Flutter-Based App for Merck to Advance Lab Productivity

Together, we have delivered multiple business-oriented digital solutions, internal and commercial applications with mobile, web, and desktop user interfaces, and infrastructure design based on modern technologies and strict legal requirements.

The client

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is a leading science and technology company that operates across healthcare, life sciences, and performance materials. Around 60.000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. Merck´s Digital Chemistry Business provides a portfolio of digital capabilities and informatics solutions designed to create efficiencies in the lab.

The background

Laboratories often face difficulties in managing their inventory procurement efficiently while ensuring regulatory compliance. Most lab facilities still rely on manual, paper-based inventory workflows.

Merck set out on a mission to improve scientists’ productivity in the lab with LANEXO® Inventory Manager – a digital laboratory informatics solution designed to drastically reduce time in labs, digitize processes, and improve data quality and traceability.

The advanced system – a first-to-market solution offering radio-frequency identification (RFID) labels – consists of mobile and web applications, connected with a shared backend.

The challenge and the solution

Laboratories need to meet a variety of regulatory standards and ensure the reliability and traceability of compliance documentation. LANEXO® Inventory Manager, designed for use in highly regulated analytical and research labs, enables audit readiness and easier compliance with quality requirements across industry certifications.

The mobile app lets lab personnel easily register, track and monitor lab consumables by scanning them with a smartphone. The solution runs on a couple of backend versions that support different functionalities, tailored to user needs.

The software ensures real-time storage compliance monitoring and offers the user instant access to real time inventory data on each consumable like SDS, owner, opening and expiry dates, location, usage and disposal information – anytime, anywhere.

At the project kick-off, LANEXO® Inventory Manager was only available for Android-powered devices, which limited the product’s target audience and growth potential.

Cooperation goals

The Digital Chemistry Team came together with Netguru to:

• Revamp the Android app and accompany it with an application for iOS users,
• Offer seamless experience across both platforms using Flutter,
• Implement new designs and a design system for the Flutter app,
• Improve the web user experience and user interface,
• Add a versioning functionality that would allow the users to switch between app versions,
• Establish efficient ways to collaborate with the client’s product, backend, infrastructure, and marketing teams.
  

The journey

Transferring the solution to Flutter enabled speedy delivery for both iOS and Android and allowed the client to introduce market-driven changes without having to worry about potential version discrepancies. Moreover, the simplicity and speed offered by cross-platform development enabled Merck to validate assumptions faster.

Netguru was not only responsible for delivering features, but also, at earlier stages, for introducing necessary changes to the designs of the new mobile application, performing pre-release regression tests, and co-creating the delivery process split between multiple development teams.

The project team consisting of Flutter engineers, a QA specialist, a designer, a project manager, and engineering and delivery leads worked hand in hand with Merck’s product and backend team, delivering a well-structured environment that enhances the experience of LANEXO® Inventory Manager users.

A frequently expanding scope of app functionalities presented one of the greatest challenges, but the team managed to address all tasks and adjust the workload to a fast-paced environment.

Aside from the development process, Netguru supported Merck KGaA, Darmstadt with preparing thorough functional and testing documentation compliant with the client’s internal requirements.

The results

Netguru ensured:

• A cross-platform mobile app delivered under a tight deadline and budget
• Integration of solutions such as Smart Seals, RFID labels, NFC tags, or UHF antennas
• Seamless performance across multiple functionalities
• Addition of new functionalities
• Application of refreshed designs
• Implementation and evangelization around best practices in software development
• Thorough quality assurance

The numbers

• 97% faster inventory management with LANEXO® Inventory Manager
• 2 successful market releases since the Flutter app became operational