Built an enterprise order workflow platform for a global industrial manufacturer

A US-listed diversified manufacturer of precision-engineered industrial products — valves, fittings, and flow control systems — serving customers across aerospace, petrochemical, chemical, and power generation sectors from multiple global manufacturing sites.

With complex cross-departmental workflows spanning inside sales, engineering, purchasing, and planning, the business needed a platform to enforce a consistent order management process across all sites. 

• RFQ approvals tracked inconsistently across sites with no centralised visibility or performance data
• Order acknowledgement processing was manual with no escalation when SLA thresholds were breached
• Change orders managed in silos — no traceability on approvals, BOM cost impact, or lead time revisions
• Quality certifications and compliance documents tracked manually outside the order management system
• Management made decisions on stale data with no real-time visibility across departments or sites

1. Built around their existing process 

The client had a clear Gold Standard workflow vision. The problem was enforcement. We built the platform around their existing departmental structure — inside sales to purchasing to planning — so adoption followed naturally. 

2. Delivered in phases 

Rather than scoping an eight-year platform upfront, we delivered Phase 1, demonstrated the value, and earned the next phase. Each build extended what came before without disrupting live operations.

3. Aligned to client infrastructure

The .NET Core stack was chosen to match the client's existing IT environment and QAD ERP. Every architectural decision prioritised their long-term maintainability over development convenience.  

4. Protected production during development

When Phase 3 work risked impacting live order workflows, we proposed cloning the application into an isolated instance — keeping active production operations fully protected throughout development.  

Order Workflow Platform 

• Configurable per-site RFQ workflow with role-based approval stages
• Automated Order Acknowledgement escalation matrix tied to SLA thresholds
• End-to-end Change Order module with two-stage change type workflow
• CP20 process support with LD and penalty flagging
• QAD ERP integration for line-level BOM cost impact and order header data

Document Control 

• Document Submittal Dashboard with per-site master document lists
• SharePoint 365 integration for live cloud-based document editing
• Milestone payment management tied to document completion
• Document type management controlled by platform admins

Reporting & Visibility 

• 27+ SSRS reports across RFQ, OA, Change Order, and Document Submittal
• Configurable Power BI dashboards for live operational visibility
• Real-time KPI tracking for quote cycle time, hit rate, and OA compliance
• Saunders Brand standalone portal — cloned and streamlined in Phase 3

The client moved from a fragmented, site-specific patchwork of spreadsheets and email chains to a single governed platform enforcing consistent order management workflows across all manufacturing sites — with automated escalation, full audit trails, and real-time management visibility. 

Business Impact 

• Consistent RFQ, OA, and Change Order workflows enforced across all sites
• Automated escalation surfaces SLA breaches before they become delivery problems
• Full audit trail across every approval, change, and document submission
• 27+ reports give management live insight into cycle times and compliance
• Eight-year active partnership across three phases with zero production disruption