Digitally Transforming Custom Manufacturing Operations with Low-Code

A fast-growing custom product manufacturer with online sales operations faced serious inefficiencies as demand increased. Their legacy systems—made up of disconnected software tools, manual processes, and paper-based workflows—created bottlenecks that impacted customer experience, revenue, and productivity.

To overcome these challenges and prepare for scalable growth, the company implemented a low-code platform to unify and automate its end-to-end operations.

•Scattered information systems made it difficult to manage order tracking, logistics, and production.

•Manual data entry led to delays and frequent errors, including ordering incorrect components.

•No centralized database, causing employees to repeat tasks across departments.

•Low process visibility, affecting customer service and internal productivity.

Hiring more staff to manage demand wasn’t sustainable. The company needed a central platform to connect departments, enable real-time collaboration, and automate repetitive tasks.

Partnering with a low-code implementation expert, the company adopted Zoho Creator to develop a custom operations management app. Key features included:

•Sales automation: Order data from the website is captured and integrated with the CRM.

•Production workflows: Field personnel use a mobile app to capture on-site specs (e.g., dimensions, images), which then feed into a centralized system.

•Inventory & procurement: The app integrates with inventory tools to automate part ordering.

•Quality checks & support: Integrated ticketing and inspection modules ensure smooth production and customer support.

•Delivery & installation: Drivers use mobile apps to collect digital signatures and mark jobs as complete.

•Saved over 1,800 hours annually by eliminating duplicate data entry

•£20,000 in cost savings, with expected annual profit increase of 10–15%

•90% reduction in order errors, improving customer satisfaction

•Real-time data access for all staff and external partners

•End-to-end digitization of sales, production, and logistics workflows

Staff across sales, production, and logistics now operate in a unified digital ecosystem with task-specific apps designed around their needs.

The company plans to further expand its custom solution by:

•Integrating with accounting systems

•Enabling digital signatures

•Launching driver portals with smart routing

•Sending real-time SMS updates to customers

With its processes now centralized and scalable, the company is well-positioned to grow its online presence and increase efficiency across the board.