Technological
The legacy system was inflexible, ran on hard-coded parameters and offered limited adaptability. A modern, configurable and scalable solution was required.
Case · Manufacturing
Shimano puts customer centricity first, but its sales process ran on an IBM AS/400 built in the early 1990s. cimt rebuilt the backend system with Talend and Qlik and migrated customer by customer, without interrupting day-to-day operations.
Initial situation
Shimano places a high priority on customer centricity, but its primary sales processes ran on an IBM AS/400 created in the early 1990s. That legacy ERP could not adapt to what Shimano's customers and the market were asking for.
Hard-coded parameters made the architecture inflexible: every modification, including the validation procedures for incoming orders, required a program adjustment. A lot of work also stayed manual. Order change requests ran over email, which left the information flow fragmented and no one with a central view. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed those inefficiencies further.
A transition to a more modern, flexible and efficient system was therefore needed. Alongside that system overhaul, the business processes were redesigned, so the new way of working actually landed in the system.
The challenge
The legacy system was inflexible, ran on hard-coded parameters and offered limited adaptability. A modern, configurable and scalable solution was required.
The existing processes were effective to a degree, but primarily manual and compartmentalised, with email as the main means of communication and no single oversight mechanism. The goal was to automate and unify them around one central repository of information.
Our approach
Co-creation asks for collaboration between business and IT. We therefore worked iteratively: a clear end goal, with enough room to take new insights on board along the way.
The existing IT architecture and system landscape were analysed and documented in full. That step mapped the current processes and their interdependencies, so the new solution would not lose an essential function.
Business requirements were gathered with the departments involved and the future business processes were modelled. This made sure the new system met what Shimano and its customers actually needed.
A target architecture described the desired state and the capabilities of the new system. That blueprint guided the development and implementation phases.
Coordination continued throughout between Shimano’s departments, their customers and the internal and external IT service providers. Everyone stayed aligned as a result.
The backend system was developed and implemented using Talend and Qlik. That combination handles the data integration, transformation and analysis underneath the new order process.
The rollout
The rollout was deliberately planned across roughly nine months. The legacy and the new system ran in parallel throughout, so ongoing business activities were not disrupted. Customers moved over gradually, starting with smaller clients that had fewer requirements. That order kept the risk small and allowed controlled testing and adjustment.
Between migrations, corrections and improvements were made continuously. Whatever surfaced only in production was addressed straight away rather than deferred.
A separate "shadow process" was set up as well. It allowed an already migrated customer to be reverted to the old system, including all data created in the new one in the meantime. The transition was therefore not only smooth but also reversible.
Results
The project delivered concrete improvements in order management for Shimano and its customers.
Business and validation rules check an order on arrival. That cuts errors and shortens processing time.
Customers see the status of their orders without calling or emailing, and can plan their own operations around it.
The order change process runs through the system from start to finish, so communication between all parties is faster and more precise.
The new system provides detailed insight into orders and change requests. Decisions about the service now rest on current figures.
More than 60,000 products are updated automatically each day, so customers order against the most recent information.
Recording happens automatically and can be traced afterwards, which simplifies accountability around order management.
Shimano is a global leader in manufacturing cycling components and fishing tackle, known for its quality and technology. Based in Sakai City, Japan, the company's products are trusted worldwide by professionals and enthusiasts. Shimano places weight on sustainability and corporate responsibility.
Qlik Talend turns complex data landscapes into usable insight. The portfolio combines AI and machine learning with enterprise-level data management, and works with diverse data sources. cimt has been a Qlik Elite Partner for more than fifteen years and has implemented the Qlik Talend platform in many projects.
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