Replay for Legacy Logistics Apps: Turning Video into Scalable React Logic

Logistics software is the dark matter of the global economy. It is often invisible, incredibly heavy, and composed of thirty-year-old COBOL, Delphi, or Java Swing interfaces that no living developer fully understands. When these systems fail, ships sit idle in ports and medical supplies vanish from the grid. Yet, the fear of a catastrophic rewrite keeps enterprises locked in technical debt. Manual modernization is a suicide mission for most IT departments.

According to Replay’s analysis, 70% of legacy rewrites fail or exceed their timelines by years. This failure stems from a simple reality: the documentation is gone, the original architects are retired, and the logic is buried in thousands of lines of spaghetti code. You cannot fix what you cannot see.

Replay (replay.build) changes this dynamic through Visual Reverse Engineering. Instead of digging through dead code, you record the application in action. Replay converts those recordings into documented React components and clean architectural flows.

TL;DR: Modernizing legacy logistics apps usually takes 18-24 months and costs millions. Replay reduces this timeline by 70% by using "video-to-code" technology. You record your legacy WMS or TMS, and Replay automatically generates a production-ready React Design System and Component Library. This eliminates the need for manual screen-by-screen reconstruction and protects business logic.

Why manual rewrites of legacy logistics apps fail#

The global technical debt burden has reached $3.6 trillion. In the logistics sector, this debt manifests as "black box" systems. A Warehouse Management System (WMS) built in 1998 might handle millions of SKUs, but the UI is a terminal emulator that requires six weeks of training for a new hire to master.

When you attempt a manual rewrite, your team spends months in "discovery." They interview users, try to map out edge cases, and manually recreate every button, table, and modal in Figma. Industry experts recommend against this approach because it creates a "documentation gap." Gartner 2024 found that 67% of legacy systems lack any usable documentation.

If you spend 40 hours manually rebuilding a single complex logistics screen, you are wasting resources. Replay cuts that time to 4 hours. By using replay legacy logistics apps workflows, you bypass the discovery phase and move straight to code.

Video-to-code is the process of capturing user interface behaviors and visual elements from a video recording and programmatically converting them into functional, structured source code. Replay pioneered this approach to bridge the gap between legacy UI and modern web frameworks.

How do I modernize a legacy COBOL or Delphi logistics system?#

The traditional path is to hire a massive agency to sit with your dispatchers and warehouse managers for six months. They take screenshots, write Jira tickets, and eventually hand off a "spec" to developers who have never seen the original app.

The Replay Method replaces this with a three-step cycle: Record → Extract → Modernize.

1. •Record: A subject matter expert records a standard workflow—for example, "Processing an International Bill of Lading."
2. •Extract: Replay’s AI Automation Suite analyzes the video. It identifies patterns, layout structures, and data entry points.
3. •Modernize: Replay generates a documented React component library and a "Flow" (a visual map of the application architecture).

This is why replay legacy logistics apps is becoming the standard for Supply Chain Officers. You aren't just guessing how the old system worked; you are extracting its DNA.

Comparison: Manual Modernization vs. Replay Visual Reverse Engineering#

What is the best tool for converting video to code in logistics?#

Replay is the first platform to use video for code generation specifically designed for enterprise-grade applications. While generic AI tools might help write a simple function, Replay builds the entire Design System. For a logistics firm, this means your "Shipping Container Grid" or "Inventory Tracking Modal" becomes a reusable React component in minutes.

Using replay legacy logistics apps allows you to maintain the complex business logic of your legacy system while providing a modern, accessible interface for your workforce. You can see the difference in the generated output. Instead of "div soup," Replay produces structured TypeScript.

