Evojam works with a German startup that aims to streamline documentation flow in the manufacturing industry. They have noticed that most companies' business information still exists in a paper-based format, which offers a great commercial opportunity. The startup wants to encourage and ease the transition to digital document management. The platform they have introduced for this purpose is already being used in their clients’ factories.

In the Heart of German Manufacturing

Our client is located in the heart of the German manufacturing ecosystem - in Bayern, near Munich. Being in the region is their valuable asset as the people behind the startup can tap directly into the industrial know-how and build up business contacts. Such insight and first-hand knowledge have helped them identify the problem with the paper-based documentation practices used by factories.

Innovative Solution for Industrial Information Documentation

Our client set out to build a solution that would provide visual step-by-step guidance for factory workers. Using digital distribution, the platform helps facility managers ensure the documentation is always up-to-date. It makes it easy to push a new version of the instructions to everyone who needs it in seconds.

Our client’s platform distributes the documentation to tablets, computers, and other devices over-the-air. It contains a modular documentation editor, which includes image and video editing tools. It enables documentation creators to add decision steps, as well as safety and quality checks. The platform also generates contextual QR codes, which can be placed in relevant places on the factory floor. It’s an easy way for workers to locate the right documentation at the right moment.

Finding Solid Software Vendor

As startups may not have a well-established reputation or prominence, it is crucial for them to propose an optimal solution and prove that they can provide it. For this reason, our partner had to find a solid software consulting company - one that would deliver high-quality service that industrial clients expect.

Our partner considered Evojam along with a few companies from Germany and other European countries. What convinced them to chose Evojam was our deep commitment to quality and significant experience in Angular 2, which was an unusual competence at the time.

The Launch of Cooperation with Evojam

We kicked it off by doing a comprehensive code audit to learn what had already been built. The client also wanted our help in picking the best components for their feature-rich image editor.

Right from the start, Krystian Pudlik has been the main developer on the Evojam’s side. He is a great match for this project thanks to his dedication to quality, extensive engineering knowledge, expertise in the current versions of Angular, and sheer talent for software development.

We started the development with new frontend modules that enrich the process of building documentation. They were based on the latest version of the Angular framework, and they are being constantly upgraded to avoid technical debt.

Scaling the Development

Over time, our cooperation branched out into a few parallel projects. Among those, there is a mobile web application that follows the Progressive Web App (PWA) standard, which means it can be installed on a tablet and run just like a native application.

We also implemented platform internationalization using custom scripts to build an Angular application from multiple code repositories.

Technology Stack, Tools, and the Software Development Process

In order to deliver high-quality software, we needed to ensure we employed the right tools, technologies, and process for the project. The key decisions we had to take required researching available frameworks, conducting tests, and assessing the livelihood of communities behind the chosen solutions.

Here’s the subset of the technology used for this project: Angular, RESTful API, NodeJS, Hapi, KnexJS, SASS, ngrx, RxJS, Typescript, Postgres, Angular Material 2, Karma & Jasmine, GitLab, Slack, and YouTrack.

Along the way, the flow of work has changed as Evojam has advised the client to introduce the Scrum framework to manage the product and software development.