Building a logistics management portal in the B2B space

Client

FM Logistic is an international logistics company providing warehousing and handling, packaging, and supply chain management services.

Challenge

Develop a modern B2B portal that would allow FM Logistic to offer its merchants API integration instead of file exchange, regardless of their size.

Solution

• Magento 2.3 as a centralized management system.
• Integrations with WMS systems.
• Integrations with LMS systems.
• Development of a web service for labeling and printing.
• Development of fund calculation functionality.
• Development of software for the warehouse conveyor and its integration with Magento.
• Interface development for a mobile barcode scanner.

Warehouse management

To manage warehouses effectively, integrations were implemented with WMS systems (Infolog, Reflex, and Oxygen):

As a result, efficiency increased and goods processing operations improved across 27 company warehouses at once.

• manage receiving, picking, shipping, and other core warehouse operations;
• calculate shipment unit options and product packaging based on dimensions and transport conditions;
• automated document management;
• get exact information about where an item is located in the warehouse;
• simplify returns processing by updating the order status in Magento immediately.

Delivery service

To make shipment tracking more convenient, we integrated with many LMS systems, including Shiptor LMS, CIS Post LMS, Lamoda LMS, and DPD LMS. This made it possible to:

To make the delivery service more efficient, we developed a universal web service for labeling and printing parcel and order labels that routes and delivers data to the printer.

• ship parcels worldwide;
• send automatic notifications about their location;
• send exact parcel and cargo weight data by warehouse and merchant (for CIS Post LMS).

Development of fund calculation functionality

We implemented fund calculation functionality for four types of payment registers:

All functionality runs through SAP ERP, and all registers are calculated in Magento.

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• a register for LMS services, issued directly to FM Logistic so it can pay for LMS services;
• a register for invoicing FM Logistic services to the merchant;
• a cash & delivery register, where the courier fee is transferred to the merchant for payment;
• a register for merchant services (on the merchant's request).

Electronic data interchange

To process and transfer parcel and order data quickly, a separate module was created: exchange flows.

We implemented EDI integration, which made it possible to:

A messaging interface and SMS module were developed with message templates (“Order assembled”, “Order shipped”, etc.) and SMS delivery set up as a service.

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• transfer order data;
• create status triggers in OMS;
• generate order EDI.

Magento integration with the conveyor

The conveyor is an FM Logistic pilot project designed to improve picking and increase order processing speed and volume. The conveyor is built into a five-level warehouse mezzanine. The four upper mezzanine floors house merchant sections where orders are picked and sent via the conveyor to the ground floor.

The dedicated platform weighs orders, measures their dimensions, and sends the data to Magento, from where it is passed to LMS systems and to the mail service. In response, Magento prints the main FM Logistic label and an additional delivery service label if needed. After that, the conveyor sorts the parcels by targets, meaning delivery services. All software that powers the conveyor and its integration with Magento was developed by us.

Interface development for a mobile barcode scanner

We also developed an interface for a mobile barcode scanner that allows shipment management: stickers on assembled pallets are scanned, the shipment is filled in by weight, documents are assigned to that shipment, and then the pallets are loaded onto the truck.