Case Study Qrates

Qrates – Vinyl Crowdfunding Platform Case Study by Mobilunity

How TDMS Leveraged Our Dedicated Team for QRATES Project

Enabled quick scaling of the tech team to meet aggressive deadlines

Ensured seamless integration between remote and in-house teams

Delivered customized solutions for data handling & order tracking

Reduced platform downtime and improved user experience

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CLIENT LOCATION

Japan

Technology:

Ruby on Rails

React.js

PostgreSQL

Industry:

{Music and Vinyl Production Technology}

PROJECT DURATION:

{Partnership spanning 3+ years}

PROJECT:

{QRATES Platform Development and Optimization}

TEAM STAFFED:

{Back-End}

{Front-End Developers}

{Project Manager}

{Q&A Specialist}

TDMS background

{about the client}

Man browsing vinyl records – symbolic of Qrates’ vinyl music platform

TDMS is a Tokyo-based company that has a unique platform for vinyl music records – QRATES. This service empowers musicians, artists, and record labels to fund, create, press, and distribute vinyl records without the need for large-scale production commitments.

By integrating digital tools (crowdfunding, pre-orders, on-demand vinyl pressing, order tracking, etc.) with global logistics, the platform streamlines the traditionally complex and costly process of vinyl production. QRATES bridges the gap between digital tools and analog music, offering a scalable solution for vinyl enthusiasts worldwide.

Customer request

{challenges & solutions}

Need for solid communication and support

Realizing that their current development resources are not enough, TDMS tried hiring local agencies and freelance specialists. However, they were unable to get the expected performance, solid communication, and support.

We conducted extensive and thorough recruitment activities, involving the client in every stage of the process, providing ideas and insights that made it possible to hire skilled developers who could adapt to dynamic project requirements.

Balancing cost-effectiveness and quality

The company owners sought a balance between quality and cost, looking to build a good development team, compared to the local developers and vendors. They required highly skilled professionals with deep knowledge of back-end development, cloud infrastructure, and platform optimization.

Mobilunity managed to close the tech and skill gap with offshore talents to achieve the renewal under a reasonable price, providing QRATES with team members who care deeply about the product.

Fast scaling with high standards

The project needed to enhance the platform’s scalability to handle a growing user base and complex workflows, facing unexpected quality issues.

We scaled QRATES’s dedicated team from 1 to 5 people in less than 1.5 years. We started by hiring a dedicated Project Manager to implement the SCRUM process to estimate the right volume of tasks. After having new back-end and front-end developers, we added a full-time AQA engineer for building automated tests.

Team structure for Qrates project – client, project manager, and 4 technical specialists (frontend, backend, QA)

Comprehensive system renewal technical details

We ensured a seamless product delivery by addressing quality issues, adding dedicated project management, implementing SCRUM methodologies, and balancing cost-efficiency with high-quality standards.

Agile

Scrum

Release new features

The first thing the client wanted to do was to release a new service update, backed with a line of new features and UX functionalities. Unfortunately, at the time of the release, the project faced a line of quality issues that eventually caused lots of critical problems.

Added a project manager

To ensure smooth integration between QRATES’ in-house team in Japan and Mobilunity’s dedicated team, we added a project manager. By implementing Agile methodology with iterative development cycles, we supported alignment with global goals.

Implemented the SCRUM processes

We effectively implemented the SCRUM processes to estimate the right volume of tasks, also improving the release plan outlook. Our front-end developers helped to create a more modern, intuitive, and responsive design. They also implemented optimizations to reduce load times.

A Balance Between Cost-Efficiency and Quality

Our AQA engineer helped the project to perform rigorous testing, identify bottlenecks and resolve bugs. Eventually, this led to delivering a seamless user experience and maintaining high-quality code under reduced risk of critical issues in the future.

Mobilunity’s account manager and recruiting team asked in detail about our situation and accurately grasped it. They looked for applicants one by one and offered ideas, both of which were quite useful. There is no one in charge of such recruitment efforts in a small business like ours. Such processes would be expensive to outsource in Japan, yet Mobilunity conducted accurate and efficient recruitment activities without costing us anything.

When we started considering cooperation, I didn’t see much merit in this regard. And when we did start, I think this was one of the factors that led us to continue.

Jun Komatsu

CTO TDMS

Enhanced Performance and Reliability

{results}

The project received significant performance improvements, becoming a system capable of handling a growing global user base. QRATES now has a user-friendly interface driving improved user engagement and increased customer satisfaction. Owing to enhanced platform uptime and minimized downtime we achieved during feature rollouts, it has improved resource efficiency and future-proof functionality. All features and global system updates were delivered on schedule with clear accountability, thanks to a well-established and transparent development process.

Eventually, the client got a highly consistent platform with minimal post-release issues, enhancing overall reliability and user satisfaction.

Before Mobilunity helped us create a dedicated development team, we were only working alongside a single part-time independent engineer. Along with the ongoing maintenance of the product, we were adding features needed for expansion. The recruitment process for small business would be expensive to outsource in Japan, yet Mobilunity conducted it accurately and efficiently. Now that we have a development team, we can keep improving the product. We successfully delivered new service capabilities and managed the tech debt of the system code. We couldn’t be happier with how things are right now

Jun Komatsu

CTO TDMS

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Related services

Dedicated development team

Staff augmentation

Technology consultancy

Tech recruitment

Tech interview

CTO as a service

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