crops.  From the same website, they can also determine irrigation requirements for individual blocks.

Information technology tools

Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Microsoft Access 2000, ESRI Arc View 8.1 (Arc Map, Arc Catalog, Arc Objects), ESRI Arc IMS, ESRI Arc SDE, ADO, COM+, Visual Basic, Visual Interdev 6.0, HTML, ASP

Implementation date

March 2002

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Company background

Austereo is a national radio network, owning both the MMM and Today FM networks. In total, they have 12 radio stations, some streaming media web stations, and interests in radio stations in Malaysia, Greece and the UK.

Business situation

With a national radio network, coordinating the purchasing of radio advertising is a complex process. It encompasses selecting particular classes of advertising, over periods of time on different stations and with different timings from a large number of buyers. Austereo wanted to reduce their administration and support costs, as well as make buying and planning of radio advertising easier for clients.

Solution

Morton Blacketer addressed Austereo's business problem by delivering a back-end integrated, web solution. Using state of the art client server and web based technologies, Austereo now provides an interactive website for buyers to select and purchase advertising space.

With secure access, the site is available to registered advertising agencies and media buyers, who are able to plan campaigns up to 52 weeks in advance. The site uses existing back end applications to gain access to the price and availability of radio spots and automatically updates the radio station's traffic management systems with each completed contract. It also interacts with an AC Neilson Database for reach and frequency analysis.

Austereo can now offer clients a better way to do business, leading the way in the media industry.

Information technology tools

SQL Server 7.0, Microsoft Transaction Server, Visual Basic 6.0, Identikey, Internet Information Server, Active Server Pages, JavaScript, Windows NT Server, PGP, Visual Interdev, HTML

Implementation date

2000

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Company background

South Australia’s Department of Education, Training and Employment (DETE) is the State Government body responsible for the administration of schools, children’s services, vocational education and training, employment and youth affairs.

Business situation

DETE needed to find a better way to consolidate vocational education and training data provided by registered training organisations and data in relation to new apprenticeships, into quality information for analysis, planning and forecasting.

The current systems used cubes, with pre-calculated statistics, relationships and reporting information held at a high aggregate level. The flexibility to drill down to unit record levels and add new dimensions to this system was limited, as was the ability to customise and build upon current models in order to provide up-to-date information for each new release of data.

Solution

Morton Blacketer was contracted to work with Ontologic Services Pty Ltd to develop an improved solution.

Data from multiple source systems needed to be collected, stored and presented to increase data integrity and efficiency.  A staged development was designed to import data into a relational database.  Once collected, the raw data was transformed into fact and dimension tables.  From these, new cubes were built that enable DETE to update and tailor to their own needs.  Different permission levels have been established to ensure data security and integrity.  Data is also reconciled for validation. 

The second stage of the solution involved updating and modification to existing cubes to fulfil requirements of new reporting standards, as well as building an extra cube.

The new ‘Data Mart’ can access, store and process data to provide information for analysis, reporting, decision making, planning and control at both the aggregate and detailed level.  The new facility has led to an improvement in data quality and monitoring, and reporting can be done quickly and effectively on demand. 

The Data Mart has contributed to improving the efficiency of VET reporting and analysis by providing easy access at the desktop level to a reconciled and consolidated data set at both the aggregate and detailed level. 

Information technology tools

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft SQL Server 7, OLAP Services Version 7.0, Visual Basic, PowerPlay 7

Implementation date

February 2002

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Bell's Line Pty Ltd

Company background

Peter Vandeleur, Managing Director, founded Bell's Line in 1996 on the premise that wool marketing could be improved by the proper development of electronic systems. Through developing a sophisticated, on-line marketing system (e-wool), Bell's Line has revolutionised the way Australian wool is traded. It now provides data intermediary, or deal making, services between growers, buyers and brokers of wool via the internet.

Business situation

The wool industry market place consisted of an inefficient, time consuming, auction system that had not changed for almost 100 years. Bell's Line had identified a better way for the industry to do business using the internet, but needed a strong development partner to help them realise their vision.

Solution

Morton Blacketer undertook a process of business analysis and system specification to establish the computer system requirements for Bell's Line. A staged development was required to keep within budget, but with the flexibility to upgrade capabilities as resources permitted.

Since 1996, Bell's Line and Morton Blacketer have worked together to develop a Wool Marketing System, that stores information about wool lines, a Production Planning System, that forecasts wool production and allows growers to sell on the forward market, and now an interactive website to provide daily valuations and facilitate trade.

The back-end support and front-end transaction applications work as one integrated system to enable players within the industry to control their own data and interact with the process in a more user friendly way. e-wool has proven to be a reliable, e-commerce, marketing tool that is of major advantage to the wool industry, as well as delivering targeted business outcomes for Bell's Line.

Information technology tools

SQL Server 6.5, Access 97 database, Internet Information Server 4, ASP, ActiveX DLLs, Visual Basic 4 32 bit, 5 and 6, MS Access 97 and 8, Excel 95, Crystal Reports, True DBGrid 5, VS Flex 2, VS View 2, Tlist Pro, CripKey 4.3

Implementation date

Staged development.  Progressive implementation from 1998 to 2002.

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Company background

Business & Financial Strategy (BFS) Pty Ltd is an Adelaide based financial services and tax planning organisation, providing expertise to accounting firms across Australia.

BFS provide tools to empower accountants in the areas of financial planning, tax planning and debt reduction strategies. These tools enable accountants to provide value added benefits to clients, improving client assessment and advice.

Business situation

BFS provided services through a sophisticated system of Excel spreadsheets. Although this system was adequate, with growing customer demand, it was not suitable for high volume work. In order to scale up their business, they needed to convert the spreadsheets into distributed applications, as well as improving access to services.

Solution

Morton Blacketer's solution included a website and suite of programs, using both two and three tier client server technology, distributed transaction processing, web technology and 128 bit encryption (for secure data transmission). There are a number of modules, which include The Client Qualifier, Administrative Tools to control access of various accounting firms, a SWOT Analysis Tool, a Financial Diagnosis Tool, Personal Cash Flow Management and Planning, and Business Cash Flow Management and Planning. The system is designed to enable accountants can use modules offline and then connect over the internet to update their details on the BFS database.

Each module has been implemented, one by one, to approximately 500 accountants across Australia and is used by many thousands of clients dialling into the system. When complete, the system will allow for approximately 6000 concurrent users.
As well as increasing capacity, Morton Blacketer's solution has enabled BFS to provide their services both more efficiently and effectively to clients at remote locations.

Information technology tools

Windows NT 4, Internet Information Server 4, ASP, SQL Service 7.0, Visual Basic 6, Java, XML

Implementation date

July 2000

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Company background

The Courts Administration Authority is independent of Government, constituted by the Courts Administration Act 1993. It controls the provision of the administrative facilities and services required by State courts to carry out their judicial functions.
Participating courts of the Authority are the Supreme Court, District Court, Magistrates Court, Youth Court, Environment, Resources and Development Court, Coroner's Court and Industrial Relations Court.

Business situation

The Courts Administration Authority wanted to reduce paper based legal services and administration time involved in processing civil claims for the state's courts. They also wanted to streamline the billing process and needed a reliable technology partner to help develop the appropriate system.

Solution

Firstly, Morton Blacketer worked with the Courts Administration Authority to produce an Information Gathering Report. This involved interviewing end users to develop a wish list of how best to solve their problems. From here, a Project Definition Report and Functional Specification were developed to outline the appropriate solution.

Legal practitioners can now log on to the Internet which enables single and bulk lodgement of civil claims with the Magistrates Court. The site is user name and password protected, and provides validation before processing payments via direct debit or credit card via the South Australian Government's BIZGATE payment gateway. Upon successful payment, a receipt is auto generated and emailed to the legal practitioner.

Claims then pass to the Courts Administration Authority's Courts Case Management System for processing, generating a lodgement number, which is passed back to the legal practitioner, containing a claim number and the claim documents as a pdf file.

The Courts Administration Authority expects a substantial return on investment in the project within three years, complemented by service improvements, reducing processing time from one to three weeks to just two days.

The electronic lodgement website is also hosted by Morton Blacketer.

Information technology tools

Windows Server 2000, Internet Information Server 5.0, BizGate, Active Server Pages, Visual Basic 6.0, HTML, XML, SQL Server 2000, Visual Interdev, VS View 7, Microsoft Transaction Server, COM+, Microsoft Access

Implementation date

June 2001

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Company background

The Department for Environment and Heritage provides services to manage the protection, conservation, enhancement and utilisation of South Australia’s natural resources within a framework of ecologically sustainable development. A range of information tools are developed and provided to support decision-making and provide information to stakeholders, customers and the community.

Business situation

The Murray-Darling Basin Commission, in collaboration with water management organisations and government agencies in SA, Victoria and NSW, are working together to improve water use efficiency across the Murray-Darling Basin. 

The alliance aims to develop user-friendly, effective and affordable tools which will help regional water managers and irrigators improve water management, crop production and profitability and reduce environmental degradation in the horticulture sector.  The tools will enable water use efficiency reporting at the on-farm, property, district and regional levels.

Solution

In partnership with ESRI (Australia), Morton Blacketer was selected to work with the Department for Environment and Heritage in South Australia to develop an Irrigation Inventory Tool. 

The project takes a strategic view of systems design, with a long-term objective broken down into a staged development.

Stage one, the Irrigation Inventory Tool, captures information at the property level.  This includes property, irrigation, water and survey data that can be entered via laptops in the field, with entry and management also possible in an office environment. 

Using Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Visual Basic and ESRI ArcGIS, a flexible platform was developed to enable integration with existing legacy information systems, a user-friendly interface, and enhancements in future stages.  The solution provides both tabular and spatial data about the property, irrigation system and crop patch.  This includes crop type, variety and rootstock, as well as water information, such as irrigation outlets, drainage systems and valve units.

The new Irrigation Inventory Tool provides systematic and consistent capture of crop and irrigation information using ortho photographs as the base.  The spatial component provides the ability to view, print and export property plans.

In Stage Two, this information will be combined with data related to other factors, such as climate and crop water requirements, to calculate water use efficiency.  The aim is to assist natural resource management by calculating how much of the applied water moves through the root zone of the crop and drains into the water table.

A user manual and online help files were created to assist with training and implementation.

Information technology tools

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft SQL Server 7, OLAP Services Version 7.0, Visual Basic, PowerPlay 7

Implementation date

February 2002

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Company background

Elec-Air was established in 1983 to provide electrical, refrigeration and air conditioning sales and service to commercial and industrial markets. They are experienced troubleshooters, improving efficiencies with existing systems, as well as installing new ones.

Elec-Air are also distributors of Rockwell Software and Allen Bradley process control and automation equipment.

Business situation

Elec-Air operated a manual order system to process client purchase orders for Rockwell Software systems. Each item of software purchased included a support contract. This needed to be resold on the anniversary of the original sale.
As business grew, keeping track of resulting site agreements, service contracts, renewals and maintenance became more and more complex, with excess administration.

Solution

Morton Blacketer developed a software application to automate the Rockwell Software sales and maintenance process. Multiple product orders can now be made from the one entry screen form. Once the client receives the Rockwell Software, a service contract is initialised. The system automatically ensures that Elec-Air follows up all support contract sales.
The Rockwell Software librarian system has ensured on time servicing and renewal, improved planning, cash flow and customer service.

Information technology tools

Visual Basic 6.0, True DBGrid 5, VS View 6, Microsoft Access 97, VS Flex 2, ODBC, ADO

Implementation date

December 1999

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Company background

Gramp Skin Pathology is a specialist, private laboratory that offers a high quality, diagnostic service. The laboratory specialises in dermatopathology, analysing skin samples provided by plastic surgeons, dermatologists and general practitioners, within the Adelaide metropolitan, and South Australian and Victorian regional areas.

Business situation

Client expectations of electronic delivery of pathology reports began in 1997. At this time, only a few clients requested this facility. Gramp Skin Pathology found a communications package that would allow clients to make a serial connection via modem to a Gramp Skin Pathology computer to retrieve their reports. Clients provided their own computer infrastructure.
The serial connection system required significant resources to manage and maintain. It also required sophisticated computer skills both at Gramp Skin Pathology and the client site. It was time consuming and required maintenance, creating issues with support staffing.

Gramps wanted to reduce the turnaround time, complexity and costs involved with this method of delivering medical reports.

Solution

Gramp Skin Pathology wanted to simplify the process and provide ownership of the facility to the client. Morton Blacketer developed a solution, which enables the electronic delivery of pathology results over the internet, to meet both of these objectives.
The system works by having a central web site that Gramp Skin Pathology can upload their results to. Doctors and hospitals can log onto the web site and collect their pathology results, which are downloaded into their medical practice management system. The site is user name and password protected.

There are also reporting tools available to enable Gramp Skin Pathology to monitor results collection.

Information technology tools

Secure Internet Protocols, Com +, SQL Server 2000, ASP, Encryption

Implementation date

July 2001

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Company background

Mt Barker District Council provides a variety of local government services and facilities to their 23,000 residents and ratepayers.

Business situation

Information technology expenditure accounted for a significant proportion of Mt Barker District Council's annual budget. To ensure maximum effectiveness, the Council required a review of their current human, software and hardware technology assets.
Solution

Morton Blacketer conducted a full, information technology audit. The audit encompassed a review of Mt Barker District Council's systems, hardware, software, processes, operational procedures and documentation. Staff were interviewed, to gauge their thoughts on the effectiveness of current systems, and underwent an experience and capabilities audit, which included succession planning.

A risk management audit, with a review of disaster recovery procedures, was also conducted.

The final report presented an audit and analysis of the Council's present position, with recommendations of how to ensure maximum value from IT expenditure.

Implementation date

March 2001

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Company background

CareSearch is the result of a project funded by the Australian Government. The Flinders University’s Department of Palliative and Supportive Services was contracted to undertake the project. A National Reference Group comprising representatives from key academic, clinical and educational institutions in Australia assisted the project team in their work. 

The Department of Palliative and Supportive Services has, as its primary research objective, to improve the quality of services through robust research that answers clinically relevant questions.  In this context, its work in developing an evidence-based electronic resource for clinicians and researchers will help to improve the services offered to people with life-limiting illnesses and their carers around the world. The Department currently has more than $3 million in research funding directly and in collaboration. It has a busy post-graduate program with more than 110 students in Australia and around the world studying palliative care.

Business situation

The project had created an anthology of unpublished literature in palliative care in Australia over the past 20 years.  The information included conference proceedings, reports to governments, theses, treatises and journal articles – a valuable resource for clinicians and researchers to ensure the best possible palliative care. 

The Department needed a technology partner to help them to develop and deliver a solution that could facilitate busy clinicians and researchers access to the right information.  They wanted to provide access to the unpublished literature anthology, to enable users to create search strategies around selected topics, and to develop skills in areas such as audit and evaluation. They also wanted to develop a platform to facilitate multi-site research studies in palliative care.

Solution

Morton Blacketer was selected to work with the CareSearch project team to develop the CareSearch website.

The CareSearch ‘welcome’ page provides visitors with options to search the literature database, develop MEDLINE search strategies around palliative care topics, coordinate multi-site research projects, use audit tools or view ‘hot picks’ in palliative care literature. 

All visitors to the site can search the literature database, build a query using the MEDLINE search utility, use the audit tools, and review “hot picks”.  Higher levels of authorisation are required to use and access other site services.  These include literature submission, submission and evaluation of conference abstracts, and setting up and responding to research questionnaires in the multi-site platform. 

The three levels of authorisation are Administrator, Evaluator and Researcher. 

All literature is submitted to the site via the Administrator.  Conference abstracts are automatically allocated to appropriate Evaluators for grading.  The grading system has been designed to ensure that all abstracts are graded, with an alert system to ensure grading consistency and timeliness.

