A 1,200-truck logistics operator we worked with runs warehouse operations and fleet dispatch on 94 Oracle Forms screens built between 2004 and 2009. Drivers still call dispatchers on the phone to give ETAs. The dispatchers still type those ETAs into Forms.
The transactions process reliably. The visibility doesn’t exist.
What modern logistics dashboards need
Our supply chain customers consistently ask for the same four capabilities, and Oracle Forms can deliver none of them.
Fleet tracking dashboard. Real-time vehicle position, delivery ETA, driver status, and fuel consumption, refreshed every 30 seconds and available from any device.
Warehouse heatmaps. A visual layer over inventory density, picking efficiency, and dock utilization. Bottlenecks become visible before they break throughput.
Order fulfillment pipeline. End-to-end status from customer order to final delivery, with automated alerts when an SLA is at risk.
Carrier performance scorecards. On-time delivery rates, damage claims, and cost per shipment across every carrier, with automated routing to the best performer.
The integration problem
Modern logistics requires the ERP to talk to a dozen external systems: GPS providers like Samsara and Geotab, e-commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce, EDI partners for automated POs, and IoT sensors for temperature, humidity, and motion in the warehouse.
Oracle Forms has no native API surface. Every one of those integrations today is a custom middleware project with its own maintenance burden and its own failure modes.
The DEX approach
After migration, the new TypeScript application exposes REST APIs that any external service can call. GPS data feeds the fleet dashboard directly. E-commerce orders flow into the fulfillment pipeline without a nightly batch. IoT sensor readings trigger inventory alerts in real time.
The business logic that governs warehouse allocation, carrier selection, and order prioritization is preserved exactly as it ran in Forms. Our migration engine extracts it from the original PL/SQL deterministically, so the rules don’t drift in translation. The dispatchers stop typing ETAs because the system already knows them.