CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

21 January 2010

Implementation Investments

Elfa International AB Makes a Big Investment in Online Services for Their Customers

Elfa International AB's upcoming interactive e-commerce solution is designed to support customers throughout the buying process, from inspiration to planning, ordering, and delivery. Customers can create their own storage solution based on their needs and style requirements with support from inspiring guides, selection help, and visualization in 3D.

The complete solution is delivered by Fiwe and is based on IBM's e-commerce solution WebSphere Commerce, the sales tool Tacton Configurator from Tacton Systems, a planning tool with real-time 3D from Animech Technologies, and user interface design by Deasign AB. Adobe Scene7 is also built into the solution to provide the dynamic environment image display.

"The choice of Fiwe, IBM, Tacton, Animech Technologies and Deasign is no coincidence. They are all specialists who quickly understood our complex issues and spoke our language. Their quality products and professional behavior attracted us and they offered possible solutions that no one else could. " says CIO Anette Alsteryd at ELFA International.

Elfa has developed into one of the world's leading suppliers in the segment of Storage, with products inspired by Scandinavian design and made from carefully selected materials. The range consists mainly of three flexible product lines: drawer systems, shelving systems, and sliding doors. These are combined into storage solutions both for home and public settings. Elfa now aim to significantly improve their online services with this project, and their vision is to be the most attractive and functional provider of storage solutions.

"Elfa’s visions and demands for simplifying product selection is timely, and the use of the Internet as a channel in combination with innovative 3D visualization techniques to reach customers will give us unprecedented opportunities to provide buying experiences that attract both consumers and professional customers and stimulate increased sales, "says Per von Mentzer, CEO of the Elfa Group.

The customer’s needs determine the possible selections of components. Accordingly, one of the most central parts of the solution is to provide a web-based planning tool integrated with the e-commerce solution, whereby the configurator guides the customer to a tailor-made solution which is dynamically visualized and significantly simplifies the customer´s purchase decision.

"As a result of a close collaboration between the solution providers with strong niche expertise, we are able to provide an exciting new interactive e-commerce solution that successfully manages customers’ increasingly advanced requirements, and which opens up a new market." says Anna Carlsson, Sales Manager for IBM WebSphere at IBM Sweden.

"Today's customers place increasingly demanding functional requirements on IT solutions, making it impossible for a single vendor to meet the entire range of specifications. The mission from Elfa is a good example of this. Through our partnership, in which our different specialties are used in an optimal way, we can offer a solution that meets all of the customers’ advanced demands and needs, "concludes Ralf Seimertz, CEO at Fiwe.

About Deasign AB

Deasign is a web agency with a focus on strategy, creation and user experience. The company has 35 employees in Sweden and Finland. Deasign are working with, among others, 3, Beckers, Boxer, Siemens, BRIS, La Redoute, MSN, Nokia, OKQ8 and Unilever.

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