1.0 Executive Summary

The Challenge

DASI, a leading global provider of aircraft inventory solutions, operates in the high-stakes aviation aftermarket, where speed, accuracy, and reliability are paramount. The company supports a worldwide network of airlines, Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facilities, and distributors from its strategic hubs in Miami, London, and Singapore. Faced with the limitations of a disconnected and outdated e-commerce platform, DASI confronted significant operational challenges that hindered its growth and compromised its ability to deliver the seamless service its customers demand. The primary issues stemmed from a lack of real-time inventory synchronization between its online storefront and its core business systems, leading to data latency, manual process inefficiencies, and a suboptimal customer experience.

A Unified Solution

To address these critical deficiencies, DASI undertook a comprehensive digital transformation, replacing its legacy system with a unified digital ecosystem built entirely on the Salesforce platform. The solution centered on the implementation of Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud for its customer-facing portal, shop.dasi.com. Critically, this was natively integrated with Avsight, a purpose-built Aviation ERP that is itself a Salesforce-native application. This native architecture created a single, shared data model, eliminating the complexities and failure points of traditional system integrations.

Transformative Results

The results of this strategic implementation have been transformative. DASI successfully achieved 100% real-time inventory synchronization, providing its B2B customers with complete confidence in the availability and pricing data displayed online. The project automated core commercial processes, from order placement to requests for quotes (RFQs), which are now generated and managed directly within the unified Salesforce and Avsight environment. This has dramatically increased operational efficiency, eliminated error-prone manual data entry, and accelerated the order-to-fulfillment cycle. By delivering a modern, self-service digital experience, DASI has significantly enhanced customer satisfaction and solidified its position as a technology-forward leader in the competitive aviation parts aftermarket.

2.0 The Challenge: Overcoming Digital Friction in a High-Stakes Industry

To fully appreciate the strategic significance of DASI’s digital transformation, it is essential to first understand the operational context and the profound limitations of its previous technological framework. The challenges were not merely technical inconveniences; they represented fundamental barriers to efficiency, customer satisfaction, and scalable growth in an industry that operates with zero tolerance for error.

2.1 DASI’s Operational Landscape and the Imperative for Precision

DASI is a pivotal player in the global aviation supply chain, managing a vast and complex inventory of more than 3 million unique SKUs that cover a wide range of commercial aircraft platforms from Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, and others. The company’s core mission is to connect demand with genuine spares supply, serving airlines, MROs, OEMs, and distributors worldwide. The criticality of this service is most evident in its 24/7/365 Aircraft on Ground (AOG) support desk. In an AOG situation, an aircraft is unable to fly due to a technical issue, incurring enormous costs for the airline, estimated in the tens of thousands of dollars per hour. In this environment, the ability to rapidly and accurately source and dispatch a required part is not just a service metric—it is a critical function that directly impacts the financial viability and operational integrity of DASI’s clients.

This high-stakes environment is further compounded by evolving market pressures. B2B buyers, influenced by their consumer experiences, now expect sophisticated, intuitive, and self-service digital channels. They demand real-time data, transparent order tracking, and personalized experiences. Simultaneously, the aviation aftermarket is intensely competitive, forcing distributors to differentiate not only on inventory and price but also on the ease and reliability of doing business. This is all set against a backdrop of stringent aviation regulations and compliance standards that govern the traceability and certification of every part sold.

2.2 The Anatomy of a Failing System: Limitations of the Legacy Platform

DASI’s previous e-commerce solution was fundamentally ill-equipped to meet these demands. Its primary failure was its architecture: it was a standalone system, disconnected from the company’s core inventory and operational database. This created a cascade of severe problems.

