EquipShare

A web platform for renting truck and trailer equipment. Discover how Computools streamlines industrial asset sharing for EQUIPSHARE.

Industry:

Ground Transportation

Location:

USA

Business size:

Medium and Large Enterprises

Problem and Solution Summary

The client wanted a service facilitating machinery equipment exchange among their customers. They expected a user-friendly, reliable platform enabling clients to locate and rent forklifts quickly and effortlessly.

We proposed a blockchain-based platform solution. Blockchain ensures secure and transparent transactions, which is critical for renting expensive equipment. Additionally, it simplifies tracking forklift usage history.

The platform development considered an intuitive interface that allows users to find desired forklifts easily. Moreover, the platform leverages blockchain technology for secure and transparent transactions.

About the Client

The client is a global giant in the material handling industry, boasting a vast portfolio of forklift trucks, warehouse equipment and automated solutions. Their solutions optimise operations in factories, warehouses and distribution centres, ensuring smooth material and information flow.

They're at the forefront of technological advancement, offering a comprehensive range of electric, fuel cell and conventional forklift trucks alongside driver assistance systems, fleet management software and automation solutions.

With leading positions in the EMEA region (forklift sales) and China (foreign manufacturer), they demonstrate their ability to adapt and thrive in diverse markets. This vast global reach allows them to cater to various customer needs and opportunities.

Outcome

We successfully developed a platform in a short time span. As a result, the product has made it easier for customers to onboard and share assets, find a truck and send the rental request. From the business perspective, this online marketplace improved their flexibility in managing fleet capacity and boosted their revenue.

Business challenge

weaknesses

  • The project required careful attention to ensuring compliance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to protect user data
  • The production environment needed to be flexible to accommodate future scaling and adaptation
  • Collaboration with an intermediary introduced additional layers of complexity to the project

strengths

  • A clear and concise list of functionalities provided a strong foundation for development and avoided scope creep
  • Prioritising a minimum viable product (MVP) facilitated rapid development and allowed for early user feedback and iteration
  • Simplifying some features streamlined the initial product and focused resources on core functionalities

Business challenge

Project Completion Details and Current Arrangements

After the successful development and launch of the platform, we ensured a smooth transfer of ownership and responsibility to the client. The codebase was handed over on the client's preferred Git platform, and comprehensive documentation was provided to facilitate future maintenance and updates. Moreover, we offered additional post-launch support to address any initial enquiries or technical issues.

We provide ongoing maintenance and consultancy services, working closely with the client's team to refine existing features and develop new functionalities based on user feedback and market trends. This ongoing collaboration ensures the platform's continued evolution and adaptation to meet evolving industry needs.

Business challenge

Why Computools?

Several factors contributed to EQUIPSHARE choosing Computools as their partner.
  • Computools' established track record in Agile development methodologies ensured flexible and iterative development, adapting to changing needs.
  • Computools' knowledge of blockchain technology, Golang, React and other relevant technologies offered a robust and scalable platform solution.
  • Computools' successful past projects in the logistics and industrial asset-sharing sectors demonstrated their understanding of the specific challenges and opportunities.
  • Computools' focus on open communication, transparency and collaborative problem-solving fostered a strong and trusting cooperation with EQUIPSHARE.

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STORY IN DEPTH

Realising technology's critical role in this initiative, EQUIPSHARE started to identify the ideal partner. Several qualified developers presented compelling proposals, showcasing their technical prowess and logistical expertise. However, EQUIPSHARE wanted a strategic partner who thoroughly understood the logistics industry, the intricacies of forklift operations across diverse locations and brands, and the dynamic nature of the marketplace. The platform would need to facilitate seamless internal rentals within each client's locations while simultaneously enabling access to the wider dealer network for additional capacity. Computools showed the most expertise in this field.

Project Description

This project created an MVP for EQUIPSHARE. Prioritising rapid development and user feedback, it focused on core functionalities, incorporating blockchain technology to ensure data integrity.

The streamlined user experience centred around user accounts, product search, cart management, contract handling and vehicle checkout/check-in processes. Truck history, reporting tools and user behaviour analytics provided valuable insights for platform optimisation. Leveraging blockchain, user identities, truck data (including photos and maintenance records) and contracts were secured and tamper-proof. Additional features included customer information, FAQs, expert support, and multilanguage capabilities to enhance user experience and platform accessibility.

This MVP laid the foundation for EQUIPSHARE to refine its offering based on user data and feedback, paving the way for a robust and scalable platform.

Digital Platform & Technology

The client initially provided the stack of technologies. To better align with the business model and ensure flexibility and efficiency, we decided to stay with the following technologies.

Communication Framework

We diversified our communication tools based on the client’s requirements to ensure clear and effective task flow, documentation sharing, team meetings, etc.
Skype
Slack
Email
Jira

Team

For each project, we select a tech and design team with relevant experience and a sharp skill set in the required technologies.

