From API Change to Managed Service: Glatz's Logistics Platform

When goods need to move, data has to move first. Glatz AG, based in Frauenfeld, knows this from daily business. The Swiss family company has been developing and manufacturing parasols for private and commercial use since 1895, and supplies them through around 1,750 distribution partners in 66 countries. Exports account for around 70 percent of business, with a Euro hub in Germany serving as the logistics centre for the European market.

Behind these flows of goods is a constant exchange of data. Orders, shipping notifications and status updates travel as EDI messages between Glatz and its logistics providers, handled via the Lobster Logistics Cloud. When one of the connected providers announced a change to its API, Glatz needed a partner who knew the Lobster world from hands-on project experience and could act at short notice. That's where we at W4 came in.

An API change with a fixed deadline

The Lobster Logistics Cloud connects shippers and logistics providers and handles the exchange of EDI messages between both sides. At Glatz, one of these providers announced a fundamental overhaul of its API. The change came with a fixed deadline, after which the old interface would no longer be available. Glatz's connection had to be adapted, tested and live in production by then, or data exchange with this provider would have broken off on the deadline.

Timing made it more pressing. Lobster is currently migrating the Logistics Cloud to the Lobster_data platform. For Logistics Cloud customers, this raises the broader question of how their logistics data exchange should be run going forward.

The API change, in step with Lobster

As a Lobster partner, we took on the implementation. Together with Lobster, we organised access to the Logistics Cloud, and received the current state of the connection directly from Lobster. On that basis, we implemented the changes for the new API, fed them back to Lobster and coordinated the entire testing process. The schedule was tight and the deadline was not negotiable. The changeover was completed on time, and data exchange continued without interruption on the deadline.

A managed service instead of running the platform in-house

As the Logistics Cloud is integrated into the Lobster_data platform, many customers face the same gap. They need logistics data exchange but don't want to run a full data platform in-house. That's exactly the gap we close with our managed service. The model mirrors what the Logistics Cloud has offered so far, a logistics platform as a service, now run by us. We operate the platform in our own environment, keep the connections up to date, and remain the single point of contact throughout.

Glatz chose this path. For the move, we built the environment on our side, took over coordination with the connected logistics providers, and tested every connection individually. We planned and carried out the cutover, replacing the Logistics Cloud with our managed service, so that ongoing data exchange was never interrupted.

The result: connection secured, operations in one hand

The provider's deadline came and went, and data exchange kept running. Today, Glatz's entire logistics platform runs as a managed service with us. Glatz uses the data exchange as before, without its own platform and without its own operating overhead. For every connected provider, there is one point of contact: us.

Our collaboration with Lobster continues alongside this. As a partner, we build on the same technology that has already carried Glatz's data exchange. Lobster provides the platform, we take care of operations, connections and coordination for customers who would rather not do this themselves. And when the next provider announces an API change, handling it for Glatz is simply part of the service.