• Data Latency and Inventory Discrepancies: The most critical flaw was the absence of real-time integration. Inventory levels on shop.dasi.com were updated through manual or periodic batch processes, creating significant data synchronization problems. This meant the stock information presented to customers could be hours or even days out of date. In the context of the aviation industry, this flaw had devastating potential consequences. A customer, such as an MRO facility working on a grounded aircraft, might place an urgent order based on the website’s stated availability, only to discover later that the part was already sold. This not only results in a canceled order and a frustrated customer but can directly extend the costly AOG downtime while the MRO is forced to restart its search. The “cost of inaccuracy” was therefore not just a matter of poor service but a direct contributor to immense financial and reputational risk for DASI’s clientele. This frequent disconnect between the digital storefront and the physical warehouse eroded customer trust, a cornerstone of success in the B2B sector.
• Manual Processes and Operational Inefficiency: The lack of integration forced DASI’s staff into a constant cycle of manual, repetitive tasks. Orders placed online had to be manually re-keyed into the separate ERP system. Inventory counts had to be manually exported and uploaded. Customer inquiries about order status required staff to look up information in one system and communicate it back through another. This reliance on manual work was not only slow and inefficient but also a significant source of operational cost and human error. Every manual data transfer introduced a risk of error—incorrect part numbers, wrong quantities, or inaccurate shipping details—leading to costly mistakes in fulfillment and billing. This operational drag created a bottleneck that limited the company’s ability to scale. As order volume grew, the need for administrative staff to manage these manual processes would increase proportionally, creating a growth ceiling where the cost and complexity of processing transactions would begin to erode profitability and make further expansion unsustainable.
• Poor User Experience and Scalability Constraints: From a customer perspective, the legacy platform likely delivered a subpar experience. Outdated systems often suffer from poor user interfaces, slow page-load times, and a lack of mobile-first design, frustrating users who increasingly manage business on the go. It lacked the sophisticated B2B features that modern buyers expect, such as advanced search filters, personalized product catalogs, customer-specific pricing, or streamlined reordering capabilities. This created friction in the buying process, potentially driving customers to competitors with more modern and efficient digital channels. Furthermore, these older platforms present significant scalability challenges, making it difficult and expensive to add new features, expand into new markets, or handle spikes in traffic and transaction volume.
• Security and Compliance Risks: Legacy technology often lacks modern security protocols, creating vulnerabilities that can expose sensitive customer and transaction data to threats like data breaches. For a business operating in the highly regulated aviation sector, where data integrity and security are paramount, this represented an unacceptable level of risk.

2.3 The Strategic Imperative for a Unified Platform

It became clear that a simple technology refresh or a better version of the same disconnected architecture would be insufficient. The project’s goal was not merely to launch a new website but to execute a fundamental strategic shift toward a unified commerce and operations model. The core objective was to establish a single, authoritative source of truth for all commercial data—from inventory and pricing to customer accounts, orders, and quotes. This vision aligns perfectly with the primary benefits of deep ERP and e-commerce integration: the consolidation of data into a centralized system and the complete elimination of information silos that create inefficiency and errors. By providing a superior, real-time, and self-service digital channel, DASI aimed to create a powerful competitive advantage, differentiating itself not just on its extensive inventory but on the sheer ease, speed, and reliability of its customer experience, thereby fostering greater customer loyalty and capturing increased market share.

3.0 The Solution: Architecting a Seamless Commerce and Operations Ecosystem on
Salesforce

To overcome the profound challenges of its legacy infrastructure, DASI implemented a
cohesive and powerful solution built entirely on the Salesforce platform. The architecture was designed to create a
frictionless flow of information from the customer-facing digital storefront directly into the core operational and
financial systems, effectively dissolving the barrier between the front and back office.

3.1 Platform Selection: The Power of a Native, Unified Foundation

The decision to build the entire solution on Salesforce was a strategic one, driven by
the desire for a single, extensible platform capable of managing the entire customer lifecycle. However, the truly
pivotal element of this strategy was the selection of Avsight as the company’s ERP. Avsight is not merely a
third-party system integrated
with Salesforce via APIs; it is a Salesforce-native application, meaning it is
built on the core Salesforce
platform.

This distinction is fundamental. A traditional integration involves connecting two
disparate systems, each with its own database, data model, and security protocols. This connection, typically
managed through middleware, becomes a constant source of complexity, maintenance, and potential failure. Data must
be mapped between systems, and synchronization processes must be built and monitored, introducing the very data
latency that plagued DASI’s old system.

In contrast, a native application like Avsight shares the same underlying database and
data model as other Salesforce clouds, including B2B Commerce. When a customer places an order on the B2B Commerce
site, that transaction is not “sent” to the ERP. Instead, it is created as a record directly within the same
database that Avsight uses. There is no “syncing” because there is only one set of data. This native architecture
inherently eliminates the entire category of problems related to data synchronization, making real-time data
availability an intrinsic property of the platform rather than an add-on feature.

