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Ciclo DevOps e portale clienti digitale per un’azienda di riciclo

Progetto pratico per selezionare un’architettura di sviluppo, costruire la delivery automatizzata e prototipare un portale clienti modulare.

2022 Practical Project DevOps Customer Portal Recycling

In un’azienda media di riciclo del legno, comunicazione con i clienti, documentazione di pesatura e pianificazione operativa dipendevano ampiamente da processi manuali. Il progetto ha progettato un ciclo DevOps e un prototipo di portale self-service modulare.

Vedi risultati Sfoglia moduli

1

Lo studio in sintesi

How can a DevOps-oriented development architecture and a modular customer portal improve digital service for a recycling company?

12

Weeks

Project duration for analysis, concept and prototype delivery

5

Departments

Weighing, disposition, sales, accounting and controlling involved

6

Portal areas

Core self-service areas covered in the modular prototype

1

DevOps cycle

End-to-end plan–code–build–test–release–deploy–operate–monitor loop

✓

Multilingual

Portal concept prepared for multilingual customer communication

1

Modular prototype

Working prototype as foundation for later ERP-near extensions

2

Situazione iniziale

The Praxisunternehmen faced fragmented digital touchpoints and limited automation around customer-facing and operational workflows.

Business-hours dependency

Customers often needed staff availability for status, documents and planning requests.

Manual documentation

Weighing slips, contracts and invoices were frequently handled via printouts, email or ad-hoc files.

Media breaks

Information was retyped across systems, increasing delay and error risk.

No customer self-service UI

There was no unified digital interface for recurring customer interactions.

No CI/CD foundation

Software changes lacked a stable automated build, test and deployment path.

Limited reporting access

Customers and internal teams lacked transparent, on-demand quantity and quality insights.

3

Obiettivi

Digital customer service

Enable self-service access to key documents and process status beyond office hours.

Customer retention

Improve service quality and transparency to strengthen long-term customer relationships.

Support weighing operations

Reduce friction around weighing documentation and related follow-up communication.

Continuous delivery capability

Establish a repeatable DevOps cycle for safer and faster software changes.

5

Metodo

1. Technology analysis

   Compare candidate architectures and tooling for web delivery and operations.

2. As-is process mapping

   Document current weighing, disposition and customer communication flows.

3. Stakeholder interviews

   Collect requirements from management and operational departments.

4. Concept design

   Define portal modules, roles, UI patterns and DevOps workflow.

5. Prototype implementation

   Build a modular portal prototype and automate the delivery cycle.

6

Requisiti per reparto

Weighing

Access to weighing slips and related delivery documentation.

Needs: searchable weighing history, PDF download, customer-number linkage and clearer follow-up on mismatches.

Disposition

Planning support for transports, containers and appointments.

Needs: visibility of planned transports, capacity signals and reduced phone coordination.

Sales

Transparent contracts, prices and customer communication.

Needs: contract/PDF access, price transparency and fewer repetitive status inquiries.

Accounting

Invoice retrieval and reduced manual document chasing.

Needs: invoice search/download, clear document versions and audit-friendly access.

Controlling

Quantity, quality and pricing evaluations for customers and internal teams.

Needs: on-demand reports on delivered quantities, quality indicators and price context.

7

Moduli del portale

Login and access

Secure entry point with role-aware access.

Authentication, session handling and role-based entry into customer-specific portal areas.

Weighing module

Weighing slip overview and download.

Customers can search and download weighing documents linked to their account.

Disposition module

Transport and container planning visibility.

Supports planning views for transports involving customers, containers, staff and vehicles.

Master data

Selected self-service master data maintenance.

Customers can update selected contact and master-data fields without full staff mediation.

Contracts and pricing

Contract documents and price availability.

Permanent availability of contracts and pricing documents with PDF export.

Accounting

Invoice search and PDF download.

Customers can find and download invoices in a structured portal view.

Controlling

Quantity and quality analytics.

Evaluation views for delivered quantities, quality signals and related price context.

8

Pattern di interfaccia

The portal UI followed a modular card-and-list pattern with clear navigation by business area, consistent document actions (view/download), role-aware menus and mobile-friendly layouts for yard and office use. Forms were kept short, with progressive disclosure for advanced filters and status details.

9

Scelta del framework

Laravel was selected as a context-specific fit for the Praxisunternehmen: rapid MVC development, strong ecosystem for auth and i18n, good MySQL integration and a practical path toward maintainable modular features. The choice was driven by project constraints and team familiarity, not as a universal best framework claim.

10

Ciclo DevOps

1. Plan

   Capture requirements, prioritize backlog items and define sprintable increments.

2. Code

   Implement features in version-controlled branches with reviewable commits.

3. Build

   Package application artefacts in reproducible build steps.

4. Test

   Run automated checks before promotion to shared environments.

5. Release

   Prepare versioned releases with clear change notes.

6. Deploy

   Ship builds through an automated deployment path.

7. Operate

   Run the application with defined environments and configuration.

8. Monitor

   Observe runtime health and detect delivery or availability issues.

9. Feedback

   Feed operational and stakeholder insights back into planning.

11

Risultati

L'implementazione del ciclo DevOps e del portale clienti ha portato a miglioramenti significativi: efficienza di sviluppo migliorata, esperienza cliente migliorata, processi interni ottimizzati e migliore trasparenza dei dati.

Development base established

A dedicated environment and tooling baseline enabled continuous implementation.

DevOps cycle introduced

An automated delivery loop reduced ad-hoc release friction.

Modular architecture

Portal areas were structured for incremental extension.

Department requirements captured

Five departments contributed concrete self-service needs.

Self-service prototype

Customers can conceptually access documents and selected process views digitally.

Foundation for follow-up work

The prototype became the starting point for the later bachelor thesis expansion.

12

Limitazioni

Not production-hardened

The portal remained a prototype, not a fully rolled-out production system.

Limited project time

Twelve weeks constrained depth of integration and polish.

Partial process coverage

Not every operational edge case was implemented.

No long-term field evaluation

Sustained customer adoption and KPI impact were not measured.

Learning curve

New tooling and DevOps practices required onboarding effort.

No ERP replacement

The portal complements ERP processes rather than replacing the core system.

13

Apprendimenti

Requirements first

Early stakeholder interviews prevented speculative module design.

Reusable components pay off

Modular UI and service boundaries accelerated iteration.

DevOps works in small teams

Even a compact team benefits from automated build and deploy discipline.

Roles matter early

Access boundaries must be designed before feature growth.

More than UI

Portal value depends on data quality, process fit and operations.

Natural follow-up

Findings directly motivated the subsequent bachelor thesis scope.

14

Stack tecnologico

Frontend

HTML

CSS

JavaScript

Blade

Bootstrap

Backend

PHP

Laravel

REST-oriented APIs

Data

MySQL

Migrations

Seeders

DevOps

Git

CI/CD

Docker

Monitoring basics

Workflow di controllo versione

15

Linea di sviluppo

1. 2022 – Practical project

   DevOps cycle and modular customer portal prototype at the Praxisunternehmen.

2. 2023 – Bachelor thesis

   User-centred expansion into ERP-near enterprise software and digital intake.

3. 2025/2026 – Master thesis

   AI use-case identification, evaluation and NLP prototype for industry ERP processes.

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