CUSTOM DEVELOPMENT

Overcoming Manufacturing's Unique Challenges

Large, popular software systems are built for the masses. But your business has unique, complex needs that don’t always fit into those pre-built boxes. Custom software lets B2B manufacturers solve unique challenges by adding features that fit their business needs, giving them more control and confidence in their operations.

Custom Development

What All-in-One Platforms Don't Want You to Know

The hard truth is that a manufacturer will not find a single platform that perfectly fits all of their needs, regardless of what the marketing messages of big, all-in-one platforms claim. These businesses try to be everything to everybody, and they check as many feature boxes as possible with the most basic functionality.

For example, a standard PO workflow doesn't meet most of a manufacturing organization’s needs. With custom software development, you no longer have to sacrifice functionality to suit the platform. This brings a sense of relief and reassurance, knowing that you can focus on improving customer satisfaction, demand generation, operational efficiencies, and competitive edge.

Owning the Code

Limited control of 3rd-party platforms.

B2B manufacturers face increasing pressure to meet stringent business requirements, industry standards, and regulatory protocols, often dictated by compliance concerns like GDPR, HIPAA, and specific industry mandates (e.g., cannabis regulations).

"More than 55% of organizations need customized code that fits a specific business need." 
- Cloud Elements, The State of API Integration Report.

Impact of not owning the code:

Relying on third-party platforms limits their ability to customize and control critical functionalities, hindering their capacity to adapt to these complex requirements. Without custom software development, manufacturers

  • Have to rely on traditional processes to meet regulatory requirements.
  • Do not own the IP, limiting their business agility.
  • Simply cannot do business digitally.

Limited Applicability

The perfect platform does not exist

B2B manufacturers face significant challenges in identifying a platform or technology solution that meets their complex operational requirements and provides a strategic advantage in a highly competitive market. Despite the availability of various systems, most options either lack customization or fail to integrate seamlessly with existing infrastructure.

Using multiple applications to perform daily tasks creates friction, leading to inefficiencies and an inability to leverage digital transformation to fully differentiate their business from competitors.

"70% of businesses are planning to spend more on software in 2023
(vs. 2022)." 
- Gartner, 2023 Global Software Buying Trends Report

Impact of using an all-in-one platform:

Rather than making software fit their unique business model and requirements, B2B manufacturers often test out new technology rather than choosing the route of custom software. This leads to:

  • Sacrificing business functionality to match the software
  • An inability to differentiate and capture market share

Siloed Data

Unable to leverage locked-in data.

B2B manufacturers struggle to harness the power of their data due to fragmented systems and overlapping platforms. Using data from the right source at the right time in the customer journey is impossible because customer data is dispersed across various touchpoints. Without a unified source of truth, teams often rely on 'swivel chair processes' — a term used to describe the manual switching between systems to gather insight and complete their jobs, which is time-consuming and error-prone.

"Organizations in the US and UK are losing $140 billion each year to disconnected data, limiting innovation, growth and time to market for new products or services."
- Vanson Bourne

Impact of siloed systems:

A tech stack built on disconnected, outdated systems prevents manufacturers from delivering fast, data-driven customer experiences that boost competitiveness. Beyond the customer experience, organizations can also attribute the following to siloed systems:

  • Operational inefficiencies due to manual processes
  • Increased human error and labour costs
  • Lack of business agility

Owning the Code

Limited control of 3rd-party platforms.

B2B manufacturers face increasing pressure to meet stringent business requirements, industry standards, and regulatory protocols, often dictated by compliance concerns like GDPR, HIPAA, and specific industry mandates (e.g., cannabis regulations).

"More than 55% of organizations need customized code that fits a specific business need." 
- Cloud Elements, The State of API Integration Report.

Impact of not owning the code:

Relying on third-party platforms limits their ability to customize and control critical functionalities, hindering their capacity to adapt to these complex requirements. Without custom software development, manufacturers

  • Have to rely on traditional processes to meet regulatory requirements.
  • Do not own the IP, limiting their business agility.
  • Simply cannot do business digitally.

Limited Applicability

The perfect platform does not exist

B2B manufacturers face significant challenges in identifying a platform or technology solution that meets their complex operational requirements and provides a strategic advantage in a highly competitive market. Despite the availability of various systems, most options either lack customization or fail to integrate seamlessly with existing infrastructure.

Using multiple applications to perform daily tasks creates friction, leading to inefficiencies and an inability to leverage digital transformation to fully differentiate their business from competitors.

"70% of businesses are planning to spend more on software in 2023
(vs. 2022)." 
- Gartner, 2023 Global Software Buying Trends Report

Impact of using an all-in-one platform:

Rather than making software fit their unique business model and requirements, B2B manufacturers often test out new technology rather than choosing the route of custom software. This leads to:

  • Sacrificing business functionality to match the software
  • An inability to differentiate and capture market share

Overcoming Limitations With Custom Development

Custom development throughout a digital transformation project can look different for every organization’s requirements, goals, and objectives. You do not need to develop fully bespoke applications if you only need to add to existing functionality or enhance features. Let’s explore different levels of custom software development for B2B manufacturers. 

