Devessence modernized an ERP system for a US-based John Deere supplier and built tailored web apps – from IoT hive monitoring to workflow tools for side ventures.
Client
Co-owner of a company producing heavy machinery parts (John Deere supplier).
Vertical
Manufacturing, Small Private Business
Services Provided
The ERP/Inventory Management System we maintained for two years directly supported the client’s manufacturing processes. Beyond this, the client also trusted us with digital solutions for his private ventures in other industries.
– Application development.
– Architecture redesign.
– Performance optimization.
– Quality assurance.
Technology
ASP.NET Core, Angular, MS SQL Database, Raspberry Pi Development, Google Cloud Platform Services
The Challenge: A Legacy System with No Roadmap
Our collaboration began with a large-scale ERP/Inventory Management System with EDI integration that directly supported the client’s machinery parts production.
Minimal onboarding time was the first challenge we faced. Access provisioning delays left less than a month of overlap with the previous development team.
The second main challenge was the limited documentation. The codebase had grown organically over the years, with limited traceability. Adding new functionality meant learning the system on the go while keeping it stable and performant.
The Objective: Stabilization and Expansion
In collaboration with the client, we needed to:
1. Support and optimize a large legacy codebase (ERP/Inventory Management with EDI integration).
2. Stabilize the legacy ERP system to ensure smooth daily operations.
3. Improve performance and resolve critical bugs quickly.
4. Add new features that better align with evolving manufacturing processes.
No less important goal was to extend our collaboration beyond manufacturing by building lightweight, custom web applications for the client’s side businesses: beekeeping (IoT hive monitoring) and workflow management for a computer service.
The Solution: Proper Maintenance and Tailored Development
We’ve been working closely with the client to make the collaboration process smooth, productive, and resultative. There are two primary solutions we found to deal with challenges.
ERP/Inventory management system
We invested heavily in:
1. Attentive legacy code analysis.
2. Systematic system debagging.
3. Applying strong troubleshooting skills within the team.
All these allowed us to stabilize the system, fix major performance bottlenecks, and introduced new features that streamlined order and production control.
Small web applications for private ventures
Our work expanded beyond manufacturing:
– IoT-based beehive monitoring. Together with the client, we developed a web app integrated with Raspberry Pi devices to track hive weight and provide real-time updates.
– Workflow management tool. We created a lightweight application for a small computer service business, improving task tracking and service operations.
The work in progress is a contact form manager. We started working on a centralized web service to unify and manage contact forms across multiple WordPress websites owned by the client. The work is in progress.
Results
We stabilized the ERP system, ensuring uninterrupted manufacturing operations.
We resolved numerous bugs and saved the client both time and money.
New features improved oversight of production processes and order management.
We delivered three additional applications, each tailored to specific business needs outside manufacturing.
We built a long-term relationship with our client based on trust and flexibility.
Tech Stack
ASP.NET CORE
Angular
MySQL
Raspberry Pi Development
Google Cloud Platform Services