A B2B PORTAL FOR THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR: HOW MEDIENWERFT BRINGS DIGITAL INNOVATIONS ONTO THE FIELD
Agriculture has long been a highly technological industry segment, one that requires smart online offerings to stay competitive in terms of efficiency, communication and process control. For Maschinenfabrik Bernard Krone GmbH & Co. KG, Medienwerft has developed a B2B-Portal which bundles together the offers from the agricultural machinery specialist.
CLIENT
Bernard Krone Holding SE & Co. KG
PROJECT DURATION
3 months
EXPERTISE
- Agile working
- Conception
- UX/UI DESIGN
TECHNOLOGIES
Innovative, competent and customer-oriented – these are the criteria that distinguish the philosophy of the Krone family business. Starting as a simple smithy, over 110 years Maschinenfabrik Bernard Krone GmbH & Co. KG grew to its current size. The business now exports to over 40 countries around the world. As a forage harvesting specialist, Krone manufactures disc mowers, tedders, hay rakes, forage wagons and other load-transport vehicles, round balers and big balers, as well as the self-propelled Big M (high-capacity mower conditioner) and the BiG X forage harvester.
THE TASK
CONSOLIDATING THE EXISTING OFFERING
From the purchase and management of high-grade innovative agricultural machinery to training and telematic services, to various supplementary ecommerce offers, Maschinenfabrik Bernard Krone GmbH & Co. KG previously presented its customers from the agricultural sector with various products, services and offerings across a range of different websites.
While appearing logical at first glance, in practice this level of specialisation brings disadvantages: customers who make use of a number of the company’s services were constantly switching between different websites.
For greater comfort, efficiency and to save time, a more intelligent solution was desired, one that would meet the needs of all target groups.
In cooperation with the client, affiliated IT service providers and a highly motivated team of specialists, Medienwerft developed a B2B portal, which took into account the interests of all participants. The B2B portal is optimised for use on mobile devices, intelligent and easily accessed by users with a single login.
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OUR SOLUTION
ONE B2B PORTAL FOR ALL SERVICES
In close consultation with all project participants, Medienwerft developed a concept for navigation, page infrastructure and design, which pooled all the highly efficient offerings of Maschinenfabrik Bernard Krone GmbH & Co. KG together.
The goal: With a single login, users must be able to access familiar and new services, applications and information – previously distributed across individual B2B shops and platforms – on a single B2B portal.
Special focus was given here to a consistent interaction and brand experience as well as the option of using Krone’s fairly complex offerings simply and easily on mobile devices.
THE CHALLENGE
INTELLIGENTLY BUNDLING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES AND SAVING TIME
One of the biggest challenges of the project was using the existing online offerings in an efficient way, networking their features in an overarching interaction and data management concept, and offering a consistent user experience irrespective of the end device being used.
In this way, a solution was needed that, for example, enabled simultaneous access to decentralised services, company offerings and supplementary functions, without any loss to performance or security. As such, it was necessary to use middleware, which bundled various back-end sources and synchronised them.
An interesting project: Starting with the principles of creating added value and focusing on the user, a solution was developed that brought a previously separate and heterogeneous system landscape together on a single platform.
FOCUSING ON USER EXPERIENCE
FARMERS, DEALERS AND AGRICULTURAL CONTRACTORS ARE THE CUSTOMER, NOT THE IT DEPARTMENT
What does a farmer who would like to work more efficiently with large machinery during the forage harvesting season need? What monitoring capacities does an agricultural contractor use when planning their fleet?
More information
MOBILE FIRST
UNDERSTANDING THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT
In the driver’s cab of a high-capacity harvester, critical decisions are being made ever more frequently via tablet. In this respect, during the further development of cross-application navigation,
mobile operation of the complex portal is crucial. Just such a navigation system was developed and the services now feature interfaces that can easily be operated from the cab of a large harvester.
HETEROGENEOUS TEAM
AGILE WORKING
For a project like the mykrone.green B2B portal, flexible project organisation was a logical choice. Together with the client and affiliated IT service providers, we used agile methods to work closely together in a mixed team while nonetheless retaining a degree of self-organisation.
Within a short time we had created the first drafts in workshops and scribble sessions. The development of the B2B platform was executed as a complete scrum project across a manageable number of sprints.
CONCLUSION
LIKE A SWISS ARMY KNIFE – THE MYKRONE.GREEN B2B PORTAL
Taking stock of the tasks assigned to us and the results of our collective work, we are proud of what we have achieved. With the mykrone.green B2B portal, we have combined two web shop systems with one another, integrated applications for the management and maintenance of individual machines through to complex fleets, and realised training offers as well as comprehensive data management, including the real-time transfer of machine data to smartphone, tablet and PC.
mykrone.green offers makes all the services of the Krone world accessible to users on a single account. With just one login, farmers, dealers and agricultural contractors can plan and go about their daily work routines in a way that is simple, quick and user friendly. In order to introduce existing customers to the new developments, a landing page was created, which visually presented all of the new content and features of the B2B portal, and further consolidated the Krone brand experience.
After the go-live in mid November 2019, the system was presented at Agritechnica Hanover, the world’s largest farming machinery fair. Users were particularly impressed with the comfort of the intuitively designed business platform and the time savings it generated.
CUSTOMER FOCUS IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS
Innovative, competent and customer-oriented – these are the criteria that distinguish the philosophy of our business. By consolidating our individual customer services in the platform mykrone.green, we are adhering to these guiding principles in a contemporary way. Medienwerft has contributed a great deal to the implementation of mykrone.green and the e-solutions shop. They have given our systems a unique character and created an entirely new and fresh Krone experience for our customers – this has been very well received. In addition, we were able to considerably reduce the duration of the development thanks to the use of agile project methods. This is how cooperation works today!
CONTACT
„When you’re looking for new perspectives on the development of your process or transaction-oriented online platforms, my team and I will be happy to advise you. I look forward to getting to know you.“
Managing Director
HENDRIK VAN LAATEN
Tel.: +49 40 / 31 77 99-0
E-Mail: info@medienwerft.de