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Address Delaware , USA
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Email info@upcoretech.com
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Phone +1 (302) 319-2026
Upcore Technologies provided staff augmentation services to a leading eCommerce fulfillment software provider, embedding experienced .NET developers within the client's development teams. The augmented teams enhanced the client's self-service portal and warehouse management system, introducing features such as automated order processing, system-directed cluster picking, real-time inventory updates, and shipment label generation. Upcore's contributions resulted in accelerated time-to-market, improved software quality, operational efficiency gains, enhanced user experience, and continuous innovation for the client's eCommerce fulfillment solutions.
The client is a leading provider of cutting-edge 3PL (third-party logistics) software that drives end-to-end ecommerce fulfillment processes. Their robust platform streamlines operations from inventory validation and warehouse management to order shipment, empowering 3PL companies to elevate their performance and service quality.
As the demand for their software grew rapidly, the client found themselves facing several challenges that hindered their ability to keep up with the pace of development and meet their customers' evolving needs:
a. Lack of Specialized Expertise: The client had a talented in-house development team, but they lacked specific expertise in certain areas, such as cloud infrastructure, DevOps practices, and advanced frontend development. This knowledge gap was limiting their ability to introduce new features and optimize existing ones.
b. Resource Constraints: With five development teams working in parallel on different components of the software, the client was struggling to allocate resources effectively. They needed a flexible and scalable solution that could provide additional skilled developers on-demand, without the overhead of permanent hires.
c. Rapid Iteration and Time-to-Market: The ecommerce industry is highly competitive, and the client's customers demand frequent updates and new features to stay ahead of their competitors. The existing development cycles were too long, and the client needed to accelerate their time-to-market without compromising quality.
d. Continuous Evolution: The client's software suite was a complex and ever-evolving system, with new requirements emerging regularly from their diverse customer base. They needed a development partner who could quickly adapt to changing priorities and seamlessly integrate with their existing teams.
Recognizing these challenges, the client decided to engage external resources to augment their in-house capabilities. Specifically, they were seeking experienced .NET developers who could be available for long-term cooperation and possess the agility to switch between tasks and projects as needed.
Upcore Technologies adopted a collaborative and integrated approach to address the client's challenges. Our team of experienced .NET developers was carefully selected and onboarded to become an extension of the client's existing development teams, ensuring seamless communication, knowledge transfer, and alignment with their processes and methodologies.
a. Embedded Team Model: Upcore's developers were embedded within the client's development teams, working side-by-side with their in-house counterparts. This close collaboration facilitated a deep understanding of the client's requirements, codebase, and development practices, enabling our developers to hit the ground running and contribute effectively from day one.
b. Agile Methodology: Upcore embraced an agile development approach, aligning with the client's existing practices. Our developers participated in daily stand-ups, sprint planning, and retrospective sessions, ensuring continuous communication, transparency, and adaptability to changing priorities.
c. Knowledge Sharing and Mentorship: While our developers brought specialized expertise in areas such as cloud infrastructure, DevOps, and frontend development, they were also committed to sharing their knowledge and best practices with the client's in-house teams. Through pair programming sessions, code reviews, and knowledge-sharing sessions, we fostered a culture of continuous learning and collaboration.
d. Flexible Resourcing: Upcore offered a flexible resourcing model, allowing the client to scale their development capacity up or down as needed. Our pool of talented developers ensured that the client always had access to the right skills and expertise, without the overhead of permanent hires.
e. Continuous Integration and Delivery: To accelerate the development lifecycle and enable rapid iteration, Upcore introduced robust continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipelines. Automated testing, deployment, and monitoring processes were implemented, ensuring that new features and updates could be delivered to the client's customers with speed and reliability.
Upcore Technologies played a pivotal role in enhancing and expanding the client's ecommerce fulfillment software suite. Our developers contributed to two critical components of the platform: the self-service portal and the warehouse management system.
