Setting the foundation for a future-proofed digital presence for Harwin.

We worked closely with Harwin to tackle the key challenges they were facing with their website. They wanted to refresh their brand's online presence, make their site more secure, and deal with the technical issues that had built up over time. Through our consultative approach, we mapped out exactly what Harwin needed - a website that's easier to use, simplified backend processes, and a modern platform that would help them grow.We developed a streamlined solution that brings together Salesforce, Bynder, and Payload CMS, all working seamlessly with a Next.js frontend to give users a great experience. The results have been outstanding, with the pages now loading 90% faster, so visitors can find what they need quickly and easily.

Harwin

Harwin’s website was rebuilt from the ground up, and our bespoke solution introduced advanced custom integrations to allow for efficient product data handling and future scalability.

The website’s architecture was key to its success. We built bespoke middleware that syncs the website with Harwin’s product data stored in Salesforce. Our custom Representational State Transfer (REST) API serves data efficiently to the website frontend, so when Harwin updates the data of any of their 4000+ products, the website frontend can display the changes almost instantly. Not only does this mean the data is accurate, we also index the data in Elastic Search for faster filtering and searching. All this has dramatically streamlined Harwin’s internal product management processes. For their customers, this means they have access to up-to-date product information delivered quickly through the website.Our integrations don’t stop with Salesforce though. We’ve also worked with Harwin to integrate Bynder to dynamically pull through product images, downloads, and videos, SnapMagic to display CAD images for users, and TrustedParts to allow users to check stock availability and pricing at third-party Harwin distributors.

Bespoke Integrations

Harwin’s new website is built using Payload, a modern, headless CMS.

Building a site of this scale in Payload has come with countless benefits. From user-facing benefits like rapid page load speeds and editorial tools to make content shine, to client-facing benefits like the built-in SEO tools and clear and simple backend user interface, Payload has proven to be an excellent choice for Harwin and us. If you want to learn more about Payload, <a href="https://sidigital.co/lab-notes/why-weve-swapped-wordpress-for-payload">read our Lab Note about the benefits</a>.

Built in Payload

Since 1952, Harwin has been an industry leader in electrical connectors used in space ships, airplanes, and electric vehicles, to name a few. We’ve established a relationship with Harwin over the last few years to become their digital partner, pushing their digital presence to new levels and enabling their business to grow through a powerful, fully integrated website.We continue to work with Harwin to push and develop their Salesforce website integration, always looking for growth opportunities and areas of improvement.

Bespoke Salesforce integration, 90% reduction in page load times and a 97% increase in filter interaction time for one of the world's leading connector manufacturers.

An app for

cyclists to log

close passes

Close Pass

Cyclists know just how scary it is getting passed too close by a vehicle when out on the roads. We wanted to build an app to track the worst locations.

The Problem

As an internal project we have been able to use this project to trial new tools and solutions. Over the years, we have tinkered with different mapping providers for the user to interact with. To prevent abuse we also integrated a registration and validation system to ensure users aren’t spamming the app.

The Solution

Shoot Walter White

in our hack project game

Breaking Bad Shooter

We were all massive fans of Breaking Bad when it was on. So we thought we pay tribute to the awesome show by releasing a mini shooter game.

Once we had illustrated Walter White, the oil drums and the desert scene, we got going on the coding. To make it fun and engaging, we kept the game play as simple as possible. Players could try and shoot Walter but they would lose points if they hit the oil drums filled with money. They had 60 seconds to score as many points as possible.

We launched this game at just the right time - just before the finale was being aired. We captured the moment with an incredibly simple, fun game which was also very shareable.It got featured in publications like <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/this-breaking-bad-computer-game-lets-you-shoot-walter-white" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buzzfeed</a> and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/technolog/breaking-bad-game-lets-you-do-what-jesse-pinkman-wouldnt-8c11323113" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NBC News</a>. If you fancy taking your shot at Walter White, you can <a href="https://sidigital.co/breakingbad">play our shooter here</a>.

The Results

Bespoke Case

Management System

Bespoke Case Management System

This company works with hundreds of professional toy and game inventors. They needed a complete case management platform to track the progress of submissions and to digitally store related paperwork. The bespoke software system needed to greatly improve the efficiency with which they managed the whole process from start to finish.

After an extended discovery stage, we collated the requirements of the various departments and people using the system. This included things like managing many access rights and privileges, collating and centralising information and making group communications simpler.We designed a completely bespoke system to make the whole process easier and more robust. We also suggested additional features, like digital signing and storing, along the way to add extra value to the project.

The completely bespoke system we built for them has become integral to the way they manage their business. It has significantly increased the number of cases they can manage, while greatly decreasing the amount of time spent on admin.We continue to support and develop the system in line with the company's changing needs.

