StarGrup is a leading active glass processing company specializing in internal and external architectural applications of flat glass, including insulated glass, tempered glass, laminated glass, edge-processed glass and cut glass.
A global player with offices in London, Miami and Nice, StarGrup supplies high-performance glass products for the construction industry.
- Configure quotes with guided selling functions to prevent invalid product choices
- Generate professional, multi-channel documentation with the click of a button
- Automate bill-of-material and routing from the ERP system
- Improve data quality and accuracy
Challenge
The complexity and range of StarGrup AŞ product lines had grown steadily over the previous 30 years. The company needed the visibility required to define exact details for all aspects of its products, with a single product potentially including hundreds of variables, sub-products and semi-finished goods.
Before implementing CPQ in 2012, StarGrup AŞ was extremely successful, but there was significantly more manual effort involved than necessary. The software it relied on was not much more helpful than a word-processing program.
Sales engineering and product development required multiple workarounds to define properties for products and semi-finished goods. Configuration data was isolated, leaving sales, accounting, planning and production without real-time access, largely because the software could not integrate with ERP.
The lack of visibility made complete and timely order processing difficult and limited control across manufacturing operations. StarGrup AŞ wanted greater insight into the processes and metrics that could help optimize the business.
One product could involve hundreds of variables, sub-products and semi-finished goods.
Sales, accounting, planning and production lacked shared, real-time access to configuration information.
Sales engineering and product development relied on cumbersome workarounds to define complex product properties.
StarGrup wanted better information for production planning, delivery, project costs, productivity and scrap analysis.
Despite these challenges, StarGrup AŞ produced extremely high-quality goods that met complex demands. Teams maintained a connected ecosystem through substantial effort from IT staff and dedicated employees.
StarGrup wanted to relieve those burdens while continuing to increase efficiency and performance. Advanced configuration capabilities were essential, as was integration with the Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP system.
- Create product trees mapping the many elements involved in each product model
- Define properties for products and semi-finished goods with visibility across sales, dispatching and production
- Create technical details, drawings, production releases and other technical files
- Increase the speed and reliability of order entry through ERP integration
- Give users real-time product information through interfaces aligned with Dynamics AX
- Turn production, delivery, project-cost, efficiency and scrap data into useful business intelligence
Solution
After choosing CPQ and moving through a six-month implementation, StarGrup engineers used the configuration tools to customize the system to user requirements and make product data accessible throughout the organization.
The implementation gave StarGrup's engineers and IT team the tools to model complex products while connecting configuration data with its ERP environment.
Arithmetic and logical calculations, validations, checks and balances help ensure accurate product models and customer configurations.
Product trees and properties can be created with greater visibility and searched or filtered as needed.
StarGrup can work across CPQ and AX while keeping product and order information connected.
Existing configurations can be duplicated, revised and updated rather than recreated manually.
The configuration process supports graphical drawings, technical specifications and related documentation.
Product configuration can connect with graphical and technical information required downstream.
Result
StarGrup's decision to implement CPQ gave the company the ease and flexibility needed to create up to 100 product configurations daily, while simplifying the modeling and configuration work that forms the backbone of its products.
CPQ also transformed the way other teams worked throughout the organization. Sales gained a configuration environment that reduced the time spent creating quotes and orders, improved information flow and created a stronger customer experience.
Even a relatively new salesperson can use the configuration guidance to serve customers with greater confidence.
At the end of the order-receiving process, salespeople can quickly produce well-organized, professional documentation in the customer's preferred format.
Sales can enter all information at once. When a quote is complete, it can move to ERP as an order that includes production BOMs and routings after processing. The rules engine helps prevent errors before information reaches production.
StarGrup also gained the end-to-end visibility needed for production planning and business intelligence. Managers can analyze operational processes, review metrics and summaries, and create proactive alerts designed to prevent order and production errors.
“Because we have control of the whole supply chain process and the ability to trace the operations on a real-time basis, the company can improve all KPIs—including productivity, stocks, and delivery—by multiples.”
StarGrup gained the flexibility to create up to 100 product configurations per day.
CPQ automation, ERP integration and operational intelligence delivered a six-month return on investment.
Completed orders can include the production BOMs and routings required downstream.
Prompts, warnings and alternate choices help salespeople navigate complex product requirements.
StarGrup can trace processes in real time and analyze operational information across the organization.
Salespeople can produce organized customer documentation in the required format from the completed configuration.
Speak with one of our experts or download the complete StarGrup Cam AŞ customer success story.
