Staff shortage? Bet on automation!
The national staff shortage has been in control of the news for months. Recruitment campaigns, posters and printed cars with “colleagues wanted” have become the new street scene. There are also alternative solutions for some of these entrepreneurs. Thanks to smart automation, for example, you can grow without taking extra staff. This is one of the motives that we increasingly hear again during a no-obligation conversation about our CPQ software. With our customers, the staff shortage is also a serious issue to which our software makes a positive contribution. In this blog we provide insight into the staff shortage, how automation by means of Our product configurator can help with this and we will discuss the (time) savings at our current customers.
A situation sketch of the shortage of staff
The end of the staff shortage is unfortunately not yet in sight (Dutch only). For example, a record number of vacancies is still open, while the number of job seekers reaches a low point. In almost all sectors, this shortage of staff causes a higher workload for the current staff. Although hiring extra staff seems to be the logical solution, this is difficult in reality. This is evident, among other things, from figures from the CBS (Dutch only); 23 percent of entrepreneurs expected to hire more staff in the second quarter of 2022 (for the seventh quarter in a row). Ultimately, on balance this only succeeded in 9 percent of the entrepreneurs. As a result, 84 percent of entrepreneurs still experience a shortage of labor. 38 percent even see this as the main obstacle in their business operations. It is not surprising that less suitable staff are being hired for a position.
Betting on automation as a solution
Although the first logical idea to lower the workload is often to hire extra staff, the current situation shows that this is not feasible for most organizations. Automating processes, for example drawing up and sending correct (customized) quotations, converting quotes to production orders or making production drawings for customized products enables organizations to work more efficiently. By reducing the current workload per quotation issued, many companies can continue to grow, while the personnel occupation remains the same.
The versatility of CPQ software
Although we often describe our CPQ software as Product-configurator it is much more than that. Not only does the software enable the field service, dealers, sales department or even customers of your organization to only put together 100% correct solutions. It is also perfect to use as Offer Tool to relieve your sellers and work planners. There are various processes within your company that can be further automated through CPQ software and thus generate time.
Benefits to compile automation products
By using a product configurator, 100% correct configurations are made. Never again, anything can be put together or offered that cannot be produced. Because the knowledge of your most experienced seller is guaranteed in the system, starting, less experienced sellers also send 100% correct quotation to your customers. It is even easier to connect dealers or resellers to the configurator because full product knowledge is fixed in the software and is therefore no longer necessary for employees.
Benefits automation quotes prepare
The software of CPQing Solutions allows you to send (after the product configuration) in no time, correct and re-made quotations. After your customer’s agreement, the quotation is easily converted into an order and the piece list, which is generated underwater, then creates a production order in your ERP software.
Whatever your underlying idea is to automate, CPQing Solutions is happy to think along with you. This way you only pay for the functionalities you use to achieve your objective. If your organization does not use the more complex functionalities of our CPQ software, you will not logically do not have to pay for this. Automation does not have to cost a lot at all, especially if the alternative is hiring extra staff in this difficult period.
Examples from practice, as CPQ software helps
More and more often we see that the motives of our customers go beyond the sales process of complex products. That it is no longer about bringing the margin in production orders back to 0%, or the nicely display of quotation documents. More and more often it is about relieving staff and to be able to continue to grow with the same personnel occupation. We have already received several great examples from the practice of how our software has ensured further growth in business operations without additional staff being hired.
Reiger Suspension
“The implementation went super fast. Within three works, mountain work had already been done and the live -life did not last long. The goal was to use the configurator to relieve sellers and work planners. Thanks to the link with the Ridder IQ ERP software, the piece list makes a production order when a quotation is converted into an order. ”
Tiktak/Segafredo Zanetti
“Because the organization is growing, a capacity shortage arose on the office staff. The consequence of this was that there was a lot of pressure on drawing up correct quotations. Within just three weeks, the CPQing Solutions Consultants have implemented the configuration process, the calculation process and the printing of correct quotation documents in the CPQing Configurator. Thanks to the flexibility of the software, account managers can now generate quotation documents quickly and efficiently – all this without capacity expansion on the office staff. ”
Abk Innovent
“Previously, an engineer made a CAD drawing of each application. Often, due to ambiguities, this was sent back and forth several times before it was finally approved for production. A time -consuming and expensive process that asked a lot of capacity from the engineers. Thanks to the configurator, this is a thing of the past, now the measurements are recorded in the configurator and sketches are made with SVG technology. Because of this approach, the customer is jointly responsible for correctly recording the sizes and ultimately only one drawing has to be made. ”
Wientjens
“The ambition to continue to grow led to a search for dealers to make quotes themselves in an easier way. By recording all product information in the product configurator, the dealers no longer have all the active product knowledge themselves. This also makes recruiting and bringing new dealers a lot easier.”
CPQing Solutions yourself?
See more applications of our software? View the elaboration of different customers and read how they use our software in their daily business operations. Curious about what the CPQing Configurator can do for your organization? Request a demo or take Contact without obligation to discuss your situation.