How RuteAppz Developed a Custom Order Management Platform for Stitchwell Digitizing

Project overview

Stitchwell Digitizing provides embroidery digitizing and vector artwork conversion for customers who need artwork prepared for embroidery, printing and signage. Orders, quotations, artwork files, revisions, delivery and billing all have to be coordinated, and Stitchwell wanted software shaped around that flow. RuteAppz developed a custom web-based order and production management platform for the business, with a customer portal and an administrative back office.

Business challenges

An artwork service has to coordinate many small steps for every job:

• Quotations. Customers want to know the price before they commit, and quotes have to turn into orders cleanly.
• Artwork uploads. Each job starts with a customer file, which has to be attached to the right order.
• Two kinds of work. Embroidery digitizing and vector artwork are different services with their own orders.
• Production status. The team needs to see pending work, and customers need to see where their order stands.
• Revisions. Artwork often needs changes after the first delivery.
• Delivery and invoicing. Finished files have to reach the customer, and completed work has to be billed.

The custom web platform

RuteAppz built a web application that follows an order from the first quote to the final invoice. Customers register, request quotes, place digitizing or vector orders, upload their artwork, follow progress, ask for revisions and download finished files. The Stitchwell team uses an admin back office to manage customers and company accounts, work through pending orders, deliver completed files and prepare invoices. Email notifications connect the two sides.

How an order moves through the platform

The workflow below summarizes the project scope: a quote, an order, processing by the Stitchwell team, optional revisions, delivery of the finished files and billing.

Customer portal

Customers have their own account on the platform. After registering and logging in, they can request a quotation, place an embroidery digitizing or vector artwork order, upload the artwork file that needs to be converted, and keep track of their orders. Company customers can be managed as company accounts. When work is finished, the customer returns to the same account to download the result, so files, orders and history stay in one place.

Embroidery digitizing orders

An embroidery digitizing order starts with the customer's artwork. The customer describes the job and uploads the file, and the order enters the team's pending list. The team processes the order, and when the digitized file is ready the order is marked completed and the file becomes available to the customer. If the customer needs changes, a revision brings the order back for rework.

Vector artwork management

Vector artwork conversion has its own order type, separate from digitizing, so the two services can be quoted, processed and tracked independently. The flow is the same in spirit: the customer uploads the source artwork, the team converts it, and the finished vector files are delivered through the customer's account.

Quote and revision management

Customers can ask for a quotation before ordering. The public Stitchwell website also has a quick-quote page. An accepted quote leads into an order, and an order can be amended when the customer asks for revisions, so that the original request and later changes stay connected to the same job.

Artwork delivery

Completed files are delivered through the customer's account. Customers log in, open the completed order and download the finished artwork, and email notifications tell them when there is something new. Keeping delivery inside the platform means the team does not have to send files by hand for each order.

Admin operations

The admin back office is where the Stitchwell team runs the business. It covers customer management and company accounts, digitizing orders and vector orders, pending orders waiting for work and completed orders, and the processing of each order. It also lists orders that have been completed but not yet billed, which feeds the invoicing step.

Billing and invoicing

Completed orders that have not been billed are collected as unbilled orders, and the team prepares invoices from them. PayPal integration was part of the project scope. This case study does not state whether PayPal payments are in operation, and it makes no claim about payment volumes or results.

Platform modernization

The earlier Stitchwell ordering portal was a legacy application written in procedural PHP on MySQL. RuteAppz modernized the platform by rebuilding it on the CodeIgniter framework, moving the order, customer, quote, revision, file and billing workflows into a structured application. The project is recorded as delivered. This case study does not state which portal address customers use today or the date of any switch-over from the legacy portal.

Technology

• CodeIgniter web application framework (PHP).
• MySQL database.
• WordPress for the public marketing website.
• Email notifications for customers and the team.
• PayPal integration within the project scope.

The project brief does not specify framework versions, hosting, storage or security certifications, so none are listed here.

Capabilities and intended business benefits

What the platform was built to provide

• Customer accounts, quotations and ordering for digitizing and vector work.
• Artwork upload and completed-file download.
• Revision handling on existing orders.
• An admin back office for customers, companies, pending and completed orders.
• Unbilled order tracking and invoicing.

Intended business benefits

• One system from quote to invoice, instead of scattered emails and files.
• Clear order status for the team and for customers.
• Less manual file handling at delivery time.
• A structured codebase that is easier to extend.

These are the outcomes the platform was designed to support. The project scope is as documented by RuteAppz; this case study makes no claims about order volumes, customer numbers, turnaround times, revenue or payment results. Figures on the public Stitchwell website describe the business and are not attributed to this software.

Related RuteAppz solutions

• PHP web development services: custom PHP applications and portals, including CodeIgniter work.
• WordPress development services: custom WordPress websites and integrations.
• All RuteAppz services: custom software, web and mobile development.