Strategy

Hynds embarked on a transformative journey to digitalize its operations, focusing on enhancing customer experience and operational efficiency. The initiative was structured into three phases, each meticulously planned to manage change and introduce new capabilities seamlessly. The transition from paper to digital was managed with a customer-centric approach, ensuring each customer adapted comfortably to the new system.

Phase 1: MVP Development

The first phase involved creating a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) to lay the foundation for the new system. The core objective was to develop the MyHynds customer portal, allowing users to self-serve digitally. This portal provided access to crucial information such as invoices, product availability, and order updates, leveraging native APIs and new microservices built on top of Infor M3. A secure authentication system using Auth0 was implemented, and customers were empowered to manage user roles and permissions within the portal.

Key components of this phase included:

Setting up customer profiles and accounts.
Securing the system with Auth0 for authentication.
Providing digital access to essential documents and information.
Developing microservices to extract and display data from Infor M3.
Laying the groundwork for a robust microservice and API layer.

Phase 2: Enhancing Functionality

Building on the foundations, Phase 2 focused on expanding the portal's capabilities. This included the development of new microservices to facilitate quote and order processing and the ability to export invoices and statements into clients' financial systems for streamlined reconciliation. Additional features such as bulk ordering and support for parent-child account structures were also introduced.

Highlights of this phase:

Development of microservices for quotes and orders.
Exporting of Client’s financial documents.
Introduction of bulk ordering options.
Support for complex account structures.

Phase 3: Enriching Customer Experience

The final phase aimed at enhancing the digital customer experience by introducing an e-catalogue, enriched with content and imagery from Kontent.ai, and custom pricing features. An advanced search service powered by Algolia was implemented, enabling efficient navigation of the product catalogue. Additionally, a Content Gateway API was developed to control access to inventory and content, supporting third-party product development. An early proof of concept for a Shopify store was also introduced, catering to retail customers outside the traditional account framework.

Key achievements in this phase:

Launch of an e-catalogue with enhanced content.
Implementation of customer pricing within the portal.
Deployment of Algolia for advanced search capabilities.
Development of a Content Gateway API.

The deployment of the MACH platform has enabled Hynds to start planning a series of future projects aimed at:

new commerce solutions
near real-time inventory
manufacturing efficiency

The business is now able to test and validate new offerings quickly and run pilots in quick succession delivering significant business value and business-customer improvements.

Case Studies