How we made it work from field to fork
Our client’s backstory
The Dubai-based company started its journey five years ago to support startups and medium and large corporations in specific areas of expertise, such as logistics, supply management, finance, accounting, transport, and business consulting. Specifically focusing on bringing tech solutions and cutting-edge software systems to businesses, they decided to get a software development partner on board to better serve their growing client base and help them with organization, resource planning, and management through high-quality custom solutions.
To take over a complex enterprise master plan for a large client, they partnered with Klika to develop an ERP custom solution to merge all company activities into a single data point and connect all its complex operations, systems, and users on one dashboard. Such an effort required a dedicated development team, and Klika was up to the task, having the right experts in place to carry out the ambitious idea.
The challenges
As with every big enterprise, the company’s infrastructure was complex, generating a multitude of different activities and operations. In this case, the company was a huge holding determined to build an entire food ecosystem that runs from field to fork and addresses all parts of the food chain, from production and processing to storage, delivery, and meal preparation.
Building a platform that would include all the interconnected systems, like inventory management, delivery and transport logistics, supermarket distribution, and readily available restaurant options with door delivery, required Klika to map out a detailed plan and conduct market research to make sure we select the best technology approach to get the operations up and running.
On top of that, integration with third parties needed to be factored in, as well as readily available software tools that would work best with the custom solution for insightful resource planning from top to bottom.
Besides the ERP platform, we also built an intuitive mobile application that extends to food delivery, live check-in options into restaurants’ kitchens, cooking class streaming webinars, different entertainment features, and so much more.
Klika solution
We started by setting up a team with extensive experience in building enterprise solutions and developed a detailed plan to keep the team on track and the client in the loop.
We divided the project into several stages: system design, development and integration, UAT testing, training, client acquisition, and release and maintenance.
Our team identified 11 modules/categories to address as part of the ERP platform, i.e., all the way from company organization and employee setup to operational and strategic systems like the CRM, logistics support, inventory tracking, factory and warehouse resources, transport management and food availability and delivery in supermarkets and restaurants.
Since there were many facets to the ambitious project, we needed to integrate market-ready software kits and services with our custom solutions, whereby we made sure to pick the most optimum ones that would be a natural fit for the industry. We assisted the client in choosing crucial third-party vendors, including the most convenient POS system, finance and accounting software, and factory and traffic management systems.
We made sure to configure all the systems and develop a unique integration and ingestion point that enabled all data to be merged into one place - the custom solution platform that serves as the single source of truth for all company operations.
We had a QA and DevOps team overseeing the entire process and software development, ensuring everything was connected and running smoothly.
We also had a mobile development team working on the diverse mobile application that needed to support many different functions and options. The main idea behind the application was an entire entertainment system that offers so much more than just delivery and food options, including educational opportunities for chefs, recipes, online classes, fitness features, and games.
Results
Klika was able to extend the partnership. We are working on new features, updates, and system maintenance, ensuring the custom solution acts as a support system and data center for all the big and small business activities. The client is meanwhile successfully expanding to other markets, gaining traction in the entire MENA region.
