Overview
Self-hosted Appsmith workspace with 14 custom apps covering dispatch, driver ledger, and SLA breach alerts — replacing a patchwork of spreadsheets and a legacy VB system.
The challenge
The client managed 340 daily routes across 6 depots using a mix of WhatsApp groups, Excel sheets, and a decade-old Visual Basic desktop application. Data silos caused an 18% SLA breach rate and made real-time re-routing impossible. Replacing the legacy system had to happen without disrupting live operations.
The solution
We self-hosted Appsmith on a Dubai-region VPS, connected it directly to the existing PostgreSQL operational database, and built 14 role-scoped apps (dispatcher, driver, depot manager, finance) over 8 weeks. Custom JavaScript transformers inside Appsmith pages handled SLA countdown logic and colour-coded breach alerts without a separate backend service. The VB system ran in parallel for 2 weeks during cut-over.
Outcomes
Dispatch cycle cut from 22 minutes to under 4 minutes
SLA breach rate dropped from 18% to 3% within the first month
Driver ledger reconciliation, previously a 3-hour Friday task, now completes in 11 minutes
All 6 depots unified on one real-time view; no more WhatsApp data entry
Key metrics
Tech stack
Services
Client testimonial
“Our dispatchers went from staring at WhatsApp threads to one clean screen that tells them everything. The ROI was visible in the first week.”
— Operations Director, Sabiq Logistics · Riyadh
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