Highlights

The Client

The client is a developer and provider of cloud solutions for aircraft-parts suppliers that need quick, accurate management of logistics, including inventory, orders, sales and margins. The client, based in the US, serves a niche market of end customers having two to 150 employees, for which it develops programs that streamline operations. 

The client approached XIM once it had started the development of a new, proprietary logistics solution. Initially the project was PHP-based, but a switch to JavaScript was made when PHP proved incompatible with the envisioned goals. XIM was instrumental to the project’s success, including development, testing, QA, launch and enhancement. 

The Project

The client has a niche market comprising aircraft-component supply end customers. Such companies are familiar with software for sourcing and inventory management. The client intended to provide added value in the form of advanced digitalization for highly efficient operation, based on extensive industry expertise within the client’s organization. The key requirements for XIM as the partnership started were to build the new program from scratch, ensuring high levels of speed, performance, customization, and incorporation of additional features. Moreover, the program had to be compliant with ISO9001 and AS aviation-industry standards, providing reliability and confidentiality for end customers. During the initial discussions it was determined that an on-premises cloud-based approach would be the best match to the requirements. 
One of the challenges faced early in the project was to transition from PHP to JavaScript, which entailed significant changes within the development team. Additionally, the very specific character of aircraft parts production and the novelty of the system made it impossible to hire professionals who would have expertise in similar projects. As a result, and to render the project cost-effective, less experienced developers were employed as opposed to senior-level specialists, and extensive training was provided. 

The Solution

Forming the Team

The project was to be long-term, and the technology stack was wide-ranging. Accordingly, XIM put together a global team of 20 developers and QA specialists who would ensure accountability and consistent progress over the five-year term of cooperation. As the client’s practice is to provide developers with training on the needs of its end customers, XIM ensured that the team engaged in the learning process. The early switch from PHP to JavaScript as the basis for the development made it necessary to adapt not only the code but the team itself, as well as the interactions among its members.

Continued Development 

The development was mainly carried out within the Agile framework, which was consistent with the need to test the solution with its target audience fairly early. The program was released with 80% functional completeness, which was sufficient to meet the immediate needs of end customers. The feedback provided by such customers is in turn used to refine the program. 

The quality-assurance process involved human assessment and automated functional testing in order to eliminate bugs inherent with the switch from PHP to JavaScript as well as to meet the ISO9001 and SA aircraft-industry standards.

The Outcome

The development effort, which spanned five years, was deemed a success in every major respect. The results were positive for the client, which wanted a streamlined but expandable solution that would serve the needs of its customer base. The transition from PHP to JavaScript incurred a slight delay in comparison to the schedule, but ultimately the XIM team overcame the challenge and proceeded with a successful development effort. 

The client and XIM will continue their pursuit of enhancement, support, and scaling, aiming at expanding the program to benefit larger end customers.