Improving Shipping Communication using APIs
Things Remembered: An IBM i API Use Case Success Story
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Technologies
About Things Remembered
An American retailer with hundreds of retail locations throughout the United States, Things Remembered specializes in personalized gifts, messaging and engraving. An omnichannel merchandising company, Things Remembered sells through multiple platforms.
- Website & eCommerce
- Print Catalog
- Direct to Consumer
- B2B Channels
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The Goals
- Revive and green-light the existing APIs
- Perform preliminary tests for API utilization
- Debug and fix all related issues
- Create any necessary Web Service programs to extend API functions
Key Results
Revived UPS Address Validation Function
Updated UPS Rate Shop Function
Created API for Shipment Label Creation
Extended Communication between APIs and Intranet
Project Highlights
The Challenge
While the UPS APIs had existed for years, they had never been used and were placed on the backburner as Things Remembered was using Agile to communicate to various private shipping companies. Now, since Agile support was sunsetting, our team, made up of members from the original API creation, was asked to revive the APIs and set them into motion.
The Solution
Once the team was updating the shipping functions and abilities, our developer took it one step further and wrote multiple Web Service programs that run through the System i and extend the Address Validation and Shipment Label Generation functions.
Because there is an existing store portal and intranet, cashiers and sales teams are now able to take advantage of the System i and UPS communication channels and, using back-office functions, immediately perform address validation and generate UPS shipping labels directly.
Key Project Benefits:
- Created custom API interface
- Saved time and cost by updating already existing code
- Designed Web Service programs to extend shipping functions and unlock System i data and logic
- Developed APIs using RPGLE allowing in-house developers to support future changes
By improving the shopping experience, Things Remembered increased the probability of repeat customers and higher annual revenue.
The Result
Together with the client's in-house team, Briteskies served as the Tech Designer and Project Coordinator for reviving multiple existing API calls to communicate to UPS.
Creating a tailored interface between Things Remembered and UPS, the API calls seamlessly communicate between the logic stored in the System i and the company's UPS account.
Using APIs to comb through the UPS variables, Things Remembered is able to pass cost savings on to the customer while also:
- Streamlining the shipping logic process
- Guaranteeing product delivery date
- Offering lowest available shipping rate
As an added bonus, because the APIs were developed in-house, they were specifically coded using RPGLE, empowering the Things Remembered developers to support future changes to the code.