HMF - a cpq.se customer story

What makes the crane business complex?

— We work with complex products. When you buy a crane, you must make some choices. If you choose A, you will not be able to choose B.

For HMF customers it's a big investment to buy a crane, and it's a complex product. The challenge is that when a distributor needs to offer a crane, they might make a mistake — quoting options that aren't compatible. In the worst case, a crane is offered that cannot be produced.

— That's a big challenge, and that's where CPQ and cpq.se was a great help for us.

Now HMF distributors configure their product directly in the system and can be sure that what they offer is also what they can get.

What were the goals of the project?

The first goal was to have a tool for HMF salespeople and distributors where they can make a quote without mistakes.

The second goal was to integrate the CPQ system with the ERP to ensure consistent quality and avoid double work.

— We have integrations into our PIM to get the right texts, pictures and illustrations into the quote document. It's very easy to get the PIM information into the quote documents and this makes it very recognizable for the distributors.

How has CPQ helped the distributors?

With Tacton CPQ, distributors get help in their day-to-day work. They work more efficiently and can be sure that the quote they're making is completely correct. They can answer questions right away when they're in front of the customer.

— When existing distributors have new employees, it's a lot easier to train them and faster to give new employees the responsibility to configure a crane. We can rest assured they will not make any mistakes.

What gives Tacton CPQ a competitive edge?

— One thing that we really love about the configurator is that when you make an incompatible choice, you'll get a message from the system how to resolve the conflict. This helps the user understand what things are not compatible. It helps a lot.

— Another very positive thing we have experienced is that the quote section of the system is very flexible. It's very easy to make customized documents for the different distributors. Now we're also starting to implement even more languages and once that's finished the sales rep can get a quote in Hungarian for example.

— I think what surprised us the most was the implementation process, that it was so quick and easy and so well accepted by our distributors.

Are the orders correct now?

All the orders HMF get from their customers are now correct.

— That's a big change, because before we had a lot of mistakes or missing parts in the orders we got.

All prices are implemented in the Tacton CPQ solution — a big advantage. When the product is configured, the distributor can rest assured that they have the right prices.

— It's especially important these days when prices are going up and down all the time.

Working with Tacton CPQ is a big part of HMF's digital journey. When they want to approach new markets, this is a big plus.