We’ve all been there as FileMaker developers: we get a new client who needs a relatively simple request. A small application for a specific use case. Then you get another request to extend the system. And another. Before you know it, that simple structure has grown to monstrous proportions — and what was once a smart, agile little database now feels slow and stodgy. At which point we say to ourselves: if only we’d known it was going to be this big, we would have built it differently.
Gutchess Lumber Company (GLC), based in upstate New York, has been a client of The Support Group for almost a decade. They are a high-end hardwood lumber manufacturer with seven locations across the region - multiple sawmills and two kiln drying facilities. Primarily a business to business operation, they supply wood products to furniture, paneling and flooring materials companies around the world. GLC manages the whole supply chain - logging, milling, grading, and then drying the lumber - before selling it.
