Rhenus
Group
Revitalizing lead generation, emphasizing customer centricity, and enhancing the image of the leading global logistics service provider with a fresh and innovative development approach.
Overview
What we did
for our customer
The Rhenus Group is one of the leading logistics service providers for individual solutions along its customers' supply chains. We have completely redeveloped and harmonized the Rhenus Group's global web presence, including 75 country websites and 50 microsites for individual business units. We are also continuing to work together on actively developing the web presence and digitalizing various business processes.
Project Highlights
- over 75 country websites
- over 50 micropages
- countless landing pages
- lead management with over 1,400 forms and CRM connection
- career pages including job board with interface to HR system
- website search and newsroom based on Solr
- trade fair communication platform
- expert blog with podcast functions for logistics community
- digitalization of individual business areas
- authorization concept & training for over 260 editors
- sophisticated deployment strategy with documentation and automated tests
- consulting services, proactive further development and ongoing support services
Services
concept, consulting, design, development, system integration, training
Industry sector
logistics
Customer since
2019
Customer
Progressive
Tradition
The Rhenus Group is one of the leading logistics service providers operating worldwide with an annual turnover of 8.6 billion euros. 39,000 Rhenus employees are represented at 1,120 locations. With its focus on digital logistics solutions and over 110 years of company history, Rhenus combines tradition with forward thinking. We support the Rhenus Group in building its digital presence of the future.
Challenge
A strong web presence
despite complexity
With an extensive TYPO3 system in version 6.2, consisting of over 10,000 content pages and numerous individual extensions, Rhenus was faced with the challenging task of finding a competent partner for the upcoming update and ongoing further development. The Rheinschafe were able to prevail against strong competition in a challenging pitch by scoring points with a customized concept that promised quick wins and impressed with our in-depth technical expertise. This partnership, which is based on equality and mutual trust, marked the beginning of a new era in Rhenus' digital development.
Discover
In order to precisely capture the true requirements, we initiated a comprehensive, global communication process in cooperation with other partners. This process included dialog with employees, customers and other key stakeholders. Through a series of carefully organized workshops, detailed interviews and in-depth analyses, we were able to gain valuable insights.
This information served as a solid foundation for the planned relaunch and ensured that all stakeholder needs and expectations were taken into account.
Design
The idea for a new Rhenus Group website emerged during the conception phase. At the same time, we developed a fresh strategy for all country websites, landing pages and microsites, based on a modular building block system. This concept enabled a gradual and structured integration of pages from the old system into the new one. The speed of the changeover was determined by the local contact persons.
To ensure a smooth transition, a detailed transfer concept was drawn up and agreed in advance, which served as a guideline for the entire process.
Develop
At the beginning of the project, we first carried out several security updates in the original system to guarantee secure operation during the relaunch process. The project was then implemented in iterative phases, which were carefully planned and executed: concept, design, technical implementation, editing, testing, optimizations and training.
To ensure optimal scalability, we distributed the work among up to three teams per project. Transparency towards central marketing was ensured through regular jour fixe meetings and the use of shared systems.
At the beginning of 2020, we reached an important milestone: the new Rhenus Group website went online as an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
Deliver
Following the successful launch of the multilingual Rhenus Group website, we turned our attention to transforming the MVP into a fully featured, comprehensive website. This process included the development of a large number of new content elements and the integration of additional functions. An essential part of this was the development of our own TYPO3 extensions, for example to connect external APIs.
At the same time, we focused on optimizing the first key country websites and expanding the career website, including an advanced employee portal. These steps were crucial to further strengthen the brand's digital presence and ensure a seamless user experience.
Solutions
The journey to a
customized web presence
Country Sites
Efficient country site management for individual focus
Rhenus has its own websites, different services and an individual focus in each country - with 135 country pages. From a technical point of view, this is represented by separate pages for each country. Menu items can be created differently for each country, content can be created on a country-specific basis and global content can be inherited. This global content can then also be changed specifically in each country. To avoid duplicated content, all country pages are linked to each other in the backend. Href Lang tags can therefore be used correctly in the frontend and it is clear to Google and other search engines which page must be provided in which language for which country or region.
Solr
Powerful search via Solr
The Rhenus website uses an efficient Solr search that searches through thousands of pages and filters results according to various facets. Search results are categorized into main areas and can be sorted by date, tags and categories in news areas. By continuously adding synonyms, the search is also optimized for technical terms. The administration of the numerous pages and cores is facilitated by innovative functions in the deployment process. Our powerful Solr search server enables a comprehensive search that integrates not only website content, but also static files and external content.
Newsroom
Conversion of the globally used newsroom for more diverse usage options
The globally used newsroom is based on an advanced Solr server, which enables the operation of diverse newsrooms on group and country pages. The TYPO3 backend facilitates convenient administration. A unique feature is the flexible content harvesting, which allows group news to be shared on country pages and vice versa. The Solr search server enables precise filtering according to categories, media types and data to always find relevant information. Structured networking creates a global, interactive information platform.
Forms
Complex routing logic for efficient communication
In a globally networked company like Rhenus, the ideal contacts for customer needs can be found all over the world. Rhenus offers forms on its website for efficient communication with suitable contact persons. These use advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence and robotic automation, to accurately route requests to over 1000 recipients worldwide. The email functionality on the website has been expanded to include a comprehensive reporting system in the TYPO3 backend. This powerful tool enables an efficient evaluation of detailed statistics, filterable according to various criteria such as forms, countries and time windows. In addition, a Power BI interface was implemented to effectively design controlling workflows. This integration allows a deeper analysis of user interactions and leads to optimized business decisions..
Integration
Automated request management for excellent customer service
For the Rhenus Group, we have implemented an advanced API connection to a CRM system in addition to sending email inquiries and processing them using specialized robots. This integration makes it possible to manage internal tasks - both from employees and from automated systems - directly in the CRM. As a result, customer inquiries received via our web forms can be forwarded quickly and efficiently to the relevant sales employees to ensure excellent service. The main technical challenge was connecting to various CRM API interfaces, authentication, assigning leads to different categories and forwarding them to different systems. Another focus was on ensuring reliable and dependable data transfer to these systems.
Result
When forward thinking
meets tradition
The dimensions of the Rhenus website are impressive and can hardly be summarized in a single result. The rapid launch of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for the Rhenus Group's main website and the first country websites was a decisive milestone. This step impressively demonstrated how quickly an effective system can be developed and then systematically expanded.
This initial implementation enabled us to achieve other important goals. These included, in particular, promoting lead management and providing comprehensive information about the various segments of the Rhenus world. At the same time, it was possible to develop country websites and microsites worldwide that can be maintained and updated independently by our editors.
Over the last few years, an intensive and trusting collaboration has developed, which has led to a progressive, global presence with numerous interactive elements that inspire both Rhenus and us.
Case Study
Masterflex Group
Case Study
GEW NRW
