The second stage was the design and implementation of an ecommerce site for selling spare parts (Partsmart website). Previously IMI’s online eCommerce site was barely used and a paper-based catalogue was the main way to purchase. This was expensive and difficult to change. The aims were to encourage visitors to the Partsmart website to engage more with IMI Cornelius and to transact online.
The third stage was to integrate this spare parts ecommerce site with the Ariba buyer portal (a supplier network) enabling IMI Cornelius’ largest customer to buy online in their own environment.
The Strategy
KMP began with a DDS – Discovery, Design and Scoping exercise in order to understand the stakeholder requirements. KMP then selected Sitecore as the best Content Management system for the job. Sitecore is robust, easy-to-use and scalable, all qualities that KMP is determined to build in to all our implementations.
The Design
For the Corporate site, KMP designed a clean and appealing web site with clear navigation, all presented within the IMI Cornelius brand guidelines. The flat design was rendered into cross browser compliant HTML and then templated into the Sitecore CMS to produce a rich user experience which can be maintained with ease by non- technical IMI Cornelius staff. Clear separation of content data from HTML rendering ensures that the site will remain W3C compliant throughout its life.
The Tech
As well as building the shop front of IMI’s ecommerce site, it was critical that the back end systems were fully integrated to make management of the online business as efficient as possible.
For the final solution, KMP integrated the site with a product library and catalogues (containing product information and prices), a stock management system, payment gateway and an external application used by their largest clients. All information was exchanged in real time which means that the website and the main business is always synchronised.
Product Library and Catalogues
KMP built a Library and catalogue system for the PartSmart website in Sitecore. The library spans all of the catalogues and contains all of the base information about a particular product, Name, Image, Size etc. Separate from the library is a set of catalogues which group the products from the library and adds the price information. Each major customer (Diageo, McDonalds, Coors, etc.) has specific a catalogue containing the items that they purchase on-line, thus ensuring a consistent pricing structure from customer to customer between offline and online. In addition to these catalogues there is a general catalogue which contains all of the spare parts and their list prices. The price information is updated on an hourly basis to ensure that the prices on the website always match the prices quoted elsewhere.
Integration with IMI Cornelius MAPICS ERP system
IMI Cornelius use IBM’s MAPICS ERP system to manage their stock. We created a streamlined order process by integrating the system with the Partsmart website. The MAPICS integration allows the completed orders to be automatically posted into the MAPICS system for fulfilment.
Once an order has been dispatched the information is updated in the ecommerce system and the order is shown in the customer’s order history. In addition to order fulfilment the system obtains price, unit of measure and stock availability information form the ERP in real time. This means that the website and the main business is always synchronised.
The integration is bidirectional, picking up stock levels and passing back order requests for fulfilment. This means that the website and the ERP systems are always synchronised.
For additional detail on the in-depth technical aspects of this project, please give us a call on 0161 429 1497 or get in touch.