The Spryker State Machine, a feature heavily utilized by Spryker customers, translates a variety of business needs into a coherent IT structure and ensures flawless collaboration.
Sharing its name with the mathematical term, a State Machine allows easy implementation of complex processes and mapping out of various business workflows, allowing for increased efficiency.
State Machines consist of a fixed number of states, transitions, and events that can all be defined by the company. An event triggers a transition from one state to another, starting from a predetermined initial state and ending with a final state, with various states in between.
Simply put, a State Machine reads a string of events, and changes or remains in its state. This methodology allows businesses to map out complex journeys and automate processes.
We see the big advantage in having one centralized system, in our case the back-end of Spryker Commerce OS, that showcases all the current states, even if the actual business logic is carried out in the front-end. Additionally, we have the opportunity to use State Machine Timeouts to trigger time-controlled processes. The asynchrony of the Spryker State Machine and the used queues allows easy and feasible scaling of the process.”
Benefits
No more ‘Spaghetti Code’
Developers can focus on one state at a time, always following the same language and rules whilst avoiding complicated ‘if…else’ scenarios, or so-called ‘Spaghetti Code’, to execute code based on conditions.
Order Management Machine
State Machines can build processes and allow for an automated order flow, which Spryker offers through its Out-of-the-Box Order Management System (OMS). This maps out the entire order cycle - from placing an order, to authorizing payment, to sending an email confirming the order.
Stay flexible and adaptable
Once a State Machine process is in place, it can easily be adapted. Your team can edit and modify each portion of the process as much as needed, unlike traditional approaches, that only allow modification at fixed points. New action points, containing new states and transitions, can always be added and smaller State Machines can easily be used or reused.
State Machines can automate any business process, no matter the complexity. As processes can be visualized and mapped out easily without getting too deep into the technicalities of the code, non-technical stakeholders can easily give input on how processes should be modeled.
Investigate problems and find possible bottlenecks in processes and transactions by implementing an overview in the back-end of all the states of your State Machine.
Map the entire customer lifecycle throughout different departments. Simple implementations can automate typical department needs, such as performing credit or fraud checks and sending payment reminders via email.
