A leading third-party inspection and testing company in the commodities logistics domain engaged 18North for a full-stack digital transformation initiative. Their operations — including sampling, lab testing, certification, job audit, and billing — were entirely manual across 22 branches and 16 NABL/non-NABL labs. The mandate was to design a modular digital platform to support operations such as vessel, rake, truck, barge, bunker, and container inspections, while ensuring NABL compliance and field-to-lab traceability.

The client operates across multiple verticals like coal, steel, agro-products, fertilizers, and minerals, offering services like sampling, cargo surveys, collateral management, and quality control. Their widespread presence spans major Indian ports and industrial corridors. With growing demand, their paper-based systems and Excel workflows hindered scale, compliance, and audit readiness. Leadership recognized the need to shift toward a unified, digital-first model for both lab and field operations.

•  Redundancy & Errors: Multiple Excel entries led to duplication and inconsistent data.
• Lack of Operational Visibility: Manual tracking delayed decision-making.
•  Compliance Gaps: Meeting NABL and customer certification standards was effort-intensive.
•  Fragmented Processes: No central system for labs, audits, tenders, or invoicing.
•  Change Resistance: Users were accustomed to long-standing manual workflows.

• Discovery-Led Blueprinting: 4-week co-design with process owners. Deliverables included BPMs, architecture, UX wireframes, and roadmap.
• Empathetic Prototyping: Modules validated via real user feedback loops.
• Build vs. Buy: Core systems built in-house; off-the-shelf HRMS/accounting integrations recommended.
• Seamless Implementation: 13-month phased go-live, parallel testing with manual systems, strong change management.

•  Lab Operations at Scale: 39,000+ samples, 14,500 verified, 16,000+ certificates issued across 12 labs.
•  Field Ops Digitization: 2,850 job instructions across sampling types like rake, truck, vessel, etc.
•  Certifications & Billing: 3,746 certificates and 2,179 invoices auto-generated, integrated GST tracking.
•  Efficiency Gains: 50% fewer manual errors, 40% increase in operational efficiency.
•  Geographic Scale: 35+ locations, 98 users, 441 logins, centralized coordination.
•  Unified Workflows: Lab–field–finance data integrated, billing tied to QA approval.

By replacing siloed manual processes with a centralized, modular digital platform, the client significantly boosted operational efficiency, reduced compliance risks, and improved service reliability. The platform now serves as the digital nervous system of the organization — adaptable to new business units and scalable for future growth.