A Back-End Middleware Platform for Logistics

Project overview

Andersen was approached by a woodworking company. The company was determined to keep up with the latest industry trends and follow the best practices to be as globally competitive as possible. Therefore, they made the decision to build reliable fleet management software (FMS). With it at their disposal, they intended to fully automate their document circulation processes and significantly simplify their overall workflows.

Solution

The customer ordered an Internet-based logistics management software. The main task was twofold – on the one hand, the new software was expected to consolidate all core functionalities of the previous app more reliably; on the other hand, it was required to add a new set of features to that resulting single turnkey system capable of orchestrating each product management process.

App functionality

The project deliverables provided by Andersen have totally satisfied the customer's expectations. The resulting solution can:

• Maintain a seamless and instant document flow covering the entire fleet. Among other things, one can monitor and track the statuses of vehicle licenses and set reminders to renew these licenses on time. In addition, the software notifies end-users about the upcoming expiration of any license and enables them to schedule vehicle tech checks
• Give service providers direct access to information concerning fleet clients. As such, it has replaced the old-fashioned processes based on paper job cards. Instead, the solution makes it possible for the service providers to create and submit job e-cards whenever work is finished
• Assign tasks to mechanics (e.g., "vehicle A requires fresh oil," "vehicle B needs its engine to be repaired," "vehicle C has a jammed trunk handle"). The app is also capable of prompting technicians to complete thorough vehicle inspections and checkups following the set guidelines. In this fashion, the app boosts the service effectiveness via such means as images validating work completion and rebilling all submitted work directly to the fleet client, without any delay
• Optimize the eventual cost of fleet maintenance. Namely, it displays instant information about how costly it is to maintain the fleet at a given moment (including repairs, replacement parts, inspections, etc.). It also informs the end-users about how much fuel each vehicle consumes and how much money is spent on it (with daily-weekly-monthly breakdowns)
• Plan vehicle routes and track vehicles' statuses via GPS trackers. Thus, the end-users can see where any vehicle is, whether it is idle time or not, how much time is spent on the road, and when there will be a next planned stop
• Invoice fleet clients instantly to save the service providers' time and allow fleets to manage vehicles in a more cost-effective fashion

Project results

Andersen made the quickest possible progress to implement the solution and let our collaboration with the customer gain steam. Thus, we swiftly deployed the required cloud-based system and transferred several mission-critical services to it. As an result, the customer company has found itself in the right position to run the functionalities in the full production mode.

• Achieved a significant reduction in paperwork, resulting in a more efficient and streamlined workflow for the woodworking company.
• Improved fleet efficiency rates by 30%, allowing the company to stay competitive in the industry.
• Implemented a cloud-based middleware platform that can be easily scaled and customized to meet the company's specific needs.
• Migrated legacy monolithic apps and implemented new microservice-based apps, resulting in a more reliable and user-friendly logistics management solution.