Order Management System

About the client

Our client is an asset-based logistics company that takes an innovative approach to providing services to its customers. The company was looking for ways it can reduce its own and customers’ costs with a reliable tech solution. Such a vision brought our customer to the Twincore team.

The project goal

The client needed an order management system for tracking and controlling its operational costs and providing a transparent view on the orders’ shipping throughout the entire route. To advance cost management and tracking, the client needed a comprehensive analytics tool that can visualize operational expenses.

In addition, our client required a rate engine to offer its customers multiple options of delivering their orders via different means of transportation and routes. At the same time, the client wanted the solution to be easily scalable in the future.

Solution

To create such a complex software system, we gathered a team of two senior full-stack software developers, one UI/UX designer, and one DevOps. The assembled team implemented the following solutions:

• Google and OpenStreetMap API. To enable the feature of door-to-door routing and tracking the order in real time, we integrated the system with Google Maps and OpenStreetMap via application programming interfaces (APIs).
• Recharts graphics. Since the client needed to visualize various costs, our team implemented Recharts graphics. It’s a popular charts library that offers a variety of customizations and modular components to visualize data in understandable fashion. 
• PowerBI integration. For creating analytics features, we integrated Power BI, a business intelligence tool by Microsoft. This tool provides enhanced data analytics and embedded visualizations which were a perfect fit for the project. 
• Admin panel development. Once the system involves multiple types of users, it was crucial to create an administration panel for configuring and granting access to various parts of the system for different users. The admin panel enabled the client to avoid confusions as every single user is allowed to interact with the data relevant only to them. 
• TMS integration. Transparent view of orders and analysis of relatable expenses means that a transport management system (TMS) had to be implemented as well. A TMS integration was necessary for route optimization, freight tracking, carrier management, order fulfillment and other operations related to delivery and tracking of orders.  
• Microservice architecture. As long as the system was extremely complex and has multiple relationships that may affect the business logic of the entire software system, the use of microservice architecture was a proper decision. Using this architecture enabled the Twincore team to break the whole system into multiple services and develop them independently from each other. In such a way, we managed to create a well-structured logic inside the system and made further product scaling possible as it won’t be necessary to rewrite the whole code once again.

Technologies used

Results

After two years of productive work, our team introduced to the client a fully custom software solution that improved the company’s cost savings and created a new value for the company’s customers. The software system offers such major advantages as:

• Order management. The company became able to view all orders and their status in real time, even though multiple carriers may be involved. Automated notifications about shipping, picking, and packing reduce manual work and operational time, thereby saving the company’s costs. A centralized view on all orders lets the company adjust its performance to the current demand, identify possible delays, and improve customer satisfaction. 
• Rate engine. The customer simply needs to submit the origin and destination addresses and shipment details, including weight, volume, and type like container, package, biohazard protection, etc. The engine shows a list of carriers’ offers, so a user can choose the most suitable one.
• Analytics. A robust data analytics tool enables users to track and visualize their expenses to identify trends and flaws in their business processes. With the help of analytics, the company’s customers can make better decisions that are aligned with their current business needs.  
• Additional load on the go. If additional load needs to be added to an order that is already shipping, this feature enables the company's customers to do this in real time.
• Seamless horizontal scaling. Thanks to microservice architecture, the entire system is easy to scale horizontally. When the company decides to expand the functionality of the system or integrate it with other services, it won’t be necessary to rewrite the code. New features can be added without interfering with the system’s logic.
• Performance stability under high workloads. Our DevOps specialist set up the entire system in a way that automatically increases the system’s computing resources as the workload grows. This means the system can perform effectively even when it’s loaded with a large amount of user requests.

Create an up-and-coming software solution for logistics with Twincore

If you need to develop a complex tech solution for your logistics company, look no further than Twincore. With X years of experience, our team of professionals will assist you through every step of developing a custom software product.  

If you need to develop a complex tech solution for your logistics company, look no further than Twincore. With X years of experience, our team of professionals will assist you through every step of developing a custom software product.  
You may come to us with just an idea or a problem you need to solve, and we’ll provide you with a detailed plan of how we can help you meet your business challenges. Get in touch with us today, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.