Company
Issue
Vic Biazis and Jim Szymanski have worked for HBF NA (H.B. Fuller)
for the last 20 and 23 years respectively, most recently as Business Managers,
and are both excited about using e-business to streamline how they and
other sales personnel do their jobs. Vic says, "If the Web could free
the information currently housed in the ERP system, customers will be
better served and sales reps will be able to spend more time generating
revenue and market share for the company."
Historically,
in the interest of providing excellent customer service, the task of resolving
customer inquiries has often fallen upon sales reps. Biazis estimates
that the typical sales rep in the field spent 10-18% of his/her time calling
the Customer Service Department, plants, the technical department and
the Credit (A/R) department in order to complete an order, answer a question,
provide more information or determine order status. Szymanski's estimate
is even higher, at nearly 25% of the sales rep's time. Says Biazis, "Being
able to troubleshoot online for customers, like answering the question
"What do I do if the adhesive sets up too fast?" would be great. Believe
it or not, (prior to the Website) our customers and sales reps did not
readily have this information available to them without making a phone
call."
But
aside from allowing more time for actual selling, Biazis had bigger ideas
for how the Sales team could use the power of the Web. Biazis sees significant
value in the ability to efficiently liquidate overstock. He also sees
the Web as being an efficient and timely means of surveying customers
to determine satisfaction, which is part of continually improving and
tailoring service to meet or exceed their needs. Finally, with the Web,
Biazis was looking to service smaller accounts, resulting in lower costs
related to travel. Some or most of the communications and order entry
associated with these accounts would happen online-providing service to
those customers service comparable to that provided larger accounts, or
better.
Solution
H.B. Fuller moved into selling on the web in a series of steps, and worked
with Stratyc (www.stratyc.com ), a software and consulting company
focused on Web-enabling companies in the process manufacturing sector.
The first iteration of the solution came in Fall 2000 when the eBrochure
site, GlueLink.com, was launched for the Distributor Products Group,
a business unit that coordinates all distributor activity for HBF NA.
This site provided support, information and convenience to HBF NA's distributor
network. Later, the site became a portal through which distributors could
enter HBFullerStore.com, a commerce site.
The
second step was the launch in March 2001 of an eStoreFront, the H.B. Fuller
Store (HBFullerStore.com). The eStoreFront application features full integration
to H.B. Fuller's PRISM system, enabling real-time and accurate
information exchange for all the business units under the HBF NA umbrella.
The site allows customers and distributors to place their orders online,
with direct integration to their PRISM ERP system, for real-time product,
pricing and order status information. All information shown is specific
to that particular Customer/Distributor, who must register before entering
the site.
Both
GlueLink.com and the H.B. Fuller Store were provided by Stratyc, who also
provided integration to H.B. Fuller's ERP system.
Value
Each year, the Customer Service Dept handles approximately 75,000 order
calls at an estimated cost of over $8 per. HBF NA expects 30-40% of orders
to be placed online, without the involvement of sales or customer service
representatives, resulting in annual savings in the first year sufficient
to fully cover the installation costs of a standard eStoreFront.
Before
the new system, sales personnel spent approximately 20-25% of their time
following up on customer questions, status inquiries, etc. resulting in
foregone sales opportunities. It is estimated that providing product and
order status information to customers/distributors online will free up
to 25% of the Sales team's time, thereby giving them more time to focus
on selling, potentially increasing revenues and market share. It is believed
that this will also improve the job satisfaction for sales reps and increase
customer satisfaction.
About
the Author
Olin Thompson is a principal of Process ERP Partners. He has over 25 years
experience as an executive in the software industry with the last 17 in
process industry related ERP, SCP, and e-business related segments. Olin
has been called "the Father of Process ERP." He is a frequent author and
an award-winning speaker on topics of gaining value from ERP, SCP, e-commerce
and the impact of technology on industry.
He
can be reached at Olin@ProcessERP.com.
