Key points
Lepicard Agriculture, a major agricultural player, needed to replace its client extranet, which had become obsolete following a migration to a new ERP. Numendo carried out a partial redesign of the tool, modernizing user experience (UX) and simplifying access to essential data for farmers. Since its launch in August 2024, rapid adoption and over 4,800 unique logins confirm the effectiveness of this agile approach.
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UX/UI redesign and technical modernization delivered using agile methodology
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new client extranet deployed and successfully adopted
Introduction
Lepicard Agriculture: the extranet at the heart of customer relations
Lepicard Agriculture is a player in French agriculture, located at the heart of the Normandy, Oise, Somme, and Val-d’Oise regions. With recognized expertise in the collection, storage, and marketing of agricultural products, Lepicard Agriculture has supported farmers and businesses for more than 150 years through a sustainable and responsible partnership approach. With a strong commitment to product quality and traceability, as well as the ability to innovate in response to market changes, Lepicard Agriculture positions itself as a pillar of the agricultural sector, helping farmers sustain their activity and build their projects.
Lepicard Agriculture is a player in French agriculture, located at the heart of the Normandy, Oise, Somme, and Val-d’Oise regions. With recognized expertise in the collection, storage, and marketing of agricultural products, Lepicard Agriculture has supported farmers and businesses for more than 150 years through a sustainable and responsible partnership approach. With a strong commitment to product quality and traceability, as well as the ability to innovate in response to market changes, Lepicard Agriculture positions itself as a pillar of the agricultural sector, helping farmers sustain their activity and build their projects.
CONTEXT
To support these complex operations, Lepicard Agriculture used an ERP system that also provided an extranet allowing farmers to access a personalized space. This extranet enabled them to manage invoices, contracts, stock movements, and orders for agricultural products. However, as the company evolved, the need for a more modern ERP specialized in agriculture became clear. Migration to this new system resulted in the loss of the extranet, an essential tool for maintaining a high-quality customer relationship.
In 2020/2021, Lepicard Agriculture launched a call for tenders to develop a new extranet. However, it quickly became apparent that the proposed solution did not meet Lepicard Agriculture’s needs. Ergonomics and design issues were identified, with some sections of the site requiring major changes or even a complete redesign. Seeing that the service provided to users was not satisfactory, Lepicard Agriculture decided to look for a new solution.
Numendo was asked to propose a response adapted to these new challenges. Two options were presented:
1. Improving the existing system: keeping the base of the existing system while making significant improvements to ensure better performance and an optimized user experience.
2. Complete reconstruction: starting from scratch to develop a new extranet, with a precise estimate of the required workload and budget.
In 2020/2021, Lepicard Agriculture launched a call for tenders to develop a new extranet. However, it quickly became apparent that the proposed solution did not meet Lepicard Agriculture’s needs. Ergonomics and design issues were identified, with some sections of the site requiring major changes or even a complete redesign. Seeing that the service provided to users was not satisfactory, Lepicard Agriculture decided to look for a new solution.
Numendo was asked to propose a response adapted to these new challenges. Two options were presented:
1. Improving the existing system: keeping the base of the existing system while making significant improvements to ensure better performance and an optimized user experience.
2. Complete reconstruction: starting from scratch to develop a new extranet, with a precise estimate of the required workload and budget.
our APPROCHE
Faced with this challenge, our agile team decided to adopt a two-step approach:
1. Audit of the existing system: the first step consisted of an in-depth audit of the existing system to identify malfunctions and propose corrections. This audit made it possible to determine the improvements needed and provide budget estimates for Lepicard Agriculture.
2. Refit project (partial redesign) – application maintenance and evolution: based on the audit findings, we proposed a refit project aimed at partially redesigning the existing system. Adopted by Lepicard Agriculture, this project included a technical update of the ERP foundation and a UX/UI redesign to improve ergonomics, which was particularly crucial for users less familiar with digital tools.
The project began in March 2023 using an agile method, structured in two-week sprints. The first phase focused on the technical aspects identified during the audit, particularly the update and migration of the technical foundation to guarantee the solution’s security, quality, maintainability, and sustainability. The second phase consisted of integrating new visuals, improving ergonomics, and correcting existing data to provide better information quality and an optimal user experience.
The main challenges addressed during the redesign included:
• Visual design and ergonomics: improving site navigation and usability for an audience less familiar with digital technologies, reducing the number of customer-service calls and associated costs.
• Data quality: ensuring that the data displayed on the extranet is accurate and usable, particularly for accounting and stock-management functions.
• Navigation and search: developing advanced search and filtering features to make it easier for end users to access information.
