Introduction of the Pimcore system for the interior brand VOX

The Group's continuous growth, innovative projects and focus on the introduction of new technologies to support business operations have led VOX Group to replace its product information management system with a more modern, flexible solution that is aligned with new business and functional requirements. The existing sophisticated PIM systems required increasing investment in maintenance and support. This had led to the need to find a more effective solution. The growth of the company and the development of new markets accelerated the decision to replace the technology and identify the opportunities to support the business with a modern PIM system.

After learning more about the possibilities through discussions with LemonMind, the decision was made to use Pimcore as a future-proof Product Information Management platform. As a result, Pimcore was selected as the key component of the product information lifecycle, tightly integrated into the company's complex IT environment. The goal was to use the Pimcore platform, as a central source for product data and as an integration hub for data sources and distribution channels.

VOX is a global brand that is constantly growing and therefore requires a highly flexible and scalable solution. To provide employees with a platform for efficient, error-free and ergonomic enrichment and maintenance of product data, only the Pimcore system was considered. Of great value to the customer is also the versatility of the system, which allows the management of all digital assets in a structured process and is able to integrate any number and type of data.

One of the first challenges was to analyze the product data structures, understand them and describe the existing data model, plan the process of developing and implementing the PIM system, and migrate the data from the existing data sources. The systems used for product information management at VOX Group operate in a tightly integrated environment where online exchange of product data is a critical process. The data migration process and the integration of the new system were therefore challenging and had to be carefully analyzed and planned. The process itself was planned to avoid any data unsynchronization and potential duplication, and to take into account the labor savings in maintaining the product database, including protection against duplicate tasks in parallel environments. 

Another important step was modeling product behavior in the product information management process. A major challenge was to optimize the data exchange process between systems, both between source channels and the Pimcore platform, and between Pimcore and distribution channels. The VOX Group operates globally, so it has a presence in many regions and products are published in different distribution channels. This required the ability to manage the publishing process per distribution channel and region. To facilitate the process, we developed a system based on publication flags for individual offerings. This made the work easier and much more intuitive. The entire infrastructure is located in a cloud environment (Google Cloud). Docker and Kubernetes form the basis for running the application here.

The Pimcore-based system implemented for VOX is the most technically advanced project implemented by LemonMind. The data about products and other objects comes from various sources, is cyclically synchronized with other systems, and is made available externally in various formats. The entire system is based on official packages created specifically for the implementation. A major challenge was to reduce as much as possible the time needed to synchronize the data provided to the Pimcore system, process it and store it in a new form, and to ensure high availability of this data for external VOX services. Thanks to a well-designed architecture, the time of some synchronizations was reduced by up to 90%. 

Mateusz Soroka - System Architect

Together with VOX, we formed a team that works agilely according to Scrum. A clear division of tasks and responsibilities was achieved in a short time, so that the work was very efficient. By creating a so-called proof of concept, we were able to assess whether the solution met the requirements and could be fully implemented. This approach allowed for quick feedback and accelerated the realization of the project. 

Wojciech Pietrak - Project Manager

The new Pimcore system was implemented in record time thanks to close collaboration between the VOX and LemonMind teams. The agile methodology formed the basis for the teams' collaboration during the implementation of the Pimcore system. The close collaboration enabled efficient work and rapid information sharing, making it easier to respond to challenges as they arose. This enabled the implementation of a highly personalized solution integrated into a complex IT infrastructure in a very ambitious timeframe for the size of the project.