A bespoke platform to allow the public to submit toy invention ideas.

Have you ever dreamed of creating the next big toy or game? Hasbro wanted to make that dream possible, so they asked us to create a platform where anyone with a great idea could share their toy and game inventions directly with Hasbro. Unlike other major toy companies that typically only work with professional inventors, Hasbro wanted to open their doors to everyone with creativity and imagination.We were given complete creative freedom to shape everything from the direction and branding to the visual design of the platform. We created a inspiring and welcoming space that would inspire inventors from all walks of life to share their toy ideas with Hasbro.

Hasbro

Hasbro’s new platform needed to integrate with the existing professional inventors platform we’d built for them.

To make things simple and streamlined, we wanted to create one central place where Hasbro could review all their invention submissions—whether they came from amateurs or professionals. We’d already created a special platform for professional inventors, so we simply expanded it to welcome amateur submissions too. When someone submits their invention idea, it goes through to an external inventor management platform for review. If their idea shows promise, it gets added right alongside submissions from professional inventors, giving everyone a fair chance to share their creativity with Hasbro.

Established in 1923, Hasbro are one of the worlds largest children’s toy manufacturers, with brands such as Monopoly, Dungeons & Dragons and Peppa Pig part of their vast portfolio.We’re been working with Hasbro for over a decade, and we continue to work with them to allow inventors and creators across the globe to submit their creations to Hasbro, allowing their portfolio of games to continue to grow.

Building a bespoke software platform for one of the world's largest toy manufacturers.

Custom

Magento

Development

Advanced Magento Customisation

This exclusive perfume company provide exquisite scents in elegant bottles to customers around the world. Known not only for the scents inside, but also the beauty (and recognisability) of the bottles themselves.To provide an next tier gift offering, Boadicea the Victorious wanted to offer their customers a way to create a truly unique bottle, customising almost every part of it. And it had to work with Magento!

We wanted to take the customer on a journey of discovery. Step by step, selecting and honing their unique gift bottle. We worked hard on the user experience to find the perfect flow to the process.Then came the customisation of Magento. Although incredibly powerful, straight out of the box Magento does have its limitations. We've wrestled with Magento over the years and have been able to create custom products within the system.

Generating the image of the bottle as it was being configured also provided another challenge for us. Because you can customise the bottle colour, shields and stopper, the number of possible variations are huge. We had to find a way to create the image as it was being built.Although it was a big technical challenge, it was vitally important to encourage sharing of the end product on social channels.

From day one, the Boadicea Bottle Configurator started generating not only sales but social sharing and therefore greater interest and reach for the brand.

Integrating & Optimising

Salesforce Data

for Harwin

Integrating & Optimising Salesforce Data for Harwin

Harwin needed a seamless and high-performance method to integrate their product data with their new website, using Salesforce as the primary data source. However, direct integration via the Salesforce API was not an option due to speed constraints and API restrictions.

We developed custom middleware to fetch and index product data from Salesforce into ElasticSearch, bypassing the limitations of direct API usage. The middleware development involved the creation of a robust API to serve data swiftly to the frontend application, which also means that Salesforce remained the single source of data.

Our approach of building a custom middle layer removed the issues around going direct to Salesforce - namely the impact it would have on site speed. Harwin can continue to use Salesforce as their primary data source while achieving exceptional site performance.

Si digital has been working with Harwin for close to three years now and in simple words, it has been a joy! Every project we have worked together on, and there have been a few, has been on time, on budget and most of the time even enhanced by the input from Si.

What They Said

An office robot

played with by

half a million people

Sid the office robot

At Si digital we’re always on the lookout for new and interesting ways to promote ourselves while learning something new. So we thought we would build a robot you could control over the internet.

The robotics were bought online, but required a few customisations to work within the constraints of our arena. We built a queuing system to handle the influx of people wanting to play. Two concurrent camera feeds live streamed the action to the player and the scoring system added a competitive element to the game play.

People from around the world were queuing for 4 hours to play with Sid. He kept going for 2 months and was played 500,000+ times. Being featured by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbVAKs1hF5o" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vsauce</a> (4m followers) on YouTube and <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3022056/this-office-has-its-own-robot-and-you-can-control-it-from-your-computer" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FastCo</a> brought a huge amount of traffic. As profile raising stunts go, this hack project ticked all the boxes!

Work

Mini Case Study

Close Pass

Mini Case Study

Breaking Bad Shooter

Mini Case Study

Bespoke Case Management System

Mini Case Study

Advanced Magento Customisation

Mini Case Study

Integrating & Optimising Salesforce Data for Harwin

Mini Case Study

Sid the office robot

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