Efficiently managing inventory and promptly responding to customer inquiries are essential for distributors or manufacturers who keep product in stock. However, manually searching through extensive product options and inventory availability can be time-consuming and prone to errors. In this blog post, we will explore how Infor CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) serves as a powerful inventory lookup tool, revolutionizing the way distributors operate. Let's delve into how this technology simplifies the process and enables distributors to quickly retrieve vital information, such as serial numbers, stock status, and location.
Consolidating Data in One Place
Traditionally, searching for specific product options and availability involved sifting through multiple systems, such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), leading to tedious and inefficient workflows. Infor CPQ replaces this arduous process by consolidating all relevant data in one place. Acting as a querying tool, CPQ empowers distributors to sort available options, select desired configurations, and effortlessly access crucial information.
Effortless Inventory Lookup
Imagine you are a distributor of Transformers, catering to dealers who frequently inquire about product availability with specific options. Previously, you might have manually searched line by line through countless machine serial numbers, a time-consuming endeavor. Even with the help of spreadsheets, there’s no way around the fact that this is an extremely manual and time-consuming process. With Infor CPQ, inventory lookup becomes a breeze. Let's explore how it works with a specific example.
Step-by-Step Process:
Configuration Screen: Upon receiving a dealer's inquiry, you can navigate to the configuration screen within Infor CPQ. Here, you encounter the initial question, prompting you to select default options for the desired configuration.
Selecting Options: Suppose the dealer requests a single-phase transformer with copper winding, a temperature of 115, and DOE 2016 efficiency. By choosing these options and clicking "Continue," Infor CPQ swiftly reads your ERP information and processes it—all in a matter of seconds.
Retrieving Serial Numbers: Now, you arrive at the serial number tab where, based on the information scanned in ERP, a dropdown menu appears and displays the available machines in stock. In this scenario, you instantly see one transformer with its corresponding serial number and location—an indicator that it is ready for purchase from your main warehouse.
Fine-Tuning Configurations: In case the dealer requests modifications, such as changing the winding material to aluminum and eliminating the efficiency requirement, you can adjust the options accordingly. Infor CPQ promptly updates the available machines, now showing two with their respective serial numbers and locations.
Generating Purchase Orders: In instances where no machines meet the specified configurations, Infor CPQ notifies you that a purchase order is required. Leveraging the configurator and the selected options, you can seamlessly generate a purchase order to be sent to the manufacturing company for the desired machine.
Infor CPQ serves as a transformative inventory lookup tool for distributors. By centralizing data and automating the querying process, it significantly reduces the time and effort required to retrieve vital product information. Distributors can now respond to dealer inquiries promptly, efficiently manage stock availability, and even generate purchase orders seamlessly.
If this seems like a feature that could benefit your current process and operations, let’s connect! Reach out to contact@renaissancetech.com or directly here on the web.
In the future, CPQ (configure, price, quote) systems are expected to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) in several ways to enhance their capabilities. Here are 5 ways AI could be leveraged in CPQ systems:
1. Intelligent Product Recommendations with AI and CPQ:
AI algorithms can analyze customer data, preferences, and historical purchasing behavior to provide personalized and intelligent product recommendations. By understanding customer needs and preferences, CPQ systems can suggest the most relevant and suitable products, options, and configurations, increasing the likelihood of upselling and cross-selling.
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AI can automate the configuration process by utilizing machine learning algorithms to analyze and understand complex product configurations. It can learn from historical data to predict the most optimal configurations based on customer requirements and constraints, saving time and reducing errors. AI-based product configurators can revolutionize how businesses handle complex configurations.
3. Voice-Enabled CPQ:
With advancements in voice recognition technology, AI-powered CPQ systems can enable voice commands and interactions. Users can verbally specify their requirements, ask questions, or make changes to configurations, making the process more intuitive and convenient.
4. Sales Analytics and Predictive Insights:
AI can analyze sales data and patterns to provide valuable insights and predictions for sales teams. It can identify trends, customer behaviors, and market opportunities, enabling sales representatives to make data-driven decisions and optimize their quoting and selling strategies. AI quoting software can transform how sales teams approach their tasks.
5. Dynamic Pricing Optimization:
AI-powered algorithms can analyze various factors such as market demand, competitive pricing, customer profiles, and historical sales data to optimize pricing strategies. CPQ systems can use AI to dynamically adjust prices based on real-time market conditions, customer segmentation, and business objectives, ultimately maximizing revenue and profitability.
Final Thoughts on the Future of AI and CPQ
As artificial intelligence use grows people will start to ask: Does AI have the potential to assist in writing CPQ rules? While it is unlikely to completely replace the need for human involvement in rule creation and management, AI can be leveraged to analyze large datasets, identify patterns, and make recommendations for rule configurations. It can also automate certain aspects of rule generation based on predefined criteria. This can save time and provide insights to rule designers, helping them make more informed decisions. Artificial intelligence will become a valuable tool for the future of CPQ software's rules development and data insight.
About RenaissanceTech
RenaissanceTech specializes in the implementation, integration, and training of Infor’s Configure Price Quote (CPQ) software. They assist businesses in numerous industries by simplifying their sales cycles with advanced quoting and ordering tools. Founded by Ben Karam and Jeremy Finley, RenaissanceTech leverages over 30 years of CPQ experience. Their commitment to customer-first service has led to over 200 successful projects, enhancing accuracy and efficiency in the design and manufacturing processes.
Interested in Learning More about AI and CPQ? Contact Us Today
Have additional questions about the power of CPQ or creating rules? Contact us to learn more!
CPQ saves your engineering team valuable time by streamlining configuration and quoting!
CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) software offers substantial advantages to the engineering department, enhancing collaboration, accuracy, and efficiency across the manufacturing process. By automating product configuration, pricing, and quoting, CPQ empowers engineering teams to focus on innovation and design while reducing the risk of errors.
With features like rules-based configuration, CAD integration, and streamlined change management, CPQ supports engineers in creating feasible, high-quality products quickly. In this post, we’ll explore six key ways CPQ enhances engineering operations, making it an essential tool for modern manufacturing teams.
Quick Product Configuration:
CPQ enables the engineering department to empower sales to configure highly customized and complex products by selecting various components, features, and specifications. The software ensures that the selected options are compatible and valid, reducing errors and ensuring accuracy in the engineering design process without involving the engineering department in every quote. Allowing engineers to spend more time doing what they do best.
Always Run Rules-Based Engineering:
CPQ systems can incorporate engineering rules and constraints into the configuration process. This ensures that the resulting product configurations adhere to engineering standards, compliance requirements, and design guidelines. It helps engineers avoid configurations that are technically infeasible or don’t meet the required specifications. This will save the engineering department time and rework.
Easy Collaboration and Communication:
CPQ tools facilitate collaboration and communication between engineering teams and other departments involved in the sales process through workflows. Engineers can provide input and insights directly into the CPQ system, with a single source of truth, ensuring a seamless exchange of information with sales, marketing, and manufacturing teams. How many times has sales been outside your door waiting for a quote?
Integration with CAD Systems:
CPQ solutions integrate with Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software used by engineers. This integration allows real-time visualization of product configurations, ensuring that the chosen options align with the intended design. Engineers can validate and optimize designs within the CPQ system. CPQ can generate BOMs, and routings which can all be pushed to your backend ERP.
Fast Engineering Change Management:
CPQ software can handle engineering change management effectively. It allows engineers to make modifications to existing configurations, update pricing, and generate revised quotes and proposals. This flexibility ensures that any engineering changes are accurately reflected in the quoting process, maintaining consistency and reducing manual effort.
Streamlined Order Management:
Once a quote is accepted, CPQ systems seamlessly transfer the configured product information to downstream systems like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) including BOM’s and Routings or work orders. This integration streamlines the order management process, reduces data re-entry, and ensures accurate production and delivery of engineered products.
