As part of the introduction of a new PIM system and the relaunch of HORN GmbH ‘s online store, scope01 was commissioned to integrate the PIM interface Pimcore / Shopware. In addition, scope01 accompanied and coached the internal implementation of the online store and the PIM system. Finally, the internet agency from Frankfurt am Main took over the project management for a period of 3 months to ensure the success of the project and to establish agile methods with Scrum in the Horn company.
PIM integration
Pimcore, the open source software for data management from Austria, was selected as the PIM system. The basis for the further implementation on the HORN side is the Pimcore / Shopware multishop interface from scope01. This basic interface was adapted and expanded by HORN’s internal development department to meet the requirements. In this context, extensive importers were developed for the initial and recurring import of data from a wide variety of channels.
Shopware 5
HORN opted for the Shopware Enterprise Edition for the B2B online store. The layout for the new store was also conceived and designed in-house by HORN’s marketing department. It is based on HORN’s new corporate identity, which will be introduced in 2019. This means that HORN’s corporate design is also optimally conveyed in the new store layout. To this end, a large number of adjustments were made to the frontend and backend based on Shopware. This also included connecting the store to the ERP system to transfer orders and retrieve documents such as delivery bills or invoices.
With almost 100,000 products, searching in an online store is essential. For this reason, Shopware Enterprise Search based on Elastic Search is used for the store. The search solution was configured and expanded to meet HORN’s requirements.
Workshops for HORN
To achieve the tasks defined as the project objective, scope01 held several workshops with the team from HORN’s IT department.
In the first workshop, the joint project objective was defined and the existing and planned system architecture was formulated and documented in detail. The system architecture was recorded on a flipchart by all workshop participants and subsequently converted into a data flow diagram.
This is because it is absolutely essential to fully define the data flows from and to the PIM, especially with regard to the introduction of a PIM system. In addition to the core components in the PIM, all import and export channels were listed and the interaction between ERP – PIM and the new online store was defined. In the second step, the required fields were compiled according to the respective categories. The workshop concluded with the definition of the project phases and the distribution of the task packages to the respective participants.
In a second workshop, the insights already gained were broken down into smaller modules and specified in detail. These included
- the field definition and the associated specifications of a field, such as field length, field type, transfer to the online shop, etc: Field length, field type, transfer to the online store, etc.
- the new server architecture and provider / hoster selection
- Import of product data from various channels, such as ERP and third-party providers
- Introduction of a ticket system
- Introduction of a versioning system for managing the program code
- Prioritization of topics and distribution of tasks with time planning
- Quality assurance of HORN implementations through scope01
Further workshops on the detailed definition were carried out, accompanied and documented by scope01 as required and at short notice on site at HORN.
HORN development coaching
Most of the development work took place internally in HORN’s IT department. To this end, HORN’s web developers are supported in the development process by experienced senior web developers from scope01. The colleagues provide assistance with the implementation, are available to answer questions and subject the development work to regular analysis in the form of code reviews. The aim is to maintain high quality standards, ensure high performance and the long-term maintainability and updatability of the solutions.
The processes for the code reviews were quickly established. These reviews were carried out every two weeks. To this end, the individual work packages were documented in advance by HORN and analyzed by scope01. The results of the analysis were discussed in telephone conferences and on site and also documented accordingly.
Project management
scope01 took over the project management for the online project as an interim solution for a period of 3 months. In addition to bridging a personnel bottleneck, the establishment of agile project management was a decisive factor in HORN’s decision. Horn’s aim with this solution was to benefit from scope01’s experience in the implementation of online projects. To be able to apply these methodologies and processes themselves after a defined period of time.
During these 3 months, scope01 established the following elements of successful and agile project management at HORN:
- Introduction of a weekly sprint: Planning of weekly tasks for the team to achieve the project goal by the specified deadline.
- Creating, editing and updating tickets: The aim was to ensure that every colleague can understand and edit every ticket and recognize the status of a ticket at any time.
- Evaluation of tasks and recording of working times for better planning: In particular, the conception and time estimation of tasks as a prerequisite for achieving common sprint goals was trained intensively.
- For this purpose, more complex tasks were first transferred in writing into a detailed concept and agreed or approved. This concept usually consists of a non-technical part (introduction) and a description of the technical components
- Daily status tekos to inform the entire project team about the current status of each employee
- Mutual support and assistance from colleagues
- Regular feedback rounds
- Coordination with other departments: For successful project management, it is necessary to learn about tasks and priorities directly from the client and thus to structure them. To this end, there were regular meetings at HORN on site or short telephone conferences / e-mail correspondence.
- Testing of tasks by other colleagues in development to ensure high quality.
At the end of the interim solution, scope01 was able to hand over project management back to HORN. This is because the new elements and processes have been successfully established.
About HORN
HORN accompanies its customers on the way to the office of tomorrow. Because they not only combine IT hardware, accessories and consumables with reliable supply and fast, flexible service. They have also been networking everyday office life with intelligent solutions and services since 1987 – with the aim of noticeably relieving the burden on their customers.