3.2 The Customer-Facing Revolution: Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud in Action

The new shop.dasi.com, powered by Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud, provided DASI’s
customers with a modern, feature-rich, and highly efficient procurement experience.

• A Modern B2B Storefront: The
  platform delivered a sleek, intuitive, and user-friendly interface that was fully optimized for mobile
  devices, allowing procurement managers and AOG technicians to source parts from anywhere, at any time. The
  AI-powered search and predictive sorting capabilities ensure that customers can quickly find the exact parts
  they need from DASI’s extensive catalog.
• Personalization and Customer-Specific Logic: A key requirement for B2B commerce is the ability to handle complex, negotiated
  relationships. The solution was configured to deliver highly personalized experiences. This includes
  customer-specific catalogs, which can be tailored to show only the parts relevant to a particular airline’s
  fleet, and contract-based pricing, which automatically applies pre-negotiated rates for each account.
  High-value customers can even be provided with their own branded storefronts, further strengthening the
  business relationship.
• Streamlined Purchasing for Complex Orders: The platform was equipped with tools designed specifically for the complexities
  of B2B purchasing in the aviation industry. Features for rapid reordering allow customers to quickly
  purchase frequently needed expendables, while bulk order capabilities let them upload lists of required
  parts directly to the cart. The system also seamlessly handles complex shipping requirements, such as
  splitting a single order into multiple shipments for delivery to different MRO locations or across various
  timelines.
• Automated Quoting and Self-Service: The native connection to Avsight enabled the complete automation of the Request
  for Quote (RFQ) process. Customers can submit RFQs directly through the online portal. This action
  automatically generates a quote record within Salesforce/Avsight, pre-populated with the customer’s account
  details and the requested part information. The RFQ is then intelligently routed to the appropriate sales
  team member for pricing and response, dramatically reducing turnaround time. Furthermore, the platform
  provides a comprehensive self-service portal where clients can independently view their complete order
  history, check the real-time status of current orders, track shipments, and manage their account details
  24/7, reducing the burden on DASI’s customer service teams and empowering buyers.

3.3 The Operational Core: Avsight ERP Integration

While B2B Commerce transformed the customer interface, the native integration with
Avsight revolutionized DASI’s back-end operations, creating a single, cohesive system for managing the entire
business.

• Real-Time Inventory Management:
  Avsight’s robust inventory management module became the undisputed single source of truth for DASI’s entire
  stock. This module is designed for the specific needs of aviation, tracking parts not just by quantity, but
  by critical attributes such as condition code (e.g., New, Overhauled, Serviceable), serial number, batch
  number, and physical warehouse location. Because of the native architecture, any transaction that affects
  inventory in Avsight—a new part being received into the warehouse, a component being sent out for repair, or
  a sale being completed—is reflected on the shop.dasi.com storefront instantaneously.
• Aviation-Specific Quoting and Order Management: When a customer completes a purchase online, the system automatically creates a
  Sales Order record directly within Avsight. This is not a copy or a duplicate; it is the primary transaction
  record that triggers all downstream fulfillment workflows within the ERP. This includes processes managed by
  Avsight’s specialized modules, such as generating pick lists for the warehouse, initiating outbound quality
  control (QC) to verify part certifications and documentation, and managing the shipping process. The RFQ
  process is powered by Avsight’s “Quote 360” functionality, which centralizes all incoming quote requests and
  allows the sales team to generate accurate quotes based on real-time inventory availability and
  customer-specific pricing rules.
• Seamless Financial and Compliance Data Flow: The unified platform ensures that all financial data from e-commerce transactions
  flows directly and accurately into Avsight’s financial management modules. This streamlines accounting
  processes like invoicing and revenue recognition and simplifies integration with external accounting
  platforms like QuickBooks or Accounting Seed. Crucially for the aviation industry, all compliance and
  traceability documentation—such as FAA 8130-3 forms, EASA Form 1, and material certifications stored within
  Avsight—is intrinsically linked to the sales order, ensuring a complete and auditable digital trail for
  every transaction.

3.4 The Integrated Workflow: From Customer Click to Fulfillment

The most effective way to illustrate the impact of this new architecture is to compare
the new, frictionless workflow with the fragmented and labor-intensive legacy process. The following table provides
a clear, side-by-side analysis of this transformation.

