B2B Supply Chain Platform
A centralized procurement and logistics platform for mid-market manufacturers.
For operations directors dealing with 50+ unmanaged supplier relationships.
Legacy ERPs were too slow; email spreadsheets were causing 15% inventory slippage.
Constraints
- Strict 3-month timeline to MVP due to supply season.
- Must integrate with legacy SOAP-based on-premise ERPs.
- Zero-trust security requirement for supplier access.
- Budget capped at $15k/month for initial infra.
Architecture
System designed for isolation. Auth, Core, and Analytics scale independently based on load profiles.
Engineering Decisions
Go for Backend Services
Chosen for raw throughput on event processing and strict typing. Handled concurrent inventory updates without race conditions.
gRPC Internally, REST Externally
Microservices communicated via Protobuf for speed; exposed standard OpenAPI REST endpoints for third-party logistics partners.
Redis Strategy
Used as a write-through cache for inventory states. Reduced database load by 85% during morning order spikes.
Frontend & UX Intent
[ UI_SNAPSHOT_PLACEHOLDER ]
Built on Next.js for hybrid rendering. Dashboard shells were statically generated (SSG), while inventory data streamed in via React Server Components to keep initial load under 800ms.
Outcome & Reflection
A fully functional supplier portal and admin command center.
Reduced average PO processing time from 4 days to 4 hours.
I would have used a managed Auth provider (Clerk/Auth0) sooner. Rolling custom auth for multi-tenant organizations consumed 2 weeks of engineering time I can't get back.