Building a modern DevOps pipeline and a digital self service portal for a medium sized recycling company

Academic practical project in software development and IT operations

2022 Practical Project Academic Research

Introduction

This practical project was carried out at a certified waste management company that specialises in the recycling of wood. The main objective was to design and implement a modern Development and IT Operations cycle as well as a digital customer portal integrated into the company processes.

Fundamentals and Requirements

The project began with comprehensive requirement analysis through interviews with management and employees. Key problems identified included inefficient customer communication, limited data availability, and manual administrative processes.

Concept and Architecture

Weighing Module

Customers can view and download weighing slips linked to their customer number

Disposition Module

Planning of container transports with integration of customers, containers, employees, and vehicles

Contract and Pricing Module

Permanent availability of prices and contract documents with PDF export

Accounting Module

Search and download of invoices in PDF format

Controlling and Analytics

Evaluation of delivered quantities, delivery quality, and prices

Master Data Self Service

Options for customers to maintain selected master data and contact information

Technology Stack

Programming and Web

PHP
Laravel Framework
JavaScript
HTML & CSS
SQL

DevOps and Collaboration

GitLab
TeamCity
Continuous Integration
Continuous Deployment
Version Control Workflows

Data and Integration

MySQL
ERP System Integration
REST APIs

Infrastructure and Tools

Docker
nginx Web Server
PhpStorm IDE
Linux Server Environment

Implementation

The first phase involved setting up a dedicated development environment with web server, database, IDE, and necessary tools to support continuous development.

Results and Conclusion

The implementation of the DevOps cycle and customer portal resulted in significant improvements: improved development efficiency, enhanced customer experience, streamlined internal processes, and better data transparency.