Packaging Environmental Sage X3 Integration
Packaging Environmental needed to move their ERP system from Sage 200 to Sage X3.
Services Used
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BACKGROUND
Having been purchased by Bunzl UK Ltd, Packaging Environmental needed to move their ERP system from Sage 200 to Sage X3. Because the Magento 2 ecommerce site was already integrated with the previous ERP system for order, customer, and stock data updates, the same level of connection was targeted for the new system. Due to other dependencies within the business, we were asked to deliver the integration within a short three month timescale - the project was delivered on time and on budget.
LIMITATION OF EXISTING SOLUTIONS
There were specific challenges around data structure which meant an off the shelf approach wouldn't work. We investigated the market for pre-existing Magento 2 to X3 integrations. Whilst some are advertised, they are either ‘codeless’ integrations via 3rd-parties, or bespoke code integrations.
Codeless solutions, or ‘middleware’ were not suitable due to introducing a dependency on a third-party, which would be a step backwards from the existing integration with Sage, which lay entirely within the control of the client.
BESPOKE DEVELOPMENT
Both the target X3 system and the current Magento 2 ecommerce site had been in production use for some time and accordingly had fairly major customisations in place, especially within X3.
Turnkey middlewares were unlikely to handle significant deviations from the usual connection process and business logic.While the format and structure for data at the Magento end was well-known, the data in X3 was still uncertain due to the integration project coinciding with the migration process from Sage 200 to X3 internally. That is to say, both projects were run simultaneously with the aim of finishing within the same timeframe to allow for rollout. It also became clear during the project that there were significant differences between how Magento 2 and X3 handles and processes orders, and especially customer addresses. In other words the business logic itself was uncertain.
OUR PROCESS
We conducted detailed iterative testing of scenarios which we wrote in conjunction with the client to cover the likely customer interactions and outcomes.
Another challenge was how to map and align the very different customer address structures in each system. There was a hard limit on how X3 could be altered due to the client being part of a much larger pre-existing X3 setup, so the changes had to made at the Magento end.. It was crucial that each address in Magento had an identifier which corresponded directly to the address in X3 so that duplicates were not created.
THE SOLUTION
Our integration provided the ability to integrate Magento 2 and Sage X3 so that order data, customer data, and inventory information such as pricing and stock levels, could flow in each direction between the two systems.
TESTIMONIAL
At the start of the project, Absolute Design were a great help in putting together a roadmap for the integration project with a detailed breakdown and process flow of how each part of the integration would be built by a combination of third-party modules and bespoke work.
In addition, Absolute Design created a detailed test plan consisting of various test scenarios, each outlined a by an easy-to-follow step-by-step process, and they assisted in conducting the more sophisticated test scenarios on our behalf. The knowledge and expertise they provided from start to finish helped streamline the planning, building, testing and implementation stages of the project’.
Marketing Manger, Packaging Environmental
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