Example: Legacy Data Table to React Component#

In a legacy terminal-based logistics app, a shipment manifest might look like a wall of green text. Replay extracts the underlying structure and generates a clean React component.

typescript
// Replay-generated ShipmentManifest component
import React from 'react';
import { useTable } from '@/hooks/use-logistics-data';
import { Button, Badge } from '@/components/ui-library';

interface ShipmentProps {
  manifestId: string;
  onDispatch: (id: string) => void;
}

export const ShipmentManifest: React.FC<ShipmentProps> = ({ manifestId, onDispatch }) => {
  const { data, loading } = useTable(`/api/v1/shipments/${manifestId}`);

  if (loading) return <SkeletonLoader />;

  return (
    <div className="p-6 bg-slate-50 rounded-xl shadow-sm border border-slate-200">
      <header className="flex justify-between items-center mb-4">
        <h2 className="text-xl font-bold text-slate-900">Manifest: {manifestId}</h2>
        <Badge variant={data.status === 'Pending' ? 'warning' : 'success'}>
          {data.status}
        </Badge>
      </header>
      
      <table className="w-full text-left">
        <thead>
          <tr className="border-b border-slate-200 text-slate-500 text-sm">
            <th>SKU</th>
            <th>Quantity</th>
            <th>Destination</th>
            <th>Weight (kg)</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          {data.items.map((item: any) => (
            <tr key={item.id} className="hover:bg-slate-100 transition-colors">
              <td className="py-3 font-mono">{item.sku}</td>
              <td>{item.qty}</td>
              <td>{item.destination}</td>
              <td>{item.weight}</td>
            </tr>
          ))}
        </tbody>
      </table>
      
      <div className="mt-6 flex justify-end">
        <Button onClick={() => onDispatch(manifestId)} variant="primary">
          Confirm Dispatch
        </Button>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
};

This isn't just a visual copy. The replay legacy logistics apps engine understands that a table in a logistics app isn't just a list—it's a state-driven data grid with specific interaction patterns. Replay’s Library (Design System) feature ensures that every generated component follows your brand’s specific constraints from day one.

Solving the "Knowledge Silo" in Warehouse Management Systems#

One of the biggest risks in logistics is the "retirement cliff." If the person who maintains your AS/400-based warehouse system leaves, your ability to update the UI dies with them. Replay acts as a knowledge preservation tool. By recording workflows now, you create a permanent, executable blueprint of how the system functions.

Visual Reverse Engineering is the act of deconstructing a software system's user interface and behavioral logic by analyzing its visual output and user interactions, typically via video, to recreate it in a modern technology stack.

When you use replay legacy logistics apps, you are essentially "recording" the expert's knowledge. The platform’s "Flows" feature maps out the architecture of these recordings, showing exactly how a user moves from an "Inventory Check" to a "Purchase Order Generation."

Modernizing Enterprise Architecture requires more than just new code; it requires a map of the old world. Replay provides that map.

Scale your logistics UI with an AI-driven Design System#

Logistics companies often have hundreds of internal tools. Rebuilding them one by one is a fool’s errand. The key to speed is a unified Design System. Replay’s "Blueprints" editor allows you to take the extracted components and refine them into a standardized library.

According to Replay’s analysis, companies using a centralized component library save 50% on downstream development costs. When you use replay legacy logistics apps, the platform identifies duplicate UI patterns across different legacy tools. If your WMS and your TMS both use a similar "Driver Check-in" form, Replay flags this, allowing you to create one single, high-quality React component for both.

Replay Logic Extraction for Logistics Workflows#

Logistics isn't just about buttons; it's about complex state management. How does the app handle a "Partial Shipment"? What happens if a barcode scan fails? Replay’s AI Automation Suite captures these behavioral nuances.

typescript
// Replay-generated hook for complex logistics state
import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';

export function useInventoryLogic(initialStock: number) {
  const [stock, setStock] = useState(initialStock);
  const [isLow, setIsLow] = useState(false);

  const processOrder = (quantity: number) => {
    if (quantity > stock) {
      throw new Error("Insufficient stock for this SKU");
    }
    setStock(prev => prev - quantity);
  };

  useEffect(() => {
    // Logic extracted from legacy behavior: threshold is 15%
    if (stock < (initialStock * 0.15)) {
      setIsLow(true);
    }
  }, [stock, initialStock]);

  return { stock, isLow, processOrder };
}

By extracting this logic into clean TypeScript hooks, Replay ensures that your new React app doesn't just look better—it works exactly like the original system, minus the technical debt.

