Customer Profile: Quaker Windows and Doors

Facts at a glance

Products: Infor Sales Portal, Infor Product Configurator, 2D Design Automation, Document Automation

Industry: Industrial Manufacturing

Country: US

 

“Infor Sales Portal provides our dealers with on-line quote, order, and status capabilities, which is the key to continuing our steady growth in sales.”

—Kevin Blansett, general manager, Quaker Windows & Doors

 

About the company

Quaker Windows & Doors is a diversified window manufacturer with a range of products that incudes wood and vinyl residential windows and doors for replacement and new construction markets, as well as aluminum windows and doors for commercial and residential markets. With 550 employees in its corporate offices and manufacturing facilities in Freeburg, Missouri, Quaker is one of the largest manufacturers in the region.

 

Challenges

  • Improve the quote process and bid document quality to fuel continued sales growth.
  • Add ability to dynamically generate 2D models for immediate visual confirmation of configured products and generate configuration-specific thumbnail images for documents.
  • Provide dealers with the option for 24x7 self-service quoting, bid creation, order entry, and order status inquiry.
  • Streamline internal processes.
  • Reduce training requirements to support continued growth without equivalent growth in      staff.

 

Benefits

  • Reduced the time to produce quotes and bid documents from one day or longer to minutes and significantly improved bid document quality.
  • Increased order accuracy with dimensionally correct images on screen in all bid, manufacturing, and shipping documents.
  • Trained new dealers on self-service quoting in 45-minute web-based training sessions.
  • Reduced the load on customer service by producing 100% of quotes using Infor® Product Configurator, with 40% of quoting done by dealers on a self-service basis.
  • Reduced new customer service representative training from six months to two days.
  •  Preserved sales margins through accurate and complete pricing at the dealer’s fingertips.

 

“Infor 2D Design Automation automates the generation of product drawings and therefore eliminates the time previously required of our engineers. This reduces our overall product lead time and frees up valuable resources for more product innovation.”

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                  —Kevin Blansett, general manager,

                                                                         Quaker Windows & Doors

Empower Your Sales Force with Infor CPQ

With Infor CPQ, your sales force will have the powerful capabilities it needs to address all of your customers’ unique requirements with speed, accuracy, and personal attention.

Increase sales

Boost sales performance. Infor CPQ can significantly reduce the learning curve for new sales reps, so they quickly attain better quote-to- order ratios.

Help customers visualize their orders. With Infor CPQ, your sales team gets visualization tools to use in the quoting process, so customers can see realistic images of their final order.

Better manage product transitions. Infor CPQ helps you quickly and efficiently manage new offerings, allowing you to roll out new products, options, and pricing electronically—according to your exact plan.

Upsell more effectively. Infor CPQ gives sales reps receive tools to help them offer high-margin options that improve the profit-per-sale.

 

Reduce costs

Deliver the perfect order.  With Infor CPQ, you’ll ensure customers have made all the choices they need and that the order you submit to production reflects the exact configuration, is on time, and delivers the expected costs.

Automate manufacturing instructions. Infor CPQ dynamically creates bills of materials (BOM) and manufacturing instructions on the fly, and can integrate with your ERP system to store these instructions with production orders. With dynamic instructions and drawings, you can eliminate a substantial number of errors that can creep into even the most well-run production process.

Reduce labor requirements. With Infor CPQ, you can dramatically reduce the labor required to fulfill an order. Rules-based BOM processes help avoid labor-intensive creation of thousands of versions, helping you eliminate the need for price books and re-keyed orders.

 

Strengthen your brand

Innovate faster. Customers think more highly of your company when they see fresh innovative features that clearly meet their needs better than competitors’ offerings. Infor CPQ helps you speed up the pace of innovation by freeing up engineers, designers, and other technical professionals from the selling process.

Create a consistent buying experience. Whether they’re deciding on typefaces with a sales rep or talking with a customer service rep on the phone, with Infor CPQ, you can make sure your products are represented exactly the same way, every time.

Deliver quality. Customers will move their business to a competitor if they don’t get the product they ordered on time and in the exact configuration they specified. Infor CPQ helps you to attain the same level of quality for configured and customized paper products that customers expect from off-the-shelf products.

 

Interested in learning how others have enhanced the buying experience? Contact us Today to learn more!

Is Configure Price Quote Right for you?

Sell More with Scalable Infor CPQ

As CPQ grows in popularity due to its ability to simplify the entire quote to cash cycle, here are why other manufacturers have found it beneficial:

  • Having the configurator application as part of the CPQ suite allows customers to visually answer questions about their problems and receive a quick customized solution to meet their needs
  • Acts as a single point of maintenance and one version of the truth
  • Cross selling and up selling are increased
  • Solution is scalable and can meet the ever-changing needs of a company rapidly
  • Empowers front-end sales force and makes your company standout from competitors to increase brand and customer loyalty
  • It makes it easier for new staff to be trained and become subject matter experts

Want to sell more and increase customer loyalty with Infor CPQ? Contact us today to set up your demo!

Humphry’s GoLive!

Humphrys Textile Products has achieved the “GoLive” milestone on the deployment of Infor VISUAL Manufacturing with Infor Configure Price Quote (CPQ).  Humphry was assisted in the project by Infor Channel Partners: Synergy Resources, LLC and RenaissanceTech, LLC.

According to Zak Nissenbaum, Humphrys’ Senior Vice President and executive sponsor for the project, “We are very pleased with the Infor products, and with the consulting we received from its partners.  In particular, Nate Mattis of RenaissanceTech was invaluable in helping us create product configuration rules that we can maintain going forward, despite the complex pricing employed in our business.”

Humphrys has been an American manufacturer and wholesaler of canvas and industrial protective covers since 1874. Early products included covered wagon tops, awnings and oiled horse covers, but now include truck covers, rain covers for equipment, supplies and commodities; construction & scaffolding tarps; athletic field covers; gymnasium floor covers; tennis court windscreens; and printed fence covers for athletic fields and businesses.  The company operates a 250,000 sq-ft facility located in South Philadelphia.  Industrial fabrics are sold under the Humphrys Textile Products banner (www.humphrys.biz) while the athletic products are sold under the CoverSports USA (www.coversports.com) banner.

SyteLine User Network Conference

The SUN conference is an annual event where Infor SyteLine ERP software users from around the world gather to share their knowledge, experience, and best practices. The conference is a great opportunity to learn new techniques, discover new features and tools, and network with peers.

This year's conference had an impressive lineup of keynote speakers, including industry experts and leaders, who provided valuable insights into the current state and future of the manufacturing industry. The keynote speeches were thought-provoking and inspiring, and they helped attendees gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the manufacturing sector.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW3NiTXMs_8

The conference also offered a variety of breakout sessions and workshops on different topics, including product demonstrations, customer success stories, and hands-on training. These sessions provided a fantastic opportunity to learn new skills and techniques, as well as connect with other SyteLine users and experts.

One of the highlights of the conference was the opportunity to network with other attendees, exhibitors, and experts. Our team at RenaissanceTech brought in an espresso cart for everyone to enjoy while networking. The conference provided an excellent platform to share ideas, best practices, and experiences. We featured the newest ecommerce and dealer platform built for Syteline, SwiftSell, at our booth.

In conclusion, attending the 2024 Syteline User Network (SUN) conference was an incredible experience. The conference provided a wealth of knowledge, insights, and networking opportunities that will be invaluable to SyteLine users. If you're a SyteLine user, I highly recommend attending the SUN conference in the future. The SUN 2025 conference will be in Anaheim, CA next year.