Custom Business Management Systems for a Freight Operator

Our fundamental mission was to revamp existing applications to make them reliable and scalable in the first place. Another focus was to expand their current functionality, adding more modules for business operations to boost data-driven decision making and customer satisfaction. As a result, the client has received a chance to upscale their turnover and reduce logistics costs, as well as fines and penalties for delays in delivery.

Three modules, namely TMS, CMS, and AMS, were stuck on the verge of modernization and needed a fresh boost to unlock their potential. Our task was to eliminate tech debt, rehost, replatform, and add modern integrations, ensuring smooth communication between internal and external systems, for instance, invoicing, payment processing, etc.

Transportation and Cargo Management Systems help companies track dispatches and deliveries, optimize routing, plan deliveries, and monitor statuses and red zones, to guarantee on-time delivery on the one hand, and to reduce expenditure on the other hand. Thus, the project’s overhaul of existing apps demanded major changes to all crucial modules, while the need for new hardware integrations remained in place.

The cross-platform apps needed to automatically distribute cargo by units corresponding to traffic, delivery zones, and time slots. Moreover, thanks to the first-mile functionality, the client could “close” the whole supply chain within a single system, starting from cargo pickup to delivery to the final customer.

The team consisted of four: one team lead with full-stack expertise and three junior-to-senior developers. Final Testing and Quality Assurance were carried out continuously by the client’s in-house experts and users.

Challenges

• Diverse Activities: The system was expected to unite all business processes from order assignment to post-delivery reporting into several comprehensive modules.
• Legacy Code: The existing platform was gradually turning into outdated, so the client expected upgrades with no downtimes.
• Device Integration: Some integrations, e.g., for barcode scanners and label printers, required an in-depth understanding of manufacturers’ documentation.
• Updating Apps: The transition from older web forms in UI to MVC and updating apps for Windows OS-based devices promised technical hurdles.

• Integrated new printers and barcode scanners, improving the delivery and inventory management process.
• Refactored legacy code to support modern functionalities.
• Continuous support and maintenance to ensure the system remained up-to-date.
• Implemented new features with Google Maps smart routing, cargo pick-up processing, delivery control, workload monitoring, etc.
• The accounting module was expanded to issue invoices, CTA bills of lading, and other standardized documents.

• Successful integration of 2+ device types for improved delivery management.
• Updated legacy systems that led to more penalty-free, intense operations with improved performance up to +30%.
• Google Maps Integration, API integrations for customers.
• Decreased operating costs due to smart routing and more efficient workload distribution by 15%*.
• Real-time control of the fleet.

* According to the financial reports for the last quarter, 2024.