Industrial Equipment Manufacturer: Custom B2B E-commerce Platform

Lead Web Engineer and Engineering Manager (via Solspace Inc.) for a 3+ year engagement building and evolving a custom B2B e-commerce platform for an industrial power equipment manufacturer. This project represents some of my most technically challenging work: building intelligent systems that handle edge cases standard e-commerce platforms cannot support.

The client sells highly configurable power supply equipment to manufacturers, research institutions, government agencies, and industrial customers. Their products are large, heavy, and require complex freight shipping. Their B2B customers expect custom payment terms. Their catalog contains over 200,000 SKUs with configurable specifications. Standard e-commerce solutions could not handle these requirements. They took a leap of faith on a custom build, and it dramatically increased their sales.

The Challenge

Industrial equipment e-commerce presents unique friction points that compound on each other:

Massive Product Complexity

• 200,000+ SKUs with configurable specifications (voltage, current, connectors, enclosures, certifications)
• New variants released regularly, requiring fast catalog updates
• Monthly price adjustments and mass data changes across the entire catalog

High-Value B2B Transactions

• High-value orders requiring staged payment collection
• Every customer has custom payment terms: down payment percentage, pre-shipping payment, net payment terms
• Partial payments require accurate tax calculation at each stage

Freight Shipping Complexity

• Large, heavy equipment requiring freight shipping
• Optimal pallet configuration affects shipping cost significantly
• Need real-time freight quotes from FedEx API

ERP Integration

• Bi-directional sync required with xTuple ERP
• Orders, customers, products, and inventory must stay synchronized
• Highly configurable products create data mapping challenges

Standard e-commerce platforms hit edge cases on every one of these requirements. The solution required building intelligent systems from the ground up.

Year 1: Ground-Up Platform Build

The first year focused on building the foundation: a complete Craft CMS and Craft Commerce implementation with custom architecture designed for scale.

Product Configurator Architecture

I designed a data structure and CMS architecture capable of supporting 200,000+ SKUs with configurable product options:

• Variant structure optimized for power equipment specifications
• Attribute inheritance system for efficient catalog management
• Pricing matrix supporting complex B2B pricing rules
• Search and filtering designed for technical product discovery

Staged Payment System

Built a custom payment system on top of Craft Commerce where B2B customers have individual payment terms:

• Down payment percentage (varies per customer)
• Pre-shipping payment percentage
• Net payment terms
• Each order progresses through payment stages with custom partial payment amounts
• Custom invoicing system generating accurate invoices at each stage

Freight Optimization Engine

Created an automated shipping calculation system:

• Custom pallet auto-assembly algorithm that optimizes product placement
• Integration with FedEx API for real-time freight quotes
• Automatic selection of most efficient shipping method and pricing
• Handles the complexity of large, heavy industrial equipment

Bi-Directional ERP Synchronization

Built a synchronization layer connecting Craft Commerce with xTuple ERP:

• Orders sync from Commerce to ERP for fulfillment
• Customer accounts and discount tiers sync bi-directionally
• Product data and pricing sync from ERP to Commerce
• Inventory levels stay accurate across systems

Years 2-3: Continuous Feature Development

After the initial build, the engagement evolved into a long-term retainer with continuous feature development and system improvements.

10x Faster Product Importer

The standard Craft Commerce importer could not handle 200,000+ SKUs efficiently. I built a custom importer that is 10x faster per variant:

• Critical for monthly price updates across the entire catalog
• Enables rapid variant additions when new products launch
• Supports mass adjustments that happen at least monthly
• Designed for reliability when processing hundreds of thousands of records

Partial Payment Tax Calculation

Integrated Avatax for accurate tax calculation on partial payments:

• Taxes calculated correctly at each payment stage
• Handles the complexity of staged B2B payments
• Ensures compliance across different jurisdictions

Multi-Currency Support

Extended Craft Commerce with multi-currency functionality:

• B2B customers can transact in their preferred currency
• Pricing maintained accurately across currency conversions
• Integrated with payment and invoicing systems

