How to add WhatsApp to DELMIAworks (IQMS)
Short answer
Add WhatsApp to DELMIAworks by putting a small middleware service between the ERP and the WhatsApp Business Platform. DELMIAworks supplies the events (through its alert engine, the REST API where licensed, or a read-only Oracle view); the middleware sends template messages and writes confirmed replies back through supported paths.
Most DELMIAworks (formerly IQMS EnterpriseIQ) sites are discrete and process manufacturers, plastics molders and metal fabricators, where the people who need information are not at a desk: a truck driver, a supplier's dispatcher, a plant manager walking the floor. They already text and WhatsApp these people by hand, copying a PO number out of the ERP and pasting it into a phone.
The ERP does not talk to WhatsApp natively, and the Business Platform has rules a naive build trips over: pre-approved templates for business-initiated messages, a 24-hour customer service window, and explicit opt-in. The work is mostly about choosing the right DELMIAworks event source and keeping the write-back safe.
This page walks through that path for DELMIAworks specifically, including the on-prem and Oracle realities, so you can decide whether to build it, buy a connector, or have a partner do it.
What teams use it for
Supplier PO acknowledgement
When a purchase order is released, send the buyer's supplier contact a template with PO number, lines and requested dates, with Confirm and Propose new date buttons. The reply lands as a note or promise date for the buyer to review.
Shipment and ASN alerts to customers
On shipment confirmation, notify the customer's receiving contact with carrier, tracking and packing list reference, replacing the manual status email your CSRs send today.
Late job and downtime alerts to supervisors
Push work order jobs that will miss their due date, or presses and machines that have been down past a threshold, to the shift supervisor's group or phone with the job number and reason code.
Mobile approvals
Send a requisition, PO or change request summary to an approver and accept an Approve or Reject button reply, then record the decision through a controlled workflow step rather than a direct database write.
Order status self-service for distributors
Let a known customer contact message a number with a sales order number and get back status, ship date and carrier, limited to orders tied to their account.
DELMIAworks (IQMS) integration surface
- DELMIAworks alert engine (historically IQAlert / workflow alerts, naming varies by version): SQL-driven triggers that can email or run actions, the cleanest event source if licensed.
- The vendor REST API (availability and endpoint set depend on version and license): read sales orders, purchase orders, work orders and shipments over HTTPS with token auth.
- The Oracle database underneath: core tables such as ORDERS, ORD_DETAIL, PO, PO_DETAIL, WORKORDER, ARINVT and ARCUSTO (names vary by release). Use a read-only schema or views, never write directly.
- Oracle mechanisms for change detection: materialized views, triggers writing to an outbox table, or DBMS_SCHEDULER jobs that poll for new states.
- Contact data: customer and vendor contact tables hold phone numbers, but they are rarely clean or in E.164 format, so plan a normalisation and opt-in table of your own.
How it works
- 1
Choose the WhatsApp channel
Register a WhatsApp Business Account and phone number with Meta directly (Cloud API) or through a business solution provider. A BSP is simpler if you want a shared inbox for CSRs.
- 2
Define templates and opt-in
Write utility templates (PO notification, shipment alert, approval request) and submit them for approval. Capture opt-in per contact, with the source and date, in a table you control.
- 3
Pick the event source
Prefer the ERP alert engine or an outbox table fed by a trigger. Polling a read-only view every one to five minutes is acceptable for most use cases and avoids touching ERP code.
- 4
Build the middleware
A small service reads events, resolves the recipient and language, renders template parameters from ERP data, and calls the Cloud API. Store the message id against the ERP record for traceability.
- 5
Receive replies via webhook
Expose an HTTPS webhook (reverse proxy or DMZ host, since the ERP itself is usually inside the firewall). Verify signatures, match replies to the originating message id, and parse button payloads.
- 6
Write back safely
Prefer a staged record or a note on the PO over a direct field update. Anything that changes dates, quantities or price should land in an approval queue for a buyer.
