Legacy ERP Integration
Connecting modern e-commerce to decades-old manufacturing systems
Impact
Eliminated manual order entry, saving 20+ hours per week and reducing errors by 95%
Technologies Used
Overview
ETE REMAN, one of North America's largest remanufacturers of automotive transmissions, needed to modernize both its customer service and digital sales operations. The company's legacy systems were entirely manual — from warranty claims to order processing — and their catalog website was outdated and non-transactional.
I was initially engaged as a contractor to implement Zendesk for warranty claims and later rehired to lead the migration from Magento 1 to Magento 2, transforming ETE's static catalog into a full B2B e-commerce experience with modern data integrations and automation.
The Challenge
- •Customer service relied on email and spreadsheets to manage warranty claims
- •The catalog site displayed products but offered no online ordering
- •The Paradox for DOS ERP system couldn't communicate with modern APIs, forcing all data exchanges through pipe-delimited flat files
- •Product data lacked structure, and customers couldn't easily find compatible transmissions for their vehicles
- •Core-return (old-part pickup) processes were fully manual, requiring reps to coordinate LTL freight shipments by phone and email
The Approach
Phase 1 – Customer-Service Modernization
- ✓Implemented Zendesk as a centralized platform for warranty claims and support ticketing
- ✓Designed workflows for claim tracking, escalations, and reporting
- ✓Integrated Zendesk with internal systems to improve communication between service and fulfillment teams
Phase 2 – Magento 2 Migration
- ✓Oversaw the full rebuild of ETE's legacy Magento 1 catalog into Magento 2 with B2B purchasing capabilities
- ✓Hired and managed a third-party agency to execute core development while serving as the internal technical lead and product owner
- ✓Implemented ACES & PIES standards to normalize automotive fitment data, enabling customers to search by year, make, model, or VIN
- ✓Designed a custom VIN-decoder workflow to automate compatibility lookup across thousands of vehicle types
- ✓Added online purchasing and checkout capabilities for B2B customers
Phase 3 – Legacy Integration Middleware
- ✓Built a Laravel-based middleware to translate flat-file data between Magento 2 and the Paradox ERP system
- ✓Automated import/export of orders, customers, and inventory: ERP → flat file → Laravel parser → MySQL → Magento and Magento → export → flat file → ERP import
- ✓Created fault-tolerant job runners to monitor and verify sync integrity
Phase 4 – Self-Service & Automation
- ✓Developed a core-return portal that allowed customers to initiate return shipments directly from their order history
- ✓Automated LTL dispatch requests, eliminating manual coordination by customer-service reps
- ✓Built a historical order-lookup system that parsed CSV data from the legacy ERP, allowing customers to view years of past transactions online
- ✓Enriched product pages with PIES documentation, installation guides, and service bulletins
Results
- ✓Reduced manual order entry to zero — all orders now flowed automatically into the ERP
- ✓Enabled self-service warranty returns and automated LTL scheduling, saving countless labor hours
- ✓Launched a fully transactional B2B site with vehicle-fitment search and VIN decoding
- ✓Significantly improved product discovery and customer satisfaction
- ✓Established a technical foundation that allowed ETE REMAN to scale its e-commerce presence
- ✓Personally gained deep experience in Laravel, Magento 2, and legacy-system integration — setting the stage for future architecture leadership roles
Technology Stack
This project taught me how to bridge worlds — connecting modern cloud commerce with a legacy DOS-based ERP using nothing but code, creativity, and a lot of flat-file ingenuity.
Key Takeaways
- ✓Bridging worlds: modern systems can integrate with legacy infrastructure through creative middleware
- ✓Legacy systems (even DOS-based) don't have to block digital transformation
- ✓Custom Laravel middleware can effectively translate between incompatible systems
- ✓Flat-file processing, when done right, can be reliable and fault-tolerant
- ✓ACES & PIES standards are essential for automotive parts e-commerce and fitment accuracy
- ✓VIN decoding dramatically improves customer experience and reduces compatibility errors
- ✓Self-service portals (core returns, order history) reduce operational overhead significantly
- ✓Phased approach (CS modernization → migration → integration → automation) manages complexity
- ✓Managing third-party agencies while serving as internal technical lead requires strong product ownership
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