CPQ for Specialty Vehicle Manufacturers

Designing and creating new specialty vehicles is no simple task. Whether it’s a fleet or a single truck, there’s a lot of steps that have to be followed to get it to your customer.

Configure One’s CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) software is designed specifically to help make the design-to-order process seamless. The software is perfectly suited to meet the needs of specialty vehicle manufacturers.

The Complexities of Quoting Specialty Vehicles

The process of quoting specialty vehicles has traditionally taken many steps which hold up sales and tie up sales reps while leaving your production crew idle. This long lead time can result in lost revenue from customers choosing a competitor and cost you more money from idle production lines.

Does any of this sound familiar?

If you’ve encountered any of the following problems, it’s time to get serious about CPQ software:

Quoting Length/Turnaround Time Takes Too Long
Your sales representative takes information for the quote, such as the size, vehicle body style, chassis, accessories, paint, and the like. Then, they transfer this data to the engineering department to see if the request is physically possible to build and what’s required to build it. Sales then generates a quote for client approval.

If there’s a change, it has to go back to the engineers and the process starts over. This is troubling because it keeps your manufacturing line sitting around waiting for the quotes to be generated and approved. It’s the way things have been done for years, but it’s not very efficient.

Quoting Length/Turnaround Time Takes Too Long
Your sales representative takes information for the quote, such as the size, vehicle body style, chassis, accessories, paint, and the like. Then, they transfer this data to the engineering department to see if the request is physically possible to build and what’s required to build it. Sales then generates a quote for client approval.

If there’s a change, it has to go back to the engineers and the process starts over. This is troubling because it keeps your manufacturing line sitting around waiting for the quotes to be generated and approved. It’s the way things have been done for years, but it’s not very efficient.

Disconnected Systems Hidden Behind Walls
When it comes to quoting complex configurations, many of the systems are so disconnected that they are hard to integrate with newer technologies. You might have one system in place to generate quotes, a second system to track inventories, and a third to track shipments and past sales. Many “homegrown” systems don’t integrate well to CRM or ERP systems.

Isolation can oftentimes be the cause for the left hand not knowing what the right is doing. One department may be well aware of their role in the configuration process, but they may have no clue how this impacts those in other departments.

Finally, by having your configuration process so insular, a customer cannot potentially “browse” the system on their own. They must call or email a salesperson to begin the process rather than visiting the website and entering the information for themselves. Letting customers create their own product configurations gives them a sense of ownership and attachment that leads to more sales.

One Person Managing the Process
Tribal knowledge, where expert knowledge is consolidated around one person (or a small group of people) can hold your company back.

What’s wrong with that, you might ask? If one person knows all of the nuances and ins-and-outs of that system, what happens when that person is out sick or takes a vacation? All of their expertise and your configuration activities are on hold until they return. or until you can hire and train someone new who can then get caught up to speed.

Even worse, if that person leaves the company it could take months to get their replacement up to speed. Even then, there will likely be gaps in knowledge and understanding that could take years to recover.

Difficulty Onboarding New Employees
Even if a new hire isn’t a “configuration guru,” but simply works in sales, engineering, or on the production line, the workflow details can be difficult for newbies to pick up. Each business does things their own way, be it paper/pencil/notebook style or Excel spreadsheets. These can be incredibly troublesome for new employees to adjust to as they learn the business nuances. As a result, each time you hire someone new, your productivity falls (at least temporarily).
Longer Lead Times than Competitors
One of the biggest pain points for many companies is the fact that they aren’t staying competitive with other businesses who are modernizing. Switching from manual product configuration to using CPQ software can reduce lead times by days and even weeks. If your company is still on the older system, you could find yourself losing sales to more up-to-date companies that are able to offer faster turn-around times.
Too Many Customizations
There are almost an infinite number of customizations that can be provided for specialty vehicles. With all of these customization options, it becomes a major headache to keep up with all of them to determine what supplies must be in stock to create the customization, how much the customization will cost, how long it will take, and even if it is possible to do.
Amount of Churn Between Departments to Get What the Customer Wants
There are a lot of moving parts when taking a quote to getting it approved to getting it into production and finally getting a finished product to the customer. That’s a lot of back-and-forth between departments and the customer which causes problems along the way, especially if one department drops the ball and the customer is not happy with the finished vehicle.
CAD Models and Approval Drawings
Many specialty vehicle manufacturers use CAD models or drawings, either for production or as mock-ups for customer approval. If you’re still configuring vehicles manually, this process can add days to your sales timeline and often ties up your engineers with tedious work that could be automated.

How Can CPQ Software Improve Your Efficiency and Profit?

Imagine a streamlined process of taking customer orders for specialty vehicles within an hour or less. Picture taking orders directly from your website.

With Configure One’s CPQ software, your configuration orders are streamlined.

Manual configuration and quoting process:

  • Meet with customer
  • Collect the specifications of the specialty vehicle they’re looking to quote
  • Work with the engineering team to determine if the specs are approved or need to be changed due to design or production issues
  • Many times, you’re going back to the client to explain the changes and get approval for those changes
  • Once you get approval from engineering and the client, now it’s ready for production
  • The entire process leaves your manufacturing team with no work.

The process can take days to weeks.

