Case Study: FleetPride Digital Transformation

Background

FleetPride keeps America’s trucks moving by providing heavy duty parts with more than 260 locations in 45 states. Every location provides experts that understands truck and trailer needs that keep their business rolling. FleetPride is the nation’s largest independent distributor of heavy duty truck and trailer parts with over 250,000 products in stock.

AppFoundation is a professional services firm that provides custom web, mobile, and desktop application development. We leverage innovative technologies to deliver premium user experience that engages customers to drive satisfaction, brand awareness, and deliver measurable results. FleetPride asked AppFoundation to digital transform a series of apps that run under a single Valence portal.

The Valence toolset allowed us to integrate web apps on IBM iseries using Ext JS tools. The apps were able to communicate with the RPG with a RESTful pattern that HTML5 developers are accustomed to. This allows RPG developers to deliver rich content to the client systems in a user friendly design.

Design & Refine

Ext JS provides a desktop-like experience using rich Internet application technologies. It combines all the data visualization advantages of the desktop environment with the benefits of a web-based system. The Ext JS theming abilities provide unlimited visual customization options, while the browser deployment delivers a single point of system entry that doesn’t require special plug-ins or installation and maintenance of other software. AppFoundation was responsible for the overall UX and customer experience design process. We worked with key personnel at FleetPride to deliver a branded interface using wireframes as the decision point for final look and feel.

Deliver

The apps were delivered through the Valence portal. This allows administrators to secure applications by user groups. The Portal was opened up to several groups within FleetPride. With the benefits of ExtJS and Valence tools we were able to speed up development of these apps in a fast and efficient manner

Business Value of using Ext JS & Valence

Data is currently maintained in iSeries with many limitations and issues delivering data to end users. Data maintenance in iSeries is manual, rigid and rudimentary. The current processes to work with the current data requires many resources and is not always timely on delivery. The outcomes with the delivery of these projects were net positive business benefits such as:
• Reliable product information for Fleetpride business and all FleetPride departments.
• Easy to maintain the data
• Better service to our customers
• Smoother transition for mergers and acquisitions.
• Productivity improvements and efficient processes, resulting in lower operations costs and higher margins