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Custom software Public transport

Purchasing, suppliers and invoices in one system for Barcelona's tram operator

TRAM managed purchase files, suppliers and invoices across documents, spreadsheets and email. Since 2021 they do it in a system of their own that follows their procedure step by step, alerts whoever has to act and records every approval.

  • 70% less time and associated cost in managing purchase files
  • +25 users, from the CEO to technical staff, across six directorates
  • 5 years building, maintaining and extending the system since 2021

The problem

Every purchase file passed through several hands and several formats: documents, spreadsheets and email. Knowing where it stood, who had it and who had approved what took time. The procedure was defined and audited; the problem was running it by hand.

The information is sensitive: encrypted database, access only for authorised users, levels per role and remote use.

The solution

An internal system that follows TRAM's purchasing procedure step by step: files, contracts, suppliers and issued and received invoices, with a role for every part (manager, validator, administrator). Every approval is recorded with who and when, and the system emails the person who has to act at each phase. Nobody chases anybody.

Since 2021 we maintain it and have extended it three times at TRAM's request: an external role for conflicts of interest, contract variations with CPI, supplier evaluation and an authorisation flow for technical staff and managers.

List of purchase files with status, owner, amount and degree of execution
The purchase files: each with its status, owner, amount and degree of execution, filterable by active and closed. Data blurred.
A purchase file record with identification, justification and exceptions
A purchase file: identification, justification and exceptions, with contract modification and closure one click away.
List of received invoices with manager, validator, linked purchase file and validation status
Received invoices: each with its manager, its validator, its linked purchase file and whether it has been validated.
A received invoice record with attached file, amounts, linked purchase file and double validation
An invoice record: attached file, amounts, linked purchase file and the double validation by manager and validator.
ManagerValidatorApprovedEmail notice at every stageRecord: who, what and when
Every purchase file and invoice follows the same circuit: the person who manages it, the person who validates it and the final approval. The system notifies whoever has to act and records each step.
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How we worked

  1. 1

    Assessment

    Reading of the purchasing and invoice procedures and sessions with the people who apply them.

  2. 2

    Design

    Flowcharts, screens and validation flows approved before coding.

  3. 3

    First delivery in production

    Built by a three-person team led by us.

  4. 4

    Extension

    Ongoing maintenance and three extensions since 2021, documentation kept current.

What we take away

A written procedure is the best starting point: the system does not invent a new process, it enforces the one that already exists and records every step.

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