Techdebt: A new extranet is needed!

This project involves replacing an extranet that is over 15 years old. The monolithic architecture is being replaced and "Techdebt" abolished.

In this case study, you can find out how we proceeded at FEGIME Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG and why workshops and close coordination with the customer's project team are very important for the success of the project.

Who is FEGIME Deutschland GmbH & Co KG?

The abbreviation "FEGIME" stands for "Fédération Européenne des Grossistes Indépendants en matériel électrique" (European Federation of Independent Electrical Wholesalers).

FEGIME Deutschland GmbH & Co KG (FEGIME) is made up of around 45 family-run electrical wholesalers. FEGIME Deutschland was formed over decades through mergers of medium-sized market communities. The first association was founded in 1958.

The shareholders have a turnover of around 2.4 billion euros (2023) in Germany and are represented at over 160 locations. FEGIME's head office is located in Nuremberg and employs around 60 people. These are made up of marketing specialists, master electricians, business people and IT specialists.

Beyond Germany, FEGIME is networked in the FEGIME Group with more than 260 other family businesses and wholesalers from 20 European and South American countries.

FEGIME in figures (highlights)

1958

Founding year

Family business as shareholder (as at 2024)

3.500

Employees

2,4

Turnover of shareholders in € billion (2023)

What exactly does FEGIME do?

FEGIME is a market community for electrical wholesalers - mostly family businesses or wholesalers - that centralizes important services in order to reduce costs for its members and achieve a joint positioning on the global market. The core topics are purchasing, marketing and IT.

For example, FEGIME Deutschland GmbH offers its shareholders the option of networking with its systems in order to automatically update the article master. With the help of a central EDIFACT solution, invoices, orders, order confirmations and shipping notifications can be exchanged with suppliers and customers in a paperless process. This provides the shareholders with a state-of-the-art merchandise management system and an online store in the shareholder design. The system is based on Europe's largest database for electronic products with around four million articles.

The cooperation with FEGIME is intended to establish IT standards and drive forward the digitalization of the shareholders. In doing so, FEGIME relies on creativity and impetus for further development.

Through the FEGIME Group, FEGIME Germany is connected to 18 other market communities, which are organized into 19 national communities. The focus is on Europe and South America.

Techdebt: A 15-year-old extranet needs to be replaced!

FEGIME approached us about our EURO Building Materials Case Study in 2023. After initial discussions about FEGIME's previous extranet and our experience in implementing individual customer requirements, we were able to convince FEGIME to hold an on-site workshop with us in Nuremberg. These workshops are particularly important for new projects in order to precisely understand the requirements and prepare an appropriate offer.

Before the workshop, we already knew that a tried-and-tested, old extranet, which had been developed in-house, was to be replaced. The previous extranet was based on a monolithic architecture and was already 15 years old. Over the years, many functions had been developed, some of which were no longer needed. The user interface (UI) had also become outdated.

Long loading times, a confusing, historically evolved menu navigation and an outdated search function made daily work more difficult for FEGIME employees and shareholders. In addition to technical and user problems, it also became apparent that the developers of the extranet would be retiring in the foreseeable future and that a transfer of knowledge would have to take place. FEGIME's "Techdebt" had become too big. It was clear to everyone involved that a new solution had to be developed.

Off-the-shelf solutions were out of the question due to the many individual functions that had to be retained. The new extranet had to fulfill the following clear objectives:

Centralized information management
Efficient communication (internal, external)
Strict legal system to meet regulatory requirements (antitrust law)
The core values of FEGIME should be reflected in the new extranet
Structured document management
Cost reduction through simpler processes and scaling
An intuitive design with optimized UI and UX that simplifies working with the extranet

Techdebt: A 15-year-old extranet needs to be replaced!

Until now, the old extranet was often only used because it was required for certain tasks of the market community. This should change fundamentally. Users should enjoy using the new extranet and see it as a tool that makes their everyday work easier.

After our workshop in Nuremberg, we had a good feeling for both the project and the customer FEGIME in terms of the requirements and core values, and in return we were able to communicate our values and focus on open source and individual development very well. With the knowledge gained, we were able to prepare an offer for a new extranet.

The new extranet - From the MVP to the new extranet

Already in the first workshop, in which the project was introduced and the requirements for an offer were clarified, it quickly became clear to everyone that a lot of conceptual work was necessary in the first phase to reduce the complexity of an extranet that had grown over 15 years and to determine which functions had to be retained, removed or rethought.

To do this, the processes of FEGIME and its shareholders must be efficiently recorded and evaluated. punkt.de GmbH has a great deal of experience in these areas. Together with our partner agency for design, UI & UX ("made in"), we have been conducting standardized workshops for this purpose for years. We guided FEGIME and the shareholders to think about their own processes and integrate them into the new extranet in a meaningful way in order to achieve the above-mentioned goals.

Parallel to the conceptual work with the individual departments (suppliers, purchasing, marketing, IT, etc.), the new technological basis was established.

The new front end is being implemented with React. For the complex authorizations, which also have to meet the regulatory requirements of antitrust law, we rely on the TYPO3 authorization system, which has proven to be very reliable and efficient in many projects.

The path to the new extranet led via an MVP, which was then to be expanded step by step (continuous relaunch). In addition, a "soft launch" was agreed for the new extranet to make it easier to get used to. During this phase, the old and new extranet will run in parallel until all functions are available on the new extranet. This increases acceptance of the new extranet.

Project success through agile working

At punkt.de GmbH, we rely on agile project management and development for our projects. Not all customers are able to cope with this way of working right from the start. The customer must actively and continuously communicate with us about the progress of the project in dailies and jour fixes. This is the only way to work efficiently and lead the project to success.

This way of working makes it possible to make quick adjustments to new requirements without jeopardizing the overall project plan. This worked extremely well with the FEGIME project team. The customer is also very open to new technologies and approaches. This is an essential part of the success of this project.

Partners at eye level!

In a project with many stakeholders, e.g. shareholders, it is important that the agency and client pull together, drive the project forward internally and act together, in addition to very efficient, agile collaboration. For us as an agency, this also meant supporting the client at internal events with its shareholders. Over the last few years, a very cooperative relationship has developed between us as an agency and the FEGIME project team.

Continuous relaunch - step by step to the new extranet

In the first phase, the focus of the new extranet was on the so-called "purchasing area", an important core area with a range of complex functions. Based on this area, further areas are now being developed step by step.

Together with our partner agency madein, which is responsible for the design and UI/UX, and the customer's IT service provider, "Geneon", we are driving the new extranet forward and thus also deepening the partnership.