View Case StudyIndustry: Manufacturing
Product: BEA WebLogic Server® and BEA WebLogic Portal®
Business process challenge: To create a flexible, scalable e-business system enabling customers to exchange technical and business information about products.
BEA Solution: Tailor-made system based on BEA WebLogic Portal® and Intel®, developed by Triaton, harmonizes data sources to meet the challenge of up-to-date online customer information.
Why BEA: In a feasibility study, Triaton showed BJB that BEA WebLogic Portal was a very good candidate that could be applied and customized without great effort to fulfill the BJB requirements.
Highlights
Germany-based BJB has subsidiaries in Europe and the other continents. Its business is the worldwide supply of equipment for the lighting and domestic appliance industries. BJB is a privately owned German company with approximately 1,000 employees.
In planning its development strategy, BJB wanted to make use of e-business for the benefit of its customers. They recognized the need for each customer to be in the position to exchange technical and business information about products. The technological foundation of this e-Commerce solution would have to be state-of-the-art, as well as flexible and scalable, to meet changing requirements and deliver further capabilities.
Triaton designed and implemented the BJB web site to include the following components and functions: international presentation of BJB, product catalogue including a search engine, shopping basket, download of documents (technical descriptions and CAD drawings), printing, tailor-made lean content management system, connection to the ERP system, administration, login, personalization and tracking.
One of the major challenges was to harmonize the product data and their sources. Another key issue was the need to develop a lean content management system.
BJB's worldwide customers now have access to general information about BJB and BJB's products in multiple languages. Customers can search for products and their features via hierarchies, categories and subjects. Authorized and authenticated customers can download detailed technical descriptions and CAD drawings to optimize the product development process. Until now, these customers used printed catalogues or catalogues on CD and communicated with BJB by mail, telephone, fax or e-mail.
The system has delivered great benefit to its customers. Information about the product portfolio, including innovations and new products, is now available quickly and easily. BJB can also respond more swiftly to customer requirements. There is streamlined handling of business processes between BJB and its customers. For example, detailed technical information such as CAD drawings can be sent to authorized and authenticated customers to optimize the product development process. Other advantages include the tailor-made content management system, the fact that product data presentation is harmonized, and integration with the ERP-system. The solution fulfills all of BJB's requirements from the head office to the subsidiaries. Moreover, the web site is well received and appreciated by BJB customers.