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Home » News » Optimize collaboration between customer, sales and production with the link between Ridder iQ and Merkato Essentials
Optimize collaboration between customer, sales and production with the link between Ridder iQ and Merkato Essentials
A common misconception about a CPQ solution like Merkato Essentials is that this tool mainly focuses on optimizing the sales process and issuing error-free, consistent quotes in the right corporate identity. However, that is only one of the advantages. When you really use the power of a CPQ solution, you use it to optimize the entire process from sales to production. A good connection with your ERP package is a requirement. This can provide enormous efficiency and quality benefits in the manufacturing industry, among others. What does that look like? Hans Stout, co-founder of Flexproces, and Ronald Hensen, director of CPQing Solutions, talk about it.
Why link your ERP with your configurator?
“With a configurator like Merkato Essentials you almost always have a role between the CRM and the ERP package,” says Ronald. “When we have a conversation with a customer, connections are always discussed. After all, you don’t want to continuously retype information manually, which is extra work and prone to errors. By linking Merkato Essentials with your ERP system, you can ensure that data is stored in one source, namely your ERP package. That is the truth and that is what the configurator uses. With the right knowledge rules on top, you put together the right products and quotations. Consistent, error-free and in the right corporate identity.”
And that is also what led to the collaboration with Hans Stout. With his partner Jeroen Gorter, Hans started Flexproces to offer innovative companies in the manufacturing industry flexible (software) solutions for an optimal process flow. With 15 years of experience in the industry and a background at Ridder iQ, he knows what is going on and how to tackle issues effectively with the right connections. Hans says: “The big advantage of the link between your CPQ solution and ERP package is that you have to do much less work. If you do not work with a configurator, you will have to build a configuration yourself in, for example, Ridder iQ. That requires knowledge and time. When you feed the configurator with information from Ridder iQ, the configurator can immediately generate a parts list. By automatically returning this to your ERP package, you can immediately start production.”
No more confusion between customer, sales and production
The Flexproces connection is divided into modules. This modular structure allows you to choose which data is accessed from your ERP package, such as Ridder iQ, to Merkato Essentials. And what information is returned. Hans: “You are in control. Do you only want to transfer customers and contacts to the configurator? Which can. Just your articles? Also possible. Do you want to continue your articles as well as edits and parts lists? Also fine! Have you finished your configuration and has the quote been sent? We can then link this back to Ridder iQ. After approval of the quotation, a production order can even be created immediately. If you check all the options, you will have a complete link that will share all information back and forth.” Ronald adds: “This streamlines the entire process between customer, seller and production. Because all information is fixed and you configure it based on knowledge rules, you work uniformly.” The result? What has been sold can by definition be produced. Otherwise you couldn’t configure it. “This ensures that sales does not have to sell twice: once with the customer and once internally, during production,” Hans emphasizes.
Innovative possibilities: making changes during the production process
Unique to this connection is the possibility to effectively implement changes in a started production process. Without effort or frustration. “Once you have started the production process, it is useful that sales knows that it has started and you cannot change anything anymore. This feedback normally takes effort, time and energy. We can provide automated feedback as to whether a configuration is already in production. If you have this module, you can even make a change for a customer while the production process has already started.” How does that work? Hans explains: “The part of the calculation that is not yet in production can be recalculated, configured and offered to the customer. If this is approved, this will be submitted as a separate production slip. We throw away the old voucher, which was not yet in production, and replace it with the new voucher. This way you can make changes during the production process to something that has not yet been produced.”
Optimize processes in the manufacturing industry together
Hans and Ronald increasingly experience that processes in the manufacturing industry can be improved with the help of their expertise, innovations and far-reaching collaboration. “We are increasingly having conversations together. Hans, with his experience in the ERP industry, is a valuable discussion partner and by sitting down with the customer, we really achieve great optimizations,” says Ronald. This also provides inspiration for new ideas. “I find the opportunity to give your customer insight into the production process of his order very interesting. How are you doing? And you can even let a customer configure their own product. You can achieve this by offering your CPQ solution to your customer in a portal environment,” says Hans. These are all innovations that can already be used in the manufacturing industry.
How far is your organization in optimizing the process between customer, sales and production? We would be happy to discuss this with you without obligation. Please contact!
NB: CPQing Solutions B.V. is a distributor of Merkato Essentials. This standard software platform for building configurators is developed by the Merkato Group. This same software platform is also provided by Quootz (NL) and SellItEasy (BE). The link described above can therefore also be used with these suppliers.
The benefits are endless
The implementation of a configurator is different for every company and can differ per industry. However, there are benefits that are the same for every company in every industry, regardless of the application:
Always direct insight into all standards and limitations of all products or services
Complex products are displayed simply and clearly
Control over the contents of the quotation document
Ability to configure (and sell) online
Lead time is significantly reduced (from quotation to production)
Less failure costs
Easy to expand
Direct insight into costs and delivery times of variations
Do you also want your construction supply company to soon be able to rely on all the benefits of a configurator? Please feel free to contact with us to discuss the options, or experience the convenience yourself with your own demo-environment.
