Tesco & Codurance

Our Software Craftspeople helped Tesco to raise their code quality and to deliver value more frequently through Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery.

The Challenge

Tesco’s outdated scheduling application for grocery deliveries had limits on the number of deliveries and the features available. In order to optimise the number of vans needed, reduce costs and simplify maintenance, the business needed a new application with an algorithmic solution specifically designed for their needs. This would enable the business to retain the ability to make future feature changes and optimise the delivery schedule based on an improved algorithm.

Approach

We began by prototyping a new algorithm for scheduling the delivery of grocery orders and to gradually replace the existing system for more locations. We integrated with the customer-facing website on one side and the third party algorithm on the other, with our time split between rapidly develop features and pairing with other developers to improve their skills.

We worked in collaboration between a third party vendor and a partner team in Bangalore to identify to help solve several challenging database integrations. In addition, we spent a few weeks in India to deliver training on Software Design and Test Driven Development.

When we joined the project, a lot of technical debt had been produced in a short period of time. We conducted a code review and helped the rest of the development team to restructure the code, including the introduction of a full range of tests.

Outcome

We delivered a solution that was tested initially in one location, before being slowly rolled out to replace the existing system on a store by store basis. Our team provided the foundations for Tesco’s development team to move faster in continuously rolling out the solution to more locations and through the continued, incremental deployment of new features.