The short answer
PTC Cargo came to us without a specification, which is normal. The founder's summary afterwards was that we turned vague instructions into software that just works.
The situation
Cargo and freight operators run on knowledge that lives in people's heads and in messages. Where is the consignment. Who signed for it. What did we agree with this customer last time.
That works at one scale and stops working at the next. The failure is rarely dramatic: it is a slow accumulation of phone calls, disputed deliveries, and time spent reconstructing what happened.
The constraint
The brief was not a specification. It was a description of how the business worked and what kept going wrong, which is what almost every honest brief looks like.
A supplier who needs a finished requirements document before they can start is passing that work back to you. Turning an operational description into a buildable scope is the job.
What we built
Software matched to the operation rather than to a generic freight template. The specifics belong to the client, but the shape is one we build often: the operational record in one place, the people who need it able to reach it, and an admin view for the office.
How day one worked
This project is a good illustration of why we spend the first day on scope rather than on architecture.
- Day 1
Kick-off and scope
We go through your goals, your users, and the one job the app has to do. Everything that is not that job goes on a version-two list.
- Days 2 to 3
Design
Screens, flows, and the look of the thing. You review and revise until you sign off. Nothing gets coded until you have.
- Days 4 to 10
Build
Front end, backend, accounts, notifications, admin dashboard. You see working builds as they land rather than a reveal at the end.
- Days 11 to 12
Test and fix
Real devices, real data, edge cases. This is where most of the unglamorous work happens.
- Days 13 to 14
Submit and launch
Store listings, screenshots, privacy details, and submission to the App Store and Play Store. Then 30 days of support while your first users arrive.
The conversation on day one was not about technology. It was about which single part of the operation, if fixed, would remove the most friction. Everything else went on the list for later.
What happened
They understood exactly what we needed. They turned our vague instructions into beautiful software that just works. The knowledge is remarkable.
Amal ShadFounder, PTC Cargo