Table 1: DASI’s Workflow Transformation

Process	Pre-Implementation State (Legacy System)	Post-Implementation State (Salesforce + Avsight)	Key Impact
Inventory Synchronization	Manual, periodic CSV uploads. Data latency of hours or days. High risk of stock discrepancies.	Real-time, bi-directional sync. Inventory changes in Avsight are reflected on the storefront instantly.	Elimination of overselling. 100% inventory accuracy online. Enhanced customer trust.
B2B Order Placement	Customer places order on site. Admin manually re-keys order into a separate system. Prone to data entry errors.	Customer places order via B2B Commerce. A Sales Order record is automatically created in Avsight ERP.	Zero manual data entry. Elimination of order processing errors. Accelerated fulfillment cycle.
Request for Quote (RFQ)	Customer submits form. Email sent to sales. Sales rep manually checks inventory and pricing in a separate system to build quote.	Customer submits RFQ via portal. A Quote record is auto-generated in Avsight, linked to the customer account and real-time part data.	Drastically reduced quote turnaround time. Increased sales team productivity. Consistent pricing.
Order Status & Tracking	Customer calls or emails support for updates. Staff manually looks up status in fulfillment system.	Customer logs into self-service portal to view real-time order status and tracking information.	Reduced support call volume. Improved customer satisfaction and autonomy. 24/7 visibility for clients.

Beyond solving its immediate challenges, this implementation provides DASI with a
“composable” business foundation. By building on the Salesforce platform, DASI has created a flexible architecture
that allows for future innovation. Should the company decide to implement advanced CRM capabilities with Sales
Cloud, sophisticated case management with Service Cloud, or targeted campaigns with Marketing Cloud, these functions
can be added seamlessly. The core data from commerce and ERP would be immediately and natively available to these
new modules, allowing DASI to easily “compose” new business capabilities without undertaking massive, high-risk
integration projects. This provides a significant long-term strategic advantage and future-readiness.

4.0 The Results: A Paradigm Shift in Efficiency, Customer Experience, and Strategic Capability

The implementation of the unified Salesforce B2B Commerce and Avsight ERP platform has delivered tangible, far-reaching results for DASI. The project’s success can be measured across three key areas: profound gains in operational efficiency, a transformed B2B customer journey, and a strengthened strategic position for future growth.

4.1 Quantifiable Gains in Operational Efficiency

The most immediate and impactful result of the new platform was the radical improvement in internal efficiency, driven by automation and the elimination of data silos.

• Elimination of Manual Syncing: The native integration completely eradicated the need for manual data entry and reconciliation between the e-commerce site and the ERP system. This directly translates into a significant reduction in administrative labor costs and, more importantly, allows staff to be reallocated from low-value, repetitive tasks to higher-value activities such as customer support, sales enablement, and strategic analysis. The risk of human error in order processing and inventory management was reduced to virtually zero.
• Accelerated Order-to-Fulfillment Cycle: With online orders being created instantly as sales orders within Avsight, the entire fulfillment process is initiated without delay. The warehouse team receives pick lists faster, quality control can begin immediately, and shipping is expedited. This compression of the order-to-fulfillment cycle reduces lead times, improves on-time delivery metrics, and increases overall throughput. The experience of KP Aviation, another global aviation parts distributor, provides a powerful benchmark for the potential impact of Avsight; after implementing the system, they reported a remarkable 96% increase in their warehouse process efficiency, measured in order lines processed per hour.
• Increased Sales Team Productivity: The automation of the RFQ process and the provision of a 360-degree customer view directly within Salesforce have transformed the productivity of DASI’s sales team. Sales representatives no longer waste time manually checking inventory or toggling between systems to build a quote. They can now respond to customer inquiries faster and with greater accuracy, armed with complete knowledge of the customer’s account, pricing, and online order history. This allows them to focus on building relationships and closing deals rather than on administrative tasks.

4.2 A Superior B2B Customer Journey

The benefits of the new platform extend directly to DASI’s customers, creating a modern, reliable, and empowering digital experience.