Example flows
PO confirmation loop
Trigger: A buyer releases a purchase order in DELMIAworks.
- Outbox row is written with the PO number and vendor contact.
- Middleware checks opt-in and sends the po_released template with lines and dates.
- Supplier taps Confirm or Propose date.
- Webhook matches the reply to the PO and stores the response.
- A buyer review queue shows proposed date changes before the ERP promise date is touched.
Result: Confirmations arrive in minutes instead of days, and nothing changes in the ERP without a buyer decision.
Down press alert
Trigger: A machine stays in a downtime state past a threshold on the shop floor.
- Alert query finds machines down more than the configured minutes.
- Middleware looks up the on-shift supervisor from a roster table.
- A utility template with machine, job and reason code is sent.
- Supervisor replies Acknowledge, which is logged with a timestamp.
Result: Response time to downtime is measurable and the acknowledgement trail is kept outside chat history.
Keeping data on-prem
A fully on-prem DELMIAworks is fine, because the ERP never needs to accept inbound internet traffic. Run the middleware on a server inside the network, make only outbound HTTPS calls to the WhatsApp Cloud API, and terminate the inbound webhook on a hardened relay in a DMZ that forwards to the middleware over an allow-listed internal path. Keep the Oracle account read-only and the opt-in table in your own schema. If a message contains regulated data such as ITAR part descriptions, do not put it in a template at all; send a neutral reference and let the recipient log in. Where you add an AI step to interpret free-text replies, run an open-weight model locally so reply content never leaves the plant.
Security checklist
- Use a read-only Oracle account scoped to specific views, and keep WhatsApp tokens in a secrets vault, not in the ERP.
- Verify the webhook signature on every inbound call and reject unmatched message ids.
- Keep personal data minimal in templates: references and status, not pricing, drawings or customer part numbers under NDA.
- Log every outbound and inbound message with the ERP record id for audit and retention.
- Treat the sender number as unverified identity; require a known contact match before acting on a reply.
Ways to get it done
Off-the-shelf connector or BSP workflow tool
Effort: Days to a couple of weeks, plus template approval time.
Fine for simple notifications if it can read from a SQL view or webhook; limited for two-way approvals.
Build in-house middleware
Effort: Roughly two to six weeks depending on flows and approvals.
Good if you have a developer who knows Oracle and can maintain a small service and webhook.
Work with a partner such as Netray
Effort: Scoped per flow; typically a pilot of one or two flows first.
Useful when you also want an AI layer to interpret replies or ask questions of ERP data, with on-prem hosting.
Pitfalls
- !Sending business-initiated messages outside approved templates or without opt-in, which risks quality rating drops and blocked numbers.
- !Dirty phone data in contact tables, leading to failed delivery that nobody notices.
- !Writing replies straight into ORD_DETAIL or PO_DETAIL style tables, bypassing ERP business rules and audit.
- !Polling too aggressively against the production Oracle instance during month end.
- !Forgetting the 24-hour window, so a late free-text answer cannot be replied to without a template.
Frequently asked questions
Does DELMIAworks have a built-in WhatsApp integration?
Not that we can point to as a standard feature. Check your version and license for the alert and API capabilities, which are the usual hooks. In practice a middleware service sits between DELMIAworks and the WhatsApp Business Platform.
Can we use the Oracle database directly?
For reads, through a read-only account and views, yes, and many sites do. For writes, avoid it. Direct updates bypass the ERP's validation and audit, and can break on upgrade. Use the supported API or staged review records instead.
Do suppliers need to install anything?
No. They need WhatsApp and to have opted in. That is the main attraction over a supplier portal, which many small suppliers never log into.
Is WhatsApp acceptable for regulated or ITAR data?
Generally no for the content itself. Send neutral references and status, and keep technical data inside your controlled systems. Your compliance team should make the final call for your obligations.
How long does a first flow take?
Template approval is often one to a few days. A single outbound notification flow can run in a week or two; two-way approvals with write-back take longer because of the review design.
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