RALPI — From hand-drawn parts to a platform containing over 30,000 references

A story built one part at a time

For decades, identifying a part often began with a hand-drawn sketch: its shape, dimensions, reference number and the vehicles it could fit. Each drawing captured technical knowledge gained through experience and preserved in a catalogue that grew one part at a time.

Once that catalogue reached tens of thousands of references, the challenge was not simply to put it online. It was to preserve that knowledge, organise it and make it useful to a new generation of customers and employees.

We supported RALPI through this transformation — from hand-drawn parts and paper catalogues to an integrated digital platform connecting each component to its photograph, dimensions, equivalent references and compatible vehicles.

From paper knowledge to integrated data

The digital catalogue holds over 30,000 automotive rubber-parts references. A part can be found by its RALPI reference, an OEM number, an equivalent reference, its dimensions, or the vehicles it fits.

The original technical drawings were progressively complemented or replaced by photographs of the actual parts, letting customers visually compare the product before ordering.

A bespoke backoffice manages products, dimensions, applications, equivalences, customers and price lists. Parts, prices and images are synchronised automatically from the local system and the accounting software into the online catalogue.

Technology that preserves a history

This project didn't start with a blank page, and it didn't end when the site went live. It began with thousands of hand-documented parts and continued through years of data correction, integration, optimisation and technical support.

Today, the knowledge RALPI built up over decades is organised on a searchable platform, connected to the company's systems and able to automatically generate PDF catalogues hundreds of pages long, with prices adapted to each customer.

Technology helped preserve that technical heritage and turn it into a daily working tool, helping a small specialist company stay efficient, competitive and responsive as competition in its market has grown.

Capabilities demonstrated

• Digitisation and structuring of a paper catalogue
• Management of over 30,000 product references
• Photographs of the actual parts
• Mapping between parts, equivalent references and compatible vehicles
• Search across multiple references and criteria
• Customer-specific pricing and commercial conditions
• Bespoke backoffice for managing products, dimensions, equivalences, customers and pricing
• Automatic synchronisation with the local system and accounting software
• Automatic generation of PDF catalogues containing hundreds of pages
• Continuous data correction and maintenance
• Performance and usability optimisation
• Long-term technical support and platform evolution

VelocitasCode supported our transition from a paper catalogue to a digital platform containing over 30,000 references. Over the years, the team has provided data integration and updates, performance and usability improvements, and the technical support required for the platform's continuous evolution.

RALPI — Sociedade de Borrachas Ralpi, Lda.Automotive rubber parts

Result

RALPI moved from a paper-dependent catalogue to a platform that centralises product information, vehicle fitment, equivalent references, images and commercial conditions.

Automated catalogue generation, faster product search and ongoing technical support have helped a small specialist company operate efficiently, serve its customers more effectively and remain competitive despite increasing competition.