RFgen

What it is

RFgen is a low-code mobile app development platform aimed at supply chain and manufacturing IT teams. Its builder is called RFgen Mobile Development Studio, and the company positions it as a purpose-built answer to a common problem: too few IT departments have the in-house skills to build mobile apps for the warehouse and the shop floor themselves. The site footer names the company as RFgen Software, "A Division of the DataMAX Software Group, Inc.", with an address in El Dorado Hills, California, and further offices listed in Singapore and in Hyderabad, India.

The reader this entry serves is an IT lead or ERP administrator in a small or mid-sized team. The company sets the scene directly, saying "less than a third of IT departments have staff with sufficient mobile app development skills for autonomy." Outsourcing the work, it says, is "both time- and cost-intensive." RFgen's product exists to let that small team build and change the apps in-house, without handing every change request to an outside developer or to the ERP vendor.

What you build and how

The apps are mobile apps for operational work, and the site organizes them by the problem they solve. Its menu lists inventory management ("eliminate errors, gain real-time visibility, and control inventory costs"), warehouse operations ("speed up fulfillment and maximize workforce efficiency"), manufacturing execution ("reduce downtime, enhance quality control, and improve traceability"), offline data capture ("Stay connected, and capture data anywhere") and operational excellence ("Streamline operations, mitigate risks, and drive growth through data-driven insights"). A "Switch to RFgen" entry sits in the same menu for companies moving from another mobile system.

The product line is listed under 3 names. Mobile Unity Platform is described as giving you the tools to equip a workforce with "mobile apps that work across locations, devices". MobileEdge Suites is listed beside it. Secure Label is a mobile-ready labeling solution that lets you "print anywhere in no time," built on the RFgen platform "you already trust." Together they cover the app platform itself and labeling from mobile devices, which is a daily need in shipping, receiving and production.

The company describes the low-code approach behind Mobile Development Studio as "a visual development environment, characterized by drag-and-drop interfaces and model-driven logic or prebuilt logic blocks instead of coding everything from scratch." The key features it lists are an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, minimal hand-coding, pre-built templates, cross-platform compatibility and built-in modern UI and UX, which it says allow "rapid app creation and deployment across various device types and operating systems." It adds that "some coding experience is helpful," and that even junior programmers can create, modify and deploy mobile apps with a simple UI. The company argues that "most low-code development products are generalized solutions" that are "too blunt" for the supply chain, and that "a specialized tool like RFgen Mobile Development Studio is needed to handle complex supply chain processes and ERP automation."

The data layer is the ERP. Under the heading "Extend Your ERP" the site names the systems RFgen works with: SAP, Oracle EBS, Oracle Cloud SCM, Oracle JDE, Deltek Costpoint and Microsoft Dynamics. The company says RFgen offers integration for multiple ERP systems and lets new apps work with existing legacy systems, and it mentions "pre-built connectors and APIs" for connecting supply chain management systems. It says this matters for "continuity and data accuracy" when a company changes ERPs, and it ties the topic to the move toward cloud-based ERP software. It also says low-code platforms consolidate data from diverse sources, which supports inventory management with real-time data.

Offline work is part of the picture. Offline data capture is listed as one of the 5 problems the product solves, which matters in warehouses and plants where a device can lose its connection mid-task. On the administration side, the company says users "can spend less time on mobile apps while maintaining mobile devices remotely."

On governance, the company makes a point that enterprise buyers will recognize. A controlled low-code environment helps supply chain businesses "adhere to security and compliance standards" and reduces the use of unapproved software, which it calls shadow IT. This is the company's argument about governed low-code, not a named certification.

The company also lays out what it sees as the practical gains of building in-house. It lists a simplified UI for creating, maintaining and deploying apps, and a "reduction in time and resources required for app development." It points to lower operational and maintenance costs than outside custom development, and to less dependency on software providers, so that in-house staff "can work on their own schedule to quickly align with operations and deliver finely-tuned workflows." It adds that low-code narrows the gap between IT professionals and business users, which it says leads to faster issue resolution, and that non-specialized technical staff can contribute their domain expertise to the apps.

Results, customers and support

RFgen's numbers are the company's claims. It says RFgen Mobile Development Studio is "driving 95% greater developer productivity." To make the wider case for low-code, it cites a market figure, saying the low-code mobile app development market is expanding from $6.78 billion globally at an expected compound annual growth rate of 22.9% through 2030, and a prediction that by 2025 IT departments would shrink by as much as 75% compared to 2020. Those are industry numbers, not measures of RFgen itself.

The company presents a customer story about Grupo Cementos, titled "Grupo Cementos Gains Self-Sufficiency with Low-Code," available as a video. Its resource library is organized by type (blog posts, videos, infographics, insight briefs, product sheets and success stories), by industry and by ERP, so a buyer on Oracle JD Edwards or Deltek Costpoint can find material for that system.

Industries are listed as aerospace and defense, automotive, chemicals, construction, food and beverage, government, life sciences, manufacturing, mining and metals, and oil and gas. Customers reach the company through separate sales and support phone lines, a contact form and a customer login. Plans are sold through the sales team rather than listed with prices.

Who it suits

RFgen suits a small IT team that supports an ERP and has to deliver mobile apps for inventory, warehouse or production work without hiring mobile specialists. The company's own framing is that "even the smallest IT departments can gain the ability to quickly create or iterate mobile apps for the supply chain without specialized knowledge." It also suits companies running more than one ERP, or planning a move to a cloud ERP, since the integration layer is the stated draw, and manufacturers in the industries it lists.

It is not the tool for someone building a consumer app or an app unconnected to an ERP. The product is narrow on purpose, and the company itself says general-purpose low-code tools are the wrong fit for its niche, which cuts both ways. The company also says "some coding experience is helpful," so a team with no technical staff at all should expect to lean on RFgen for help in the early projects.