Development of a custom ERP system for an automotive business

There are a variety of ways to automate business process management. A private entrepreneur can simply use spreadsheets, and there are many ready-made enterprise resource planning solutions for larger businesses. During the initial stages of development, however, companies often find that none of the “out of the box” solutions offer all of the ERP features and functions that they need, and they find themselves in need of creating their own system. This was the case for Fresh Auto. We helped Fresh Auto with developing a custom ERP for the automotive business, one that satisfied all of their specific needs.

Software as an industry engine

The Fresh Auto car dealership celebrated its 13th anniversary in 2019. It has 18 representative offices, spread throughout eight regions of Russia. In 2018, their sales volume increased by 33%. The company sold 3,388 new cars and 24,256 used cars. This, of course, created a huge rise in the number of documents that were drawn up and expanded the operations that were carried out by their staff. The company’s information system helps them keep up with this increased flow.

Agile at its best

Fresh Auto’s ERP implementation took place in several stages. The Evrone team joined the project when it became apparent that it was necessary to expand the company’s functionality on a larger scale. Since the project was written in Ruby, Fresh Auto turned to us, as we have extensive experience implementing such systems in this language.

We did our best to bring our knowledge and experience to the development process to deliver the best result. First, we established the interaction processes within the current development team and conducted a code audit. This process allowed us to determine the state of the project and scope of the work, then evaluate it and provide the information to the client, along with suggestions for further integration.

Extending the team and speeding up the development processes required us to take control of all the metrics of quality code and technical debt volume at the start. We also set up the testing system and changed the development process itself, making it more flexible, while adjusting it to accommodate the development of many parallel tasks.

The purpose of the ERP system

Several dozens of customer cases are registered in the ERP system, covering the entire cycle of work and necessary information involved with buying and selling a vehicle: from documenting its purchase from a previous owner, to posting information on a site, and the registration of documents when transferring it to the new owner.

The project utilizes solutions that allow for accurate assessment of each car, in accordance with similar automobiles on the market. The evaluation is based on the analysis of various informational resources. Blocks of advertisement management, a collection of information about the technical condition of the car, and a verification of its legal status are created. Telephony and a task-tracker are integrated into the system. A convenient customer website has also been developed, where the information about the cars available for sale is presented. All information on the site is posted directly from the ERP system.

With the advent of new services, the number of scenarios in the ERP system also increases. The new functionality is formalized, executed in draft form, and sent for testing. After receiving feedback, a decision is made to finalize and implement it. The principles of development using Agile methodology are used to streamline these processes and improve workflow for auto industry tasks.

Attention to detail

When developing a new module of the ERP system, each workflow has been carefully considered, all its components were signed, and an appropriate interface was designed, to accommodate the expected working conditions.

For example, a car appraiser will do much of their work on-site on their cell phone. Therefore, all forms to be filled, drop-down lists in menus, selections of items, and various options has been designed for a mobile interface. Whereas, managers in dealerships work with contracts, which are more convenient to navigate on a large PC monitor. So, an appropriate desktop interface has been designed for them.

Todo list

Product development is planned in several directions. In the near future, the existing system will be segmented into separate microservices. At the same time, an updated UI/UX design is being developed, which will better assist users and speed up many operations.

The auction service, which allows a company to bid on vehicles, has already been virtually launched. A separate interface has been created for partners, where all the lots are collected and there is a tool for bidding.

Conclusion

Evrone’s partnership with Fresh Auto is a prime example of a long-term association that allows the software product to continuously evolve with the business. The development of the Fresh Auto ERP system was made possible through well-established work processes, both internally, with a large, organized team, and with the client. The professionalism of all participants involved in the process allowed for the creation of unique ERP software for the automobile industry that may have a positive impact on the entire automotive market.

Fresh Auto plans to expand its network, both locally and internationally. This business growth potential is facilitated by the effective implementation of their custom ERP system, developed by Evrone.