11 · iOS app · Custom development · Sportswear
One app instead of five workarounds.
A sportswear manufacturer with custom-design production coordinated orders, logistics and inventory across multiple systems, WhatsApp groups and manual interventions — daily, error-prone, frustrating.
- Native iOS App
- PHP middleware
- Custom development
- Online store integration
- QR scanner
- Push notifications
- MariaDB
- Omnichannel
- 5 → 1
- process gaps consolidated into one app
- < 1 s
- real-time sync between trade show scan and online store
- 0 calls
- needed for pickup, delivery and status updates
01 · Problem
The client runs two online stores — a regular store and a teams store for clubs and triathlon organizers — and produces custom designs for athletes to order. Production and warehouse are in different locations. The consequence: five daily process problems. The producer had to log in to two WordPress backends and manually filter out which orders were even relevant to him. Courier pickups were coordinated via WhatsApp and phone. Inventory was not in sync — items sold at trade shows remained listed as available in the online store, so overselling was bound to happen. Supplier data, bills of materials and material stock were scattered and shared only on request. And photos of test prints of custom-made items — which the client needs for sign-off with its end customers — simply got lost in the day-to-day.
02 · Solution
vona designed and built Birdy — a native iOS app plus middleware that brings all processes into one system.
The middleware is the centerpiece: it maintains secured API connections to both online stores, manages inventory across multiple locations in real time, knows all suppliers along with their bills of materials and contacts, and controls a role-based push notification system. For every item and every variant, it automatically generates QR codes — print-ready, unique, scannable.
The iOS app is the mobile office: producer, courier, warehouse and management each see only what is relevant to their role. A smart filter aggregates orders from both stores and shows the producer only their own tasks. Once an order has been produced, a single tap triggers a push notification to the courier — with address and route sent straight to the iPhone. The warehouse is informed of the upcoming arrival and scans the QR code when the goods come in. The shipping status in the online store updates automatically. At trade shows, a QR scan at the point of sale is all it takes — inventory in the online store is up to date in under a second.
03 · Result
Five process problems that were a daily nuisance — solved in one app. No more multiple logins, no more overselling due to missing inventory sync, no more coordinating logistics via WhatsApp. The entire supply chain — from the incoming order through production and the courier to the updated inventory — runs through Birdy: documented, traceable and in real time. Features still to be introduced, such as AI-powered automatic reordering from suppliers and a live management dashboard, are already anchored in the roadmap.
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