Significantly simplified exchange

BEUMER Group: Online retailer MYCS simplifies connection to logistics service providers with the Codept logistics platform

Berlin furniture brand MYCS offers high-quality furniture at fair prices and with short manufacturing and delivery times. The online retailer works with a number of delivery carriers. The connection of any new carrier always meant a complex integration, combined with a test phase that would last weeks. Since September 2020, MYCS has begun using the logistics platform of the start-up company Codept. This integration provides MYCS easy access to all of its carriers via a single IT interface.

With its exclusive Scandinavian design, the tables, chairs, shelves and cabinets created by the MYCS [‘miks] brand impresses with their clean lines and a simple, minimalist appearance. High-quality colours and different real wood veneers underline this perception. The product design is left to the customers themselves. Round or angular legs – or would they prefer stainless steel with an industrial look? To help with the customer decision making process, a 3D online configurator is available, which can be used to decide on the size, material, colour and equipment of the furniture. Due to its modularity, MYCS can offer these at fair prices and with short manufacturing and delivery times.

The online retailer works with several delivery carriers. “Until now, there was a separate integration for each of our carriers. Each interface was very different from the other,” describes Laura Schramm, Software Project Manager at MYCS. For her team this meant that each interface had to be understood in detail in order to develop and maintain it. Whenever a developer left the company, the knowledge of that specific interface also threatened to leave the company. This was exactly the challenge. “Connecting a new carrier always meant a complex integration, combined with a test phase that would last weeks,” says Laura Schramm. Especially with carriers with an outdated IT infrastructure, MYCS was repeatedly faced with technical problems, which tied up a substantial amount of her developers’ internal capacity.

Just one interface for everybody

“We had to find a modern, standardised and reliable technology to be able to reorganise our delivery carrier network,” explains Schramm. This means: MYCS wanted just one interface for all carriers, which should enable fast onboarding of new companies, be easy to maintain in case of internal personnel changes within the development team and flexible in the further development. It was also important to reduce errors and, if any were to occur, support should be available. “We looked around the market. Codept was the only service provider that suited our needs. We didn’t find the services and capabilities anywhere else,” says Schramm. At that time, the online retailer was already working with four carriers.

Codept simplifies the data interchange between e-commerce, fulfilment and last mile service providers with its advanced cloud-based logistics platform. The retailers receive access to a wide range of over 40 specialised, local and European-wide shipping service providers via just one IT interface. Through the standardised Codept API, Codept also takes over the technical connection of the service providers and accelerates their integration by up to 80 percent. This enables flexible fulfilment and an optimised last mile delivery service throughout Europe.

Implementation: Integration of the Codept API

In May 2020, the teams of MYCS and Codept got together for a meeting. They discussed what a software must be able to do in order to meet the requirements of the furniture retailer. In August, the project partners brought together ideas and technical possibilities in a workshop and finally defined concrete measures. Work could now begin.

First, MYCS connected to the Codept API. In parallel, Codept extended the interface to an existing logistics service provider. “Even with complex questions, we were able to approach the experts at any time. We can rely on the support and transparent communication,” Laura Schramm was pleased. Throughout the process, the Codept team created documentation and was always available to contact in case of questions. Go-live took place in September 2020.

Last Mile Logistics

The Codept API enables MYCS to connect new last-mile carriers in a fast and flexible way and this with as little internal development effort as possible. Since the online retailer has to cope with an ever-growing volume of customers, it has integrated three more carriers since the beginning of the partnership, and has completely updated another interface. “Already since the second integration, our internal development effort has been reduced immensely,” says Laura Schramm.

Within this fulfilment chain, the online retailer uses the Codept platform in two processes: The first starts after the goods are packed, so that the data for the shipping labels are available to the logistics service provider. The second process occurs shortly before shipping: All the data of a transport vehicle, including the information from the specially created label, are now transmitted to the carrier.

In addition, MYCS receives the information of all carriers uniformly and transparently via the same interface; tracking numbers, a tracking link and delivery date are all included. In the future, the online retailer would like to further optimise its delivery processes with the help of Codept, so that the delivery data between logistics service providers and MYCS is standardised and transmitted in an even better, more coordinated manner.

A start-up with a future

In 2019, Felix Ostwald and his partner Jonas Grunwald founded the start-up company Codept, and both have been running the business together ever since. From the beginning, the young company was supported by the Berlin-based company builder Beam, a spin-off of BEUMER Group. Supported by the system provider, the start-up was able to record enormous growth with its platform last year: for the team, the turnover and the transactions via the platform. “We have developed from a platform provider to a technology partner for e-commerce companies, logistics companies, shop and ERP systems as well as warehouse management systems”, Jonas Grunwald comments. “We are benefitting in particular from the continuing boom in e-commerce”. And the user? “The Codept API provides a unique connection, which enables us to streamline our customers’ logistics processes. Thus, costs and running times can be optimised, and retailers have immediate access to their logistics partners,” Felix Ostwald explains.

Logistics without Codept: