Client background
A leading designer and producer of exclusive, high-fashion gowns and dresses. The company supplies a network of more than 1,000 retail outlets in over 30 countries.
Business challenge
The client ran production and sales on a legacy ERP system. It had supported the business for more than five years, but it left little room for new functionality or integration with external systems.
The client wanted software that would support existing and future business processes, and open the door to integration with other systems as the company grew.
Four problems stood in the way:
- Hard to maintain. The legacy system was difficult to support, which limited changes to existing functionality and the addition of new automated processes.
- No integration. Without links to existing and future systems, the client could not expand or improve its sales processes, and growth stalled.
- Slow performance. Teams lost time waiting for pages to load and requests to complete.
- Poor user experience. Daily tasks took longer than they should.
The client decided to replace the legacy system with one that automates current and future processes and supports growth. The new solution had to:
- Integrate with external systems
- Be easy to maintain and extend
- Cover the core business processes of the legacy system
- Make daily tasks simple for users
Project description
The project started with a small team on the client side. It soon grew to include a product manager and several SoftServe developers.
To estimate time and cost accurately, SoftServe ran a workshop-style estimation with a business analyst and an architect. They collected requirements and used them to create the product vision and roadmap.
SoftServe estimated three options: a solution based on Odoo, a custom system built on a native Python framework, and Salesforce.
The application SoftServe delivered is a RESTful single-page ERP system built on Odoo. The backend uses Python and PostgreSQL, the frontend uses React and Redux.js, and the system runs on Google Cloud.
Value delivered
Rebuilding the ERP was the client’s first step toward becoming a digital company. Next, the client plans to develop a point-of-sale (PoS) system and an e-commerce and marketplace platform for the high-fashion industry, which will strengthen its position in the market.
The new ERP gives users a fast, simple way to handle daily tasks. It also provides:
- Insight and statistics on company performance
- Support for future integration with external systems
- Optimized warehouse and sales processes
The client now runs production and sales on a system that fits how it works today and can grow with it. Daily tasks are faster and simpler, warehouse and sales processes are optimized, and new integrations no longer mean rebuilding the core. The ERP is the foundation for what comes next: a PoS system and an e-commerce and marketplace platform.
