| Online Configurators for Specifying Engineers |
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| Written by Jean Steckler, The Turnaround Team | |
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Buying complex products and services can be just that . . . complex. Engineers like David Griffiths at New York Air Brake need to design and assemble solutions that perform under great pressure, with no room for error or downtime. Griffiths' job is to find simple, elegant solutions to complex problems in the well-established rail industry. He expects the same from his suppliers. Griffiths needs his supply chain partners to configure and price optimal solutions quickly. The demands of cost containment and rapid delivery make it impossible for Griffiths to use inefficient manual processes that too often result in unacceptable order errors and long lead times to complete quotes.The normal selection of an automated valve requires experience. Once an engineer selects the proper valve, they need to know the valve torque, the actuator type (pneumatic, electric) and output torque, and the accessories that will be required (limit switches, solenoid valves). All of these items must be evaluated so the sizing is correct and the accessories are compatible. How Time Is SavedIncreasingly, Griffith and his colleagues rely on suppliers such as Assured Automation and A. R. Wilfley & Sons to provide online configurators to automate the manual, disparate processes typically associated with configuration, pricing and quoting. Assured Automation's automated valve configurator (www.assuredautomation.com) uses rules and constraint-based configuration and pricing management technology to deliver solutions. The online configurator assists specifying engineers through the process, guiding the engineer to select compatible options. As the engineer selects the valve, actuator and accessories, he can see the assembly on the screen and generate the part number and the price in real time. Once the valve assembly is selected, engineers can download 3-D CAD models, installation and maintenance manuals and full sets of data sheets. If they prefer, they can use the website as a "virtual" file cabinet or bookshelf. "In my experience, online configurators give me back the one thing that I have less of-time. The time I am saving is significant, as much as eight hours a week," Griffiths observes. Before Griffiths had access to online configurators, he needed to reference several volumes of catalogs from multiple suppliers, as well as place numerous phone calls before he could get the exact product number, price and purchase order numbers. "The configurators are much better than lugging all of those big books around. I find the animated views of the assemblies very helpful when explaining my designs to my colleagues," he adds. "We know from surveys of engineers who specify, recommend and/or purchase automated valves, they overwhelmingly prefer to have the actuator and accessories integrated with the valve in one assembly," observes Bill Farrell, president of Assured Automation. "Our interactive Valve Configurator... displays the correct product image as the valve components are added, generates the part number and calculates the total price, so engineers can get instant estimates," Farrell adds. Farrell consulted his customers before designing his company's configurator. "During the initial development of our automated valve configurator, we interviewed customers and found that most value-added configurators available were too time consuming or too cumbersome. In addition, they did not show what the product looked like as they added accessories and they also wanted CAD drawings and product presentation cutaways of difficult to understand products," he said. "To offer this type of easy to use and product specific information we had to maintain our own web development process," he concluded. Wide Range of Configurators
According to Paul Berg, Hosecraft's general manager, their customers widely adopted their configurator. "We see a definite change in the pattern of customer calls. We are getting fewer calls for quotes, and our orders and technical inquiries have increased," he reports. As early as 2000, engineers needing slurry or chemical pumps could purchase a pump engineered to order on the A. R. Wilfley & Sons (www.wilfley.com) website. Greg Highfill, A. R. Wilfley & Sons's director of engineering and quality, needed to reduce the load on his internal engineering staff that supports his sales channels, including internal sales teams and a worldwide network of manufacturers' representatives. "We believed there are better tools to assure quote and order accuracy than manual, spreadsheet-based quotes. Our pumps can vary from standard to highly engineered, and require accurate engineering calculations to correctly select and size several components simultaneously. We manufacture the pumps according to customer-configured orders, which we need to get quickly, and without errors," Highfill said. Not All Configurators are Created EqualConfigurators can include logic that prevent engineers from selecting incompatible components or accessories, and can actually recommend the best priced accessories given alternative requirements. In an effort to constantly improve the customer experience, some companies have planned upgrade roadmaps. "Another interesting feature we are improving on is the ability to print or save your cart with full product details, including the part number, valve selections and the full set of accessories, and picture of the complete assembly selected for the manufacturer to order items. The cart can be either printed or saved electronically as a PDF copy for our customer's files, making it easy for them to collaborate internally and process the order through their purchasing department," said Farrell. "Our future plans call for delivery information and the ability to enter online purchase orders. We also hear from our resellers that they want to enter their order right away, and even rebrand our configurator to support their own sales efforts," he adds. "The most important part of this process is getting good customer input." Based on the collective experience of companies serving the process industry, the features engineers find most valuable in online configurators include: -Open access (preapproved approved login and password not required) -Logic to prevent order errors and select optimal priced configurations -Image of configured components -Generates part number, price and shipping cost -Animated demonstrations -Online purchase -Estimates ship date and weight -In stock identifier -Online datasheets -Online installation and maintenance manuals -3-D CAD drawings -Rebranded configurators available for distributors
Just as engineers transitioned from calculators to computer tools such as Microsoft Excel's formulas to generate complex calculations, engineers are increasingly relying on online configurators to do the heavy lifting of specifying complex assemblies. Companies pushing for greater productivity are finding these online tools save as much as 20 percent of staff time and can help differentiate themselves as leaders in their industry. Jean Steckler, The Turnaround Team, 605 Roosevelt St., Westfield, NJ 07090, 917-748-7450, www.theturnaroundteam.com. Comments (0)
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In addition to automated valves, process engineers increasingly use online configurators when designing hose, piping and pump applications. Hose configurators such as the one on the Hosecraft USA site (
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