Blog 10: The Configurator as a Technical Gatekeeper and the Role of the Consultant
In this unique blog post, we’ve invited our knowledge expert, Rinck Sonenberg, to share his insights. With a decade of experience implementing the Merkato CPQ Toolbox and a background in international business, Rinck excels at translating commercial customer needs into optimal and technically viable solutions. It’s at the delicate intersection of business and IT where we often see challenges arise. Rinck offers a fresh perspective on the critical role of our software as a technical gatekeeper.
The Product Configurator: An Optimization Tool
The product configurator is invaluable for refining your quoting process. By incorporating all possible options and their limitations into the configurator’s knowledge rules, error margins are drastically reduced, preventing the configuration of unmanufacturable products.
Continuous Control Mechanisms
Acting as a reliable technical gatekeeper, the configurator ensures continuous oversight throughout the process. This guarantees that the options sold are both technically feasible and commercially viable.
Concrete Examples:
- A client manufacturing elevators benefits from our software’s deep control mechanisms, handling numerous variables. What would typically take a salesperson a day and a half of manual calculations now takes just thirty minutes with the configurator, ensuring error-free product configuration.
- Another client uses the configurator as a technical gatekeeper in a different manner, enabling dealers to create quotes independently. With Merkato integrated into the ordering process as a control mechanism, the factory is assured of receiving accurate and manufacturable requests.
The Consultant’s Role
The consultant is pivotal in transferring your company’s knowledge and experience into a well-structured product or sales configurator. This process results in a logical, functional, and understandable solution, smoothing out any irregularities and ensuring a hassle-free experience for dealers and an error-free production line.
Conclusion
Companies willing to critically assess and improve their internal processes, calculation rules, and pricing structures will reap long-term benefits from their product configurator. Implementing such a tool is the perfect opportunity to critically review existing practices within your organization. With the experience and advice of our consultants, you’ll discover best practices and learn how others have tackled similar challenges.