Published on May 8, 2022.

Recently, I've been doing a lot of work with a cloud-based, no-code platform called Tulip.

Tulip empowers citizen developers to build Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) apps without needing to get their IT departments involved. And perhaps best of all, Tulip integrates with production equipment, databases, and Web APIs.

One of my clients has been a Tulip user for several years. They use it to develop custom apps that automate and monitor their manufacturing operations. Nearly all of their apps integrate with NetSuite, pulling Work Order and Inventory information.

My work with Tulip has primarily involved integrating it with NetSuite. While Tulip does provide a standard SuiteTalk-based NetSuite connector, my integrations use custom RESTlets.

A Tulip Experiment

As an experiment, I wanted to see if I could develop a very basic version of the SuiteQL Query Tool as a Tulip app. I found that it's not only possible, but quite easy as well. Here's a short animation showing the app.

Click the image to view a larger version.

Admittedly, this is a very basic app. All that it does is allow a user to enter a query, run it, and see the results (represented as a JSON-encoded array). But it works, and it is amazingly fast, too.

To build the app, I simply created a Tulip connector that points to my custom NetSuite RESTlet. The RESTlet accepts a SuiteQL query as a parameter, runs the query, and returns the results as JSON text.

In the Tulip app, I created a trigger on the "Run" button. The trigger removes tabs and carriage returns from the query, and then uses a "Run Connector Function" action to send the query to the RESTlet via an HTTP request. The results are then presented to the user. It couldn't be an easier.

Wrapping Up

I'm really enjoying working with Tulip. My interest in it, and in the manufacturing sector in general, continues to grow. I'm not only experimenting with Tulip, but have been going through Tulip's extensive training as well. I've just passed both of Tulip's certification exams: Advanced App Building, and Tulip Essentials.

I truly believe that there is tremendous opportunity in this area, and with Tulip in particular. As we continue to struggle with supply chain challenges and disruptions, I think we're going to see an increase in domestic manufacturing. As a result, the need for efficiency, through automation, is likely to grow. It's technologies like Tulip that are going to fulfill those needs.