Self-service Portal Development:
The self-service portal is a web application designed for ecommerce companies – the clients of 3PL providers – to enable automated order transfer to 3PL warehouses. Upcore's developers joined the project midway and made significant contributions to various aspects of the portal's development.
a. IT Infrastructure and Disaster Recovery:
- Upcore's developers set up an Azure-powered backup and disaster recovery solution, ensuring seamless failover and minimizing downtime in case of service disruptions.
- This robust infrastructure provided the client with peace of mind, ensuring their ecommerce customers could continue placing orders and operations could resume quickly in the event of any unforeseen circumstances.
b. Reverse Engineering and Documentation:
- To facilitate knowledge transfer and streamline future development efforts, our developers performed a comprehensive reverse engineering process.
- They disassembled the portal software into its components, documenting how each component worked and interacted with others.
- Within a month, they delivered a comprehensive developer's guide, serving as a valuable resource for the client's in-house teams and future developers working on the portal.
c. Testing and DevOps Practices:
- Initially, the project lacked a dedicated testing team, which posed challenges in ensuring software quality and enabling continuous delivery.
- Upcore's developers stepped in and created a comprehensive suite of unit, functional, and integration tests, increasing the test coverage from 70% to an impressive 93%.
- This robust testing framework not only improved the software's reliability but also enabled the introduction of DevOps practices, facilitating fail-safe continuous delivery of new features and updates.
d. Staging Environment and Quality Assurance:
- To further enhance the software quality assurance process, our developers deployed a staging environment that mimicked the production environment.
- This staging environment allowed for thorough testing and validation of new features and updates before deployment, ensuring a seamless user experience for the client's ecommerce customers.
e. Frontend Development and User Experience:
- Upcore's team made significant contributions to the portal's frontend development, focusing on improving the user experience for ecommerce companies.
- They fully modified the workflow for adding new integrations with ecommerce systems, streamlining the process, and creating intuitive input forms for the integration interface.
- These enhancements empowered the client's ecommerce customers to effortlessly integrate their systems with the 3PL fulfillment process, improving efficiency and reducing manual effort.
In addition to the self-service portal, Upcore's team played a crucial role in enhancing the client's warehouse management software, focusing on the picking and packing-related functionality. This ongoing collaboration aims to introduce several automation features to further optimize the fulfillment process.
a. Central Order Processing Interface:
- Upcore's developers are working on a centralized interface that captures orders from integrated ecommerce systems, enabling instant order processing and routing to the appropriate fulfillment centers.
- This streamlined order processing workflow eliminates manual intervention and ensures orders are promptly and accurately processed, minimizing delays and errors.
b. System-Directed Cluster Picking:
- Our team is developing a sophisticated cluster-picking workflow that leverages advanced algorithms and machine-learning techniques.
- This system-directed approach allows warehouse employees to pick up multiple orders during a single walk through the warehouse aisles, significantly improving operational efficiency and productivity.
c. Automated Inventory Updates:
- To maintain accurate inventory levels and minimize discrepancies, our developers are implementing automated inventory count updates.
- When warehouse employees scan the barcodes of picked items, the system automatically updates the inventory counts in real time, providing visibility and enabling proactive replenishment.
d. Automated Shipment Label Generation:
- Upcore's developers are working on automating the generation and printing of shipment labels, eliminating manual labor and reducing the risk of errors.
- This feature will integrate with various transportation companies (e.g., FedEx, UPS), ensuring accurate and compliant labeling for seamless shipment tracking and delivery.
e. Multi-Pack Order Management:
- Our team has already implemented the capability to manage multiple packs for a single delivery order, addressing the diverse needs of the client's ecommerce customers.
- This feature allows for efficient handling of large or fragmented orders, improving the overall fulfillment experience.
f. Carrier Integration and Label Creation:
- Upcore's developers have enabled the creation of shipping labels for different transportation companies, providing flexibility and catering to the client's diverse carrier partnerships.
