Ian Cedric Ramirez

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Case Study · Operations & Logistics Systems

WOTS

WOTS (Water Order Tracking System) is a commissioned Water Order Tracking System built for a real water-refilling business to digitize customer orders, product and container inventory, payments, deliveries, and operational reporting.

A key part of the system was distinguishing containers sold to customers from containers temporarily borrowed and expected to return, allowing order, inventory, customer, and container history to remain connected.

Placeholder for a custom WOTS illustration showing customer water orders, sold versus borrowed container tracking, payment statuses, delivery route assignments, and sales reporting.
Domain
Operations (Water Refilling Logistics)
My Role
System Architect + Developer
Provenance
Commissioned Client Project
Year & Lifecycle
2021 · Production (Used in Operations)
Core Stack
Full-Stack Web Application
Deployment
Local Refilling Station Server Setup
Provenance & Commercial Context Commissioned for an operating water-refilling business to streamline daily customer orders, container borrowing balances, and delivery fulfillment.

Overview & Operational Positioning

WOTS was engineered for station staff to operate daily water refilling logistics efficiently. Rather than acting as a simple order ledger, the system manages the operational balance between customer orders, container inventory, and delivery routes.

By connecting container ownership rules with order fulfillment, WOTS provided the station owner with clear visibility into borrowed container holds and pending payments.

System Scope Customer Orders · Sold vs Borrowed Containers · Payment Tracking · Driver Assignments · Delivery Routes · Daily Sales Reporting
Engineering Focus Full-Stack · DevOps

Case Study Narrative Flow

The system narrative highlights how manual station operations were converted into a connected digital workflow:

Manual Water-Station Operations
        ↓
Customer Records & Address Verification
        ↓
Order Entry (Refill Type & Quantity)
        ↓
Container Ownership Logic (Sold vs. Borrowed Containers)
        ↓
Payment Tracking (Paid vs. Unpaid Balance)
        ↓
Order Preparation & Driver Assignment
        ↓
Delivery Fulfillment / Route Dispatch
        ↓
Order Status Updates & Container History Log
        ↓
Daily Operational & Sales Reporting

Operational User Roles

WOTS operated as an internal station business system with role-specific operational permissions:

  • Owner / Administrator: Full business oversight, sales reports, container inventory audits, and system configuration.
  • Staff / Order Processor: Customer lookup, order creation, container selection, and order status updates.
  • Cashier: Payment recording, unpaid balance verification, and receipt issuance.
  • Manager: Operational queue monitoring, delivery driver assignments, and daily route oversight.
Internal Operations Focus Designed specifically for station staff use rather than customer self-service, ensuring fast order entry during peak hours.

Container Ownership Engine - Sold vs. Borrowed

SOLD CONTAINERS

  • Customer purchases permanent container ownership
  • No return or container exchange expectation
  • Container cost added to order total
  • Deducted permanently from station inventory

BORROWED CONTAINERS

  • Customer temporarily borrows station-owned containers
  • Return or container swap expected on next refill delivery
  • Tracks active borrowed container balances per customer
  • Maintains container movement audit trail

Order Lifecycle Management

Orders move through defined status states to ensure clear coordination between station preparers and delivery drivers:

Customer Order Placed
        ↓
Pending (Validation)
        ↓
Confirmed (Accepted by Staff)
        ↓
Preparing (Refilling & Sealing Containers)
        ↓
Delivery Assignment (Assigned to Driver / Route)
        ↓
Out for Delivery
        ↓
┌───────────────┬─────────────────┬──────────────┐
│               │                 │              │
Delivered     Failed / Returned   Cancelled     Refund / Exchange
│
↓
Order History & Container Audit Log

Independent Payment Tracking

To support credit transactions common in local water refilling services, payment status was tracked independently from order delivery fulfillment.

Key payment states:

  • Paid: Full payment received upon order placement or delivery collection.
  • Unpaid / Credit: Order delivered with outstanding payment balance logged under customer account.
  • Partial Payment: Deposit or partial amount recorded against total order price.
Financial Integrity Allows station staff to fulfill urgent deliveries while maintaining accurate accounts receivable records.

Delivery Route & Driver Assignment

WOTS streamlined delivery dispatch by grouping orders into geographical delivery areas and assigning drivers to specific routes:

Driver Assignment Orders in "Preparing" status are assigned to designated delivery personnel.
Route Grouping Grouped orders by neighborhood or street zone to optimize delivery trip efficiency.
Delivery Confirmation Drivers report fulfillment status upon return, updating container exchanges and collected cash.

Operational & Sales Reporting

WOTS provided business management reports for station owners to evaluate daily volume, sales revenue, and container assets.

Reporting views:

  • Daily Sales Summary: Total order volume, cash collected, and outstanding receivables.
  • Container Inventory Audit: Station container counts, containers currently borrowed, and unreturned holds.
  • Product Volume Analysis: Purified vs. Mineral water sales volume breakdown.
Business Visibility Replaced manual notebook tallying with automated daily financial and inventory reconciliation.

Technology & Local Station Setup

Application Architecture Full-stack web application designed for fast order entry and low-latency local database updates.
Local Station Deployment Deployed on a local station server setup accessible by counter computers and manager workstations.

Manual Functional Testing

System reliability was verified through manual operational testing covering order entry, container borrowing calculations, payment updates, driver dispatch, and sales report generation under simulated peak station hours.

Verified Qualitative Outcomes

Digitized Refilling Operations Replaced paper order books with a centralized digital order and delivery management system.
Container Loss Reduction Established explicit tracking for borrowed containers, reducing unreturned container losses.
Accurate Accounts Receivable Eliminated unrecorded credit deliveries by tracking payment status independently from fulfillment.
Streamlined Delivery Dispatch Improved delivery route coordination and driver accountability during daily operational cycles.

Retrospective & Real-World System Design

Modeling Real-World Business Rules

WOTS demonstrated that effective software engineering requires translating nuanced domain rules-such as sold versus borrowed container inventory-into clear database schemas and application logic.

Operational Usability Under Production Constraints

Designing for a live commercial business reinforced the importance of fast, low-friction user interfaces that support high-speed data entry during busy customer hours.