Architect

Mikhail Bobrovsky

Mikhail is proficient in transfer data integrations, Azure-deployed systems and error-handling strategies. He is passionate about training other developers. He enjoys home studio recording, volleyball and theology.

Team Lead

Oleg Svet

Oleg Svet
Mikhail is proficient in transfer data integrations, Azure-deployed systems and error-handling strategies. He is passionate about training other developers. He enjoys home studio recording, volleyball and theology.
Oleg Svet

Business Development Manager

Vladyslav Serdiukov

Vladyslav is a Business Development Manager at Computools. He is passionate about helping companies grow their businesses. In his spare time, he enjoys playing basketball and spending time with his family.

Project Manager

Andrey Melnychenko

Andrey started working in IT in 2003, focusing on C and C++ development, and switched to Java in 2007. He is recognised for extensive expertise in application servers, software development life cycle and database architecture. He enjoys pop music, as well as political and Java ecosystem podcasts.

SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Bogdan Kushch

Bogdan is known for a strong grasp of various technologies, validated by multiple certifications including CCNA Security, Linux Essentials, and several from the Cisco Networking Academy. Based in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine, Bogdan's extensive technical knowledge and proactive problem-solving skills consistently drive project success.

Quality Assurance Engineer

Mariia Hrekova

With over five years of experience, Mariia expertly monitors every phase of the software development process to secure product quality and standards. She enjoys dancing and travelling.

Story of a Team Decision

The team's experience developing digital asset-sharing solutions was essential. The team was able to leverage their existing knowledge and expertise to accelerate the development of the EQUIPSHARE platform.

Backstage

The team developed new features, fixed bugs and improved performance.

Sprint Retrospective

The team discussed what went well, what could be improved, and what they had learned.

Planning Session

The team set goals, prioritised tasks and created a schedule.

Sprint Demo

In the sprint new features and functionality were demonstrated to the client.

Communication Flow

Our team discussed progress, shared feedback and resolved issues.

Project Management Methodology

The Scrum approach was chosen as the optimal option both for us and for the client. Sprint started on Wednesday, meet-ups, as well as any other team-wide activities, were coordinated with the time zone of the client. Demo and retro happened on the last day of the sprint. The team had a retrospective, sprint planning, and task grooming after each two-week sprint.

Project timeline

4 months
9 months
1 week
Consulting & design phase
Engineering phase
Launch
01

CONSULTING

  • Identifying specific goals, challenges, and target audience for the platform
  • Evaluating the technical and financial viability of the proposed solution
  • Recommending the most suitable technology stack for scalability, security and performance
  • Defining a clear roadmap for project development and launch
02

Product DESIGN

  • Creating detailed profiles of the platform's target users to understand their needs and pain points
  • Crafting an intuitive and user-friendly interface for seamless navigation and interaction
  • Developing low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes to test and refine the platform's design
  • Establishing a consistent visual language for the platform
03

Product Engineering

  • Building the core functionalities of the platform, including user accounts, vehicle listings, search filters, rental management and blockchain integration
  • Implementing rigorous testing procedures to ensure the platform's functionality, performance and security
  • Building secure and reliable APIs for seamless integration with external systems
  • Setting up the platform on a secure and scalable cloud infrastructure
04

Launch

  • Developing a comprehensive marketing plan to generate awareness and drive user adoption
  • Conducting pilot testing with a select group of users to gather feedback and refine the platform before public launch
  • Continuously monitoring the platform's performance and implementing optimisations based on user feedback and data analysis

Design

In this case, design tasks included creating an intuitive user interface, developing detailed user personas, building an effective site structure for optimal navigation and crafting low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes for testing and refining the platform's functionality.

USER PERSONA → SITE MAP → WIREFRAMES → USER INTERFACE
equipshare user persona

USER PERSONA

Creating in-depth profiles to empathise with users, tailoring the platform to their needs

equipshare site map

SITE MAP

Organising strategically for optimal navigation and user engagement

equipshare wireframes

WIREFRAMES

Prototyping precision for testing and refining design functionality

equipshare user interface

USER INTERFACE

Designing a visually appealing interface for a seamless and enjoyable user experience

PRODUCTION RELEASE

The production release of the EQUIPSHARE platform was a carefully planned and executed process. Our team worked closely with EQUIPSHARE to ensure that the platform was ready for launch and that it met their needs.

The release process began with a beta testing phase. We invited a select group of users to test the platform and provide feedback. We used this feedback to identify and address issues before the public launch. Our team deployed the platform to a production environment. This involved setting up the platform on a secure and scalable cloud infrastructure.

Finally, the platform was launched to the public, securing over 10,000 active users within its first three months. This strong initial adoption demonstrated the platform's value proposition and potential to revolutionise the logistics industry.

ONGOING SUPPORT

Post-launch, we provide continuous maintenance and consultancy services, refining existing features and developing new functionalities based on user feedback and market trends. This ongoing collaboration ensures EQUIPSHARE's platform evolution and adaptability to meet industry needs.

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