How Wein Wolf automates e-commerce, PIM and DAM with No Code / Low Code from Synesty

The basis for a great customer experience is perfectly organized product information and a convincing product experience. As the number of products increases, external systems must be integrated to support them. Now it's a matter of getting them to communicate properly with each other so that the processes can run error-free, time-saving and automated. To realize these connections, the wholesaler for exclusive and international wines, spirits and champagne uses Synesty and saves valuable time in the end. Based on an interview with Ramin Movahed, Product Owner for E-Commerce and PIM at Wein Wolf, this case study investigated to what extent the middleware for connecting and automating Synesty represents a success factor for Wein Wolf.

The challenge

Linking systems that actually have no connection to each other.

As a wholesaler, Wein Wolf regularly has to deal with large volumes of product information: Hundreds of item numbers, each with countless attributes and images. Now add to that the fact that the product range can change quickly. New information arrives from producers and product information is passed on to customers and retailers, which must always be up-to-date. The delivery of product data is mapped via the PIM Akeneo. In addition, the ERP system SAP is used to support company-managing processes. At the same time, Wein Wolf has taken on the challenge of implementing its own online store with Shopware 6. All in all, these are three complex systems that are responsible for ensuring that the correct product data, prices and stocks end up in the online store and with the buyers and retailers.

This means that at the beginning of the journey with Synesty, Wein Wolf faces three key challenges that will determine the success of the company:

• Information comes in, which must be complete
• Information goes out, which has to be up-to-date
• Structures have to be created, linking the core systems in such a way that communication among them is possible and successful

The latter, in particular, presents the company with a major challenge. The individual systems are structured differently, work with different programming languages and each has different interfaces. Understanding this and converting the knowledge into structures that are useful for Wein Wolf was the most difficult hurdle.

Are you also faced with the challenge of establishing a connection between several systems that tick differently? Then contact us and together we will find the perfect solution for connecting your systems with Synesty.

The solution

Create API connections with Synesty

The more external systems are involved in the company's success, the more complex the management of these becomes. While in one place information is delivered, in another place exactly this information has to be entered. Communication between the individual systems is made possible with the help of interfaces (APIs). These APIs are, so to speak, the access points to the systems to get data in or out. Synesty in turn can connect the individual APIs with each other and automate the data transfer between them.

Synesty is our cloud middleware when it comes to API management!

Wein Wolf uses Synesty as so-called middleware to get all connections and information out of Akeneo. This is ensured via the Akeneo API and not via the respective user interface. Subsequently, this data can be forwarded to other systems.

Synesty provides a test environment for successful API management

To create successful API connections, the first step is to look at how individual systems work. The creation of service-oriented architectures requires a precise understanding of the individual components and their capabilities.

With the staging workspace (the so-called sandbox), Synesty enables a test environment within which, among other things, the individual systems can be tested. Ramin Movahed from Wein Wolf has worked with the APICall Step from Synesty. With the help of this it was quickly visible what exactly was delivered by the individual systems.

The finished flows could also be tested for plausibility in the staging workspace. Possible errors within the flows are then displayed in the event log of Synesty. As soon as the test by Ramin Movahed is successfully completed, the created contents of Staging Workspace can be copied or moved to another workspace in order to use it productively.

Facilitate team communication with the help of visualizations

With Synesty, processes can be created and tested visually. The representation is based on so-called flow charts or flow diagrams. This enables Ramin Movahed in the role of the developer to clearly show the processes.

With the help of boxes and arrows, the individual step groups (process chains) can be linked in the first step. This representation illustrates complex processes and ideas and also simplifies communication within the team. Thanks to the visualization, non-technical people develop a better understanding of internal company processes and simplify communication with each other.

The results

Faster understanding of systems and their API design

The understanding of the individual systems generated via the staging workspace facilitates the subsequent setting up of processes or flows. As a result, Wein Wolf was able to overcome the hurdle of creating such processes more quickly and more easily build up an understanding of the individual systems and their API design. The visualization possibilities in Synesty also contribute to a faster understanding of possible processes, even for non-technical people. Thus, Synesty has also provided for improved communication within the team.

