Case Studies / Manufacturing
Software Engineering Advisory • Manufacturing Industry
The IoT Platform Rebuild That Unlocked Double Growth
How we helped an ag-tech manufacturer rebuild trust in their technology, empowering internal teams to pursue opportunities that could double their business through modern DevOps and scalable architecture.
A failed platform, and a Director who’d lost trust in it
Our client, a machinery manufacturer with 50-200 employees, was struggling with a failed cloud platform built by previous contractors. Their Director of Technology had lost trust in the application that was supposed to enable remote management of 1,000+ smart agricultural devices across the country.
Key pain points included:
- Manual deployment processes taking weeks
- Fragile .NET API causing constant issues
- No visibility into code or deployment processes
- Inability to pursue new business opportunities due to technical debt
- Buggy application with no version control
Rebuilding trust through incremental delivery
We rebuilt their entire platform from the ground up, focusing on empowerment and scalability while establishing modern development practices.
Analytics Dashboard MVP
Started with a simple read-only analytics tool allowing office staff to view machine data and daily operations, rebuilding trust through incremental delivery.
Full-Stack Platform Rebuild
Transitioned from maintaining the problematic .NET API to building a complete Python/Django solution, enabling bidirectional communication with field machines.
IoT Architecture Modernization
Implemented AWS IoT Core for secure device provisioning and management, handling edge cases like connectivity issues, backups, and authorization without shared credentials.
DevOps Transformation
Established GitLab CI/CD pipelines, automated deployments, and proper version control, giving the Director of Technology full visibility and control over the codebase.
Twelve months, from MVP to full ownership
Phase 1: MVP
Delivered the analytics dashboard MVP while assessing the existing architecture and building stakeholder confidence.
Phase 2: API Rebuild Decision
Strategic pivot to rebuild the entire API in Python after demonstrating the limitations of the existing .NET system.
Phase 3: Platform Development
Built a full-stack application with IoT communication, inventory management, and remote machine control capabilities.
Phase 4: Team Enablement
Transitioned to an advisory role while helping build the internal team and establishing sustainable development practices.
From lost trust to business-doubling opportunities
The transformation went beyond technical improvements to fundamentally change how the company approaches technology:
Technical Empowerment
- Director can now deploy code in one day vs. weeks
- Full team ownership of the technology stack
- Ability to build proofs-of-concept quickly for new opportunities
Business Growth
- Pursuing warehouse automation projects
- Launching inventory tracking as a new product line
- Multiple opportunities that could double business size
The Director of Technology can contribute code alongside the team, review pull requests, and pursue time-sensitive opportunities without external dependencies. The modern architecture enables new modules like automated warehouse integration and third-party ERP connections.
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