Client: Inter-Elektro Group
Case study
BAST – Database of Current Stocks. Product warehouse in the cloud.
Range
Implementation of a dedicated B2B system, Magento integration with Streamsoft Prestiż, Magento integration with Enova365, Magento integration with Comarch Optima, Magento integration with Comarch XL, Magento integration with Subiekt GT, branding, UX/UI project, design management, back-end development, front-end development, testing, naming, project management
BAST is a system that integrates over 200 wholesalers and manufacturers in the electrical and lighting industry. The data it exchanges is available to Group Members directly in their ERP systems or through a web application we developed.
Inter-Elektro SA is a purchasing group established to represent the common interests of the Group's electrical wholesalers. Currently, the Group comprises over 60 electrical wholesalers, and their collaboration aims to strengthen the position of the entire Group and its individual members in the Polish and European distributor markets. Close collaboration with all leading suppliers and the implementation of a number of new, innovative projects are at the heart of Inter-Elektro SA's dynamic growth and its continued consolidation among the leaders in electrical materials distribution in Poland.
Design problem
Members of the Purchasing Group, despite participating, do not have the opportunity to benefit from its potential.
Product availability is a key value that every distributor (member of Inter-Elektro SA) would like to provide to their customers. Small and medium-sized distributors are unable to compete on product availability in a market that is increasingly consolidating, with large entities gaining a near-monopoly over time.
The benefits of integrating Inter-Elektro members with each other include: gaining the product potential available to the Group from each of the Members, dispersing the costs of integration with Manufacturers, reducing the number of so-called "shelf" products, i.e. non-rotating products, and thus freeing up money tied up in warehouse stocks.
Insight: What if each Member had another large virtual warehouse? A system that integrates Wholesalers, or Purchasing Group Members, with each other, the Purchasing Group, and electrical materials manufacturers.
Business assumptions
The aim of the project was to create an IT system that would improve the operation of Inter-Elektro SA and its individual members by achieving goals such as:
01
Sharing information on the availability of goods of individual Members, which will allow for quick buying and selling of goods between individual Members.
02
Facilitating group purchasing by Inter-Elektro SA
03
Providing Members with information about products, in particular their technical parameters, using the ETIM standard, via the BAST System web interface and API.
04
Increasing the efficiency of warehouse space use, which will translate into reduced maintenance costs.
05
Creating reports for Inter-Elektro SA that allow for better understanding of current market trends and proactively responding to customer demand.
06
Ensuring a high level of system security through an advanced system of authorizations for individual modules.
Key functionalities
The proposed solution is an integrated product warehouse network system that:
Shows the current warehouse stocks of individual Group members.
Allows placing orders between Members.
Exchanges information about products.
Collects sales data, which allows you to plan and negotiate contracts with Manufacturers.
System operation diagram – information exchanged
A. Supplier
B. Manufacturer
1. Stock levels
2. Prices
3. Sales reports
4. Promotions and sales
5. Individual
6. Stock levels of group members
7. Manufacturers' price lists
8. Photos, catalog cards
9. Technical parameters of the products
10. Individual
11. System supervision
12. Sales reports
13. Stock levels and current prices
14. Product technical data
15. Products
16. Price Lists
17. Automatic price list and stock level synchronization report
Range of activities:
integrations:
Comarch Optima, Comarch XL, Streamsoft Prestiż, Subiekt GT, Enova365, dedicated integrations.
Planning:
Planning, workshops, vision, management.
Interface:
UI design, responsiveness, testing, naming, branding, detailed action plan.
Project management
Our task is not only to implement the system, but also to identify needs, plan activities, design functionalities, provide suggestions for system development, and conduct periodic presentations. Coordinating the implementation with individual Group members is also a significant task. All of this means we act as a technology partner, a team whose responsibilities extend beyond "simply" implementing the system.
Iterative workflow in the project
1. Initialization
2. Planning
3. Implementation
4. Giving back
5. Monitoring
6. Control
UX and interface design
It involves planning the processes that users can perform and then using a library of elements such as tables, forms, buttons, tabs, drop-down lists, etc. to implement those processes.
To effectively create and develop a system, design as an engineering work requires the synthesis of possible scenarios and actions, translating them into interface elements, and then laying them out on screens understandable to the user.
At the same time, to give the system character, we designed illustrations on key screens that literally refer to the essence of the "cloud storage" system, informing the user about what has happened in the system or what the user should do next.
Perfecting
We believe that IT systems should develop organically. Close collaboration with the Group's Management Board allowed us to understand the goals not only for this project but also for the Purchasing Group and its individual members. This makes the system a key element of the company's ecosystem. At the same time, the evolution of individual members occurs at a pace tailored to the needs and capabilities of each individual. This collaboration has been ongoing since 2017, and the CEO's summary of the activities to date is as follows:
What do customers say about us on Clutch?
Punctuality, flexibility, availability, professionalism (…)
In 2017, we began working with Cognize (KMK Group) on the BAST system. Since then, the project has been developed and managed with exemplary skill. Cognize's (KMK Group) work is characterized by timeliness, flexibility, availability, professionalism, and, most importantly, the ability to present complex programming solutions in an accessible format.
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