Case study Tony's Chocolonely

Business Challenges

Decentralised software systems lead to inefficiency and errors
Complex integration of various software and cloud solutions
Impeded scalability and communication with customers and suppliers

Keys to Success

Boomi's iPaaS solution centralises and orchestrates business data
Use of low-code technology for fast data transition
Preparation for real-time data processing and flexibility

Results

Always up-to-date inventory, revenue and delivery status data
Faster processing of placed orders and more flexibility
Simplification, speed and cost awareness thanks to Emixa's solution

Case study Tony's Chocolonely

Tony’s Chocolonely has been a well-known name for years. Not only because of the surprising chocolate flavours, but especially because of its mission to free chocolate from slave and child labour. To achieve that goal, the company's systems must adapt and expand alongside its growth. Emixa stepped in to seamlessly integrate the myriad systems operating within the company, ensuring it is well-equipped for the upcoming phase of expansion.

Business Challenges

Tony’s Chocolonely is fully focused on growth. The company is becoming more and more international and is moving into the home markets of the major cocoa companies. Tony’s chocolate is already on the shelves in various countries via distributors, such as Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Norway, America and England. To make the chocolate, Tony’s works with thousands of farmers who supply the cocoa.

The company welcomes growth, but Tony’s noticed that this growth poses quite a challenge for the various software systems. The landscape at Tony’s was totally decentralised.

For example, there were five different web shops; for different countries, for individual and business customers. These web shops all had their own Microsoft Navision Dynamics administration, not an ideal situation. This not only cost a lot of time, but the chance of errors was also high.

It became clear that all those different systems needed to be able to exchange data. Due to a growth in databases, interfaces and applications, a tangle of applications had emerged, making the integration project quite complex. This involved a mix of more traditional software and more modern cloud solutions that needed to be connected. This trajectory had to link Dynamics 365 Business Central, Salesforce, the web shop, point-of-sale systems, the ingredients system and various systems of logistics partners.

Rick van Doorn, IT manager at Tony’s: “The problem was that our technology was not scalable and also some systems were outdated. We were unable to connect new systems and we could not easily communicate with new customers and suppliers.”

Keys to Success

Thanks to Boomi's integration platform, this complex landscape can be unravelled and all the company's data is now orchestrated in one central location. Emixa uses an Integration Platform-as-a-Service to achieve this. iPaaS is specifically designed to help companies deal with the integration demands of today's business environment, make their integration solutions future-proof, and increase the value of their IT investments.

iPaaS is a variant of Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) that capitalises on cloud and mobile. The cloud and mobile devices generate and process a gigantic amount of data that is needed for modern business operations. It is a multi-tenant platform that can integrate in every possible way. Boomi, a low-code solution, introduced the first iPaaS in 2008.

Tony’s now operates in a fully Emixa-managed high-performance cloud environment. Together with Tony's team, we mapped out what the fifteen different systems do and created 'swim lanes' to see how all the data travels through the systems. The Boomi experts then modelled all these data transitions, preparing Tony’s Chocolonely for fast and flexible data exchange.

Results

The initial phase involved the integration of various systems, establishing a foundation for Tony's future. With this groundwork complete, Emixa transitioned to phase 2. Sjaak Overgaauw, CTO at Emixa, explains, "In this phase, the focus shifts to integrating the sales order platform and logistics partners, streamlining and speeding up order processing."

A solid foundation is now in place for the future, paving the way for real-time data processing as opposed to batch processing. This advancement ensures Tony's Chocolonely has continuously updated data, including current product inventory, turnover, and delivery status. This enhanced capability enables the company to respond swiftly to changing needs. Moreover, this event-driven environment offers greater flexibility and scalability compared to traditional integration solutions.

Streamlining Systems for Enhanced Efficiency

We appreciate Emixa's straightforward communication. Transparency and trust are integral to our approach and relationships, and Emixa aligns with these values. By removing complexity from our systems, they’ve enabled us to work in a much simpler, faster and more cost-conscious way.