SUMit's history

1996, the pre-sumit era

something new

kuala lumpur

sam

  • sam is a joint venture of ibm, malaysia airlines and swiss air
  • henk jan learns algoritms for shift roster planning at plaza ibm

internet

  • the internet is emerging.
  • everybody talks about the new, object oriented programming language: java.

oops

  • Just a half year later an economic crisis strikes Asia
  • Henk Jan has to end his contract work sooner than planned

Java

sumatra

1997, the start up

back to nl

  • Henk Jan ships his stuff back to the Netherlands.
  • The cargo is lost for months.

1 shirt

  • With just one shirt and tie Henk Jan sets out to find new customers in Holland.
  • In the Netherlands Java is virtually unkown.

the name sumit

  • Laurella Asselman, former KLM colleague of Henk Jan, devises SUMit, as an abbreviation of SUMatra Information Technology.

  • The island of Sumatra (which is next to Java) returns in the 1st SUMit logo.

1st customer

  • The first SUMit customer offers Smalltalk contract work for the staff information system Perman II.

SUMit

  • During a lunch break on the 5th of May, Henk Jan formally founds SUMit, at the chambre of commerce in Rotterdam
  • SUMit HQ roots in Gouda.

1st invoice

  • Shortly after the founding the first customer recieves the first invoice.

1998, OO Smalltalk

smalltalk

  • Smalltalk A bit of smalltalk contracting increases the SUMit start up funds.

www.sum-it.nl

recharge

1999, www.sum-it.nl materialises

website

applets

contract work

  • Smalltalk contract work generates the larger share of the revenue.

courses

2000, Dot com hype

DB course

  • In Ireland Henk Jan writes a 3rd SUMit course efficient database design.
  • The dot com hype is at its peak. Internet is booming business.

on line stocks

  • The first Java project, contract work via Devote: a web application for OHRA to trade stocks on line.

madness

little sleep

  • Henk Jan sees his programmers crawl under a desk at night to get a few hours of sleep.

exhausting

  • Revenue goes sky high
  • but the dotcom pace is devestating.

escape winter

2001, SUMit shift roster generator

XML interface

  • The final Smalltalk contract: link Perman II to a new web system using XML.

roster software

  • a company at Schiphol Airport orders the first SUMit shift roster software.
  • It is a milestone for SUMit.

development

  • SUMit develops the shift roster generator, using the artificial intelligence made in Sumatra.

yardley

  • sumit opens a temporary side office, a software development center in Yarley, between New York and Philadelphia.

2002, Focus on research

project planning

  • SUMit's second tailored software project: a project planning tool that checks feasibility of deadlines.
  • again, sumit develops a project Yardley.

route planning

page rank

  • during a second research project sumit analysis the google ranking algorithm.
  • the sumit website reaches the top of the google search results.

2003, course design shift rosters

dutch telcom

t-model

  • Henk Jan invents the t-model uit.

huizentoppers

  • SUMit research and development creates www.huizentoppers.nl.

page rank

2004, standard shift roster software

shift roster design

too busy

  • Business gets too busy for contract work.
  • In 2004 SUMit already serves 51 customers.

contract work

  • SUMit finishes the last contract work near Utrechtse: match questino and demand of computer hardware.

route planner

  • SUMit creates advanced route planner for the VCC Groep in Utrecht, using AI algorithms from the previous research project.

international

  • SUMit cooperates with the Flemish Sara Borremans. For many years to come, Sara does graphical design of SUMit applications.

2005, tailored factory staff planning

rosters

multi lingual

  • SUMit supplies tailored software to Woodwing, make their application multi lingual using UTF-8.

international

  • sumit designs a web application to match question and demand for trading meat for the Spanish Market Found.

staff planning

  • SCA Gennep asks a staff planning system.
  • It is complex, tailored software for about 40 decentral planners.

design in progress

 

2006, returning customers

team works in

  • Heijen, Limburg
  • Gouda, Holland
  • Halle, Belgium;
  • Taiping, Malaysia
  • Katherine, Northern Territory
  • Kiruna, Sweden

welcome

  • sumit welcomes dhl schiphol, philips and the amsterdam tourist board as returning customers.
  • they find sumit's way of doing business worth repeating.

2007, small multi national

welcome

  • While celebrating 10 years of business SUMit welcomes new, international customers like the Royal Australian Navy in Sydney.

dr. verhoef

imager

training

2008, Svenska

shift roster design training

  • all over the netherlands, sumit's shift roster design training is now well known.

sweden

  • during the long swedish midsummer days sumit cooperates with johan van den boom for the SCA staff planning system.

design method

  • henk jan works on a method for information design, based on the function psychology of Dr. Leonard Verhoef.

prototypes

  • the first paper prototypes made with the new design method see the Swedish light.

2009, Senang, rooster generator

senang

2010, successful Turing test

generator

  • SUMit develops the safety task assignment generator in Malaysia
  • The safety staff fail to notice that a computer took over planning.

dreaming

route planner

2011

shift cycle generator

day generator

api route planner

  • an API for the sumit routeplanner is operational so other web applications can have via points sorted to an efficient route.

2012

SCA, safety staff

select recumbent

ace-shop.com

  • find your recumbent bicycle in a few minutes

plan rides

Route Master

Future, you as SUMit customer