Client: Ironsmith, a tree grate manufacturer located in Palm Desert, CA.
Project Background
Ironsmith approached us after their initial agency did not complete their project. The company sought to modernize its operations and online presence in two ways:
- Migration to a Cloud-Based Solution: Transition from a 15-year-old desktop software to a cloud-based platform.
- Revamping the Consumer-Facing Website: Developing a modern, competitive website to better present their services.
Project Components
Internal Business Portal
The internal portal facilitates management of:
- Products and projects
- Complex quote creation with company specific business processes
- Sales orders tracking
- An admin panel for tasks such as tax adjustments, product specifications, user management, and sales representative management
Customer Facing Wordpress Website
A key feature was integrating the consumer website with the internal portal to:
- Display available products
- Provide product documentation
- Showcase previous projects
Desktop Application
The intermediary for portal to file server communication. Projects are linked to folders in the On-Site File Server. The requirement was to allow the user to open the folder and subsequently open a file in its associated program (eg. .dwg opens in AutoCAD). This is ability is not allowed natively from the browser so a small desktop application was built to unlock this ability.
One Time Data Migration from Legacy Application
Data extraction and mapping from the legacy Microsoft Access application, moving 15+ years of existing company data to the new system
Benefits
Complete control of product data to present to customers- Show off products and projects to customers on their website
Efficiently manage projects, quotes, and sales orders - Quickly create and manage complex quotes: from creation, to change orders, to sendoff
More robust data management with an internal portal and updated database schema
Control employee access with user roles
Custom Reports in PDF and CSV formats
Challenges Encountered
- Incomplete Scope: The project's scope lacked details crucial to the business's core operations.
- Technical Limitations: The previous agency did not address the requirement for a web application to open files (e.g., DWG files in AutoCAD) directly in their native applications. To overcome this, we developed a desktop application that extended the web application's capabilities, enabling file access from their on-premises server.
More Details
For a detailed look at each project component refer to their respective sections.