Quoting with Paperless Parts Slated to Get Even Easier: Fall 2022 Hackathon Recap

Last week at the Paperless Parts Boston HQ, we held our Fall Hackathon. Our bi-annual Hackathon allows our organization’s talented engineers and product experts to show off their skills and collaborate to expand those skills and ultimately improve our job shop quoting software. Everyone is able to learn and experiment with new technologies, create proof of concept for new features, or level up a process or pain point felt by the team internally. With so many opportunities for innovation, there’s endless room for creativity.

How it Works

Over a period of two days, individuals are grouped into teams to collaborate on the rapid development of prototypes and proof of concepts for the job shop quoting software. At the end of day two, each team presents their ideas to the entire organization, including a panel of judges.

This year’s judges awarded a Grand Prize winner, which is followed by a vote put to the entire company for a People’s Choice award.

Prototyped ideas ranged anywhere from brand new features to the platform, to revamped internal environments. Here were the teams whose ideas won over the hearts of both the judges and spectators:

Grand Prize Winners

Meg van Deventer, Jack Eccles, Colin McNamara, and Miles Barker

People’s Choice Award Winners

Tom Charron, Dana Wensberg, Amaan Ali, and Hank Portney

Highlights from the Event

John Peck, Senior Software Engineer, reflects, “I had high expectations coming into this hackathon, having been blown away by the projects that came out of the last one, and I am happy to say that those expectations were exceeded. With this hackathon, we decided to get more of the company involved and invited members of the services organization to participate. Having entrants from multiple organizations within Paperless Parts allowed teams to approach projects from different angles, which in turn led to especially customer-centric outcomes.”

John found that this time around, the projects seemed to adhere to two main themes: “Making our customers’ lives easier and helping them derive more value from the product.” John continues: “I am excited to see how these proof of concepts evolve and the impact that they will have.”

Winning team member Meg van Deventer reflects on the event: “This was the first time non-engineers participated in the hackathon, and I think it was a great opportunity for people to see what anyone can accomplish if they run directly at a problem with their own unique skill set. I also felt like all the projects this fall were feasible, high-impact, and told a cohesive story about how our customers interact with our product today and will interact with it for years to come. I’m fired up about where this hackathon will take us and I can’t wait for the next one!”

From ideation, to building the business case, to designing the solution, to writing the code, to giving the demo and sales pitch, engineers are driving the bus at the Paperless Parts Hackathon. It inspires customer empathy and drives a stronger understanding of what it takes to bring a product to market.

If you’re looking to join in on the fun at our next hackathon, apply to one of our many open roles today! Visit our Careers page to learn more about our team values and view all open positions.