Australia’s largest motorcycle spare parts distributor accelerates sales operations with low-code
Low-code applications are changing the way businesses operate. Historically, creating a custom business application that could support complex field operations would take months of traditional development. Today, low-code solutions, including Microsoft Power Apps, make it possible to deploy robust tools in a fraction of the time. These capabilities are essential for bridging the gap between complex legacy ERP systems and the real-world needs of teams working on the front lines.
This is precisely the journey undertaken by Australia’s oldest and largest motorcycle accessory wholesaler. Their field sales team needed a faster, more usable way to capture orders in real-world conditions, including working offline without compromising ERP accuracy. The new Power Apps–based Sales Management System enables reps to create orders via bulk or manual item entry, validates stock and customer pricing against Infor Movex, and routes low-margin orders through an approval workflow, reducing back-office dependency while keeping controls intact.
| Quick info: Low-code solutions are software development platforms that allow both professional developers and non-technical staff (often called "citizen developers") to build applications using visual, drag-and-drop interfaces. Instead of writing thousands of lines of traditional code from scratch, users assemble pre-built components and logic blocks to create functional software. |
Where the legacy system broke down in the field
Despite its leading position in the market and expansive distribution network, the organization’s field sales team was held back by technology that had reached its expiration date. Their legacy sales automation system was built on an outdated stack that created several critical roadblocks:- No offline resilience: Sales reps regularly visit customers in areas with unreliable connectivity. Without an offline-first experience, order capture stalled whenever coverage dropped forcing reps to take notes and re-enter later.
- Back-office bottlenecks: Simple tasks like confirming customer pricing/discounts, checking stock availability, or submitting orders often required calls back to the office slowing down the sales cycle and increasing the chance of errors.
- Limited ERP alignment: Inventory and pricing needed to be trusted and consistent with Infor Movex, but the legacy stack made integration difficult resulting in fragmented checks and delays in getting the latest validated information.
- Poor field usability: The interface wasn’t designed for mobile-first selling making product search, quick line entry, and order amendments unnecessarily time-consuming for a high-SKU spare-parts environment.
A low-code revolution
The leadership team realized they didn’t just need a new app; they needed a way to maximize their existing ERP investment while providing a modern, mobile-friendly interface for their staff. They partnered with Fortude to architect a Power Apps-based Sales Management System (SMS) that integrates seamlessly with their Infor ERP and supports mobile-first selling while enforcing ERP rules for customer data, product validation, pricing, and stock checks. By choosing a low-code approach, the organization was able to:- Accelerate time-to-market: Build a feature-rich application without the lengthy timelines of traditional software development.
- Ensure seamless integration: Use Microsoft Power Automate to create a robust bridge for data syncs between the front-end app and the back-end ERP.
- Optimize costs: Reduce ERP license costs by offloading front-end sales tasks to the Power Apps environment.
| More on Microsoft’s low-code solutions: The Microsoft Power Platform provides an end-to-end ecosystem for digital transformation, consisting of Power Apps for custom application development, Power Automate for streamlining workflows and RPA, and Power BI for advanced data visualization and analytics. These are complemented by Power Pages for building secure external websites and Microsoft Copilot Studio for creating custom AI agents, all of which are unified by the Dataverse storage layer and a library of over 1,000 pre-built connectors to external services. |
Key features of the digital roadmap
The transformation focused on digitizing the end-to-end sales process with a focus on field-rep autonomy and management oversight:
- Offline order management: Built for the reality of regional sales, the SMS allows for offline order creation, stock takes, and account management. Data is cached locally and automatically synced once connectivity is restored.
- Real-time margin control: To protect profitability, the system includes a parameterized approval workflow engine. If a discount exceeds the maximum allowed cap or results in a negative contribution margin, the order is automatically flagged for manager review.
- Intelligent inventory lookups: Reps can perform near-real-time price and availability lookups via ERP integration, ensuring they provide accurate information to dealers on the spot.
- Automated stock take & ordering: The system allows users to perform stock takes via an on-screen grid or bulk Excel upload. It can then automatically generate orders based on those results, significantly reducing the time spent on manual inventory counts.
Scalability and sustained growth
Digital transformation is a journey of continuous adaptation, not a one-time project. With a low-code foundation, the organization is now positioned to:
- Scale with demand: The system is engineered to handle an expected volume of up to four times the current order load, supporting future business expansion.
- Maintain data integrity: The integration ensures 100% data integrity between the field and the home office, providing a “single version of truth” for all sales activities.
- Agile evolution: Because the system is built on a low-code platform, the organization can quickly update functionalities, such as adding new account management tools, as business needs evolve.
Success in motion
By moving to a modern Sales Management System, the organization has achieved increased order accuracy and a significant reduction in back-office administrative burdens. The combination of Microsoft Power Apps and a strategic digital roadmap has turned a legacy challenge into a competitive advantage, ensuring they remain the region’s preferred motorcycle accessory wholesaler.
FAQs
The system loads customer and product data from the last sync into offline tables. This allows reps to see the most recent cached pricing and availability even without a network connection.
Functionalities like “Submit for Approval” and “Sync to Movex“ are disabled in offline mode to ensure data consistency. Once the rep is back online, the system triggers the Power Automate workflow, sending approval emails with detailed Excel attachments to the relevant managers.
Low-code solutions, such as Power Apps, offer a faster deployment cycle and easier maintenance. They also allow the organization to reduce ERP license costs by offloading front-end work to a more cost-effective mobile interface while maintaining a seamless link to the back-end system of record.
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