Custom PHP business application for King’s Hawaiian, rebuilt from a legacy system to manage orders, inventory, reporting, users, and multi-department workflows.
Overview
King’s Hawaiian hired me to rebuild their internal bakery ordering and inventory system — a mission-critical application used daily by multiple retail locations and departments.
The original system was a heavily modified WordPress install with unstable custom code, frequent failures, and no clear development history. They needed a complete rewrite in raw PHP, with minimal external dependencies, backed by clean architecture and long-term maintainability.
I rebuilt the entire platform from the ground up, delivering a fast, stable, standalone application that continues to support King’s Hawaiian’s retail and commissary operations.
Key Features
Order Management for Retail Locations
Retail staff can create, review, and submit bakery orders directly to the commissary with a streamlined, role-appropriate interface.
Inventory & Product Controls
Custom tools allow authorized users to manage products, adjust inventory levels, archive items, and track availability over time.
Multi-Department Workflow Support
The system supports several teams — retail, commissary, operations, and management — each with tailored interfaces and permissions.
Automated Reporting (TXT, CSV, PDF)
Internal reports (orders, shortages, returns, inventory summaries) can be generated on demand and emailed directly from the application.
Role-Based Access & Permissions
A flexible user and role system ensures that each department sees only the tools and data relevant to their workflow.
Advanced Search, Filters & Archiving
Every module includes fast, intuitive search tools, multi-criteria filters, and long-term data archiving for audit purposes.
Internal Messaging & Notifications
Email-based alerts keep departments updated on new orders, adjustments, and daily reports — all automated inside the application.
Project Details
From Legacy WordPress to Clean, Maintainable PHP
The original application was a non-standard plugin/theme hybrid built on top of WordPress for unclear reasons.
It caused performance issues, inconsistent data handling, and user frustration.
My rewrite removed WordPress entirely and replaced it with:
- A clean, structured PHP codebase
- Purpose-built routing and module organization
- Efficient database models
- Minimal third-party libraries
- Consistent UI layouts tailored for internal users
Custom Modules Included
- Orders
- Products & inventory
- Returns & adjustments
- User management
- Reports (PDF/TXT/CSV)
- Notifications
- Administrative dashboards
- Multi-department menus
- Archives and history tracking
Designed for Stability & Longevity
King’s Hawaiian requested zero reliance on frameworks or heavy external tooling.
The final build is:
- Extremely fast
- Easy to maintain
- Fully documented
- Designed for a decade of internal use
This custom PHP business application has been running successfully for years and remains a core tool in their daily operations.
Result
The new application delivered a seamless transition for all departments.
Even though the entire system was rebuilt from scratch in clean, modern PHP, it preserved the familiar workflows that retail, commissary, and operations staff depended on. Users moved from the old tool to the new one with minimal training, no disruption to daily operations, and zero interruption to the existing order and inventory processes.
Behind the scenes, the system is vastly more stable, easier to maintain, and built for long-term use — but to the teams using it every day, it simply felt like the same system finally working the way it was always meant to with lots of modern improvements.
Tech Stack
- Raw PHP
- Custom MVC-style architecture
- MySQL
- HTML/CSS (admin UI)
- Custom routing & database layer
- TCPDF / CSV generators
- Minimal external libraries by design