Case Study
UST AI application modernization delivers $1.2M savings and 65% faster release cycles in just 16 weeks
OUR CLIENT
As one of the largest retailers in America, the company operates thousands of stores and employs nearly 300,000 people. It markets products under several different brand names and collaborates with partners to provide delivery services. The company heavily invests in the communities it serves by donating millions of dollars in food and financial support.
THE CHALLENGE
Vendor compliance application modernization
The company utilized two disparate, but similar, legacy applications to manage vendor compliance and load compliance for product deliveries and transfers between 20 distribution centers. If pallets were damaged, late, packed incorrectly, or non-compliant for some other reason, problems were logged, and vendor fines were issued, managed, and disputed within the two Microsoft Access systems. These aging, mission-critical systems had become a bottleneck with:
- Monolithic Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) code—hindering scalability and new, user-friendly functionality
- Data trapped in outdated databases—restricting integration, analytics, and business insights
- Security issues—that failed modern static analysis and dependency scans, leaving the shared back-end vulnerable to access despite the role-based user permissions
- High maintenance costs—from the outdated technology and talent requirements
- Integration barriers—preventing assimilation with modern enterprise systems
Six previous modernization partners tried—and failed—to consolidate and migrate the two applications to a flexible microservices architecture because they were unable to parse the VBA code or achieve test-coverage targets. The company required a capable vendor with a different approach for this application modernization project.
THE TRANSFORMATION
Automated code conversion with GenAI
UST consolidated both Microsoft Access applications into a single, modern application running in a Microsoft Azure environment. We delivered application modernization in 16 weeks for the retailer, using UST CodeCrafter, our AI-assisted framework that pairs a proprietary Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) parser with large language model (LLM) generative AI (GenAI) prompts. During the iterative AI-driven process, UST:
- Refactored the monolithic code—into a React user interface and Java microservices, while preserving business logic and establishing clear domain boundaries
- Re-platformed data—by reverse engineering the schema to Azure SQL and generating synthetic data for development and staging test harnesses
- Enforced brand standards—using a React component factory that converted legacy Microsoft Access forms into responsive web pages and embedded design themes into development pipelines
- Validated code quality—with auto-generated unit tests achieving 92% coverage, plus human-in-the-loop validation to fine-tune edge cases exceeding the customer’s 80% mandate
- Delivered cloud-ready CI/CD pipelines—accelerating future delivery and enabling straightforward integrations with adjacent systems
THE IMPACT
Massive business benefits after legacy system modernization with AI
The retailer now has a unified application to manage vendor and load compliance as products are delivered to distribution centers. After modernizing the applications, the company has:
- Accelerated releases by 65%—from a quarterly to a bi-weekly delivery schedule
- Shortened QA test cycles by 35%—from three weeks to five days, using synthetic datasets and automated testing
- Improved user productivity by 40%—thanks to the modern, responsive user interface
- Simplified maintenance and enhancements—by reducing 500+ legacy application artifacts to approximately 160 microservices components and 60 APIs
- Lowered run costs—with an estimated $1.2 million in savings over three years in licensing, infrastructure, and support costs
- Increased agility—setting the stage for seamless expansion with analytics, mobile extensions, rule-engine modules, and other Microsoft Access front-office apps
Ready to modernize mission-critical applications at lightning speed without business disruption? Click here to learn more about how UST CodeCrafter can help you.
RESOURCES
https://www.ust.com/en/alpha-ai
https://www.ust.com/en/insights/do-generative-ai-tools-like-chatgpt-live-up-to-their-hype