Landgard Launches the CAS RDH Online Information Platform
Landgard has introduced the user-friendly online information platform CAS RDH for its customers and growers in the plant and flower trade, which significantly streamlines the company’s collaboration with the growers’ cooperative for flowers, plants, fruits, and vegetables in Germany. The consultants at Hamburg-based CAS AG are responsible for the technology used and the implementation of the project. Landgard built its new information system based on the CAS Realtime Data Hub (CAS RDH) solution, which enables numerous companies to access data efficiently and consistently, even when that data is stored in a wide variety of systems. The introduction of the CAS RDH online information platform represents a win-win situation for Landgard itself as well as for its business partners.
Landgard offers greater transparency with its online information platform, CAS RDH
Landgard’s new portal gives buyers of the goods, specialty flower retailers, and growers alike access to information on products, quantities, and auction prices, as well as on deliveries of purchased goods and documents such as contracts and delivery schedules. Since Landgard’s business partners also need this information while they’re on the go, it’s particularly valuable to them that the portal can be easily accessed from mobile devices.
For example, Landgard’s information system allows customers to find out in advance about the offers available at the auction. The system also gives them an overview of past price trends.
Use CAS RDH to Create Transparency for Suppliers as Well
This information is equally valuable to suppliers: It allows them to track how their products are selling at auction and at what prices. The user-friendly filter functions provide a view of average, highest, and lowest prices across all sales channels, making it easier for them to evaluate their own business.
On the portal, business partners can also use a route planner to see when each carrier will deliver which goods. This is especially important for specialty flower and plant retailers, so they can plan the space and staffing needed for deliveries from, for example, CC Pflanzenwagen.
Using the CAS RDH solution, Landgard was able to deploy the portal for collaborative document management with its business partners: This allows users to view role-specific documents—such as contract documents and route schedules—via the portal and download them as PDF files.
Landgard offers a personalized user experience through its online information platform
The predecessor to the new information system was technologically outdated and significantly less user-friendly than the new solution. There was no personalized user view and very few filtering options for users. The system also lacked the ability to be accessed from mobile devices.
With the new solution based on CAS RDH, the project partners are able to efficiently provide a user-friendly view of data stored in various SAP, IBM, and Microsoft Navision systems used by the flower and plant wholesaler. In addition to being able to use the solution on all mobile devices, users also benefit from significantly improved downloads of Excel and PDF documents.
Among other things, Landgard had considered using the SAP Portal as the technological foundation for the new platform. However, SAP’s initial cost estimate prompted the wholesaler to look for alternatives—since it was the cooperative’s stated goal not to burden either its members or its customers with the costs of using the system.
Licensing Costs Under Control Thanks to CAS RDH
The Landgard team therefore decided to implement the CAS RDH solution to reduce its dependence on the pricing policies of large software companies. With this software, CAS AG offers a secure and infinitely scalable solution at a fair fixed price, regardless of the number of users, data volumes, or other metrics.
Reiner Domogala, Head of Integration Services at Landgard, is very pleased with the decision to choose this solution and CAS AG’s consultants as project partners: “CAS RDH is a robust product. Our collaboration with the consultants at CAS AG is always on an equal footing, both personally and professionally.” The development and implementation of the information system went so well under CAS AG’s leadership that Landgard has since put two additional enterprise solutions based on CAS RDH into operation.
Reiner Domogala is also satisfied with the project timeline for the development and implementation of the new Landgard information system: A proof-of-concept, which also involved selected suppliers, was successfully completed after just three months. After another six months, the project partners had already put the new Landgard information system into operation.
High Usage Rates for the CAS RDH Online Information Platform
Landgard also appreciates that the new system provides detailed user statistics and data on system utilization. “It’s also very helpful for internal communication to be able to show exactly how our partners are using the system,” says Reiner Domogala. The new portal has been well received by Landgard’s business partners: Of a total of 3,500 suppliers, 1,300 were already using the system in May 2022—most of them nearly every day.