• The Power of Certainty: Perhaps the most significant benefit for customers is the absolute confidence that the inventory availability and pricing information they see on shop.dasi.com is 100% accurate and in real-time. In an industry where a part’s availability can determine whether an aircraft flies or remains grounded, this certainty is invaluable. It builds a deep level of trust and reliability, which are the most critical currencies in the B2B aviation aftermarket. This reliability has a cascading positive effect. When an MRO successfully sources a critical part on time, their trust in DASI as a supplier grows. Over time, DASI becomes the MRO’s preferred, “go-to” source, not just because of its inventory, but because of the dependability of its digital channel. This turns a transactional benefit into a long-term strategic asset of customer loyalty and increased lifetime value.
• Enhanced Self-Service and Transparency: DASI’s customers are now equipped with a powerful self-service portal that gives them 24/7 control over their procurement processes. They can independently manage their accounts, place complex orders, view detailed order histories, and access real-time shipping and tracking information without needing to contact a service representative. This autonomy meets the expectations of the modern B2B buyer and provides a level of transparency that was impossible with the previous system.
• Improved Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty: The combination of a modern user experience, flawless data accuracy, powerful self-service tools, and faster fulfillment leads directly to a significant increase in overall customer satisfaction. By making it easier, faster, and more reliable for customers to do business, DASI strengthens its relationships, encourages repeat business, and fosters long-term loyalty.

4.3 Strategic Business Impact and Future-Readiness

Beyond the immediate operational and customer-facing improvements, the unified platform provides DASI with a powerful strategic foundation for sustained growth and competitive differentiation.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: With all commercial, inventory, and customer data residing on a single platform, DASI can now leverage Salesforce’s advanced reporting and analytics capabilities. Dynamic dashboards provide real-time visibility into key performance indicators across the entire business. Management can now analyze sales trends, identify top-performing products, monitor inventory turnover, and understand customer purchasing behavior with unprecedented clarity. This enables more strategic inventory acquisition, smarter pricing strategies, and proactive business decisions based on data, not guesswork.
• A Scalable Foundation for Growth: The new platform is inherently built for scale. DASI is no longer constrained by the technological limitations of its legacy system. The company can now confidently expand its product catalog, add new channel partners, enter new geographic markets, and handle a growing volume of transactions without compromising performance or efficiency.
• Positioning as a Digital Leader: This implementation fundamentally changes the perception of DASI in the marketplace. The company is no longer just a supplier of aircraft parts; it is a technology-forward partner that simplifies and streamlines its customers’ complex procurement processes. This project demonstrates the immense value of dissolving the traditional barrier between the “front office” (customer-facing systems like commerce) and the “back office” (internal systems like ERP). In DASI’s new model, the website is a direct, transparent window into the operational core of the business. This unification forces a holistic view of the company, where customer experience is inextricably linked to operational excellence. This seamless end-to-end journey serves as a powerful competitive differentiator, positioning DASI as a digital leader in the aviation aftermarket.

5.0 Conclusion: Redefining Aviation Parts Distribution Through Unified Digital Commerce

The implementation of Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud and the native Avsight Aviation ERP represents a landmark achievement for DASI, fundamentally reshaping its operational capabilities and its relationship with its customers. The company has successfully navigated a critical transition from a state of digital friction—defined by data silos, inefficient manual processes, and a compromised customer experience—to a position of digital excellence and market leadership.

The core of this success lies in the strategic decision to adopt a single, unified platform where the e-commerce storefront and the core ERP are not merely integrated, but are native components of the same ecosystem. This architecture has proven to be the definitive solution to the critical challenge of real-time data synchronization, providing the 100% accuracy and reliability demanded by the aviation industry. The resulting automation of key commercial workflows has unlocked significant gains in efficiency, reduced operational costs, and empowered employees to focus on value-added activities.

For DASI’s customers, the new platform delivers a superior B2B procurement experience characterized by certainty, transparency, and self-service empowerment. By making it easier and more reliable for airlines and MROs to acquire the critical parts they need, DASI has forged stronger, more loyal partnerships.

Ultimately, this project was more than a technology upgrade; it was a strategic business transformation. By strategically selecting a unified, industry-specific platform, DASI has not only solved its immediate operational challenges but has also built a resilient, data-driven, and scalable foundation. This new digital core will power the company’s performance, innovation, and growth for years to come, ensuring it remains at the forefront of the evolving global aviation aftermarket.