How to add Slack to DELMIAworks (IQMS)
Short answer
Build a small Slack app that listens for DELMIAworks events and posts Block Kit messages to the right channel, with slash commands for lookups and buttons for approvals. Reads come from the API or read-only Oracle views; writes are staged or routed through supported paths.
Slack tends to show up in DELMIAworks shops that are newer, venture-backed or growth-minded: contract molders, electronics assemblers and fabricators where operations, sales and engineering all live in Slack channels, while the ERP is the system nobody wants to open to answer a quick question.
The common frustration is the quick question itself: where is job 48213, did the customer's PO arrive, is that resin in stock. Someone has to log into the client, find the screen, and report back in the thread.
This page covers how to wire Slack to the DELMIAworks data model so those questions and decisions happen where the conversation already is, without giving everyone ERP access.
What teams use it for
Slash command lookups
A command such as /erp order 10458 returns status, ship date and open lines for a sales order, limited to the requester's mapped role.
New order notifications to sales and planning
Post a channel message when a large or rush sales order is booked, with customer, items, dates and a link into the ERP.
Material shortage threads
When MRP shows a shortage on a released job, open a thread in the purchasing channel so buyers can claim it and record the outcome.
Customer complaint intake
A Slack workflow collects complaint details, then a service creates a corrective action draft for quality to review in the ERP.
Engineering change notices
Post ECN status changes to the engineering and production channels, with the affected BOMs and open jobs listed.
DELMIAworks (IQMS) integration surface
- DELMIAworks alert capabilities (SQL conditions with email or action output) as the lowest-effort event source; capabilities vary by version.
- REST API endpoints, if licensed, for orders, jobs, inventory and BOM reads, using token authentication.
- Oracle read-only views over tables like ORDERS, WORKORDER, ARINVT and PO, hedged as table names differ across releases.
- ERP user and role tables, which you map to Slack user ids so slash commands respect access.
- Email-in: Slack can receive email into channels, a workable fallback for ERP alert emails with no custom code.
How it works
- 1
Create the Slack app
Define scopes for chat:write, commands and the interactivity endpoint. Use Socket Mode if you want to avoid exposing an inbound URL from the plant.
- 2
Link Slack and ERP identities
Maintain a mapping from Slack user id to DELMIAworks user, with a read or approve capability flag.
- 3
Feed events into the app
Use alerts, an outbox table or scheduled queries to emit events with record ids and versions to avoid duplicates.
- 4
Format with Block Kit
Keep messages short: headline, three to five facts, link, and one or two buttons. Put detail in a thread.
- 5
Handle commands and buttons
Verify the Slack signing secret, look up the mapped user, re-read ERP state, and only then answer or act.
- 6
Add rate limits and logging
Cache lookups for a short period so a busy channel does not hammer Oracle, and log each command with user and result.
Example flows
Rush order announcement
Trigger: A sales order flagged rush is saved in DELMIAworks.
- Alert emits the order id.
- App reads customer, items and requested date.
- Message posts to the planning channel with a Claim button.
- First planner to click is recorded as owner in the thread.
Result: Rush orders get an owner within minutes and the thread keeps the discussion attached to the order.
Job status slash command
Trigger: A salesperson types /erp job 48213.
- App verifies signature and maps the user.
- Read-only query returns operation status, quantity complete and next operation.
- Reply is ephemeral so only the asker sees it.
Result: Sales gets an answer in seconds without ERP access or interrupting a planner.
Keeping data on-prem
Slack is cloud-hosted, so keep the ERP side outbound-only. Run the Slack app inside the plant network using Socket Mode, which opens an outbound WebSocket and needs no inbound port, and keep Oracle access on a read-only internal account. If sensitive information such as customer pricing, drawings or export-controlled descriptions should not sit in a third-party workspace, post only identifiers and a deep link, and let the viewer's ERP login show the detail. For natural-language questions, route text to a local open-weight model hosted on your GPUs so the question and the ERP rows used to answer never go to an external LLM; only the final reply is posted back to Slack.
Security checklist
- Verify Slack request signatures and reject stale timestamps.
- Use ephemeral replies for anything commercially sensitive, and restrict commands to specific channels.
- Never hold ERP credentials in Slack workflows; keep them in the service's secret store.
- Check authority at action time using the mapped ERP role, not the Slack workspace role.
- Audit commands and approvals with Slack id, ERP id, record and timestamp.
Ways to get it done
Email-to-Slack from ERP alerts
Effort: Hours.
Zero-code starting point if alerts already email; no interactivity.
Custom Slack app
Effort: Two to six weeks for a few commands and one approval flow.
Slash commands, buttons and role-aware answers.
Partner implementation with Netray
Effort: Pilot scoped around two or three high-value commands.
When the app should also answer free-text questions over ERP and documents using a local model.
Pitfalls
- !Giving a slash command broad read access, so anyone in the channel can see pricing.
- !Polling Oracle on every command instead of caching for a few seconds.
- !Noisy channels from posting every order status change, leading to muted alerts.
- !Not handling Slack's three-second acknowledgement window, causing timeouts on slower queries.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a standard DELMIAworks Slack connector?
We are not aware of a standard one to rely on, so verify with your vendor or reseller. The practical route is a custom app using alerts, the API or read-only Oracle views.
Can Slack users approve POs?
Yes through an interactive button, provided the approval is performed via a supported path and the user's authority is re-checked server-side at click time.
Will this work if our ERP is not internet-facing?
Yes. Socket Mode and outbound HTTPS mean the app can run inside your network without opening inbound ports to the ERP.
What data should never go to Slack?
Export-controlled technical data, customer pricing under NDA and anything your policy forbids in third-party SaaS. Post identifiers and links instead.
Do we need a developer?
For anything interactive, yes. A competent developer with Oracle and Node or Python experience can build the first version; the harder part is permissions and ownership after launch.
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