--- title: Turning an Inventory Tool into a Healthcare Procurement Platform description: How an internal inventory tool became Flightline, a commercial healthcare procurement platform that untangles federal purchasing for Academy Medical. image: https://www.feature23.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/f23-2025/images/og-image/f23-outperform.jpg --- [Skip to main content](https://www.feature23.com/case-studies/turning-an-inventory-tool-into-a-multi-sided-healthcare-procurement-platform#main-content) [![feature\[23\] white and gold logo](https://www.feature23.com/hubfs/f23-logo-white-with-gold.svg "feature[23] white and gold logo")](https://feature23.com) - [AI Engineering](https://www.feature23.com/ai-engineering) - [Services](https://www.feature23.com/services) - [Careers](https://www.feature23.com/careers) - [Our Work](https://www.feature23.com/case-studies) - [Insights](https://www.feature23.com/insights) - [Contact us](https://www.feature23.com/Contact) - [linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/company/feature23) - [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/feature23) - [twitter](https://twitter.com/feature23) - [Privacy Policy](https://www.feature23.com/privacy-policy) [Skip to content](https://www.feature23.com/case-studies/turning-an-inventory-tool-into-a-multi-sided-healthcare-procurement-platform#main-content) [![feature\[23\] white and gold logo](https://www.feature23.com/hubfs/f23-logo-white-with-gold.svg "feature[23] white and gold logo")](https://feature23.com) - [AI Engineering](https://www.feature23.com/ai-engineering) - [Services](https://www.feature23.com/services) - [Our Work](https://www.feature23.com/case-studies) - [Insights](https://www.feature23.com/insights) - [Careers](https://www.feature23.com/careers) - [Contact](https://www.feature23.com/contact) Case Study # Turning an Internal Inventory Tool into a Commercial, Multi-Sided Healthcare Procurement Platform ![Illustration of buyers and suppliers connected through a central marketplace platform, with the Flightline logo](https://www.feature23.com/hubfs/flightline%20(1).png) About Flightline Flightline is a healthcare procurement platform serving resellers and vendors supplying medical products to U.S. federal agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The platform supports complex purchasing rules, inventory management, and regulatory reporting across a highly fragmented supply chain. ### **Situation** Academy Medical, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), relied on a custom internal application to manage inventory and federal sales. When their sole in-house developer left, the company needed immediate support to keep mission-critical systems running. As Feature\[23\] stabilized the platform, a bigger opportunity emerged: The software solved a widespread, systemic problem across federal healthcare procurement—and could be commercialized as a standalone product. Challenges included: - Highly complex federal purchasing rules (“Rule of Two,” contract pricing tiers) - FDA reporting and traceability requirements for medical devices - Fragmented vendor systems with inconsistent technical capabilities - A VA procurement process that lacked pricing visibility --- ### **Solution** Feature\[23\] partnered with Academy Medical to evolve the internal system into **Flightline**, a full-scale, multi-tenant procurement platform. Key elements included: Two-sided marketplace architecture Supported resellers, vendors, and downstream suppliers within a single extensible platform. EDI-first integrations Designed around Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to integrate seamlessly with legacy systems used by large medical vendors. Procurement & inventory management system Centralized purchase orders, invoicing, inventory tracking, and vendor coordination. Smart purchasing workflowsSurfaced all eligible contract pricing options to help buyers default to the lowest compliant price—addressing a billion-dollar inefficiency in VA purchasing. Infinite vendor extensibilityEnabled manufacturers, distributors, and resellers to participate regardless of their technical maturity. At scale, the platform supported dozens of live production instances across the vendor ecosystem. --- ### **Results** - Transformed a single-company internal tool into a commercial platform - Enabled compliant procurement across complex federal contracts - Reduced purchasing inefficiencies by improving pricing visibility - Created a scalable foundation capable of supporting an unlimited number of vendors and resellers Flightline became core infrastructure for healthcare suppliers operating in one of the most regulated procurement environments in the U.S. --- ### **Why Custom Software** No off-the-shelf system could model the combination of federal purchasing rules, FDA reporting requirements, legacy EDI integrations, and multi-party supply chains. Custom software enabled Flightline to become a platform—rather than forcing the business to conform to rigid vendor tools. ## Project Details Client Flightline Industry Healthcare Supply Chain / Government Contracting Stage Emerging Middle-Market [Schedule a Consultation](https://www.feature23.com/contact) More Work ## Related Case Studies [View All Case Studies](https://www.feature23.com/case-studies) ### [![custom operations platform for medical case management](https://www.feature23.com/hs-fs/hubfs/case-studies/ecs-case-study-cover.jpg?width=800&name=ecs-case-study-cover.jpg) Replacing Rigid Billing Software with a Custom Operations Platform for Medical Case Management Situation ECS had outgrown the commercial billing software it relied on to manage important ... 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