CTG Revamps Global Freight's Web Portal into Scalable Cloud Platform

Key Challenges

Fragmented systems & scalability issues

Decentralized error logging & maintenance overhead

Business Benefits

95% increase in data accuracy & traceability

100% detailed logging & remote debugging

100% reporting enablement

The client is a global player in air and sea freight forwarding, customs brokerage, and warehouse inventory management services. The company has pioneered in this space and has a worldwide presence.

The Challenge and Opportunity

The client managed multiple shipping and logistics vendors, each with standalone applications, making operations laborious and limiting scalability. They needed a centralized error logging system and a web portal for better user experience, access control, and grouping to differentiate user roles and responsibilities. Maintaining desktop applications was a challenge as the network team had to frequently request individual users to accept updates and install them. The client wanted to transform their freight management system with few additions to help achieve maximum efficiency:

A web portal with minimum latency for global access
Infrastructure advancements and support - with reduced involvement from IT team
Minimal downtime
Round-the-clock monitoring and support
Integration aspects to share documents like invoices and shipping status

The Solution and Results

CTG revamped UI/UX design to modernize the web portal and provide a better user experience. Requirements for multiple solutions with value-added features were discussed with the client and prioritized for implementation. Some of the key features include:

Distributed processing using Kafka
Customized UI development using Kendo

Our team reviewed requirements during the analysis phase and analyzed the tech stack, solution approach, and
scalability aspects to enhance the web portal. After the analysis phase, we estimated the timeline and created a project plan. We developed and deployed the AWS cloud solution using AWS templates, reducing maintenance overhead and minimizing downtime. We implemented centralized error logging and enabled portal-wide updates from a central location. User groups were also created, and accessibility to the portal improved multifold.

The client coordinated with multiple partners for cargo handling, warehousing, fleet management, and logistics and each vendor had different invoicing and document-sharing processes, with varying formats and frequent changes. This created challenges in accumulating, processing, and sharing documents efficiently. We implemented an Electronic Document Interchange (EDI) solution to share documents with vendors and partners easily. WebMethods, an EDI tool, was used to build an end-to-end solution that addresses onboarding new vendors, planning, and testing the EDI flow.

The CTG team adopted latest tools like Kendo Grid, Apache Shiro, Apache Solr, and others to simplify the implementation cycle and deliver a performance-intensive solution.

The freight management system was put through end-to-end quality and assurance processes to ensure maximum efficiency. Our team of experts provided architectural and advisory support as and when required, regulated the existing freight management system, and improved its efficiency.