Invelop is a B2B company specializing in packaging solutions. Historically successful in its niche, Invelop is now beginning its digital transformation journey. This overview describes the business context, challenges, goals, and the technical solution landscape for Invelop, providing a self-contained summary for both business and technical audiences.
Since 2007, Invelop has been an innovative, flexible, and quality-focused company, offering specialized products for businesses involved in goods packaging.
Pitch:
Invelop is a successful player in its B2B niche. The company recognizes the need to establish a digital presence but seeks to start with manageable steps rather than a large-scale commitment.
- Lack of Online Presence: Invelop needs to build an online presence to remain competitive.
- Product Data Fragmentation: Multiple versions of product information are sent to different customers, leading to errors and inefficiencies.
- Competitive Pressure: Competitors are building digital capabilities, and Invelop must keep pace.
- Revenue Stream Management: The company wants to explore new digital revenue streams without losing existing ones.
Business Need:
Invelop must move carefully into online commerce, balancing innovation with risk management.
- Centralize all product data in one accessible location for both customers and internal users.
- Prepare for future online commerce capabilities, including order and transaction processing via web channels.
A core requirement is an online product catalog accessible to customers, resellers, and internal sales representatives. The catalog supports both public and logged-in states, with registered users seeing more detailed information.
Key Features:
- Real-time, accurate product catalog
- Logged-in view with extended information and assortment
- Management of expired products
- Extended attribute information
- Used by customers, end customers, and internal sales for demos and configuration
Invelop continues to use a physical catalog, built from supplier data managed in Norce Commerce. The catalog supports cost-based pricing and other offerings.
Key Features:
- Catalog pricing managed in the PIM to ensure consistency
- Export of upcoming catalog prices from the PIM for publishing software
Large customers use their own procurement systems to send orders to Invelop's ERP via EDI. These customers may have dedicated product assortments and content.
Key Features:
- Special assortments and content for large customers
- Customer-specific pricing
A PIM tool centralizes all product information for enrichment and marketing.
Key Features:
- Rich user interface
- Custom workflows for data enrichment
- Reporting on missing or poor-quality data
- Product preview (with automatic online catalog launch)
- Automated import of new products from manufacturing systems
- Integration of third-party product data
- Automated translation workflows
The following diagram illustrates the main systems and their roles in the Invelop solution.
Diagram: Overview of the Invelop system landscape, showing relationships between catalog, PIM, ERP, manufacturing, translation, and procurement systems.
| Role | Description | Provider/Technology |
|---|---|---|
| Online catalog | Presentation app fetching product data from Norce. Used by guests, logged-in customers, and internal sales. | CMS: Umbraco |
| Physical catalog | Bi-yearly exports to publishing software. | Indesign |
| Product information management (PIM) | PIM system containing the full product catalog. | Norce PIM |
| ERP | Handles business operations and inventory information. | Business Central |
| Manufacturer system (PLM, PDM) | Provides product data from development systems, including BOM and manuals. | Plytix |
| Translation service | Integration with third-party translation provider. | Contentor |
| Reseller procurement systems | Large customers require catalog files with current prices and availability for their procurement systems. | Odoo and others |
Invelop is taking a structured, phased approach to digital transformation. By centralizing product data, integrating with key business systems, and enabling both online and physical catalogs, Invelop is preparing for future growth in digital commerce while maintaining control over its core business processes.