Case Study Kross
Brief:
Kross is a well-known Polish bicycle manufacturer that also offers a wide range of accessories and sportswear. The company operates in both B2B and B2C markets, maintaining its position as one of the most popular brands in the bicycle industry.
The client had previous experience with a PIM system. However, the use of the Akeneo open-source version did not meet their business expectations. The unorganized catalog structure made product information management challenging, leading to the search for a new PIM solution. Macopedia's project team was tasked with implementing a flexible system tailored to the needs of B2B ecommerce.
Challenge:
Integrating the existing ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution with the new Akeneo PIM system.
Organizing and systematizing product data from various sources in PIM.
Solution:
In response to these needs and challenges, Macopedia proposed a comprehensive implementation strategy, starting with a thorough pre-implementation analysis and an audit of data in the SAP ERP system. The Enterprise version of Akeneo PIM was chosen, offering the broadest set of functionalities, a server, Akeneo training, and support. The project implementation included the following stages:
Integration of Akeneo and SAP Systems
Integration was a key element of the project since SAP ERP stored all necessary information for bringing a product to the market, from technical data to prices and availability. Due to ERP partially serving as a PIM system, it stored many attributes describing products.
Data Preparation and Grouping
Uniform product data standards were applied, verified for correctness and completeness. Working with the client, data structures such as categories, attributes, and product dependencies were configured. The new Akeneo system was populated with data from ERP and the previous PIM, then updated according to Akeneo guidelines.
- Custom Integration Configuration
For integration, a dedicated configuration file was created, allowing the definition of specific product features from the ERP system (e.g., wheel diameter) to be sent to the PIM system and how they should be assigned to corresponding attributes in the PIM system. This gave Kross' team the ability to independently connect attributes, configure, and invoke integration without involving the development team, providing greater control and flexibility.
- Tracking and Monitoring Integration Progress
The system was equipped with an additional layer enabling monitoring and tracking of the integration process. During the import of product data into PIM, errors could occur, such as choosing the wrong type of attribute. If such issues arise and products are not imported correctly into the PIM system after integration, the client can diagnose the problem on a dedicated page in the Akeneo panel.
Results:
Within three months, we implemented the Akeneo Product Information Management system for Kross in the B2B sector. The project team delivered a flexible and effective solution aligned with the company's individual needs and challenges. The client expressed satisfaction with the project's execution and its impact on the company's processes. Key aspects included data modeling and custom integration.
The Akeneo system contributed to streamlining various tasks related to product information management, such as importing and updating product data. Standardization and automation led to a reduction in error risks. Previously, manual work and a lack of a unified structure could result in inaccuracies and errors.
Highlights:
Flexibility and Scalability
The integration was designed with Kross' specific needs in mind. The client can independently make changes, configure, and control how the integration works. The integration is also scalable, allowing for the addition of new features and setting operations on features in the future. This improved the migration process and facilitated the efficient flow of data from the ERP system, both present and future.
Data Audit and Consultative Support
The pre-implementation analysis was a crucial step in understanding the company's needs. We not only implemented a tool for managing product data but also provided support in various areas—primarily in modeling the target catalog structure for bicycles and accessories. The previous PIM implementation did not include this step and was ineffective, emphasizing the importance of an experienced implementation partner.