--- title: "Great Lakes Bio Systems" url: https://www.uncap.com/work/greatlakesbiosystems published: 2026-11-15 updated: 2026-11-15 summary: "Uncap migrated Great Lakes Bio Systems, a developer and supplier of biological solutions for water treatment, aquatic environments, pool and spa maintenance, and specialty cleaning (including the Orb-3 family of enzyme-based products, aeration equipment, and aquaculture formulations), from Drupal Commerce to Shopify. The migration carried products, customer records, order history, navigation, and the shopping experience, with SEO considerations, replacing a legacy platform that demanded constant technical upkeep. The partnership continued over years: a Shopify theme modernization that refreshed the technical foundation while preserving the familiar design, replacement of legacy custom-field apps with native Shopify metafields for products, blogs, and blog posts, Shopify Companies and Catalogs configured as B2B foundations for professional buyers, a custom API integration connecting Shopify with the company's ERP, UPC identifiers on product pages, and FAQ and collapsible product-education components. The storefront serves consumers and professionals with structured specifications, product filtering, and application-driven discovery." --- # Great Lakes Bio Systems > Uncap migrated Great Lakes Bio Systems, a developer and supplier of biological solutions for water treatment, aquatic environments, pool and spa maintenance, and specialty cleaning (including the Orb-3 family of enzyme-based products, aeration equipment, and aquaculture formulations), from Drupal Commerce to Shopify. The migration carried products, customer records, order history, navigation, and the shopping experience, with SEO considerations, replacing a legacy platform that demanded constant technical upkeep. The partnership continued over years: a Shopify theme modernization that refreshed the technical foundation while preserving the familiar design, replacement of legacy custom-field apps with native Shopify metafields for products, blogs, and blog posts, Shopify Companies and Catalogs configured as B2B foundations for professional buyers, a custom API integration connecting Shopify with the company's ERP, UPC identifiers on product pages, and FAQ and collapsible product-education components. The storefront serves consumers and professionals with structured specifications, product filtering, and application-driven discovery. - Drupal Migrated to Shopify - Native Metafield product data - B2B Companies + Catalogs ready Great Lakes Bio Systems develops biological solutions for water treatment, aquatic environments, pool and spa maintenance, and specialty cleaning: the Orb-3 enzyme family, aeration equipment, and aquaculture products, sold to consumers and professionals alike. Its [Drupal Commerce](/migration/custom-cart) platform demanded constant technical upkeep. Uncap migrated the business to Shopify with products, customers, and order history intact, and the partnership kept going: a theme modernization that preserved the familiar design, legacy custom-field apps replaced with native Shopify metafields, Companies and Catalogs configured as B2B foundations, and a custom API integration connecting Shopify with the company's ERP. ## The Who Great Lakes Bio Systems develops and supplies biological solutions for water treatment, aquatic environments, pool and spa maintenance, specialty cleaning, and related applications: the Orb-3 family of enzyme-based solutions, aeration equipment, aquaculture products, and specialized formulations, serving everyday consumers alongside service professionals and commercial purchasers. ## The Problem The business ran on Drupal Commerce, where maintaining a customized environment means ongoing application updates, module compatibility, and storefront development. Products are differentiated by formulation, application, treatment capacity, packaging, and specifications, with families spanning small consumer containers to commercial quantities, and the move had to carry product data, customer records, order history, and navigation, not just a new look. ## The Solution Uncap migrated the business from Drupal Commerce to Shopify with a responsive storefront, custom navigation and category organization, product filtering and badges, streamlined cart interactions, and SEO considerations, carrying products, customers, and historical orders. The work continued over years: wholesale purchasing support for business customers, a theme upgrade that modernized the technical foundation while preserving the design customers knew, legacy custom-field apps replaced with native Shopify metafields across products, blogs, and blog posts, Shopify Companies and Catalogs configured as the foundation for native B2B accounts, and a custom API integration built by Uncap connecting Shopify with the company's ERP so commerce and operational data stay in step. ## The Results A modern, maintainable Shopify foundation for a technically complex catalog: structured specifications in native metafields, application-driven discovery for consumers and professionals, UPC identifiers on product pages, and FAQ and collapsible product-education components. Ecommerce modernization is rarely a single event; from the [migration](/migrations) through each successive improvement, the platform keeps evolving alongside the business. > Our site was done on-time and on-budget, which is truly a rarity in the industry. … They helped us transfer from Drupal Commerce to Shopify PLUS by designing a wonderful custom tailored theme and developing it from scratch. The new site is fully mobile friendly, with hand picked user experience elements to improve conversion rate and usability. We are very happy with the end result and highly recommend them! > >, Jamie Axelsen, President · Great Lakes Bio Systems [Visit the live site](https://www.greatlakesbiosystems.com) ## Frequently asked questions ### What did Uncap build for Great Lakes Bio Systems? Uncap migrated the business from Drupal Commerce to Shopify with a responsive storefront, product filtering and discovery, merchandising components, and product, customer, and historical order migration, then continued modernizing the platform over years of partnership. ### Why move off Drupal Commerce? Maintaining a customized Drupal Commerce environment requires ongoing technical management: application updates, module compatibility, and storefront development. Shopify gave the company a more manageable foundation and access to a modern commerce ecosystem. ### How are technical biological products presented? Products differ by biological formulation, application, treatment capacity, packaging, and specifications, with product families spanning small consumer containers to commercial quantities. Structured product information, intuitive navigation, and application-driven discovery help both consumers and professionals find the right option. ### What did the modernization work involve? A Shopify theme upgrade refreshed the storefront's technical foundation while preserving the existing design, and legacy custom-field apps were replaced with native Shopify metafields for products, blogs, and blog posts, bringing structured content into Shopify's native architecture. ### How are professional buyers supported? The storefront serves service professionals and commercial purchasers alongside consumers, with wholesale purchasing requirements addressed and Shopify Companies and Catalogs configured as the foundation for native B2B account functionality. ### Is the store connected to an ERP? Yes. A custom API integration built by Uncap connects Shopify with the company's ERP, keeping commerce and operational data in step. The ERP itself is confidential.