New Product Releases Every 2 Weeks

Background

The structural shift in supply chain management has been escalating in recent years, as the impact of online systems causes continuous adaptation for businesses. The digital factory boom and an interconnected supply network are adding new risks and complexities, as management of the flow of goods, data and financial transactions from point of origin to the final destination can bode success or failure for a business.

“They’ve been insightful and of value to us in helping us structure and execute that project. Without them, we wouldn’t have made near the progress we have with Agile.”

CEO, VIRTUALSTOCK

Client

VirtualStock is a UK-based digital supply chain and marketplace platform which works with retail and healthcare sectors. The company helps them connect their supply chains to operate more efficiently and have a wider range of products available.

Their clients are large top-tier retail operators such as Tesco, John Lewis, The Kingfisher Group, Sainsbury’s Argos, Dixon Carphone Warehouse and Office Depot, as well as some premier health systems.

Challenges

• VirtualStock needed to rapidly increase development to accommodate their expansion plans.

• When the Client came to Symphony Solutions, their in-house development capacity was adequate to perform day-to-day work and development, but they needed resource augmentation to meet increased demands.

• This was a big issue for them, as they faced an urgent need to deliver product to new markets.

• The product is The Edge, which is a data translation platform for suppliers, who communicate with retailers in real time to track shipments, invoices, and other transactions.

• Additionally, Symphony Solutions worked to the client’s preferred Lean Agile style to enhance productivity and speed up delivery.

Solution

Symphony Solutions began to work quickly:

• Established 2 Extended Teams within the first 3 months
• Worked in Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) to increase speed and quality
• Provided governance for quality assurance and software development process
• Created product for a new market
• Set up 3rd level support team

Result

• VirtualStock now releases new product versions every 2 weeks.
• The Lean Agile principles supported speed to market.
• The partnership with Symphony has expanded from 2 small teams to 30+ engineers.
• VirtualStock rolled-out operations to a new healthcare market and secured their first customer.