B2B in the lighting industry

Mr Schieferdecker, could you please introduce yourself briefly?

My name is Sascha Schieferdecker and I've been working as a software developer/product

Product Manager at INOTEC. I am a certified TYPO3 developer and integrator and worked for a long time in an IT system house, where we implemented extensive and complex projects with TYPO3.

At INOTEC, my tasks include developing administrative software for our devices, advising my colleagues on web-based GUIs and providing technical support for our TYPO3-based homepage.’

How did the project start for you? What was the initial situation?

‘It started with making the presentation of the products on our TYPO3-based homepage more flexible. We were already using an interface based on ProCAT, but wanted more freedom in working with the data. In addition, INOTEC also has partner companies and agencies abroad that do not offer all of our products, but only partial quantities or sometimes work with other components.
For the distribution of structured data, xom was the obvious choice.’

More freedom when working with product data

And what specific goals were to be achieved?

‘The aim was to create a flexible module for our homepage in which editors of the CMS can decide for themselves which products should be displayed where and how - and thus make the products more accessible. We wanted to be able to change data structures and query mechanisms ourselves.’

Flexibility in dealing with data structures and query mechanisms

Realisation in a few working weeks

How was the project then implemented and how much working time was invested?

"Das Projekt wurde durch uns selbst umgesetzt, die Programmierung der TYPO3 Extension und Anpassungen an Merkmalen in xmedia via JavaScript habe ich übernommen. Das Layout wurde hausintern gestaltet. Die Kommunikation verlief daher auf kurzem Wege.

Das Projekt hat dann von meiner Seite ca. 6 Arbeitswochen an reiner Arbeitszeit in Anspruch genommen, die Grafik lag wie gesagt zu großen Teilen schon vor. In xmedia mussten einige Merkmale für unsere speziellen Anforderungen an die Filterung nach Zielmärkten erweitert werden, hier fiel auch noch einmal ca. 1 Arbeitswoche an Arbeit an. Für die Pflege der Produktdaten in xmedia hat mein Kollege auch ca. 1 Arbeitswoche an Arbeit investiert."

Convenient access to your own product data

You said you wanted more freedom when working with your product data. What results did the project deliver?

‘As a result, we successfully converted the existing ProCAT interface to xom. Using a TYPO3 extension, you can now conveniently select which products are output in the CMS. The target markets of the products are taken into account in the output.

In our company, we can now access our products via a convenient REST API. No specialised technical knowledge is required. A developer can fall back on an established standard and results are achieved quickly. We can now implement changes to our data structures ourselves.’

Unlimited further processing of product data

With this experience, what would you recommend to other companies with similar challenges?

‘xom is a good choice for creating interfaces to in-house product data. Thanks to standards such as REST, there are no limits to the goals for further processing the data. In addition to a website, the target can also be an app or any other system. This allows the data to be used sensibly within the company.

 For us, the complexity of the project was not the technology of the xom interface, but mapping our structures that are necessary for our products and markets. To do this, you have to know our products and requirements well. xom provides the necessary technical basis for this, which is why we were able to do a lot in-house. xmedia, the basis of our product data management, serves as a prerequisite for the consistent availability of our product data. Further integration of the data into other systems is planned for the future.

If you don't have the appropriate developer expertise in-house, you can use standards such as REST to access a large pool of agencies with the relevant skills.’