The challenge
Ordering AV racks and equipment isn’t “add to cart and done.”
Dealers and distributors need to combine real-world constraints (rack size, shelves, mounts, casters, compatibility) with pricing tiers, unit differences, and a clean ordering flow — without endless back-and-forth emails.
This project was essentially:
Turn complex rack engineering into a smooth, visual, self-serve configuration experience.
What we built
A drag-and-drop configurator that lets registered customers (dealers, distributors, direct buyers) build a rack setup visually and convert it into a precise order.
Key capabilities:
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Drag & drop configuration through a modern visual UI
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Predefined bundles (with freedom to modify) or build from scratch
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Bill of Materials generation (everything listed, nothing forgotten)
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Price calculation with multiple dealer tiers / pricing levels
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Step-by-step wizard for guided configuration
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Multiple views, including 3D preview
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Multilingual UI, number formats, and a unit converter (metric/imperial)
The goal wasn’t just “nice UI.”
It was order accuracy, lower sales overhead, and fewer mistakes in complex configurations.
Goal
Enable customers to:
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configure racks and equipment easily
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see the setup visually
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get correct pricing instantly
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generate a clean bill of materials
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place an order with minimal friction
In short: Make complex ordering feel simple.
Team
A focused, lean team of two developers.
Tech stack
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Visual Basic 6
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DirectX + DirectX3D
(Yes — old-school tech, but the outcome was anything but.)
Results
We shipped the MVP in under 3 months.
It wasn’t perfect visually at first and some features were still missing — but it proved the concept immediately and earned a green light for continued development.
The next evolution focused on:
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higher quality graphics and smoother rendering
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stronger visualization (DirectX became the right call at the time)
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multi-language + localization support
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unit conversion and formatting consistency
To this day, we still consider this one of the most advanced projects we’ve worked on — especially because the graphics and configuration engine was ahead of its time, long before 3D configurators became common in web commerce.
Why it matters
This wasn’t just a software project — it was a sales enablement machine:
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fewer configuration mistakes
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faster quoting and ordering
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better buyer confidence (“I can see what I’m buying”)
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lower operational load on sales teams