Case Studies

Transforming B2B Commerce Infrastructure

Explore how IronLink Digital helps B2B manufacturers and distributors modernize their digital commerce infrastructure—from legacy platforms to lightning-fast AI-driven portals.

Case Study: Acme Industrial Supply

Sample Success Story

Industry

Industrial Manufacturing

Revenue

~$45M annually

Stack Before

Legacy PHP website, SAP ERP, no digital ordering portal

The Challenge

Acme was struggling with an outdated B2B customer portal that was creating significant operational challenges:

Performance Issues

Inflexible and slow (4–6 second load times)

Manual Processes

Dependent on manual email/fax orders that had to be re-entered into SAP

Limited Functionality

Lacking real-time inventory, pricing, and reordering functionality

Support Burden

Generating 400+ repetitive support tickets per month

They needed to modernize fast—but without disrupting their deeply embedded ERP workflows or overhauling internal systems.

💡 The IronLink Solution

We architected a headless commerce solution focused on speed, ERP sync, and AI-driven automation—without replacing their ERP or disrupting internal order workflows.

Tech Stack Decision Rationale

Frontend
Shopify Hydrogen
Sub-1s load times via React Server Components; perfect for 8,000+ SKUs
Hosting
Shopify Oxygen
Fast global CDN, auto-scaling, and secure infrastructure
Backend Sync
Node.js + SAP
Direct SAP OData sync for pricing, inventory, and orders; controlled integration scope
AI Layer
GPT-4o + Pinecone
Semantic product search + RAG-powered chat assistant; improved discoverability
PDF Gen
Playwright + GPT-4o
Automated spec sheets from ERP attributes for every SKU

Why These Choices Worked

Hydrogen vs Theme-Based Shopify

Acme needed flexibility and speed. Hydrogen enabled a fully custom UX with React-based personalization, while keeping page loads under 1 second—critical for B2B reordering.

Middleware vs Plugin ERP Integration

We focused only on high-impact sync points (inventory, pricing, orders) to reduce scope, cost, and risk, avoiding brittle plugin-based solutions.

AI Chat + Search

Acme's engineers use technical terms that break standard search. We embedded vector-based semantic search and an AI chatbot that deflected 40%+ of repetitive tickets.

Spec Sheet Generator

Instead of hiring copywriters or spending hours manually generating product sheets, we automated the process—saving 10–15 minutes per SKU.

Business Impact

Site Load Time
4–6s
→
<1s
80% faster
Order Re-Keying Labor
60 hrs/mo
→
<5 hrs/mo
90% reduction
Support Ticket Volume
400/mo
→
~220/mo
45% reduction
Conversion Rate
1.1%
→
2.0%
+81% uplift
Reorder Rate
30%
→
~40%
+25% increase

What's Next for Acme

Punchout Integration

Catalog integrations (Coupa/Ariba)

Personalized Dashboards

Custom views for distributor accounts

AI Forecasting

Automated purchase plans and predictions

Ready to Modernize Your Portal?

We specialize in headless commerce builds for manufacturers and distributors ready to level up. If you're looking to increase reorders, automate workflows, and eliminate slow, outdated portals—let's talk.

Book a Free Strategy Call Explore Our Solutions