Recommendation: Embellish existing features.

Custom software does not have to be a full-blown rip and replacement of a platform if the system mostly works for your business needs. Instead, we can leverage the data from your existing tools and bulk them up to get more out of them, such as:

  • Custom Pricing: Custom pricing models can be developed to support complex pricing structures, such as customer-specific pricing, tiered pricing, and volume discounts. This can be integrated with the ERP system to ensure accurate pricing is applied to orders.
  • Complex Product Catalogs: Custom development can create and manage complex product catalogues, including products with numerous variants, customizable options, and related products. This can be integrated with the ERP system to display accurate product information.
  • Seamless Checkout: A custom checkout process can be developed to give customers a smooth and efficient checkout experience. This can be integrated with the ERP system to ensure accurate order information is captured.
  • Custom Reporting: Custom reports can be developed to provide insights into sales trends, customer behaviour, and other critical business metrics. This can be integrated with the ERP system to ensure accurate data is used for reporting.

Beyond The Assembly Line: Whitepaper

Transforming manufacturing through ecommerce innovation, this comprehensive ebook illuminates how manufacturers can build for the future without sacrificing today.

Discover how the right combination of technologies can help your business drive growth while engaging new customers online.

Custom Development with Acro Commerce

Creating bespoke software solutions that accommodate the systems your business cannot live without while improving business agility and operational functionality is a journey, not an overnight trip.

Our comprehensive Discovery & Strategy process outlines an iterative plan for achieving your company’s long-term goals while giving you time to fine-tune your strategy.

Suppose you already know custom development is the route your organization needs. In that case, Gesso, our composable commerce accelerator, can get your project to market faster so you can start changing the face of your business online sooner.

Discovery & Strategy with Acro Commerce

Discovery & Strategy with Acro Commerce

Uncovering detailed information about your company, its goals, objectives, and overall desires for your development project helps us build a better plan for project success.

Acro’s Discovery & Strategy process ensures businesses get the most suitable tech solutions tailored to their specific needs and objectives.

Composable Commerce Accelerator

Composable Commerce Accelerator

An accelerator minimizes the effort required to get to market without sacrificing functionality or customer experience.

Meet Gesso: By connecting best-in-breed platforms for ideal customer experiences, Gesso reduces time to market, complexity, and costs for B2B Manufacturers.

Acro Commerce’s Digital Transformation Differentiators


Discovery & Strategy

A failproof method to uncover your company’s needs and opportunities and then develop the best strategy to bring it all together.

Learn more

Accelerated Development

Built on top of our accelerator, iterative development is done in short phases, resulting in a low entry cost, complete customer control of direction, and tangible value right from the start.

Learn more

Accelerator

Once the plan is in place, leverage Gesso, our development accelerator, to reduce time to market by providing a solid foundation of pre-built integrations and a solid framework to build your unique model.

Learn more

Industry Specialization

Focused industry expertise allows us to understand your business more deeply, build the ideal tech stack and customer experience, and suggest the right strategies to maximize your investments.

"Overall, the engagement with Acro Commerce went really well and was well-received internally at Discover Global Network ®. The team was exceptionally professional, and even traditionally tricky items like AM/PM switches were handled well. We look forward to continuing our growing relationship with Acro Commerce as we dig deeper into the Drupal ecosystem."

Andrew Gordon, Executive Relationship Manager, Discover Global Network.

"Acro Commerce’s team offers 3 – 4 times greater value than other 3rd party vendors and even our own TELUS internal development teams."

Roi Ross, Vice President — Marketing, TELUS Business Solutions

“We wanted an agency that had the technical and design ability we needed, but more importantly, we wanted an agency that we could work with and who would be invested in the project's success. Acro Commerce worked alongside us every step of  the way, and especially towards the end, they bent over backwards to make sure we finally got the website over the line.”

David Hart, Concept2

"We wanted to begin by protecting our revenue streams overall, and those associated with our digital platform. And there’s no doubt in our minds that the work Acro Commerce has done for us has provided that protection and has enabled us to grow in a couple of dimensions: one, we’re seeing growth in terms of revenue; we’re seeing growth in terms of new customer acquisition; we’re seeing growth in average order size; and we’re seeing growth indicators in areas of a satisfying customer experience."

Gregory M. Sottile, Ph.D., Director of Sales & Marketing, USI Laminate

"Overall, the engagement with Acro Commerce went really well and was well-received internally at Discover Global Network ®. The team was exceptionally professional, and even traditionally tricky items like AM/PM switches were handled well. We look forward to continuing our growing relationship with Acro Commerce as we dig deeper into the Drupal ecosystem."

Andrew Gordon, Executive Relationship Manager, Discover Global Network.

"Acro Commerce’s team offers 3 – 4 times greater value than other 3rd party vendors and even our own TELUS internal development teams."

Roi Ross, Vice President — Marketing, TELUS Business Solutions

Custom solves manufacturing woes

Designing development solutions that fit your business is what we do.

Learn how working with Acro Commerce can:

  • Improve your operational workflows.
  • Future-proof your tech stack.
  • Increase scalability.
  • Optimize sales processes.
  • Create exceptional customer experiences.