Target group-orientated multi-domain platform
As an international construction and engineering company, the BAUER Group is active worldwide. The global coordination of messages and content was made very difficult by a very heterogeneous website landscape. They wanted a tool that would allow them to have a centralised influence on basic information, but at the same time could also act as an effective means of online marketing locally.
Our work for the group therefore began with the desire for an effective tool for the central editorial team. The aim was to enable them to quickly create and maintain suitable content for the individual websites of the subsidiaries and product pages. It was important for us to create a convincing user experience throughout the group. After all, up-to-dateness and target group-orientation on all BAUER websites are essential for good global cooperation and the development and introduction of innovations. The user interface had to guarantee optimal user guidance and a new system architecture had to significantly improve the editorial workflows.
Cross-platform user experience
Providing the BAUER Group's customers in the Specialised Civil Engineering, Machinery and Resources divisions with targeted information requires a centralised content management system for the international websites that offers maximum flexibility for the needs of the individual divisions. Our solution should not only promote global online marketing, but also convey BAUER's corporate image in terms of design, content and user-orientation. We also focussed on the brand presence in the current corporate design.
Editors can quickly edit pages and elements using content from the construction kit. Modules for the corporate design help to strengthen the BAUER brand worldwide.
Thanks to multi-domain technology, the system is easily scalable: any number of websites can be set up and operated. Additional features and elements can be added at any time and stored centrally for all websites. Individual content can be shared within the entire system, which makes editorial work very convenient. At the same time, the company enables its international subsidiaries to conduct regionally effective online marketing. BAUER can thus react to short-term changes in the business environment or to changes in technological conditions. The platform model also creates synergies in the long term, as only one system needs to be maintained and further developed. This saves follow-up costs and relieves the overall budget.
Customised concept and implementation
Based on a management summary, which we created as a guideline for the subsequent project steps, we realised the website using the user-centred design method. All stakeholders were involved right from the start, which is important for later acceptance. When planning the system architecture, we followed the open ‘best-in-class’ approach, in which the optimal IT components are connected in an interface-based (API-driven) architecture. In this way, the company can continue to use its existing applications and add extensions and services.
In the first version, we realised the web platform as an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), which already included the most important core functions and served as the basis for the subsequent expansion stages. In this way, user feedback could be obtained at an early stage and the platform could be further developed and optimised - with immediate added value for target groups and stakeholders.
In the B2B environment in particular, it is important to address the target groups through efficient user guidance. Based on analyses of user behaviour, we optimised the location and guidance to content. The new platform combines current design forms with an optimised user experience across the various websites and clearly stands out from the previous website.
Global target group communication
With its multidomain platform, the BAUER Group is now using a customised software solution based on open source that will become the ‘place to go’ for all stakeholders. Together with the Group website www.bauer.de, the websites of the three main companies in BAUER's business segments have been launched as a first step, with numerous individual websites to follow. The global platform will accompany the company on its innovative journey as a flexible, future-proof tool.
The objective of setting up a multi-domain platform for our company with different business areas was challenging. With their technical and professional expertise, the UEBERBIT team offered us the right solutions to successfully implement the project.
Global Platform
Drupal
Construction and mechanical engineering
