HPT Cloud
Houston Post Tension is one of Texas’s leading full-service concrete reinforcement companies, powered by a custom-built MRP and order management platform—HPT Cloud.
We designed and developed HPT Cloud from the ground up to support Houston Post Tension’s rapidly growing operations. The system manages over 70,000 SKUs with dynamic pricing tailored by customer, takeoff type, and project location. It also handles the full lifecycle of estimates, orders, fabrication, tagging, packing, field labor, material certifications, and compliance.
To streamline operations, we integrated HPT Cloud with NetSuite for purchase orders, billing, and accounting, and with OptimoRoute for delivery planning and routing.
About The Project
Summary
Houston Post Tension approached us to modernize their operations, which were running on an outdated Microsoft Access system supplemented by complex spreadsheets. We partnered closely with their CEO and VP of Operations to design entirely new workflows and build a custom system that could support their growth and improve efficiency.
We launched HPT Cloud in phases, quickly migrating key parts of the manufacturing process to the new platform while also integrating and deploying NetSuite as the company’s primary accounting system. Rolling out in stages allowed us to gather real feedback from the team on the shop floor and refine workflows in real time.
Key Results
Since launch, HPT Cloud has significantly improved the efficiency of the management, estimating, manufacturing, and field teams—saving hundreds of employee hours per week and increasing data accuracy by over 120%.
Screenshots
How It's Built
Design & Technology
We architected HPT Cloud to be both simple and extensible, carefully balancing customizability with architectural complexity. Our goal was to avoid locking the client into rigid business logic while still providing them flexibility to customize workflows, all without overwhelming the system's overall architecture.
Technology Stack:
- Backend: .NET 8 C#, Entity Framework ORM
- Database: PostgreSQL 17
- Caching & Queuing: Redis
- Frontend: Vue3 + Tailwind CSS
- Infrastructure: Digital Ocean
We selected Digital Ocean for our cloud infrastructure because of its superior cost-effectiveness compared to traditional cloud providers and its straightforward configuration process.
Database Optimization & Performance
To handle the extensive catalog of 70,000+ SKUs with dynamic pricing, we ensured proper indexing on all tables we search on and also added search indexes wherever relevant. Our caching strategy was implemented for any data that doesn't change frequently but is requested frequently, using Redis to optimize pricing calculations and inventory lookups for improved response times.
Security & Compliance
We implemented comprehensive user access roles to ensure appropriate permissions across different user types — from management to shop floor workers to field teams. Security was prioritized with encryption implemented wherever necessary throughout the system. A critical compliance requirement was ensuring complete material traceability from raw/bulk materials to final products, which we built into the core data model.
Development & Deployment
Our CI/CD pipeline uses GitHub Actions that run comprehensive tests before every deployment, build a Docker image on each deploy, and automatically push that Docker image to Digital Ocean's container registry. We handle the majority of testing internally to ensure quality before deployment. Additionally, we set up a dedicated staging environment where the client can provide user feedback and preview deployments before updates are released to their production user base.
Integration & Synchronization
The most complex aspect of this project was integrating with NetSuite, which housed the client's extensive existing workflows. We carefully mapped and synchronized data between HPT Cloud and NetSuite to ensure seamless operations across both platforms. This integration required building robust alerting and monitoring systems to maintain data consistency and prevent any synchronization issues that could disrupt business operations.
Future-Ready Architecture
Anticipating the client's need for mobile capabilities, we designed the backend APIs with mobile integration in mind from the start. This forward-thinking approach ensures that when they're ready to deploy mobile apps for their employees and contractors, the infrastructure will already be in place to support full functionality with minimal additional development effort.