Tradex is an automotive platform that aims to connect car sellers and buyers worldwide.

This project is supported by an international team of more than 100 members. Using the SCRUM methodology, we are able to keep on the same track, having daily standups, 2-week sprint plannings, demos and retros, and using Slack as our main channel for daily communication.   

Such a large project requires being flexible to the needs that arise as it continues to scale. In coordination with the product team, priorities are continuously evaluated in order to tackle the platform’s demands.

One of the main challenges was contributing to centralizing every process in the platform due to the complexity of the product. 

To enhance the process of requesting a car transport quote, we centralized providers and different APIs in a single service.

Another critical point to consider was adapting the platform to each country where Tradex operates, taking into account the challenges of operating between countries with different taxes, import processes, and regulations. It was necessary to develop a flow for each combination of country of origin-destination.

Scaling a product this complex asked for redefining the actual architecture of the platform (from monolithic to microservices), a process we are proud to have taken part in. We focused on 3 main pillars: an invoice system, tax manager and VIN decoding.

In order to support having a generic way of creating invoices for both B2C and B2B users, a new invoicing system was needed, and we built it from scratch. To that end, we evaluated different platforms and created one using various technologies such as SNS, Lambda-based microservices, federated GraphQL APIs, and more.

To tackle the challenge of managing various logistics providers, we proposed an internal app linked to the main platform that enabled Tradex to ask for a budget automatically for every provider. This contributed to the process of centralizing everything related to Tradex’s operation on the same system. 

We worked on VIN decoding: a centralized vehicle decoding system. Tradex uses decoding systems based on vehicle identification, for which outsourced providers are involved. This enables to display accurate information about each car according to the country where the platform is being used. We worked on a solution in which different providers are integrated and exhibited on the platform.

The entire instant request flow for buyers and sellers was built from scratch by our team, including the backend logic and the front in React and React Native. Buyers request specific vehicles and see the available ones on the platform in real-time. Sellers can offer cars to specific requests. 

We’ve been working with Tradex for more than two years now, and we’re helping them to scale and continue to grow. The complexity of the product, given the different areas covered, requires flexibility to adapt to the different technical needs of the product.

We coordinate our workflow with 3 more teams around the globe simultaneously in the United States, Canada, and India. Working together with 3 other teams around the globe is a great communication challenge, not only due to the different time zones, but because of the coordination it implies to align a team size of approximately 50 devs.

As a result of excellent team performance and having demonstrated our technical capabilities when making essential tech decisions, we progressively transformed our partnership from a Node.js staffing service into a strategic decision-making one. We’re leading an in-house team and some of the product’s areas. Our team participates in the process of defining long-term tasks for each quarter. 

Tradex is expanding its B2C services and continues to scale to more countries. As the next challenge, we will work on the platform's landing page to bring more information to the final consumer before signing in.