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Team Members
The Schwabe Group is a family-owned company specialising in plant-based pharmaceuticals. They operate in five continents and produce well-known products including Umckaloabo®, Gaspan®, Tebonin®, and Lasea®.
The Schwabe Group wanted to unify its various CMS systems into a single multisite platform to ensure consistency across all websites, centralise administration, and oversee global legal requirements. A central dashboard was developed with a design system enabling brands and markets within the Schwabe Group to create and manage web properties efficiently whilst maintaining strict security and compliance through the central system. Successfully launched in just three months, the new platform allows the Schwabe Group to maintain a uniform online presence, implement timely updates, and monitor legal compliance worldwide.
About the project
The Client: Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co. KG
The Schwabe Group consists of multiple affiliated companies within the pharmaceutical and health industry. Its products are distributed across more than 50 countries. All companies within the group specialise in plant-based pharmaceuticals and health products. With a workforce of over 4,000 professionals across 16 countries, the company oversees more than 100 websites.
Schwabe is a family-owned business with a rich 150-year history, it is one of Europe’s oldest pharmaceutical companies. It generates annual sales exceeding 900 million EUR and is known for popular products such as Lasea®, Tebonin®, Gaspan® and Umckaloabo®.
Digital Transformation with a scalable Multisite Solution
The Schwabe Group partnered with 1xINTERNET to unify its fragmented digital presence, which was spread across multiple CMS platforms and static websites with limited resources. The lack of consistency and market collaboration, along with challenges in security and legal compliance across markets, underscored the need for a centralised solution.
The most important project goal for Schwabe was to create a multisite solution that would meet current requirements and could scale for future growth.
The initial launch was completed within just three months. Since then, 20–30 Schwabe Group websites have been migrated each year to the new system annually, ensuring streamlined operations and improved digital governance.
FROM THE CLIENT
"Implementing this multisite solution for our company has been a game-changer for us. In a competitive online market like ours, we need to have modern solutions that makes it possible for us to act fast and still have a full overview of all of our websites. With 1xINTERNET amazing results have been achieved in such a short period of time. At Schwabe Group, we are looking forward to future projects."
Alexander Reisenauer, Director Global Digital Marketing
THE HIGHLIGHTS: Control of all digital properties
| Rapid time-to-market | Central dashboard | Centralised control |
| The new multisite solution allows Schwabe Group to react quickly when launching new websites. There is no limit to the number of websites or apps that can be created. | A central dashboard for all web properties, allows for centralised management and hosting. Integrated with Acquia Site Factory, this dashboard provides global accessibility across all markets. | The multisite solution has simplified the management updates, ensuring better worldwide compliance with legal requirements and data protection. The service level is 99.95%, backed by 24/7 monitoring and support. |
| Centralised design system | Centralised code administration | Centralised editorial role management |
| A design system was set up to meet the requirements of the Schwabe Group, brand managers are finally able to achieve consistency across all markets through the use of reusable components. | The multisite solution enables code to be maintained in a single central repository. Whenever new components are developed, updates are applied across all websites, allowing instant access to new features. | The centralised multisite solution simplifies the administration of editorial and administrative roles, providing a clear overview and ensuring up-to-date management across all websites. |
| Boosting lead generation | Significant cost savings | Multilingual functionality |
| The Schwabe Group is continuously developing new brand websites to enhance product awareness and online visibility. These sites are optimised for SEO to attract and convert more leads. | The total cost of ownership per website decreases as more pages are added to the platform. | Each new website includes multi-language capabilities, essential for a company serving diverse global markets. |
Enhanced Efficiency for Brands and Content Management
The multisite platform strikes a balance between brand individuality and corporate identity compliance, ensuring consistency across all web properties while allowing each brand to maintain its unique presence. A centralised design system upholds corporate guidelines, creating a uniform look and feel across all markets.
Internal teams can independently expand the platform, develop localised content, and leverage cross-brand and cross-country features. This autonomy enhances marketing efficiency by streamlining content creation, strengthening brand awareness, and improving online visibility, ultimately driving lead generation.
