Replatforming of a B2B Commerce Architecture

The aim of the replatforming strategy, launched in 2019, was to lay the foundation for Meusburger's digital future by using a state-of-the-art B2B commerce technology in the cloud and a modular architecture.

After developing the product vision and the replatforming roadmap, the first step was to lay the foundation for the customer account (KIS), followed by the shop and the website, along with numerous digital services such as complaint management, parts lists, CAD integration, order management, document management and many more.

In 2024, the first configurators were launched, allowing full parallel operation.

Meusburger offers its digital services to various user groups, including in particular

• purchasers

• Design engineers

• Toolmakers

Depending on the customer group, intelligent services have been developed over the past decades that could be used as applications in different places. One of the goals of the replatforming was to bring these services together in a single experience and provide them with a modern user experience.  

The Meusburger architecture uses Spryker PaaS as the central platform for product data, pricing and orders. Crossbase PIM serves as the PIM solution, while Infor LN manages orders and transaction data. Microsoft Dynamics CRM integrates customer information and contacts.

The WordPress CMS manages all content data, including categories and product details, which are stored and optimised on Amazon S3 and Cloudflare Images. Keycloak and Azure Active Directory are used for secure authentication.

The API platform enables mapping and data exchange between Spryker PaaS, Infor LN, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Crossbase PIM. This architecture provides scalability, security and efficiency through seamless back-end integration and consistent data management.

The high complexity of the project made agile working essential. The vision and approach were clear, but many questions arose along the way that could only be answered iteratively and collaboratively. Agile development based on Scrum was therefore chosen as part of the collaboration. Two agile teams and a UX team were embedded in a PMO logic. In this way, we met the governance requirements on the one hand and the stakeholders on the other.

Integration into the review process enabled the project team to track development progress. Joint retrospectives enabled continuous improvement of the collaboration. In addition, joint controlling at epic and user story level was established.

Our project at Meusburger shows how effective change management, digital transformation and roll-out management can lead to success.

The targeted development of a key user structure created clear responsibilities and optimised communication channels. Key users supported the project team in testing, training and portal optimisation. The phased roll-out started with a small core team and was gradually extended to all user groups.

This approach promoted acceptance of the new solution, enabled smooth onboarding and reduced pressure on the entire organisation by working in parallel. This ensured a successful implementation and sustainable results.

For Meusburger we use the powerful Spryker platform on AWS. Spryker offers comprehensive DevOps support and a self-service platform, complemented by our cloud-based tools. This combination ensures high quality standards in the long run.

Our deployment processes are automated. We use Spryker's architectural patterns and QA tools, as well as PHPStan to monitor code quality. Our team follows a classic testing pyramid.

To improve our development processes, we analyse data from the ticket system and Git in a dashboard and monitor DORA metrics. These help us to evaluate and optimise the effectiveness of our actions.

In this way, we ensure the quality of our project and create a solid foundation for Meusburger for years to come.

The new Meusburger portal is a strategic pillar for the company, with more than 50% of the offer being digital. Consequently, it was agreed at the beginning of the partnership that Meusburger would build up its own skills over time and support TOWA with training and onboarding.

From pair programming sessions and pull requests to Figma training and CMS workshops in the specialist departments, the aim is to enable the organisation.

In addition, upon successful completion of the second phase of the project, all systems such as JIRA and others were transferred to Meusburger to create a sustainable set-up.