INNOTEX manufactures tailored firefighting turnout gear for fire departments around the world. Suits, gloves, and hoods are fitted to individual firefighters, creating a highly configurable product environment with thousands of possible options.
To replace spreadsheet-, phone-, fax-, and mail-based quoting, INNOTEX implemented Experlogix CPQ with Microsoft Dynamics.
- Accelerate the quote-to-order-to-production process.
- Give dealers a self-service portal for configuring complex customer orders.
- Reduce duplicate data entry between quoting, CRM, and ERP.
- Guide dealers away from incompatible product-option combinations.
- Generate manufacturing orders and routings from configured orders.
- Improve visibility into daily, weekly, and monthly quoting activity.
- Give internal teams more time to focus on customer service.
- Provide a scalable quoting foundation for continued global growth.
Challenge
INNOTEX made the strategic decision to focus exclusively on firefighting turnout gear. Because each suit must be tailored to the individual firefighter, an off-the-rack configuration would not meet the company's requirements.
Each configuration could involve thousands of options, and those selections needed to work together without creating design or production conflicts.
At the same time, the quote and order process depended heavily on Excel spreadsheets, phone calls, faxes, and even physical mail.
Each firefighter's measurements and product requirements could result in a highly customized configuration.
Product choices needed to work together without creating design or production problems.
Dealers and INNOTEX relied on large Excel spreadsheets to communicate product selections.
INNOTEX needed smoother data flow between configuration, CRM, and ERP systems.
Requests were communicated to INNOTEX by phone.
Quote information was faxed back to the dealer for review.
Spreadsheet-based orders could become so large they had to be mailed for confirmation.
Adding or removing options could require sending another spreadsheet through the process.
Solution
INNOTEX evaluated eight solutions before selecting Experlogix CPQ for its ease of use, Microsoft Dynamics integration, and dealer portal capabilities.
A central requirement was to make configuration intuitive enough that dealers could build their own orders while keeping customer, configuration, and production information connected across systems.
Dealers can sit with customers and configure highly customized turnout gear through a web portal.
Configuration logic alerts users when selected options would create a design or production conflict.
Configured quote and order information flows into the Microsoft Dynamics CRM environment.
Completed orders continue into Dynamics GP to support manufacturing orders and production routings.
The dealer works through measurements, features, and options using the Experlogix portal.
Rules identify product-option combinations that could create design or manufacturing conflicts.
The completed quote and order information flows into Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
Dynamics GP receives the order information needed to create the cutting sheet, manufacturing order, and production routings.
Integration between Experlogix and Dynamics GP removed the need for INNOTEX to maintain a separate standalone system for generating manufacturing orders.
That connection also reduced the need to rekey order information as the configuration moved from dealer quoting into production.
Learn more about the Experlogix CPQ Rules Engine and current CPQ integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales.
Result
Dealers increasingly began configuring their own quotes and orders through the Experlogix web portal. The source reports that a dealer can sit with a customer and create a complex quote or order in as little as 15–20 minutes.
Removing the old fax, mailing, and spreadsheet handoffs also gave INNOTEX a more connected view of quoting activity and the production workload those quotes could create.
Dealers can configure complex customer quotes and orders through the web portal in as little as 15–20 minutes.
Connected CPQ, CRM, and ERP processes reduce duplicate data entry as orders move toward production.
Rules alert dealers when selections could create product design or production issues.
Configured order information supports manufacturing orders and routings sent to the production floor.
INNOTEX can see quote volumes by day, week, and month and use that information to anticipate production workload.
Dealer self-service and faster configuration allow the internal team to focus more heavily on customer service.
“Experlogix is easy and fast – which the dealers really like. It also enables us to internally focus more on providing quality customer service.”
INNOTEX demonstrates how guided configuration can connect a global dealer quoting process with manufacturing operations while helping a smaller internal team manage increasingly complex product requirements.
See how INNOTEX connects dealer configuration, Microsoft Dynamics, and production processes to manage thousands of firefighting gear options while accelerating complex quotes and orders.
