Case Study: Cube
We are happy to give you an insight into how we have integrated synQup as an interface solution at the bicycle manufacturer Cube.
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About Cube
(The Cube brand was founded in Waldershof in the Fichtelgebirge in 1993. To this day, the bicycle manufacturer is owner-managed and has always remained true to its location in the Upper Palatinate, despite its steadily growing international success in over 60 countries.
The company’s product range is extremely diverse. It currently includes almost all bike and e-bike product types as well as an extensive collection of clothing and accessories. With more than 4,000 bikes produced per day, Cube brings more than 1 million bikes to retailers worldwide every year.
(Figures 01.07.2021 – 30.06.2022)
Challenge
Navigating the flow of growth
Constant expansion of the product range, increase in incoming orders, increase in the number of employees, in short: continuous growth. Sounds like every company’s dream, doesn’t it? Yes and no. In addition to the many positive effects, growth also means new challenges, especially for e-commerce. Above all, setting up and maintaining an optimized data strategy is a key task. Large volumes of data must not only be processed, but also ideally coordinated in order to ensure efficient processes.
The search for the perfect interface solution
For this reason, Cube was also looking for a flexible interface solution to link the large amount of data from the various internal data sources – especially the merchandise management system – with the new Shopware 6 online catalog. Due to the desire for flexibility, the iPaaS data integration platform synQup was ultimately chosen to implement the project in collaboration with Platinum integration partner elio.
Solution
Data integration with synQup
synQup is an iPaaS e-commerce data integration framework for networking different applications in complex IT system landscapes. As a holistic, flexible and scalable interface solution, synQup replaces individual interfaces between systems and merges all data streams into a single central data integration platform.
Consistent and automated data exchange
The middleware transforms a wide variety of data types from different data sources into the desired formats, resulting in consistent and automated data exchange. Specifically, synQup can be used to transfer all data such as product, category and customer data unidirectionally and bidirectionally between existing applications such as PIM, ERP, CMS, CRM and store systems.
Optimal data integrity and business process optimization with synQup
As a central data hub, synQup digitizes, synchronizes, integrates and automates existing data and thus ensures optimal data integrity – the basis for efficient e-commerce. Through networking and optimal data exchange between the relevant applications, synQup makes a significant contribution to optimizing its customers’ business processes. This made synQup the ideal partner for Cube.
The collaboration between synQup, elio and Cube
While elio was tasked with setting up the new Shopware 6 e-catalog for Cube, synQup was responsible for connecting it with the existing peripheral systems. Cube developed its own API in parallel in order to be able to act even more flexibly in its processes. synQup therefore had to react agilely and dynamically to changes in the two sub-projects “e-catalogue development” and “API development” throughout the entire project and ensure that all projects were driven forward in a harmonized manner.
Specific project requirements
In January 2022, the project started with a planning and workshop phase following various preliminary discussions. First, Cube defined the basic requirements they had for the synQup interface. These were extremely specific and individual – many cases deviated greatly from the Shopware standard, resulting in the generation of several custom entities. Thanks to its technical expertise and flexibility, the synQup team mastered this challenge perfectly and successfully implemented the customer’s wishes.
Result
A win-win-win situation for everyone involved
The e-catalog based on Shopware 6 went live in September 2022 – to the complete satisfaction of all parties. While Cube now benefits from efficient data management between the e-catalogue and other internal systems thanks to the use of synQup, Cube’s very specific requirements for data transfer have led to a number of optimizations and core enhancements in synQup itself. This also resulted in new features for elio as an integration partner, which could be used directly in other projects.
Long-term cooperation
Ultimately, Cube will also benefit from the use of synQup in the long term, as the modular structure of the middleware means that additional extensions can be added to the system at any time in the future. As a result, synQup will continue to support Cube Bikes in its expansion into digitalization and business automation and grow in line with the company’s e-commerce developments.
Efficient data management and individual functions for Cube
In addition to the successful API integration, synQup has also made further developments for Cube. For example, a special function for product launches was created, which contributes to efficient product releases by allowing Cube products to be maintained and checked in advance by setting up a preview system before they are available in the e-catalog. The individual developments mentioned above include special logic such as splitting a product data record with different size information into up to three separate products or combining product properties from different sources. The implementation of cross-selling information, the optimization of image management, the implementation of multi-cache locking as well as general performance and flow optimizations were also successfully realized by synQup in the course of the project.