Action Trackchair
Action Trackchair is the leading manufacturer of all-terrain wheelchairs, which help empower people with mobility impairments to lead active lifestyles — from working on a ranch to fishing in winter. All their electric wheelchairs are custom-made to suit individual needs and preferences, from color schemes to tool holders and various support for specific body parts. Due to this variety, self-sufficiency and independence can be achieved more accessible than ever, no matter where and how you live.
The Challenge
Because each order can be extremely individual and complex, clients need a quick and convenient way to ensure that all their requirements are being met and that they have a clear understanding of all the options and their costs. To make this as easy as possible, ATC introduced a convenient configurator that took us step–by–step through the whole process. So what was the problem?
It was found on the dealers’ side. ATC, as a sole manufacturer, doesn’t handle the orders directly; instead, it has a wide net of dealers all over the world who become the first point of contact with the clients, who, by providing their zip code, get in touch with the nearest dealer, who managed their order from then on.
The management was rather tricky. First, the configurator itself wasn’t connected to any system. This meant that the dealers needed to manually upload all the information, which took time and was prone to mistakes.
Moreover, it needed to be continuously updated and checked over many times, and while spreadsheets can bring joy to many people, they stop being enough once your database grows exponentially.
Dealing with invoices wasn’t any better. Everything was handled through email, which is an easy yet rather chaotic solution; many messages get lost in the flood, it’s hard to keep track of conversation threads, and if you need to find any information from a while back—well, good luck with that!
Last but not least, the company suffered from the lack of streamlined processes that could unify the work of all the dealers, no matter where they were located. Improving the communication between customers, dealers, and the production department was also important.
The Solution
Budget: $50,000 – $100,000 USD
Time: 2 months for MVP
Tech stack: Laravel + Vue + Inertia + Tailwind CSS
Team:
- Project Manager,
- 2 Fullstack Developers,
- 1 Frontend Developer
After eight weeks of work, we’ve built a simple yet scalable application that resembles a custom CRM, an Order Management and Communication System, and a wheelchair configurator page.
The Configurator Page
Before enlisting WP Krake for help, ATC struggled with the configurator that wasn’t integrated with the application. As a result, all the information filled out by the clients had to be manually transcribed into the app, lengthening the whole process and leading to mistakes. To fix that, we’ve integrated the configurator page with the application to save the data immediately.
DESIGN
Previously, the configurator consisted of several pages the client had to click through. Taking it as a relic of the old times, we made everything fit on just one page so that the clients could really think through their options, have access to all the information in one place, and see the full picture.
Along the way, we’ve refreshed the overall look to make it coherent with the new design that graced ATC’s main website.
The Application
It wasn’t only necessary to integrate the configurator page with the application and the factory to improve communication between all three parties — ATC, dealers, and the factory —. Unfortunately, the integration isn’t direct due to the factory’s old systems and the lack of appropriate APIs. However, we still managed to improve the processes by eliminating the manual work as much as possible. Moreover, this solution was more in line with the client’s budget.
Biggest Changes
- Leads go straight to the Dealer Portal with no need for a proxy,
- Each lead & order has its own conversation threads and history of changes,
- Roles are auto-assigned by default,
- Statuses are semi-automated (triggered by file upload),
- All the documents go to the application, which all parties can access.
Effects:
- No need to transcribe order information,
- One source of truth for all parties,
- Reducing back-and-forth between parties,
- Eliminating the need to use email entirely,
- Less time spent on administrative tasks,
- Improved flow of information that leaves no room for misunderstandings.
The Outcome
24,600 USD Saved a Year
Time is money—in this case, literally. Automation helped save time for all the employees and partners, allowing them to focus on more pressing and fruitful matters. In the end, $2,200 USD a month in labor costs and a reduction of entry errors could be saved.
Continued Collaboration
Because of the successful completion of the project and our client’s satisfaction, we’ve decided to continue our partnership to expand the application and implement many new functionalities that will bring similarly outstanding results. We couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity and look forward to the next project.
