Outokumpu is the global leader in stainless steel, which is sustainable, durable and designed to last forever. The foundation of their business is Outokumpu’s ability to tailor stainless steel into any form and for almost any purpose. Outokumpu employs approximately 8,500 professionals in close to 30 countries, with headquarters in Helsinki, Finland and shares listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.

Outokumpu’s online sales and service portal is a key part of the company’s ongoing digital transformation. Outokumpu set out an ambitious project to build a new customer portal to serve their customers even better. This required designing and implementing a complex business transformation in a short amount of time. 

Outokumpu teamed up with us to design the new portal. We defined the requirements for selecting the key platforms and recommended a modern layered architecture solution. The end goal was to create a future-proof platform that could efficiently and intelligently tie together all the necessary systems in use at Outokumpu, including the ERPs.

The core technologies of Outokumpu Connect include SAP Commerce Cloud with the Composable storefront and Integration Suite. We designed a modern, easy-to-use user experience and user interface for the portal. We also helped Outokumpu to plan and realize the needed harmonization in data, processes, and business logic to make it all work together seamlessly.

Agile implementation 

When it came time to implement the new portal, close collaboration with Outokumpu was essential. We suggested the future target architecture including the frontend layer, integrations, and commerce service layer and presented how these would tie in with a wide range of Outokumpu core applications and processes. We also recommended the most suitable technologies and vendors for Outokumpu’s requirements and supported them in designing prototypes of the user interface and customer journey.

Finally, we built, tested, and implemented all the needed functionalities and features for the new portal using an agile process that ensured everything was completed on time. We strongly believe that working closely together and having fun helps us solve even the most complex business problems and technology challenges. 

 “This project was a good demonstration of what Vincit can offer our customers – we have expertise and competence in end-to-end solutions,” according to Riku Kärkkäinen, Business Area Lead, Vincit Commerce. “We understand core business solutions, business requirements, a wide range of industry best practices, and how to tie design into implementation and back-end processes.”

Helpful and efficient online service for customers 

The new customer portal allows Outokumpu’s customers to see availability and prices 24/7. They can take advantage of a wide range of services such as ordering products, checking delivery and invoice status, and managing documents without having to contact Outokumpu sales and waiting for a response.  

Increasing sales and supporting Outokumpu’s digital transformation

Outokumpu can now much more easily handle small inquiries and grow their digital business. The new portal helps salespeople to save time and effort by automating the sales process.  The amount of customers and placed orders is increasing all the time due to the expansion of the sites and regions the solution covers. There is high ambition to increase these results during 2024.

Encouraging more sustainable choices

Reducing the carbon footprint of operations is absolutely critical. For that reason, the portal includes information about every product’s CO2 emissions to help customers make more informed and sustainable choices.

Expandable and future-proof

The portal is a key part of Outokumpu’s digital transformation. Our solution expands along with Outokumpu’s business development and needs, making it future-proof. Vincit and Outokumpu are continuing the collaboration and development of the portal.