Craft CMS Upgrades

Managed major Craft CMS and Craft Commerce version upgrades:

• Kept the platform current with security patches and new features
• Handled breaking changes while maintaining custom functionality
• Ensured continuous operation during upgrade cycles

Performance Optimization

As the product catalog grew, implemented speed optimizations:

• Database query optimization for 200,000+ SKU catalog
• Caching strategies for product configurator performance
• Load time improvements for complex product pages

Intelligent Webhook Notifications

Built automated notification system integrated with Mattermost:

• Real-time alerts for specific order events (large orders, failed payments, etc.)
• Inventory threshold notifications
• System health and error alerts to internal chat
• Customizable notification rules for different event types

Report Generation

Created custom reporting functionality:

• Sales reports with configurable date ranges and filters
• Product performance analytics
• Customer order history exports
• Automated scheduled report generation

Statement Generation

Built customer statement system:

• Automated statement generation for B2B accounts
• Outstanding balance tracking across staged payments
• Payment history and aging reports

Expired Quote Re-initiation

Developed quote lifecycle management:

• Automated detection of expired quotes
• Re-initiation workflow for sales follow-up
• Quote versioning and history tracking

Custom Invoice Email Reminders

Implemented automated payment reminder system:

• Configurable reminder schedules for outstanding invoices
• Different reminder templates based on payment stage
• Integration with staged payment workflow

Removing Workflow Friction

Every system I built addressed specific friction points in their operations:

Before: Manual Payment Tracking

• Staff manually calculated payment amounts and tracked stages
• Invoices created by hand for each payment
• Errors in complex B2B payment terms

After: Automated Staged Payments

• System calculates correct amounts based on customer-specific terms
• Invoices generated automatically at each stage
• Payment collection streamlined and accurate

Before: Manual Freight Quoting

• Staff estimated shipping costs or requested manual quotes
• Potential for undercharging on freight (margin loss) or overcharging (customer friction)
• No optimization for pallet configuration

After: Automated Freight Optimization

• Real-time FedEx API integration with automatic pallet assembly
• Optimal shipping method selected automatically
• Accurate freight pricing on every order

Before: Slow Catalog Updates

• Price changes and new variants took days to propagate
• Standard importer could not handle catalog scale
• Monthly updates were a significant operational burden

After: 10x Faster Imports

• Entire 200,000+ SKU catalog updated in a fraction of the time
• Monthly price adjustments are routine, not disruptive
• New products launch quickly

Before: Disconnected Systems

• Orders required manual entry into ERP
• Customer data duplicated and out of sync
• Inventory discrepancies between systems

After: Bi-Directional ERP Sync

• Orders flow automatically to xTuple for fulfillment
• Customer accounts stay synchronized
• Single source of truth for inventory and pricing

Why This Work Matters

This project represents technical complexity at scale: 200,000+ SKUs, high-value B2B transactions, custom payment workflows, freight optimization, and enterprise ERP integration, all working together reliably.

The client took a leap of faith on a custom platform because standard solutions could not handle their edge cases. That leap paid off with dramatically increased sales and streamlined operations.

This engagement shaped my approach to intelligent e-commerce systems: understanding that B2B operations have friction points that generic platforms cannot address, and building the custom systems that remove that friction permanently.

Implemented solutions:

• E-commerce and Warehouse Data Sync
• Custom E-commerce Functionality
• Automatic Data Migration
• Automatic Data Synchronization
• Flexible Content Management
• Custom Shipping Price Calculation
• Quote Builder Implementation
• Installment Payments System
• Custom Invoicing System
• Custom Payments Integration
• Custom Customer Management
• Freight Packaging System
• Website Redesign Implementation
• Website Performance Optimization
• Website Core & Stability
• Custom Discount Logic
• Custom Tax Calculation Logic
• Custom Price Calculation Logic
• Product Configurator
• Custom API Creation
• Website Security Optimization
• Development and Deployment Pipeline

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