CPQ sales process:

  • A customer requests a quote from you.
  • You enter the specifications into the CPQ software. The software then determines if the client’s specs are feasible and kicks it back immediately if they aren’t. If the request is possible, the software generates a Bill of Materials (BOM) to list all of the parts and materials that will be needed to make the vehicles.
  • The software then creates a specific itemized quote to present to the customer.

What took days and weeks, now will be completed in minutes.

What Will Your Business Do with All the Extra Time and Resources?

speed

What once might have taken days of turn-around now only takes an hour or less. And once the customer signs off on the quote, it’s easy to move quickly into production as your software has provided you with the list of all the materials you will either need to order or pull from existing inventory.

CPQ software allows you to:

  • Easily produce multiple quotes for the same client by changing the specifications.
  • Seamlessly integrate with your other systems such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software systems to track inventories and manage customer accounts.
  • Integrate into your company’s website to allow customers to submit their orders and receive quotes online.

Why Configure One’s CPQ Is the Best Choice for Specialty Vehicle Manufacturers

“Configure One offers features and benefits that exceed ERP-integrated and other standalone configurators. It’s allowed us to provide a new standard in quotation specifications, pricing, and visual drawings. I believe that Configure One has the best product configurator on the market.”

Speed Up the Quoting Process by Removing Variables That Cause Delays
Using your own experts, you’ll set the parameters for configuration options and pricing which will remove the challenges experienced previously when creating quotes.

Manual quotes, reworks and configuration errors are a thing of the past. Suddenly, your sales staff has more time to make sales, your manufacturing department is busy, and your engineers have time to develop innovative designs and products.

Improve Interdepartmental Communications
Gone are the days you have to manually take a sales configuration request to multiple departments to see if a unique order is possible. Now, you can communicate with multiple departments quickly and easily.
Improve Productivity While Increasing Profits
Experience efficiencies that were never possible prior to adding CPQ software to your process. Now, the sales time is shortened significantly and the production team can work faster with a Bill of Materials (BOM) that easily lists items needed for the specialty vehicle along with which items are in stock and which items need to be ordered.

Your sales team will have suggested product configurations and will be guided to optimal upsell items. Training your sales team is quicker and easier while not losing any of the expert knowledge needed to help the customer.

Being able to show your customers 2D and 3D rendered graphics of their specialty vehicle in real-time gives you a huge competitive edge while also ensuring customer satisfaction and accuracy on each quote.

3D Visualization through CAD Renderings in Real Time
Your customers can try different specifications and see the effects instantly. Reducing production errors is money in your pocket. When customers can see a 3D model of what they’re configuring, they know exactly how the finished product will look. This leads to more satisfied customers and fewer returns.

Gain a Competitive Advantage
Maintainer Corp has stated that Configure One’s software has increased speed so that what once took 1 to 4 weeks now takes less than ten minutes. Sales and sales documentation are customized, and the quote is available for the customer in less than a minute after the customization is complete.

Configure One’s CPQ goes beyond just streamlining the process. It increases the accuracy of your work. Because the configuration is standardized by the software, it’s no longer necessary to perform redundant corrections to an order. Once an error is discovered and fixed, then it is fixed forever.

Once a customer places a quote, the software integrates with CAD to create fully realized 3D models and drawings of the vehicles so that the customer can see EXACTLY what they are getting with the order. This helps with customer satisfaction so they can be assured of the accuracy of their order.

Finally, the software allows your different departments to work at a more efficient level. The production line can work faster as it doesn’t take as long to get quotes approved and put out for completion. Another happy Configure One client, Reading Truck Body, points out that in the past, the engineers at their company were required for 75% of custom orders. Now, they’re not needed as often and can spend their time doing more product design which, in turn, keeps the business more competitive and able to create new products and product lines.

Support from Industry Experts Leading Innovation in the CPQ industry
When you choose Configure One’s CPQ software, you’re also getting the expertise of a true industry leader. Configure One is a veteran-owned business whose founders are still closely involved in the day-to-day operations of the company.

We pride ourselves on working with our customers so that they get the most out of the software. Maintainer Corp, for instance, was able to get such in-depth training that their staff was left talking long after the training was over about the possibilities afforded by the software. Configure One’s Configure, Price, Quote software will give you a competitive advantage in specialty vehicle configuration.

 

Ready to Crush the Competition, Increase Profits and Offer More Value to Your Customers?

Configure One is a recognized leader of the CPQ software industry and has been innovating for twenty years. Our business is organized to give our customers the best experience implementing the most robust Configure, Price, Quote software on the market. And we don’t stop there. We support you long after you’ve decided to catapult your company above the competition.

INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE?

CPQ Guide

Download our PDF on essential CPQ functions sought out by top manufacturers to increase revenue and accelerate sales.
 
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CPQ Solutions

Understand the CPQ market and decide which features are important for your company with our CPQ Solutions white paper.
 
Download White Paper

Online Demo

Schedule a live demo with one of our CPQ experts and learn how we can drive your digital transformation!
 
Schedule My Demo

CPQ Guide

Download our PDF on essential CPQ functions sought out by top manufacturers to increase revenue and accelerate sales.

CPQ Solutions

Understand the CPQ market and decide which features are important for your company with our CPQ Solutions white paper.

Demo

Schedule a live demo with one of our CPQ experts and learn how we can drive your digital transformation.