Administrators can maintain information about palliative care literature, create and maintain user information, view and approve abstract grading assignments, access grading information, resolve conflicts between evaluator gradings and maintain other user accounts. 

Evaluators can access and grade those abstracts assigned to them.  They can also notify their availability so that abstracts are not allocated to them during times of leave. 

Researchers can take part in multi-site research projects.  They can set up online questionnaires and enable selected participants to logon to enter answers.  These can then be collated and downloaded to their local computer for statistical analysis and evaluation. 

A web-based solution has enabled National Reference Group of CareSearch to extend their reach, making resources available to the wider community throughout Australia and around the world.  It has also provided access to valuable palliative care resources to enhance decision making at the coal face, minimised the potential replication of research projects and facilitated research through online questionnaires.

Information technology tools

Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Microsoft SQL Server 2000

Implementation date

May 2003

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University of Papua New Guinea

Company background

The University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) is an educational and research institution servicing Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.  Established in 1965, the University educates over 15,000 students each year in the Schools of Business, Medicine, Law, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Natural and Physical Sciences.  Within the latter school is the university’s Remote Sensing Centre, established in 2003 through collaboration between UPNG, the National Department of Planning and Monitoring (NDPM) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).  The European Union, German Development Service and Conservation International also support the Remote Sensing Centre.

Business situation

The Remote Sensing Centre provides a variety of geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing courses to students and supports the integration of these technologies throughout the commercial sector and broader community.  One way in which the Centre wanted to achieve this was by providing a natural resource management tool that would enable users to utilise a broad array of cadastral and natural resource data within an online, GIS framework. 

Solution

Morton Blacketer worked with the Remote Sensing Centre to add interactive mapping pages to their website.  These pages enable users to query a massive number of national datasets such as census information, cadastral boundaries, mining and forestry leases and natural resource information. 

A large screen size has been set to improve usability and visual appeal.  It also provides room for an inset map to show the user which section, of the whole country, they are viewing. 

When the Remote Sensing Centre updates data sets, ‘layer control’ enables users to update their maps or import the information as new map layers.  By clicking on a point or region, a summary statistics window appears to include information such as population, males/females, district etc.  Users can also design custom queries to resource the information that they need.  This may include, for example, selected road length, combined population of two or more regions, mining lease information etc.  The information is presented as both data and in map format, which can then be printed. 

Other pages added to the site include information about the School, their ongoing projects, and products and downloads available.

Stage 1 focused on developing the website functionality.  Stage 2 introduced controls to improve the speed and efficiency of mapping retrieval and performance over dial up connections.  It also upgraded the user interface, changing colours, menu format, and map labelling and layering features.  The user no longer needs to search through the map to find appropriate layers, but can always see all layers available.  A map link help facility was included to explain the available data and how to use the mapping functions.  Finally, a counter was added to the site to enable the Remote Sensing Centre to monitor user rates.

Information technology tools

ArcIMS, Windows Server 2003, Java Script, IIS, Visual Studio 2003, DHTML, Jakarta, Image Web Server

Implementation date

September 2004

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Company background

The University of South Australia is the state's largest university, with over 25,000 students, 2,000 staff and six campuses. It is recognised, nationally, as a leader in collaborative industry research, and for quality of teaching and community service.

The University is a Foundation member of the Australian Technology Network (ATN) and the Global University Alliance (GUA).

Business situation

With staff and students located across six campuses, the collection, collation and distribution of financial information was cumbersome. Reports were printed for 3,000 cost centres and distributed via the internal mail system. The system proved costly, in terms of both administration and time.

Solution

Morton Blacketer analysed the current system and created an application that fully automated cost centre financial reporting.
The University of South Australia now has a system that allows staff to produce and distribute their own cost centre financial reports via electronic mail. Once each cost centre has updated their information, the system automatically produces one report per person (including all of their cost centres) and emails it to them. The new application eliminates administrative frustration, making financial reporting more timely and cost effective.

Information technology tools

VB 5, Crystal Reports 5, Oracle database

Implementation date

1998