Programmers.io planned and built a product customization portal used by the customers and sales reps of a leading furniture manufacturer
About The Client
The client is a 70 year old furniture manufacturer based out of Wadena, Minnesota, USA. It mainly deals into affordable luxury outdoor patio furniture offered in 30 collections. These include tables, chairs, chaises, loveseats, sofas, ottomans bar and balcony stools/chairs stools made up of durable aluminum, steel, and cast frame. The client is serving various industries such as restaurants, hotels, resorts, hospitals etc. It offers outdoor patio furniture products to furniture retailers across North America. The company’s sales improved when it patented the Bottemiller’s swivel rocker mechanism in 1956, as this mechanism made the client popular among American households. Today it is on is on a journey to build its future on consumer and contract needs, innovative new products and global opportunities.
- Industry: Manufacturing
- Headquartered: Wadena, Minnesota, USA.
- Platforms: Java, Spring Boot, IBM i, Angular, HTML/CSS, Oauth Server
- Team Size: Approximately 8–12 members
The Challenge
The client has multiple Windows applications for internal purposes such as for various categories of the furniture and fabrics. These applications are designed for offering customized products to the customers. The challenges faced by the client are:
The applications are desktop based and cannot be accessed from anywhere, therefore creating a delay in attending to the requirements and customization of the products
As these are multiple applications for various functions, there is no single platform to access all of them at one place. The employees have to login separately on all of them to fetch the details.
Windows applications do not look appealing or user friendly.
The client wanted only the authorized users to access the new web based applications
The products were to be better categorized with the addition of Zebra printer that would print the tickets with barcode correctly and attach those with the products for identification.
Our Solution
Recommending Modern Frontend and Backend Solutions
Developers at Programmers.io became a trustworthy IT partner of the client and suggested Angular for front-end development and Java as the backend technology
Robust Security through Token-Based Authorization
Web based applications need to have robust security. Therefore, our team used existing database i.e. DB2 and Oauth 2.0 to provide the access token authorization to the users.
Unified Access Across Applications with SSO
The client wanted the application to have Single Sign-On functionality for all the applications so, our team used the Oauth server for the same.
Secure Access Control Using OAuth Server and Java APIs
Our team added the feature of authorization based access to the application leveraging the facilities provided by Oauth server and Java APIs.
Automated Product Tagging with Java API and Zebra Printer
The development team also added the functionality in which the JAVA API could create dynamic tickets with barcode and that could be printed using the Zebra printer. These tickets are created to be attached with a specific product in order to categorize them properly.
Business Impact
Our solution added value with surprising results because we were able to deliver a high-quality product on time.
Here’s how we did it
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Security
Oauth 2.0 implementation provides more secured connection while accessing the Java REST APIs from web pages.
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Accessibility
As the application is now web-based, hence, Website is accessible from anywhere and well optimized for mobile users too.
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User Friendly
Website is now easy to access and loads faster. Users just need one link to open any application to which they are authorized.
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Reduced the IBM i dependency of a national manufacturer
I wanted to take a moment to highlight and commemorate the efforts from our dedicated PIO team. To preface, the projects we work on here are complex, with rigid objectives, budgets, and timelines. Expectations are always high and are ever-changing. From the start of our relationship, the IO team was able to exceed expectations and make our business wishes a reality.
Over the past year I have worked with them, they have worked very hard to understand our highly customized system and troubleshoot things with little or no documentation while managing to keep the business up and running normally. Without the hard work and dedication they have shown, I know we would have had some issues causing downtime or lost production. I am looking forward to continuing working them in the next year as well.
I have been working with Programmers IO for more than 5 years now and I have been pleased with all projects and developers that I have worked with. We have had a few issues here and there but they have always fixed and made it right. They have been an excellent addition to our business.
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