Massive API integration project with 60+ shipping carriers worldwide for Global TMS

Solution

To simplify the development process and assure the highest quality, we outline several solutions and approaches:

• Asynchronous flows.
  mitigates risks and decreases diversity by ensuring that, regardless of the communication protocol (EDI, SOAP, etc.), the data will eventually be collected.
• Data model conversion.
  Data model conversion. Converting the system's data model into an API request and reverse with the response, while handling errors effectively. This method simplifies the interaction with external endpoints, even though it may still present challenges in real-life applications due to potential slow responses or high load issues.
• Handling high loads and API limitations.
  Managing many shipments in real time can lead to high system load and potential carriers' API limitations.. While specific solutions to these issues are not detailed, the implication is that systems should be designed to efficiently manage load and gracefully handle API rate limits, possibly through queueing mechanisms, load balancing, etc.
• Security and international regulations.
  Comprehensive understanding of legal and security requirements is essential for successful integration. We follow the Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance (GRC) framework to ensure operating within legal and regulatory boundaries, maintaining a strong ethical stance, and managing risks effectively.

Additionally:

• Testing environments.
  In order to ensure flawless integration, we create test environments for carriers that don’t provide their own. This helps to prevent any defects related to the most sensitive data (costs, permission-related functionality, and others).
  Together with the support team our engineering team performs different tests before the solution becomes available for the client. This ensures a seamless user experience for the customers.
• Enabled automatic bids.
  Previously, the bidding process was manual, with users setting transportation bids and carriers applying manually. However, certain carriers have implemented rules for automatically accepting or rejecting bids, which can now be managed without human intervention. At Erbis, we fully support this automation and instantly display the auto bid status.
  Implemented near real-time synchronization of shipment status.We implemented asynchronous background jobs to check the shipment status returned by the carrier. This allowed us to achieve a delay of no more than one minute when displaying the shipping status to the user.
• Implemented a mechanism for interpreting errors from the carrier.
  The user may enter incorrect data or leave certain fields blank when creating a shipment. In this case, the carrier returns an error, most often in an unreadable format. Our system interprets the error and translates it into human language so the user can quickly correct it.
• Developed order management.
  Some shipping providers offer a service where they take an order from a customer and divide it into separate shipping items. We have also implemented this feature in our SaaS platform. This means that when a customer places an order, they can send it to the carrier through our interface. The carrier will then create the shipping items and return them, and the order status will be automatically updated once the shipping is completed.