Business Challenge
Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems (SEWS) is an independent U.S. corporation owned by Sumitomo Electric Industries of Osaka, Japan and Sumitomo Wiring Systems of Yokkaichi, Japan. Delivering intelligent solutions for today's intelligent cars, SEWS is a leading supplier of electrical distribution systems, components and electronics to the automotive industry. SEWS is a single-point systems integrator who designs and delivers total electrical systems - not just components and parts.

The New Model Development Center based in Bowling Green, Kentucky was anticipating the introduction of a modernized Sumitomo proprietary CAD system. The Manufacturing and Customer Service operations (13 facilities in US and Canada plus 14 in Mexico) were enhancing their information capabilities through open and interconnected systems. The Information System imperative to be met was the migration of core software resources from the Legacy Mainframe to new platforms that met SEWS modernization objectives. Applying SEWS standard Business Principles that place "prime importance on integrity and sound management" and "not pursuing easy gains or acting imprudently", SEWS were diligent in their pursuit of a stable and phased solution.

A coordinated effort was made to migrate from a mix of from the Mainframe and UNIX platforms using MAPPER and COBOL CAD applications to a Windows platform. Sun Solaris (UNIX) and Windows environments were selected on the basis of economics and the fact that the required technical skill sets are easier to find in the human resource market. The project was conducted over a 4-year period. The CAD migration was completed first, the MAPPER work second and the COBOL migration was last to be scheduled. The timely and successful completion this migration accomplished the SEWS objective of eliminating the Mainframe environment and saving several million of dollars in long term operational costs.

An additional imperative for the COBOL migration arose from the fact that the mainframe lease, including the software license, was coming to an end.

Solution
Sumitomo contracted with Progeni to migrate their entire mainframe MRP application to a Microsoft platform with Micro Focus COBOL. The legacy applications were mainly COBOL “number crunching” programs interacting via temporary work files. The interface to the database that supported the online transaction functionality was provided by a legacy 4GL. The applications totaled 500 programs with 250,000 Lines of Code, multiple 4GL “Runs”, and many Job Control (ECL) scripts, which included the file sorting specifications.

Sumitomo was relying on Progeni for on time delivery of converted code because of the impending lease renewal date for the legacy system. Sumitomo was also particularly sensitive to the logistics of their operational testing activities that required close support from Progeni. Because of the high frequency of MRP runs, the cutover to the new platform had to be a low risk venture.

Progeni applied its automated factory services to Sumitomo's source code to achieve the following:

• Automated code scanning
• Conversion of COBOL and 4GL code
• Conversion of legacy mainframe job control logic files to VBscript
• Modify 4GL code to interface with the VBscript
• Compilation under Micro Focus COBOL in Microsoft Windows environment

Progeni delivered processed Source Code to Sumitomo in PC compatible electronic files that compiled in the customer's target environment. Code was converted and delivered in batches defined by Sumitomo to best serve their testing and integration schedule.

As Sumitomo wanted to perform their own testing, Progeni provided for the first processing batch, onsite support to install the converted programs and scripts. This ensured that the Sumitomo was familiar with the process required for the setup and execution of the converted code. Progeni then provided remote support for Sumitomo's testing of all subsequence processed batches. Progeni’s expeditious response to issues raised during testing ensured that Sumitomo could meet their rigorous schedules.

Conclusion
James L. Sexton, Manager Information Systems, Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems, Inc., had the following to say about the Progeni’s contribution to Sumitomo’s legacy migration.

“We were all pleased with the way the COBOL conversion project was handled. All the objectives and delivery dates were met and the improved speed of the process was a bonus. The COBOL process on the mainframe ran for 4 hours on average on the legacy platform. It executed in under 6 minutes on the Windows platform.”