Konica Minolta

We created a portal which works as a business and communication channel between our client and their customers

2015

konicaminolta.de

Konica Minolta is a global technology company providing companies with print and document solutions. It is represented in 49 countries all over the world, and the part of its IT division based in Brno ensures the implementation of requirements by its internal departments as well as customers. On this job we cooperated with Cleverlance, the biggest Czech IT development company. Officially, our agency was a subcontractor on this job. With the people from Cleverlance and the IT department at Konica Minolta, we form a team whose goal is to meet the expectations of the client’s business divisions.

The original solution was an obstacle in the company’s development strategy

The client saw that the partner zones on the websites of the European branches were built on an old solution which made it impossible to modernize them to match current practices. In terms of technology, it was especially necessary to unify the customer part of the portal for all the European branches and to connect it to SAP and Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Also, the client needed a user-friendly, visual, responsive design, and options to further develop the portal.

It’s impossible to have a single person always representing and speaking on behalf of a client’s team and a contractor’s team. Currently, there are nine people on each side, and they work as a team. It’s about obliging each other to make the cooperation as effective as possible. And we’d like to scale this effectiveness to make our projects and development work better.

David Popelka

Manager IT Portal B2B Europe

Konica Minolta

The IT department needed a platform to use as a business application

We were invited to join the project as specialists on the Kentico platform. Konica Minolta needed a solution for the partner zone capable of working in 28 language versions all over Europe, with a huge emphasis on sustainability and further development. Given the original condition of individual portals, the client expected that the solution could be simply interconnected with both of the current ERPs.

The IT department chose the platform based on a number of comprehensive requirements; among other things, it had to be possible to use it for the .NET and Microsoft server environments, which Konica Minolta has been developing all its applications on for a long time. To a large extent, we cooperated with Cleverlance as consultants as well. The Konica Minolta’s IT department provided the assignment and expected results and we then did some assessments to see how to achieve them by developing the website and platform used.

We designed a portal that serves as a business and communication channel between our client and their customers

In the partner zone, customers can track and administer their orders, invoices, and obligations, and they can ask for on-site assistance. Once they log in, they can also access an e-commerce module with 150 thousand items in each country. Along with designing the solution, we tested the intuitive controls of the portal on a prototype and then came up with a graphical look for the entire system.
To a large extent, these steps determined whether the companies as well as end customers would find it easy to work with the partner zone. In terms of technology, we interconnected the portal with both the ERPs used, so the internal users can dynamically switch language versions, regardless of which system – either SAP or Microsoft Dynamics NAV – is being used.

PUXdesign delivers a part of the services provided to us by Cleverlance. The added value of the PUXdesign developers lies in their experience with big web and e-commerce projects and their senior level of knowledge not only in terms of technical solutions but also logical thinking. An ability to discuss and consult with any customer, not just us but for example the people from the business division.

David Popelka

Manager IT Portal B2B Europe

Konica Minolta

Our performance opened the door to a long-term working relationship

As our part of the entire job, we succeeded in launching the portal and several of its local versions for companies. Planning is in place to expand the websites to 28 European countries, including coverage for all brands. In total, this will mean delivering 56 websites for e-commerce purposes and 28 portal solutions for the branches that will adjust them to their business and local conditions. At the same time, it’s still a single application which can be more efficiently developed. We submit our outputs continuously and frequently to make sure the entire solution is sustainable and can be further extended.

In the future, the client counts on implementing regular updates and deploying requirements, including a section for B2C customers. Eventually, the portal would offer advanced user management, printer record keeping and management, an overview of reported data, status log for printers, ordering consumable products or repair services – all online. The aim is to build a single window into Konica Minolta for all types of customers.

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