1. Audit of the existing system: the first step consisted of an in-depth audit of the existing system to identify malfunctions and propose corrections. This audit made it possible to determine the improvements needed and provide budget estimates for Lepicard Agriculture.
2. Refit project (partial redesign) – application maintenance and evolution: based on the audit findings, we proposed a refit project aimed at partially redesigning the existing system. Adopted by Lepicard Agriculture, this project included a technical update of the ERP foundation and a UX/UI redesign to improve ergonomics, which was particularly crucial for users less familiar with digital tools.
The project began in March 2023 using an agile method, structured in two-week sprints. The first phase focused on the technical aspects identified during the audit, particularly the update and migration of the technical foundation to guarantee the solution’s security, quality, maintainability, and sustainability. The second phase consisted of integrating new visuals, improving ergonomics, and correcting existing data to provide better information quality and an optimal user experience.
The main challenges addressed during the redesign included:
• Visual design and ergonomics: improving site navigation and usability for an audience less familiar with digital technologies, reducing the number of customer-service calls and associated costs.
• Data quality: ensuring that the data displayed on the extranet is accurate and usable, particularly for accounting and stock-management functions.
• Navigation and search: developing advanced search and filtering features to make it easier for end users to access information.
Numendo demonstrated a deep understanding of our needs and was able to propose tailored solutions that significantly improved our extranet. Thanks to their expertise, we were able to provide our users with a better digital experience while optimizing our operational efficiency. We are extremely satisfied with this partnership and look forward to working together on future projects.
Results and benefits
Lepicard Agriculture now has a modernized extranet that not only improves the user experience but also reduces the workload for technical support teams. Farmers can now consult and export data, access contracts and invoices with legal and accounting value, and easily view quotations updated daily.
At the application level, Numendo developed middleware that ensures integration and communication between the ERP and the extranet, enabling smooth data synchronization. To create the API connecting the ERP database to our application, we first analyzed the ERP data structure with the client’s help, in order to transform it into an API interface consumable by the client’s extranet.
Thus, while keeping the current technical architecture, it was necessary to start from scratch to understand the client’s business in detail, their needs, the nature of the data, and its structure. We also had to understand how Lepicard Agriculture operates from a logistics and accounting perspective, as well as the agricultural sector in general. Finally, we had to assimilate the terminology and relationships between the different data points in order to match and reinterpret them correctly.
We were also mandated to implement a custom Single Sign-On (SSO) system to manage accounts across the entire Lepicard Agriculture ecosystem. This system will notably make it possible to integrate a future e-commerce site, where farmers will be able to order products related to their activity. The objective of the SSO is to allow customers to access the Lepicard Agriculture ecosystem with a single unique identifier, acting as a link between Lepicard Agriculture applications outside the ERP.
Since August 2024, more than 4.8K unique user logins have been recorded, demonstrating successful adoption by users. The latest update, planned for June 2024, made it possible to integrate the expected features and opens the way to future digital projects such as online contracting and access to legal forms.
At the application level, Numendo developed middleware that ensures integration and communication between the ERP and the extranet, enabling smooth data synchronization. To create the API connecting the ERP database to our application, we first analyzed the ERP data structure with the client’s help, in order to transform it into an API interface consumable by the client’s extranet.
Thus, while keeping the current technical architecture, it was necessary to start from scratch to understand the client’s business in detail, their needs, the nature of the data, and its structure. We also had to understand how Lepicard Agriculture operates from a logistics and accounting perspective, as well as the agricultural sector in general. Finally, we had to assimilate the terminology and relationships between the different data points in order to match and reinterpret them correctly.
We were also mandated to implement a custom Single Sign-On (SSO) system to manage accounts across the entire Lepicard Agriculture ecosystem. This system will notably make it possible to integrate a future e-commerce site, where farmers will be able to order products related to their activity. The objective of the SSO is to allow customers to access the Lepicard Agriculture ecosystem with a single unique identifier, acting as a link between Lepicard Agriculture applications outside the ERP.
Since August 2024, more than 4.8K unique user logins have been recorded, demonstrating successful adoption by users. The latest update, planned for June 2024, made it possible to integrate the expected features and opens the way to future digital projects such as online contracting and access to legal forms.
CONCLUSION
The project carried out with Lepicard Agriculture perfectly illustrates the expertise of our Agile squad in digital transformation for the B2B agricultural sector. By meeting technical challenges and providing tailor-made solutions, Numendo helped improve the quality of Lepicard Agriculture’s customer relationships while optimizing internal operations. A successful project that opens the way to new opportunities and continued growth for this leader in agricultural trading in Normandy.
