Production operations platform for beverage distribution
A production platform connecting order management, approvals, driver communication, QR-based gate verification, and local printing across web and mobile for a beverage distribution operator.
Client identity withheld for confidentiality
Project snapshot
- Engagement
- Custom production platform
- Surface
- Web · PWA · Mobile · Windows integration
- Core stack
- React · React Native · Node.js · PostgreSQL
- Infrastructure
- DigitalOcean
- Integrations
- WhatsApp API · QR workflow · Local printing
- Status
- Production system
The operational problem
Distribution operations didn't stop at order entry. A single order moved through administration, loading, accounts, management approval, driver communication, and physical gate verification, historically handled through separate, disconnected tools and manual handoffs between teams.
Coordinating those handoffs required one system that multiple roles could operate from concurrently, staying consistent between a cloud-hosted web application and a physical, on-premises operation, including hardware the browser can't reach directly, and personnel working at the loading dock rather than a desk.
- Multiple operational roles needed to work from the same live order state without stepping on each other.
- Gate verification happens at the physical loading dock, not at a desk. That required a dedicated mobile surface.
- Local, Windows-connected printers had to produce paperwork reliably from a cloud-hosted web workflow.
- Driver and operational communication needed to run through a channel the operations team already used daily.
One operational flow instead of disconnected handoffs.
Rather than building isolated screens for each team, the system connects the full order lifecycle into one coordinated workflow.
- 01
Order created
- 02
Loading / operations processing
- 03
Accounts review
- 04
Management approval
- 05
Driver communication
- 06
QR gate-pass generated
- 07
Gate verification (mobile scan)
- 08
Operational completion
Purchase orders follow the same system: once confirmed, a PO converts directly into an order without the workflow being recreated manually.
Role-based operations
Different users interact with the same live workflow according to their operational responsibility, not a separate copy of it.
Administration
Creates and manages core business workflows and system configuration.
Loading / Operations
Handles fulfillment and loading-related workflow steps.
Accounts
Reviews order and account information as part of the approval chain.
Approvals
Controls higher-level workflow sign-off before an order proceeds.
Gate Operations
Verifies QR-based gate passes through the mobile application at the point of physical dispatch.
Engineering that reached the whole operation.
Software that reached the physical operation.
A browser dashboard assumes someone sitting at a desk. Gate verification happens at the loading dock, at the moment a truck is dispatched, not somewhere a desktop screen is useful. Rather than stretching a tool built for office roles onto the dock, HelmLift built a dedicated React Native application for that specific job: scan the QR gate pass, verify it, move on. It puts the workflow physically where the work happens.
Bridging a cloud application with local printers.
Browsers are deliberately sandboxed from driving locally attached hardware, and a cloud-hosted application has no direct network path to a printer sitting on a warehouse LAN. That gap doesn't disappear just because the workflow moved to the web. Paperwork still has to print reliably, on-site, every time an order completes. HelmLift built a dedicated Windows print agent to give the cloud-hosted workflow a bridge to hardware it otherwise couldn't reach.
Operational communication built into the workflow, not bolted on.
Driver and operational communication is only useful if it happens at the right moment, not as a separate step someone has to remember. HelmLift wired WhatsApp API messaging directly into the order workflow itself, so a notification fires because a specific step just completed, using configurable templates rather than a manual, ad hoc message.
Architecture
Frontend
React web application with Progressive Web App support: role-based dashboards for order, purchase-order, approval, account, and logistics workflows.
Backend
Node.js API handling business-workflow orchestration, role/permission logic, and audit logging.
Database
PostgreSQL for transactional and operational data.
Deployment
Deployed and operated on DigitalOcean infrastructure; HelmLift handled deployment and hosting for the project.
Connected interfaces
React Native Gate App
QR-based gate-pass verification at the loading dock.
WhatsApp API
Template-driven driver and operational messaging, triggered by workflow events.
Windows Print Agent
Bridges the cloud workflow to local, on-site printers.
Technology
- React
- React Native
- Node.js
- PostgreSQL
- DigitalOcean
- WhatsApp API
- QR workflow
- Windows Print Agent
- PWA
Engineering ownership across the workflow.
- Product and application engineering (web + PWA)
- Backend and API implementation
- PostgreSQL database design and administration
- React Native mobile application for gate operations
- WhatsApp API integration for operational messaging
- QR-based gate-pass workflow
- Custom Windows print agent
- Cloud deployment on DigitalOcean
Result
The resulting system connects order management, approvals, driver communication, QR-based gate verification, and local printing through one coordinated workflow spanning web, mobile, and on-premises operations. It is deployed and used for real distribution operations, not run as a demonstration or prototype.
Some client and operational details are intentionally omitted or generalized for confidentiality.
Building something with this many moving parts?
If your product spans applications, infrastructure, integrations, and operational workflows, talk directly with an engineer about how the pieces should fit together.