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- Case study · B2B marketplace · Manufacturing
Raprod
Post what you need made. Verified factories bid. You pick the offer that fits.
Industry: Manufacturing sourcing, United States
Engagement: 6+ months, ongoing · Client: Raprod, USA · Live at raprod.io
- Buyers and factories in one place
- Several quotes, side by side
- Specs, quantities and deadlines in one form
The problem
Finding a factory to make your product is still done by email and luck
Key Capabilities
What a buyer and a manufacturer can do on the platform today.
Marketplace for buyers and factories
Structured request for quote form
Bidding: several factories, one job
Specs, drawings and tolerances attached
Verified manufacturers only
Messaging between buyer and factory
Order tracking after the bid is won
Bids compared side by side
What it looks like
Four screens from the platform
Under the hood
What it is built with
For the technical reader. One honest note: the first version was React. As the product grew we rebuilt the whole frontend in Angular, which suited the Raprod team and the structure of the app better. More on that below.
Frontend
- Angular (rebuilt from an earlier React version), responsive for buyers on desktop and factories on mobile
Backend
- Node.js REST API serving the buyer app, the manufacturer app and the admin panel
Database
- PostgreSQL, with every request, bid revision and message kept in a full history
Marketplace Infrastructure
- Role based sign in for buyers, manufacturers and admins / Document upload for verification / In platform messaging / Hosted on AWS
Building a marketplace with two kinds of users?
Buyers and sellers, students and tutors, patients and clinics. Two sided platforms have their own traps. We have built a few. Talk to us before you design the first screen.
What made it hard
Trust, detail and two sides that want different things
A manufacturing job is not a product listing. It has drawings, tolerances, materials and deadlines, and a wrong bid costs real money. Buyers need to
trust the factories; factories need enough detail to quote properly.
For buyers and factories
Business challenges
What buyers told the Raprod team they were living with:
- Finding factories through directories, forums and word of mouth
- Quotes arriving by email, WhatsApp and phone in different formats
- No way to compare offers like for like
- No idea whether a price was fair
- No way to know if a factory was real
Engineering
Technical Challenges
What we had to solve in the code:
- Bids that update live without two factories overwriting each other
- A request form that captures specs in a way factories can quote on
- Two different user journeys on one platform
- Keeping a buyer's drawings visible only to invited bidders
- A verification flow that keeps fake factories out without slowing real ones down
How it works
Five parts, in the order a job flows
A buyer posts, verified factories see it, bids come in, the two sides talk, a winner is chosen and the order is tracked. Each step had to work for both sides.
Find a factory
Buyers search manufacturers by capability, material, location and capacity. Every profile shows what the factory has been verified for, so a
buyer is not guessing.
- Search by capability
- Manufacturer Profiles
- Verified badge
- US manufacturers
- STEP 01
Bids, side by side
Factories submit a price, lead time and notes against the request. The buyer sees every bid in one table, can ask questions, and can invite more factories if the first round is thin.
- Bid Submissions
- Side by side comparison
- Bid history
- Invite more factories
- STEP 02
A request a factory can actually quote
The request form asks for the things a factory needs to price the job: material, dimensions and tolerances, quantity, finish, delivery date, drawings. Fewer back and forth emails, better bids.
- Material
- Dimensions & Tolerances
- Quantity
- Delivery date and drawings
- STEP 03
Talk inside the platform
Questions, clarifications and order updates happen in a thread attached to the job, so nothing lives in a personal inbox and both sides have the same record.
- Messaging per job
- Clarifications on record
- Order Updates
- Attachments
- STEP 04
Keep fake factories out
Manufacturers upload business documents and capability proof before they can bid. The Raprod
team reviews and approves from an admin panel. Unverified accounts can browse, not bid.
- Document upload
- Admin review
- Verified badge
- Bidding locked until approved
- STEP 05
Problems on the way
Five things that were hard, and what we did
In plain terms, with the result each one produced.
We rebuilt the frontend in Angular, on purpose
Solution
The first version shipped in React and features were added on it. As the app grew, its structure and the Raprod team's preferences pointed to Angular. Rather than keep patching, we rebuilt the full frontend on the same Node.js API, with no downtime for users.
Result
A frontend the client's team can own long term, and a backend that did not need to change.
Bids and specs had to stay consistent
Solution
Every request, bid revision and message is stored with a timestamp against the job, never overwritten.
Result
If a dispute comes up, the full history is there.
Buyers wrote vague requests
Solution
Rebuilt the request form around what factories actually need to quote, with required fields and drawing upload.
Result
Fewer clarification rounds before a bid.
Buyers would not share drawings
Solution
Attachments are visible only to verified factories invited to that job, and access is logged.
Result
Buyers share real drawings, which means real bids.
Verification slowed onboarding
Solution
Let factories create a profile and browse immediately, and lock only the bid button until documents are approved.
Result
Factories sign up without friction; buyers still only see verified bids.
- Where it stands
Raprod is live at raprod.io with US buyers and manufacturers, and work continues with the Raprod team as real users shape the next features. In Mitesh Shetty’s words: the team ‘played an important role in building the core platform and helping establish a stable functional foundation’.
Feedback
Hear it from our clients
Feedback
Our Clients’ Success Stories
Check What’s Our Client Say About Us
The project went well, the team was professional and got up to speed quickly on the work and performed effectively. They help us get the project back on track and now we are in a good position. I will definitely use them in the future for subsequent tasks as they arise. I recommend them and look forward to working with them again in the future!
Jonathan Torleson
I approached Sunil to assist me with a specific part of a project. His quick understanding of the project and clear technical skill and proficiency resulted in his involvement growing into a lead role. Will definitely be working with again in the future.
Adam New
Rajvjay and his team delivered exactly what they promised on time and within budget. They handled every requirement with great care, and I have to say, they're true masters of process. I actually learned a lot about Agile practices and tools like Jira and Trello from them. I'd highly recommend this team to anyone who values a structured, process-driven approach for smooth and efficient project delivery.
Shivangi
Working with Arun has been a great experience! The team is very knowledgeable and has provided several design and product enhancement ideas along the way. I highly recommend!
Gil Comeaux
Sunil showed strong technical knowledge and delivered high-quality work. Communication was clear, deadlines were met, and they handled all tasks professionally. I would be happy to work with them again
Adam New
The RAPROD team sincerely appreciates the work delivered during the development phase. The contractor played an important role in building the core platform and helping establish a stable functional foundation with the current feature set. Their responsiveness, technical capability, and ability to execute on requirements contributed meaningfully to the project’s progress.
Mitesh Shetty
My second engagement with the WebAtlas team was just as great as the first. I handed off a very large codebase to them to take over from a previous developer, which was in a broken state, and they were able to effectively piece it back together, get it running again, and add new capabilities. I highly recommend the team, they are professional and easy to work with. They were flexible and responsive.
Jonathan Torleson
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