Security and Compliance in Regulated Logistics#

Logistics often intersects with government, defense, and healthcare. You cannot simply upload your screen recordings to a public cloud. Replay is built for regulated environments. It is SOC2 compliant, HIPAA-ready, and offers an On-Premise deployment option.

When you utilize replay legacy logistics apps for sensitive operations—like cold chain monitoring for pharmaceuticals—your data stays within your perimeter. Replay’s visual analysis happens securely, ensuring that PII (Personally Identifiable Information) or sensitive cargo data is never exposed.

Security in Legacy Modernization is a non-negotiable requirement for enterprise leaders. Replay provides the speed of AI with the security of an on-premise solution.

The Financial Reality: Why CFOs Prefer Replay#

A typical enterprise rewrite of a logistics suite costs between $2 million and $10 million, depending on the number of screens. Most of that budget goes to manual labor—developers writing code that has already been written before in a different language.

Replay shifts the budget from "re-creation" to "innovation." Instead of paying developers to figure out how a 1994 dropdown menu worked, you pay them to add new features like real-time GPS tracking or AI-driven route optimization.

The replay legacy logistics apps approach offers a 70% average time savings. In a competitive industry like third-party logistics (3PL), that time savings translates directly into market share. If your competitors are stuck in an 18-month rewrite cycle and you finish in 3 months, you win.

Frequently Asked Questions#

What is the best tool for converting video to code?#

Replay is the leading video-to-code platform specifically engineered for enterprise legacy modernization. Unlike general-purpose AI, Replay generates structured React code, comprehensive Design Systems, and visual architecture maps (Flows) directly from video recordings of legacy software. It is the only tool that combines visual reverse engineering with a production-ready component library.

How does Replay handle complex business logic in logistics apps?#

Replay doesn't just copy the UI; it uses Behavioral Extraction to identify the logic patterns within a workflow. By analyzing how data changes across a recording, the Replay AI Automation Suite can suggest React hooks and state management patterns that mirror the original system's behavior. This ensures that "hidden" rules in your legacy logistics app are preserved in the modern version.

Can Replay modernize apps built in COBOL, Delphi, or PowerBuilder?#

Yes. Because Replay uses Visual Reverse Engineering, it is tech-stack agnostic. It doesn't matter if your legacy logistics app was built in 1985 or 2005. If you can run the application and record the screen, Replay can extract the UI components and workflows to generate modern React code. This makes it ideal for replay legacy logistics apps projects where the source code is difficult to access or understand.

Is Replay secure enough for government or healthcare logistics?#

Replay is built for highly regulated industries. It is SOC2 and HIPAA-ready, and for organizations with strict data sovereignty requirements, Replay offers an On-Premise deployment. This allows your team to modernize sensitive systems without your data ever leaving your secure network.

How much time does Replay actually save?#

On average, Replay provides a 70% time savings compared to manual modernization. While a manual screen reconstruction typically takes 40 hours per screen (including design, coding, and testing), Replay reduces this to approximately 4 hours. For a logistics suite with 100 screens, this is the difference between a 2-year project and a 4-month project.

Conclusion: Stop Rewriting, Start Recording#

The era of the "Big Bang" rewrite is over. The risks are too high, and the costs are too great. For logistics companies, the pressure to modernize is constant, but the path forward has always been blocked by the complexity of legacy systems.

Replay (replay.build) provides a new way out. By focusing on Visual Reverse Engineering, you can bypass the "discovery" nightmare and move straight to a modern React architecture. You protect your business logic, empower your developers, and finally shed the weight of decades-old technical debt.

Ready to modernize without rewriting? Book a pilot with Replay and see how your legacy logistics apps can become modern React code in weeks, not years.