Innovative Digital Experience Solutions with ELKA

ELKA-Torantriebe, a leading manufacturer of barrier systems and gate drives, has been synonymous with quality, reliability, and innovation for over 40 years. Based in Tönning, Germany, ELKA’s experienced team, with many members boasting over 20 years of service, consistently delivers customized solutions tailored to customer and market demands.

The project involved the comprehensive relaunch of ELKA’s website and the development of a B2B online shop. Additionally, the implementation of a PIM system was required for centralized product data management, along with the integration of an online configurator. The existing ERP system also needed to be seamlessly integrated. 

ELKA provides a wide range of high-quality products in numerous variants to a specialized global trade audience. The key challenge was adapting the website, B2B online shop, PIM system, and online configurator to meet the unique needs of the company and its diverse customer base. The project’s complexity was amplified by the need to develop and integrate the configurator, ensuring seamless communication between all systems involved.

Pimcore

ELKA leverages Pimcore as the central hub for managing website content, product data, and digital assets across its online shop and configurator.

The new B2B online shop and website relaunch were built on Pimcore’s powerful data and experience management platform.

Based on the comprehensive CMS functionalities of Pimcore, numerous individual customizations were implemented. Some of the features implemented in this project include: 

• Enhanced CMS Functionality: Custom elements like a shopping cart integrated directly into product detail pages.
  
  
• Online Configurator Integration: Developed in partnership with GROW partner redhotmagma, the React-based configurator is seamlessly integrated into the shop and connected to the PIM system.
  
  
• Spare Parts Search: Customers can quickly find the right spare parts by entering a serial number, with information on installation location included.
  
  
• Advanced Download Area: Users can access Pimcore-managed documents related to ELKA products as well as login-protected documents from the existing service center. 
  
  
• Custom Pricing Logic: Individual prices and discounts are managed through a separate pricing logic, with data retrieved from the ERP system.
  
  
• Product Filters: ELKA maintains customizable product filters within Pimcore
  
  
• ERP Integration: Orders, including complex configurations, are directly transferred to the ERP system with detailed production instructions.
  
  
• Digital Asset Management: Images and documents for the online shop are managed via Pimcore DAM.
  
  
• Configurator Logic: The online configurator’s complex logic is fully mapped in Pimcore.
  
  
• At launch, the system managed around 1,000 products, 40,000 data objects and 2,500 assets, with data exchanged seamlessly between Pimcore and the connected ERP system.

Online configurator

To enhance support for dealers and sales partners at the point of sale, an online configurator was integrated into ELKA’s shop. This tool offers extensive customization options for various ELKA products, enabling users to tailor configurations to their specific needs. 

The configurator was custom-built to handle the complexity of ELKA’s product range and the numerous configuration dependencies. It seamlessly exchanges data with the shop, ensuring that individual prices, discounts, and delivery times are accurately reflected in each configuration.

orderbase.ai

Despite having a customer portal and online configurator, around 90% of ELKA's orders continued to arrive via email — for example, for custom OEM products, call-off orders, and automated orders from customers' ERP systems. Roughly 60% of sales capacity was still going toward manually processing these documents into order confirmations.

With orderbase.ai, basecom developed an AI-powered solution for ELKA that automates the processing of these unstructured incoming orders. The process runs in five steps: an incoming order  via email, PDF, free text, image, or spreadsheet automatically generates a ticket in Jira. A language model reads the document and extracts customer, product, and quantity data. The extracted data is matched in real time against master data from the ERP and PIM systems. For each detected line item, the system calculates a confidence score: at 80% and above, a draft order is automatically created in the ERP system, and the returned ERP ID is logged in the ticket. For a score between 50% and 80%, the item is reviewed by sales; below 50%, it's processed entirely manually. Once complete, the ticket is closed automatically and sales is notified. The architecture is modular and can be extended with additional systems in the workflow.

UX & UI

The new ELKA website stands out for its exceptional design quality, featuring a clear, modern aesthetic. Both the website and the online shop are designed not just for visual appeal, but also for consistent, user-centric functionality.

UI Services

• Developed a cohesive online CI, including fonts, colors, icons, and buttons, based on the existing website
• Created a comprehensive screen design using a mobile-first approach
• Designed the interface for the online configurator

UX services

• Conducted a target group analysis workshop
• Developed user-centered wireframes for the online configurator
• Addressed complex requirements and dependencies through thoughtful design
• Ensured user-friendly and intuitive operation across both mobile devices and desktop

Our collaboration with ELKA was marked by a strong and cooperative partnership. The ambitious web project is a prime example of digital transformation in the B2B sector, with comprehensive technical solutions developed, integrated, and implemented using agile methodologies. The result is a compelling showcase of innovation and efficiency.

We are excited to continue our partnership with ELKA and provide ongoing support for the project’s future development.

Founded in 1979 as a family business, ELKA has steadily grown into a global leader. Today, the company operates from a 5,000 square meter facility, exporting its products to over 80 countries worldwide. By continually expanding and modernizing its production facilities, ELKA remains committed to delivering innovative, high-quality solutions for the future.