Unicoop Firenze has chosen Mia-Platform to build their Digital Integration Hub streamlining data management with a Data Fabric approach.

Unicoop Firenze has chosen Mia-Platform to implement a Data Fabric architecture to consolidate and centralize data, eliminating silos, and creating an integrated environment where information can be shared and accessed efficiently and securely. The adoption of this type of architecture, based on cloud-native technologies, has allowed Unicoop Firenze to continue its corporate digital transformation goals and integrate new technological solutions to meet business needs.

Mia-Platform Fast Data, a set of ready-to-use microservices that enables the construction of a Data Fabric architecture, allows the decoupling of data, aggregation, creation of Single Views, and exposure to preferred channels while maintaining consistency across any system or application. Simultaneously, thanks to its microservices architecture, it has enabled rapid scaling, keeping pace with traffic demands, and enhancing performance.

Industry: Retail & FMCG

Background

Unicoop Firenze has always been a forward-thinking company, utilizing the latest technological innovations. Since 2015, Unicoop Firenze has embarked on its digital transformation towards the omnichannelization of applications and its IT organization.

The entire IT division, inspired by ITIL principles, is organized with an omnichannel perspective. To prevent the formation of silos related to individual applications, teams are dedicated to supporting and delivering end-to-end cross-functional business services rather than specific applications. This organizational approach enables better support for business functions, as functionalities are delivered through a common platform.

The devised structure required a technological layer capable of ensuring the necessary flexibility and efficient implementation of the omnichannel strategy. A middleware that easily facilitates data sharing and integration with new applications, services, and software.

As part of the digitalization journey undertaken for several years, in 2020 Unicoop Firenze chose Mia-Platform as a technological partner, introducing a Data Fabric solution to overcome internal complexity within the IT division in the process of integrating data across various applications.

Project Development

Mia-Platform has assisted Unicoop Firenze in advancing its digital transformation journey by introducing its Data Fabric solution: a network of unified data across the entire organization – sourced from legacy systems, data lakes, data warehouses, SQL databases, and apps – providing a holistic view, making all data available throughout the company.

With Mia-Platform’s solution, Unicoop Firenze has been able to build Single Views in four strategic areas:

Members: gathering data primarily from Customer Records, Profiling, and Third-Party Companies to have an overview of individuals subscribing to services with the cooperative;
Registries: collecting data from Product Sheets, Points of Sale, Packaging Supply, Warehouses, and Suppliers to have a unique view of all physical assets of the company;
Sales: collecting data mainly from competitor prices, receipts, standard assortment, and commercial events (promotions and campaigns);
Logistics: gathering data from Inventory, Warehouse, Shipments, and Orders.

Aggregating relevant information into a Single View, easily queryable through APIs, enhances the accessibility of information and allows for unique, consolidated, and real-time data visualizations for every business need. Mia-Platform helps Unicoop Firenze manage over 2 million aggregated product data in Single View, over 130 million events handled daily, and less than 200 milliseconds as the response time.

With the adoption of Mia-Platform Fast Data, Unicoop Firenze has also been able to build a middleware to incorporate the most innovative technological solutions.

Thanks to Mia-Platform’s technology, all key applications are brought together and interconnected, facilitating interactions and transactions to create a network. This innovation platform is used to develop new digital services and offerings.

The Goals

Data Availability

Unicoop Firenze needed to ensure data availability to users and applications, whenever and wherever needed. Simultaneously, departments and teams had to collaboratively share data, adhering to high-security standards. Additionally, Unicoop Firenze required monitoring dashboards to keep track of metrics and performance.

Promoting a data and omnichannel vision culture by restructuring Systems of Record and fragmented data throughout the company.

Decoupling data from legacy systems and aggregating them into a Single View.

Facilitating the free flow of information and making data available to all departments in real time.

Applications and Data Integration

Unicoop Firenze aimed to connect applications, data, and systems to reduce time-to-market and analyze sales operations to enhance transactions and customer experience.

Integrating middleware and a new technological stack to continue the digital transformation and enhance omnichannel capabilities across all channels.

Reacting quickly and effectively to market changes by integrating efficient processes and reducing costs.

Adapting strategies to remain competitive and capitalize on opportunities that may arise in the market.

Results

Data Availability: Unicoop Firenze ensures that all its data is available and sharable at any time whenever and wherever required. Data accessibility and continuity of information supply are critical components of data availability and reusability to all the stakeholders and other software applications (Salesforce CRM, E-commerce) across organizations.
Data Governance: Unicoop Firenze guarantees high-quality data through the complete lifecycle allowing teams to have a common understanding of data, and improve data quality and management to maximize value, lower risks, and reduce cost. It also provides the ability to create a Data Map and a Data Catalog to identify the most appropriate data.
Omnichannel: Unicoop Firenze gained a strategic and technological enhancement by identifying data sources, integrating data in a single location, and exposing it to the appropriate data consumer applications. Decoupling data sources from external consumers ensured an easier way to serve different channels.
Composable Strategy: Unicoop Firenze plans future projects and upcoming technological progress to become more resilient to uncertainty and market changes through modularity. A composable approach is an answer to blending best-of-breed technologies with personalized features that keep pace with consumer needs and demands to reach composable commerce.
Transition to cloud: Leveraging the installation of Mia-Platform Console and the subsequent introduction of Kubernetes, Unicoop Firenze managed to expedite the transition to the cloud. Legacy systems have been seamlessly integrated into the cloud infrastructure provided by Mia-Platform Console.

The solution: Mia-Platform Fast Data for the Digital Integration Hub

Mia-Platform Fast Data, event-driven architecture can asynchronously publish and subscribe to events via an event broker.
In this way, information can flow between applications, microservices, and connected devices in real-time as events occur throughout the business.

The Digital Integration Hub allows you to get the maximum value from this type of architecture. Putting an integration layer between the SOR and the channels aggregates scatter data sets in multiple backend record systems into a low-latency and high-performance integration layer.

Data is now served by the integration layer. In this way, the underlying systems remain operational and are protected from excessive workloads that could compromise performance or the whole system.

Advantages:

Improved responsiveness, scalability, and agility;
Real-time information;
Enhanced business processes and customer experience.

Unicoop’s Digital Platform: Key Tech Numbers

+2M

Product data aggregated into Single Views

<200ms

Response Time

<4sec

To update any change in Single Views

+7

Systems of Record managed

+130M

Fast Data Daily events

About Unicoop Firenze

Unicoop Firenze is the leading consumer cooperative in Tuscany and the second-largest nationally. Its origins date back to the late 1800s, but the name Unicoop Firenze was adopted in 1973 when three major Tuscan cooperatives—Toscocoop, Coop Etruria, and Unicoop Empoli—merged. Currently, Unicoop’s retail network comprises approximately 150 stores in seven provinces of Tuscany (Arezzo, Firenze, Lucca, Pisa, Pistoia, Prato, and Siena), boasting over 1 million members and more than 8,000 employees. According to the 2022 financial statement, Unicoop Firenze has a turnover exceeding 2 billion euros.