Schottlander

Business Overview

Schottlander is a long-established UK manufacturer and supplier of dental materials, serving accredited dental professionals and laboratories nationwide. The business operates a large and complex product catalog governed by strict regulatory, pricing, and account-based access controls.

IDS Logic has partnered with Schottlander for several years, initially providing secure hosting, compliance-led infrastructure, and ongoing support for their existing digital platforms. Over time, this relationship evolved into a trusted long-term partnership, enabling IDS Logic to support Schottlander through broader platform, licensing, and operational change.

Building on the success of the original hosting and support engagement (Phase 1), IDS Logic was engaged to support the next stage of Schottlander’s digital roadmap: a full rebuild of Schottlander.com on Umbraco, aligned with an organization-wide ERP migration from Microsoft Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365, along with delivery of a modernized barcode scanning solution for high-volume customers.

This phase focused on reducing long-term platform costs, improving scalability, and ensuring the website and ordering tools were fully aligned with Schottlander’s future ERP environment.

The Challenge

• Schottlander faced growing challenges with its existing Sitefinity-based website. Licensing costs had increased significantly, the native eCommerce engine had been deprecated, and replacing this functionality within Sitefinity was commercially unviable.

  At the same time, Schottlander was undertaking a major internal transformation, migrating core business data and processes from Microsoft Dynamics AX to Microsoft Dynamics 365. This ERP program was managed by a third-party specialist partner embedded within Schottlander and operated independently from the website project.

The key objectives were to

• • Rebuild Schottlander.com on a modern, cost-effective CMS
  • Reduce platform licensing and renewal overheads
  • Maintain familiar user journeys, URLs, and catalog structures
  • Consume ERP data without owning or managing ERP logic
  • Support both AX (interim) and Dynamics 365 (future) data feeds
  • Deliver a scalable foundation aligned with Schottlander’s long-term roadmap

  In parallel, Schottlander required a replacement for an existing offline barcode scanning tool used by high-volume customers placing bulk orders. The new solution needed to work seamlessly with the new website and future ERP environment.

Solutions Delivered

IDS Logic delivered a phased solution aligned with Schottlander’s broader transformation program.

• Umbraco Website Rebuild & Modernization: IDS Logic rebuilt Schottlander.com on Umbraco, a .NET-based CMS aligned with the client’s technology stack. The rebuild included a like-for-like reconstruction of the existing Sitefinity site while preserving URLs and customer familiarity. The new platform features improved product categorization, enhanced navigation, flexible templates, and reusable content components, along with integration of Umbraco Forms and Umbraco Commerce. Extensive QA ensured accuracy and performance across the large product catalog.
• ERP-Aligned Architecture: While the ERP migration was managed by a separate partner, IDS Logic ensured the website could securely consume ERP data. The platform supports AX feeds initially while being fully prepared for Dynamics 365 schemas. All fulfillment, payment processing, and core business logic remain owned by the ERP environment, with the website acting as a secure ordering interface.
• Integrated eCommerce & Account Experience: The Umbraco solution provides secure account-based access for accredited customers, ERP-controlled pricing and delivery addresses, order history visibility, and ERP-driven payment and fulfillment via Dynamics and Sage. This ensures clean separation between the front-end experience and back-office processing.
• High-Volume Barcode Scanning Solution: IDS Logic delivered a custom barcode scanning solution to replace the legacy offline tool. The new system integrates directly with the Umbraco website and enables customers to create dedicated bulk-order baskets online. Users can review, amend, or reset large orders while background processing handles high data volumes. Customers receive acknowledgement within 60 seconds, with clear messaging when large orders are still processing.
• Performance, Reliability & Safeguards: To meet strict performance requirements, the solution ensures customers are never left waiting during checkout. Orders are acknowledged immediately, background processing manages large transactions, and safeguards identify failed or delayed orders. This delivers speed, transparency, and reliability for high-value transactions.