For content editors, the system offers maximum flexibility through an intuitive, modular setup. Predefined templates within the design system ensure a consistent corporate identity, while allowing editors to tailor content as needed. This user-friendly approach means that internal teams can launch new brand pages quickly, maintaining a cohesive digital presence.
Features and highlights for editors:
- Intuitive user interface
- Quick setup of a new website (approx. 15 min)
- System-wide content templates
- System-wide functions with centralised code management
- Efficient security and code maintenance
- Automatic content checks
- Simple onboarding of new editors
- Drag & drop functions
- Direct frontend editing
- Economical & modularly expandable
FROM THE CLIENT
"Our WCMS offers an intuitive user interface for fast website creation with system-wide templates and functionalities. The simplicity of onboarding new editors and the possibility of direct front-end editing make it an indispensable tool for all modern web projects."
Joana Roller, Digital Business Manager
Consistency in Corporate Design
The corporate design for each brand was carefully analysed to develop a unified design system. Storybook was used to create all essential components, ensuring consistency across the company’s websites. Initially, the system was applied to four key templates—Umckaloabo®, Gaspan®, Tebonin®, and Lasea®—and was later expanded to include more than 10 additional brands. Today, the design system supports over 50 websites and features more than 20 colour schemes.
After successfully implementing the design system, we introduced a robust CMS to ensure its long-term sustainability. The open-source multisite management platform, built on Drupal, was integrated and hosted on Site Factory by our premium partner, Acquia.
Tailored to Schwabe´s needs
The open-source multisite management system met over 80% of the Schwabe Group's requirements right out of the box, with the remaining 20% customised to fit specific needs. Due to strict country-specific regulations in the pharmaceutical industry, the Schwabe Group requires separate product websites for each country, sometimes with only minor modifications. The platform’s flexible distribution system accommodates this need, providing ample space for customisation while ensuring compliance across markets.
More about multisite management system
Complexity on demand
The platform can be easily extended with custom developments or system integrations based on specific needs. Interfaces can be adapted to meet varying requirements, offering flexibility for future enhancements.
A prime example of this is the DHU website. As one of the most intricate sites within the Schwabe Group’s digital ecosystem, it embodies the complexity of both its functional requirements and the specialised field of homeopathy.
Comprehensive Search Functionality
A powerful search is essential for helping users find the information they need. The Schwabe Group prioritises a search solution that aligns with industry standards, which includes four key search types.
| Product Search | Content Search | Sales Partner Search | Country-Specific Search |
| The PIM system, integrated with an SAP API, searches across over 18,000 DHU products and their ingredients. Data is updated daily to ensure accuracy. | This allows users to find various types of content, such as images, which are generated for a large number of DHU products using dedicated image creation software. | The search function includes results from multiple linked pages to help locate Schwabe Group sales partners. | The platform provides a cross-border search that returns relevant results from Schwabe Group websites in different countries. |
International recognitions
In 2021, the multisite solution for Schwabe Group won the Regional Excellence EMEA Awards at Acquia Engage 2021.
More about the Winner of the Regional Excellence EMEA Awards
In 2022, the project "Game-changing solution for a leading pharmaceutical company" was honored with the Splash Awards in the Healthcare category.
More about the Winners of the Splash Awards 2022
Webinars and presentations on this project:
Acquia Experience Day Germany Baddy Breidert & Alexander Reisenauer (2021)
Shift/CX Webinar Acquia, 1xINTERNET, Schwabe Group (2022)
Why Drupal was chosen
Drupal was chosen by the Schwabe Group after extensive market research and comparison of various CMS options. The flexibility offered by Drupal as an open-source solution combined with enterprise-grade security and scalability were the reason Drupal was the best option. Acquia’s Site Factory was chosen to manage all websites from a single dashboard. With Site Factory, new websites can be set up in just 15 minutes, allowing teams to select templates, grant editor access, and start adding content. Websites can be customised for each brand whilst conforming with the requirements set by the Schwabe Group.
Technical Specifications
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Key modules/theme/distribution used:
