Customize it!
After mechanization, industrialization and automation, manufacturing companies are thus faced with the challenge of shaping the fourth comprehensive change with regard to the organization and control of industrial value creation: the digitization of business processes and models.
If this is implemented successfully, customer requirements and the availability of necessary resources can be reconciled with each other almost in real time. Likewise, the data required for production can be transferred to the producing system within a very short time.
As a result, companies are able to produce both customized and cost-efficiently.
In the B2B sector, too, customers increasingly expect to be able to configure their desired products themselves online and order them conveniently.
The decisive factor in the development and implementation of corresponding business models: The added value and benefit for the customer should always be the focus.
Other success factors include a clear objective for realigning the business model in the direction of digital commerce, alignment with concrete added values (value proposition), and seamless integration of the necessary IT systems.
Step 1: Create added value
When developing new business models, companies should first ask themselves what added value they can offer their customers. In the B2B sector, for example, this could be individualized customer stores through which goods can be ordered quickly and conveniently and in which customers have the opportunity to comprehensively configure the desired products themselves if required.
Manufacturers can also offer their B2B customers valuable benefits with self-service portals for suppliers and service providers or apps for special application scenarios.
Here, it is recommended to create buyer-persona profiles and to interview customers and service providers, own employees from sales, key-account management and support as well as market and competitor analyses in order to correctly identify needs and to develop suitable solutions.
Step 2: Develop use cases and action plan
In most cases, a professional and easy-to-use B2B store is an essential component when it comes to digitizing business processes. This must also be able to display individually configurable products that can be edited by the customer directly via the web interface.
The price valid for the respective customer is automatically determined and the customer can order the product directly. The data is then automatically transferred to other systems for further processing - such as ERP, CRM, merchandise management, payment and logistics systems, and so on.
Step 3: Implementation and system linkage
The implementation including the integration of different systems is technically the most demanding part. Therefore, the support of a partner with extensive experience in comparable projects is recommended.
In view of the rapid technological developments, a high degree of flexibility is also required during the implementation phase. Here, a procedure in accordance with the agile project management method Scrum lends itself to being able to react quickly to changing requirements.
Step 4: Introduction and optimization
For the rollout, it is advisable to start with a clearly defined reference project and gradually expand it - e.g., first set up a store in one country and use the experience gained for the international rollout.
Key users should be involved in the process as early as possible and receive comprehensive training. Likewise, data should be continuously collected and analyzed on the basis of defined key figures in order to identify and implement optimization potential at an early stage.
And last but not least, it is important to provide useful and appealing content and to market the store to the target group.
Conclusion
From fashionable sneakers to highly complex DNA analysis machines, the product range can now be mapped on the Internet in such a way that, with a few exceptions, even B2B customers can configure complex product variants themselves.
This is made possible by tools such as SAP IPC (Internet Pricing and Configuration) or SAP CPQ (Configure Price Quote). An appropriately professionally implemented B2B store means time savings and efficiency gains - both for the manufacturer and for its customers.
Companies that digitize their business processes and offerings in this way are well positioned for the future in any case.