- This integration streamlines the shipping process and ensures accurate and compliant labeling, facilitating seamless shipment tracking and delivery.
g. Package Type Scanning and Assignment:
- To further optimize the fulfillment process, our developers have implemented package-type scanning and assignment based on order size and weight.
- This feature ensures that appropriate packaging materials and containers are used, minimizing shipping costs and optimizing logistics operations.
Through their collaboration with Upcore Technologies, the client has achieved significant results in enhancing their ecommerce fulfillment software suite and delivering superior value to their 3PL customers and end-users.
a. Accelerated Time-to-Market:
- By leveraging Upcore's flexible resourcing model and expertise in DevOps and CI/CD practices, the client has dramatically accelerated their time-to-market for new features and updates.
- Continuous integration and automated testing have streamlined the development lifecycle, enabling the client to rapidly respond to customer demands and stay ahead of the competition.
b. Improved Software Quality and Reliability:
- The comprehensive suite of unit, functional, and integration tests developed by Upcore's team has significantly improved the software's quality and reliability.
- With a test coverage of 93%, the client can confidently release new features and updates, minimizing the risk of bugs and ensuring a seamless user experience for their customers.
c. Operational Efficiency and Cost Savings:
- The automation features introduced in the warehouse management software, such as system-directed cluster picking, automated inventory updates, and shipment label generation, have contributed to substantial improvements in operational efficiency and cost savings for the client's 3PL customers.
- By reducing manual labor, minimizing errors, and optimizing processes, the client's software enables their customers to process more orders with fewer resources, maximizing profitability and competitiveness.
d. Enhanced User Experience and Customer Satisfaction:
- The improvements made to the self-service portal, including the streamlined integration workflow and intuitive user interface, have significantly enhanced the user experience for the client's ecommerce customers.
- By simplifying the onboarding process and reducing manual effort, the client has fostered greater customer satisfaction and loyalty, solidifying their position as a leading provider of ecommerce fulfillment solutions.
e. Continuous Innovation and Future-Proofing:
- The client's commitment to continuous innovation and their partnership with Upcore Technologies has positioned them as industry leaders in the ecommerce fulfillment space.
- With a robust and scalable software architecture, the client can confidently tackle emerging trends and requirements, future-proofing their solutions and ensuring long-term success in the rapidly evolving ecommerce landscape.
Upcore Technologies leveraged a cutting-edge technology stack to deliver innovative solutions for the client's ecommerce fulfillment software suite, ensuring scalability, performance, and seamless integration with leading cloud platforms.
Self-service Portal:
- Azure Hosting (App Service)
- Angular (Frontend Framework)
- .NET 6 (Backend Framework)
- SignalR (Real-time Communication)
- Entity Framework (ORM)
- Microsoft SQL Server (Database)
- Azure DevOps Pipelines (CI/CD)
Warehouse Management System:
- Azure Hosting (Kubernetes Cluster)
- React (Frontend Framework)
- .NET 6 (Backend Framework)
- Docker (Containerization)
- SignalR (Real-time Communication)
- Azure Service Bus (Messaging)
- Azure Cosmos DB (NoSQL Database)
- Azure DevOps Pipelines (CI/CD)
By leveraging Microsoft's robust cloud infrastructure, modern frontend frameworks, and scalable backend technologies, Upcore's developers ensured that the client's software suite was built on a solid foundation, capable of handling increasing demand and seamlessly integrating with third-party systems and services.
The adoption of DevOps practices, including Azure DevOps Pipelines, enabled continuous integration, automated testing, and streamlined deployment processes, ensuring rapid and reliable delivery of new features and updates.
Overall, Upcore Technologies' expertise in cutting-edge technologies, combined with their collaborative approach and deep understanding of the client's requirements, has played a pivotal role in the success of the ecommerce fulfillment software suite, positioning the client as a leading player in the highly competitive ecommerce landscape.
