Gustavo Emilio Maryssael, Account Manager, Softools - Expert App Builder Interview

Building Global Apps as a Non-Technical Strategy Analyst for a Manufacturing Company

Our latest team member has benefited from real experience of learning a no code platform and applying these skills to make a difference for his company - we are delighted to welcome him to Softools and here is his story so far…. 

Gustavo Emilio Maryssael has been a strategy analyst, with work experience in manufacturing and production companies. He hails from a non-technical background and has been an expert app builder for 2 years, using Softools to deliver high-impact digital solutions. We’re bringing his experience and story of going from an intern to a highly-equipped analyst who builds his own solutions before he joined us. 

K: How did you first come across Softools, and why did you choose Softools over other platforms? 

GM: The first time I came across Softools was while I was working for a big baking company. I had just entered a new position, more of strategy management related job. That is where I got introduced to Softools because we were using it at the company for more financial reporting purposes. A Softools team member had come to our office when our company had first gotten onboarded on the platform. They were talking about the no-code ABC training course, and I had given it a shot. 

K: Were you building apps before taking the course? What was your experience like while learning Softools? 

GM: No. It was my first. My background is in industrial engineering. I've never built apps, and I was surprised, actually, by how easily you can build an app. I tell people it doesn't matter what your background is. You can be a psychologist and be able to build apps within minutes. It's a really easy course, it’s a really intuitive platform, and I think it has a lot of potential to address issues faced by modern companies. 

K: What was your successfully deployed solution that you developed using Softools? 

GM: I had built an opportunity and strategy engine - an analysis app that was pooling in data from manufacturing plants and production lines across 33 countries, giving us business insights, reports on KPIs, essential real-time data and more. 

Before we built this solution, we used to have an inventory of four different manufacturing plants and manufacturing lines within those plants, on different Excel sheets. Those Excel sheets were manually edited by teams in those 33 different countries. The volume of the data was enormous - from which products are manufactured, daily volume, KPIs, upkeep costs and more. Putting these Excel sheets together on a quarterly basis was a huge pain for our operations teams.  

To solve this, we identified the processes and KPIs in less than a month and used those Excel sheets to make an app on Softools. Now the operations team has a single source of truth, automated KPIs, a map of all their manufacturing plants around the world, and important real-time information in one place. 

This solution that we built is now going to integrate real estate data of those manufacturing plants, to derive cost analysis, ROI forecasts, logistics investment and more. So it’s evolving into a decision and opportunity engine now. More productive decision making is also possible using this app. It is literally growing each day, with new features. 

Those quarterly reports that used to take weeks to put together, now take 0 minutes. Just a three-click export. So the whole reporting process is now transformed into a productivity engine. 

K: What are your favourite Softools features? And what would you like to see coming to the platform in the future? 

GM: I think my favourite feature is the capability to put dashboards together because that's where the real value comes from. The value to the company and users comes when you can get graphs, automated reports, decision dashboards and such out of your business processes. So I think those are my favourite features. We’ve explored a lot of other platforms from different vendors, and they do not let you visualise data this fast without code. 

Many other platforms don’t have this quick a way to automate reports and get real-time data at an enterprise level, especially in manufacturing. 

What I would like to see of Soft Tools for the future is now the Agile Framework style dashboard, Kanban-style management, because that's a little bit where the industries are shifting from a PMO perspective to different agile frameworks. I know Softools is already working on some of these features. 

K: How has app building affected your personal and professional life? 

GM: It’s been transformative. I had joined as an intern at this company where I built the apps for the use cases we talked about. But initially, I was just an intern. When I got introduced to Softools,  it opened my perspective not only to my work, but also to the work that is going on around me. Learning no code, and platforms like Softools not only potentiates your career but now you can new skills. Now if you know how to build apps, it is something that people are looking for out there in the pool of jobs. 

It changes your way of viewing things. As it gives you a broader look at what all is going at the company and link the opportunities you can see. Because instead of looking just at your job, now you can say - “Hey, we have a platform that can leverage all this information, might as well start inputting different variables, inputting different processes, and have one transversal platform that manages everything, and all the productivity that it brings. 

It takes you to a whole new level. 

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