Automatically generated narration. Code examples are available in the article.
Starting with the workflow
From April 2022 to March 2025, I worked on digitizing a Japanese produce wholesaler that supplies supermarkets and restaurants. The six-person project team needed to improve daily work while preserving data that could be used later.
I started by studying the client's business processes and listing where digitization could help. We discussed priorities, and I prepared materials and reported to the CEO every two weeks.
Three stages
The first stage was an ordering system with real-time price updates. It gave customers a web interface for placing orders and made the data easier to retrieve.
The second stage replaced an old MS-DOS data-entry system with a responsive web interface. I worked on GUI usability, historical lookup, statistics, Excel-like shortcuts, and React performance so that frequent entry tasks stayed practical.
The third stage focused on paper invoices. Staff could write on tablets with a stylus, with handwriting recognition helping turn entries into stored data instead of typing the same information again at the end of the day.
My responsibilities
I took part in workflow analysis, technical research, design, database and base-code implementation, development, and maintenance. I prepared the foundation and documentation for the Vietnam outsourcing team, handled questions and progress tracking as BrSE, and developed the parts kept in-house.
The stack included React, Spring Boot, PostgreSQL, AWS, React Native, Swift, and Python tools such as FastAPI and TensorFlow.
What I learned
This project gave me experience across the development lifecycle. It also made me more careful about introducing unfamiliar technology: I began trying it in small personal projects before proposing it for client work.
Digitized historical data can support later analysis. Forecasting and AI-based procurement improvements were longer-term possibilities, rather than results I claim to have delivered here.
Role: SE / BrSE responsibilities · Team: 6 · Period: April 2022–March 2025.