The fact that there is a system in the middle, which can connect and understand two different systems, is just great.

Working on two different workspaces (Staging Workspace & Productive Workspace) makes it easier for Ramin Movahed to build and maintain processes. While it is possible to test within the Staging Workspace without touching working flows, these very active flows are protected in the Productive Workspace.

Improving everyday work by marrying up different systems

Understanding different technologies as well as how they might work together is the basic prerequisite for actually marrying them together.

With the help of Synesty, we have connected two systems that basically have nothing to do with each other at all.

The process modeling, which is possible with Synesty, is the biggest improvement that Wein Wolf can register in its daily work. Even the smallest activities, which in total cost the company a lot of time, can be optimized with Synesty. Within one hour a process was created which automates the processing of invoices of a parcel delivery company. The invoices no longer have to be downloaded manually from the FTP server, but are sent regularly by e-mail to the respective responsible persons.

This optimization succeeds so well mainly for one reason: Ramin Movahed sees the need in the team and can implement it himself within a very short time. Using Synesty is easy and there is no need to write 1000 lines of code with several developers. Thanks to the user-friendly interface and the ready-made flows and interfaces, Ramin Movahed alone is able to model the processes for Wein Wolf as an expert in the team.

Better management of product data

The result of using Synesty at the end of the process is optimized product data management and improved data quality. As a wholesaler, it is essential for Wein Wolf to have access to complete and up-to-date data on the products. This includes, for example, the grape variety or its composition, the place where the wine was aged, the residual sweetness, the alcohol content, and much more. These data are necessary for further sales to the customers. With Synesty, the query of this data from the winemakers could be automated, which perfected the data set as well as the management of the abundance of data sets.

Incorrectly or incompletely filled out excel sheets are now a thing of the past. Today Synesty established a connection between the PIM of Wein Wolf and the Wine and Beverage Information Network of the company Euvino. Euvino has made it its business to collect product data from the wine and beverage industry worldwide. Wein Wolf can now use this data through the digital connection. Thus, the articles are created in the ERP, the empty article master is sent to the PIM and the product manager is now responsible for filling the article with product data. This can be done manually or via an automated query from the wine and beverage information network. In the second case, Synesty requests the product data from the winemaker himself via the network in the form of an API call. The winemaker then transmits the requested data to the network. During this time Synesty automatically queries Akeneo every 30 minutes to see if there is new data for this article from the network. If the query is successful, the product data is modeled with the mapper so that it in turn matches with Wein Wolf's PIM system.

The conclusion of Wein Wolf

Synesty enables Wein Wolf to build up a complex IT structure without having any programming knowledge. The programming of interfaces is completely omitted for the user. Instead, prefabricated Add-Ons as well as possible Freemaker instructions allow to build customized solutions without expert knowledge.

Synesty builds on my technical knowledge as a business information scientist and facilitates the implementation of processes for me. [...] The manual of Synesty is formulated mega well. Whenever I got stuck, I used the forum. If it became too complex, I still had the possibility to write a ticket and Synesty took care of it quickly.

The time saved in setting up the structures for automated data transfer with the help of test environments was essential for Wein Wolf. On the basis of these structures, manual processes for checking faulty product data records can also be eliminated and valuable time saved. In addition, the ability to visualize complex ideas of processes simplifies internal communication and provides more understanding throughout the team. At the same time there is an increase within the quality of the required product data for the wholesaler.

Find out more about the ready-made add-ons for connecting external systems and create valuable synergies in your company as well. This way to the add-ons: https://synesty.com/de/pricing/

Video: How Wein Wolf GmbH automates their complex system landscape with Synesty.

In the context of Syncday 2023, we were allowed to record a captivating presentation by Ramin Movahed, the Product Owner of Wein Wolf GmbH. In this video he impressively presents how the company uses our software to automate their complex system landscape step by step.

To the video clip

About Wein Wolf

Wein Wolf GmbH is a distributor and wholesaler for exclusive and international wines, spirits and champagne in the B2B sector. With 40 years of market experience, Wein Wolf is a leader in the premium segment and a renowned partner of top restaurateurs, specialist retailers and the food trade.