Ulfix

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Styropek is part of the petrochemical brand of the Mexican company Alpek. We’re the largest producer of expandable polystyrene in the Americas, and one of the five largest in the world. I’m the business manager for Styropek Mexico, the largest business unit of the organization. I’m basically a country manager, responsible for all the operations in Mexico, with a focus on the sales and marketing part.

What challenge were you trying to address with Ulfix?

As part of an innovation project to improve customer service, we were trying to develop a mobile app that would bring technical service closer to our customers. It would be a one-touch solution for technical service.

We have a good team of technicians. With the app, we wanted to give customers the ability to contact those technicians and have a seamless service. Our technicians are always flying between cities, so they can’t always take a call. We wanted to improve our response time.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ulfix developed our app for Android and iOS. It has an integration with WhatsApp for chat, and with Zoom for videoconferencing. We didn’t provide them wireframes or other materials. We just agreed on a scope and started working together.

This was our first app, and we’re a B2B petrochemical company, so we’re as old-school as someone can be. Ulfix helped us a lot with the user experience, such as choosing the type of menu that was best for our customers. Customers can either make a phone call, open a chat with our team, or start a Zoom conference, by just pushing a button. Ulfix helped us make an integration with a smart glasses device with a camera. The customer can put on their glasses and talk to our technical service support while being hands-free.

What is the team composition?

We tried to keep as few points of contact as possible. As the head of the project, my main contact was Ulises (Scrum Master & Agile Consultant). We also had a project manager.

How did you come to work with Ulfix?

I’m currently studying in a business school in Mexico, and I networked with colleagues there about someone who could make me an app. We found 3–4 options, and Ulfix was the most convincing or compatible one. The others wanted to charge a lot for solutions that were overdesigned for what we needed. Ulfix had a very good approach. They offered to walk with us through the scope, get to a first deliverable, and go from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve paid them around $35,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Ulfix in August 2020. We’re already testing the first version, and they’re working on the second stage. It’ll be an ongoing project for at least while.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We received the first deliverable around a week ago, and it’s very robust so far. There are elements that weren’t included in the first scope, and that’s what Ulfix is working on right now. The app looks successful so far. It’s stable, easy to use, and user-friendly. We’re the first ones in the industry to have this kind of solution.

How did Ulfix perform from a project management standpoint?

In terms of project management, it’s like nothing we’ve seen before, in a good way. Ulfix is very flexible, and they understood that we were new to this. We didn’t know much of the terminology, but they helped us define the scope.

It was easy after that. We had biweekly meetings where they showed us the results. They kept a chronogram of the project, listing what would be delivered and when. We usually communicated by email during the rest of the week. They would call or send me a WhatsApp message for more urgent matters. The communication was good. The biweekly meetings were really effective. We could see how all the work was advancing over a 20-minute session.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Compared to other projects we’ve been involved in, outside of the development area, Ulfix has a very clear approach. Communication is key for success, and it’s impeccable. They’ve anticipated things we didn’t know we didn’t know. They would tell us something like “I know that you’re thinking that this should look like this, but it would take a lot of time to do, and it wouldn’t be worth it in terms of user experience.”

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re finishing testing on the first version now, and I can’t find anything for Ulfix to improve on so far. They delivered what they promised, and the communication was good. Hopefully, the next steps will be the same.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

With any supplier, it’s important to define the scope as clearly as possible, and to let them do their job. In this case, Ulfix has infinitely more experience than us in these projects, so we should let them help us.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work as Project Manager at company dedicated to the provision of technology for fuel management and distribution, vehicles and devices.

For what projects/services did your company hire Ulfix?

For two projects: one for an electronic invoicing app and another one for the sales and inventory information dashboard app.

What were your goals for this project?

For the first project, the objective was to make it easier for the customer to bill their fuel anytime, anywhere. For the second project, the focus was to give administrators and owners tools on their businesses, having the information without being in the office from their mobile phone.

How did you select this vendor?

This company was selected from the steering committee for the first development because our department was saturated with projects, for the second project it was assigned for its performance in the first project.

Describe the project in detail.

There was a kick-off meeting in which the objectives, Android / iOS platforms, and scope of the project were presented, as well as the high-level requirements were presented.

Then we created a design committee within the company and we were presented of screens layout and explained functionality and from where the data should be obtained through web methods.

With this, the contractor presented for approval the final designs and test versions, which were analyzed and approved by the design committee, and those that were approved were added to the alpha version. And then these were integrated into the beta version until the final version was approved and uploaded to production.

What was the team composition?

For us, the committee consisted of 1 member of management, 1 member of projects, 2 members of Requirements, 2 members of the development, and 1 member of QA. For the contractor, we assigned a scrum master and an additional project manager to his team of developers.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Both products are already working and published in both mobile app stores, in both cases we have already taken ownership of the code and it is supported by our development team, both projects I consider to be a success since they generated more requirements from our partners business to customize and bring those features to there brands

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Both teams worked very well always in a cordiality and cooperation environment.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

This contractor is a company that continually seeks innovation in development methods and technological improvements.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Development always has the challenge of continuous improvement, the second project the contractor's challenge was to understand the environment of the fuel sector, but once the contractor was overcome, they worked well.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT manager for Mercedes Benz USA.

What challenge were you trying to address with Ulfix?

We hired them to help us come up with a gamified solution to share knowledge and information within our company.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided them with documentation, requirements and designs. From there, they came up with software architecture, and developed the front- and backend. They also worked on some design aspects. They created the interactive game to enable employees to challenge each other, learn insights, gain points and win awards. 

The app was built using React Native, so it could easily be brought to another platform. It is currently only available in iOS, as all our employees have iPhones and it is an internal app.

What is the team composition?

There are about 10 people from their team; backend architects, developers, project managers, and designers. I work closely with project managers and the development team at times.

How did you come to work with Ulfix?

My company was looking for startups to work with, and they narrowed it down to a few for me to choose from. I chose Ulfix because I liked their approach and initiative.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent roughly $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began the project in May 2019 and are still working on it— we’re in the last phase of the project now.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The app is live in the US and Mexico markets, and is beginning to roll out to the European markets. The development process has been great. 

How did Ulfix perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, they’ve done a good job managing the project. They have been different project managers over time, causing us to introduce new people to the project and get them on board. We’ve had to do a few iterations and there was a learning curve within the DevOps environment with their team.

Alejandro (CEO) oversees the work, making sure it runs smoothly. We use Conga Boards, Trello, Jira, and a few other tools. It’s been easy to schedule meetings and they’re close enough for us to go visit them.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a flexible and knowledgeable software development team. They’re skilled at developing in various languages.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve their knowledge of working in a DevOps environment and deploying code in small increments.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make requirements very clear, and ensure everyone has the same understanding of the project. There is a lot of potential for a highly successful project with them.