CPQ impacts engineering with many beneficial ways to communicate, pass information, and update product designs. Want to learn more about how CPQ can be beneficial for your specific engineering process? Contact Us to talk more!
We had the ability to meet with Maguire Iron (IT Director, Rod Lindstrom and COO Mike Farnsworth) to discuss how they are using the integration RenaissanceTech built to connect Infor’s configurator to Syteline’s Project Module. We learned the key reasons the integration was needed, the benefits it provided the business, and best practices to keep in mind for a CPQ implementation, particularly when integrating a configurator for services.
Why Use a Configurator for Services and Projects?
Traditionally, we hear more about CPQ as a way to configure Products. But what about offered services and entire projects? Maguire can perform water tank projects of all sizes: from service, repair, and maintenance to concept and construction. Offering a variety of services including: relocation, part replacement, painting, and repairs, means that they were faced with the challenge of creating thousands of quotes and hundreds of projects. Manual, paper processes could not keep up with the growing demand for their services. When they made the decision to implement Infor’s configurator (CPQ) and have RenaissanceTech integrate it with Syteline ERP’s Projects Module, everything changed. Quotes that previously took hours to complete, now take a mere 60 seconds. As the quote is built, the Project is simultaneously being created in the background according to selections made in configuration. All of this information is passed directly into the Syteline Projects Module when it’s time to convert the quote to a real project.
Check out a client-led demonstration of this integration!
Best Practices When Implementing CPQ for Service-based Projects
So what are the best practices to keep in mind during the implementation process? It is suggested that you go into your CPQ and Projects Integration with a clear picture of architecture, such as naming conventions and organization of pricing and cost. Maguire also emphasized the importance of understanding how Field Services works and involving sales in the process to ensure that the tool makes sense to everyone.
The benefits of implementing a configurator are significant, such as the ability to handle thousands of projects consistently and tie project and service orders together. This gained scalability allows service-based businesses to do more work while saving time and effort in the process.
If you're new to configurators, Mike suggests starting from the quote setup and next working on the contract instead of the other way around to save time and effort. He also recommends exporting the options list and matrices to a spreadsheet for troubleshooting and simulations with errors to better understand the process.
Overall, implementing a configurator can be challenging, but the benefits are worth it. It can help tie your project, service order, and invoice processes together, saving time and effort in the long run. So why not consider it for your business? Contact us to learn more about the Infor CPQ and Syteline Projects Integration.
As manufacturers need more out of their CPQ systems some may be finding limitations with their on-premise configurator. Let's take a look at three signs it may be time to upgrade to cloud!
1. You Need More Modern Visualization Options
If you or your customers need visual engagement and images in the quoting process on on any device, users will experience a consistent, responsive experience whether on a laptop, tablet or mobile device. Visualization options such as 3D visual configuration and Augmented Reality are how many customers are now setting themselves apart from the competition with cloud CPQ.
2. Needed Assistance with Security
With an Infor CPQ on-premise solution security is solely up to you. Hosting environments in-house does not mean you’re safer from attacks. Attempted targeted ransomware attacks still happen often, making it crucial that you always have security measures in place and preform regular backups. If you don’t have the resources to do this, cloud may be a better option for you.
Cloud: With an Infor CloudSuite Configure Price Quote Solution, Amazon and Infor will be responsible for security on the AWS server. It’s important to note that Amazon’s severs are focused on the security of user’s information.
3. Lack of Integration Among Systems
As more and more software solutions are going exclusively cloud, it can be difficult to connect these more modern solutions to an on premise solution. If you are struggling with not being able to get the software tools you want and need due to complex or inferior integrations, it will be difficult to continue scaling and growing your business. Because constant research and funding are being put into Cloud CPQ, you know you will have the best and brightest of solutions to easily integrate with your necessary systems.
If any of these three indicators speak to your current challenges and concerns, you may be at the crossroads to begin looking at Cloud. We've established tools and best practices to make upgrading to cloud a breeze. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you want to have a conversation about your cloud configurator upgrade. Let's talk today!
