Manufacturing & Enterprise Systems
Business-Aligned Platform Engineering
Portwest
Portwest is a global workwear and safety clothing company with complex operations spanning ecommerce, ERP, product data, regional workflows and international markets.
Proof point
Defined and delivered the architecture behind a global transformation programme, replacing fragmented systems and manual processes with governed data, integrated platforms and clear sources of truth.
Complexity
Global operating model
Fragmented systems and data ownership
Multi-departmental transformation
Capabilities
Systems & AI Readiness Assessment
Business-Aligned Platform Engineering
Systems Integration & Data Architecture
Strategic Technology Leadership
Problems addressed
Fragmented systems and unclear sources of truth across the business
Manual and informal processes spanning departments and regions
Disconnected ecommerce, product data, integration and customer operations
Impact
One global architecture
A fragmented systems landscape redefined around ecommerce, product data, integration, CRM and regional operations.
Why this matters
Portwest is a global workwear and safety clothing company with complex operations spanning ecommerce, ERP, product data, regional workflows and international markets.
Threadable’s discovery and specification work established the foundation for a global, multi-departmental transformation programme. The resulting architecture defines authoritative sources of truth across the business, replaces manual and informal processes with integrated workflows, and brings ecommerce, product information, integration and customer operations into a coherent platform landscape. Threadable subsequently moved from strategic advisory into implementation delivery, with the programme now approaching operational activation.
What made the work complex
01
Global operating model
The programme needed to support internal teams and external customers across multiple regions, languages and product catalogues while retaining a coherent global platform.
02
Fragmented systems and data ownership
Core business data was distributed across multiple systems, with inconsistent ownership, duplication and uncertainty over which source should be treated as authoritative.
03
Multi-departmental transformation
The work crossed ecommerce, product management, sales, marketing, customer service, integration and operational teams, requiring decisions that could not be made within a single department.
Threadable’s role
Enterprise discovery
Mapped workflows, systems, data movement, dependencies, manual processes and operational risks across multiple departments and regions.
Target architecture
Defined the future systems landscape, platform responsibilities, integration approach and authoritative sources of truth across the business.
Specification and programme definition
Converted discovery findings into a structured, multi-departmental programme of work with defined scope, dependencies and delivery requirements.
Delivery governance and cross-functional coordination
Threadable established the delivery structure, decision-making cadence and cross-functional coordination required to move a complex global programme from discovery into implementation. This included aligning business, product, architecture, engineering, data, integration and operational stakeholders around clear ownership, dependencies, priorities and release readiness.
How the work came together
Pressure
Global growth had produced fragmented systems, duplicated data, informal processes and inconsistent ways of working across departments and regions.
Threadable role
Threadable led discovery, defined the target architecture and sources of truth, specified the transformation programme and progressed into implementation delivery.
Resulting capability
A governed global platform landscape connecting Akeneo, MuleSoft, Salesforce, Algolia and ecommerce around consistent data, integrated workflows and regional operating needs.
Outcomes and impact
Threadable’s discovery and specification work established the foundation for a global, multi-departmental transformation programme. The resulting architecture defines authoritative sources of truth across the business, replaces manual and informal processes with integrated workflows, and brings ecommerce, product information, integration and customer operations into a coherent platform landscape. Threadable subsequently moved from strategic advisory into implementation delivery, with the programme now approaching operational activation.
A coherent systems landscape
Major enterprise platforms now have defined responsibilities within a common architecture rather than operating as disconnected technology investments.
Data ownership made explicit
Core information is governed through identified sources of truth, reducing ambiguity and establishing a stronger basis for integration, reporting and future automation.
Transformation moved into execution
The discovery work became an active implementation programme, with Threadable retained to help convert the architecture into working platform capability.
Result
One global architecture
A fragmented systems landscape redefined around ecommerce, product data, integration, CRM and regional operations.
Result
Clear sources of truth
Ownership and authoritative sources defined for core business data across the enterprise.
Efficiency
Manual processes designed out
Informal hand-offs replaced with integrated workflows and governed data movement.
Other
From discovery into delivery
A discovery engagement became a multi-departmental transformation programme with Threadable retained into implementation.
What mattered
The starting point
Portwest’s global growth had created a complex landscape of systems, data sources, regional processes and manual hand-offs. The central challenge was not a single application; it was establishing how the business should operate across ecommerce, product information, sales, marketing, customer service and integration.
Discovery and enterprise definition
Threadable mapped workflows, systems, dependencies, data movement and operational risks across departments and regions. This work identified where processes were informal, where data ownership was unclear and where existing systems were working against the operating model.
A governed target architecture
The resulting architecture established clear responsibilities and sources of truth across the platform landscape. Akeneo supports rich product information, MuleSoft facilitates communication between systems, Salesforce supports sales, marketing and customer service, Algolia provides high-speed rich product search, and ecommerce serves internal teams and external customers through multilingual regional catalogues.
From specification to delivery
The discovery and specification became a substantial multi-departmental transformation programme. Threadable progressed from strategic adviser into delivery partner, implementing significant parts of the target architecture and integrated platform landscape.
The impact
Portwest now has a coherent architectural foundation for global operations, explicit ownership of core business data and integrated workflows designed to replace manual and informal processes. Threadable’s delivery work is complete, while Portwest’s remaining activation deliverables are approaching completion.
Capabilities used
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Do you recognise a similar problem?
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