hartl crusher - future watch case study
TRANSCRIPT
HARTLCRUSHER– CASESTUDYTEAMFINLANDFUTUREWATCHREPORT,JANUARY2016DIGITALIZATIONEXAMPLESFORTHEMANUFACTURINGINDUSTRY
Case-kuvaus verkossa:bit.ly/digicase-hartl
HARTLCRUSHER– THECOMPANY
• HartlCrusher(www.hartl-crusher.com) isasmallcompanyof19employees,whichsellsbucketcrushers,bucketscreenersandscreenplants.ThefirmisbasedinMauthausen, Austria,and isownedandrunbytwobrothers,DominikandAlexanderHartl.
• TheHartlfamilyhasalong traditioninthecrushingindustry,goingbackto1935.Theyusedtomanufacturebigger track-mountedmobilecrushers,butsoldthebusinesstoAtlasCopco in2010.
• ThecurrentcompanyHARTLEngineering&MarketingGmbHwasestablishedin2011,butthefirstproductswereintroducedattheBauma fairin2014.
• Hartlproductsaremostlysoldthroughtheirdealernetwork.Thecompanyhascloseto40dealers,whichsellHartlproductsin44countries.
TeamFinlandFutureWatchReport– DigitalizationExamplesfortheManufacturingIndustry– www.insyke.fi
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DominikandAlexanderHartl
HARTLCRUSHER– DRIVERSFORCHANGE
• Aftersellingtheirpreviouscompany,theHartlbrotherswantedtostayinthecrushingbusinessandutilizetheirexpertise,butatthesametimesetupatotallydifferentkindofcompany.
• Theywantedtocreateamodernbusiness,whichwouldbeeasytomanageandwhichwouldofferbettercustomerexperienceforboththedealersandtheendcustomers.
• Sellingtheoldbusinessallowedthemtoinvestinsettingupthenewcompany;includingsettinguptheonlineplatformforrunning theoperations.
TeamFinlandFutureWatchReport– DigitalizationExamplesfortheManufacturingIndustry– www.insyke.fi
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HARTLCRUSHER– THECHANGE
• Companyoperationshavebeenbuiltaround theironlineplatform,whichautomatesallcorebusinessprocesses.
• Themostimportantpartoftheplatformisthewebstoreforhandlingorders,sparepartsdeliveryandwarrantyclaims.Thestorehasbeenconnectedtothefinancesystemtominimizeaccountingandreportingwork.
• Bothdealersandendcustomerscanviewtheirpurchasehistoryandeasilyorderspareparts.Therearealsoextensiveinstallation,operationandserviceinstructionswithplentyofvisualmaterials,suchasphotos,graphicsandvideos.
• Tomakemanaging thebusinesseasier,allmanufacturing hasbeenoutsourcedtotrustedpartners.Hartlisresponsibleforstockingproductsandoperatingaglobal sparepartwarehouseattheirheadquarters.
• Hartlsellsmostproductsandpartsviatheirdealers,allofwhichusetheonlineplatform,butalsoendcustomerscanplaceordersdirectlyusing thewebstore.
• AllowingendcustomerstoaccesstheonlineplatformdirectlysetsHartlapartfromtheircompetition.Endcustomerscanordersparepartswithoutgoingthroughtheirlocaldealer,iftheywish,andalsoaccessallproductdocumentation.
• Movingtoanonlinesaleschannelhasalsomeantthatproductandpartpricesareopenlyseenbyeveryone.Thismakesitfasterandeasierfortheendcustomertoseetheirinvestmentcost.Atthesametime,thismeansthatthepriceshavetobethesameinallmarketsandcountries.
TeamFinlandFutureWatchReport– DigitalizationExamplesfortheManufacturingIndustry– www.insyke.fi
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HARTLCRUSHER– BENEFITS
• Bettercustomerexperience – Openpricing,real-timeinventorylevels,shipmenttracking,andgoodproductdocumentationhelptoimprovethecustomerexperience.Alsotheprocessesarefaster,aseverythingisautomated,andonlinepaymentsenablefastshipments.
• Lessnon-productivework – Thenumberofinteractionshasbeencutfromabout6-8toanaverageofjust1,astheordersareplacedinthewebstore.Thissavesalotofwork,asthereisn’tasmuchneedtohandleexceptionsandcorrectmistakes.
• Dealersandendcustomersseereal-timeinventorylevelsandcanplaceordersinthewebstore,andgetDHLtrackingcodesforeachorder,sothere’snoneedtosendqueriesaboutorderstatus.Alsothepossibility toorderwrongsparepartshasbeenminimizedbyasparepartselectorbasedonproductserialnumbers.
• Businessscalability – Theplatformmakesitpossibletoservemoredealersandendcustomerswithouthiringmoreemployees.DominikHartlestimatesthattheycoulddoubletheirbusinesswithexistingstaff.
• Differentiation – Onlineplatformaccessibledirectlytoendcustomers,openpricingandexcellentafter-salessupportsetHartlapartfromtheircompetitors.
• Self-service –Mostendcustomerswishtomaintaintheequipmentthemselves.Usingtheonlineplatformtheycanorderthesparepartseasilyandhaveaccesstothemaintenanceandrepairinstructions.
TeamFinlandFutureWatchReport– DigitalizationExamplesfortheManufacturingIndustry– www.insyke.fi
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HARTLCRUSHER– LESSONSLEARNED
• Stillfewdirectorders –Mostendcustomersstillprefertoorderthroughtheirlocaldealer;mostendcustomersaresmallcontractorswhoarenotveryweb-savvyandtypicallyhavealongandtrustedbusinessrelationshipwiththedealer.
• Needtoeducatethedealers – Anonlinestore,whichisopenalsototheendcustomersissomethingthedealersarenotyetfamiliarwith,soHartlneedstogothroughtheprosandconswiththembeforesigningthemupasadealer.
• Globalandopenpricing – Previouslytheendcustomershadtoaskadealerforaquotetoseethepricing,andthepricesvariedcountrybycountry.Nowthepricesareshownopenlyandarefixedglobally,whichhasbeenabigchange.
TeamFinlandFutureWatchReport– DigitalizationExamplesfortheManufacturingIndustry– www.insyke.fi
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TeamFinlandFutureWatchReport– DigitalizationExamplesfortheManufacturingIndustry– www.insyke.fi
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HARTLCRUSHER– COMMENTSONTHECASEEXAMPLEBusinessimpact
• Asthecompanyisstillveryyoung,business impactofthechangecan’tbereallyestimatedbasedonannualrevenuegrowth.Andmuchofthefuturegrowthwilldependotherthings,forexamplebuilding thedealernetwork.
• Thoughcommonplace inB2Cindustries, online platformsarestillrareinsmall-to-medium sizedmanufacturingcompanies.SeveralofHartl’s competitorshavetheirownonline portals,butthoseareopen justfortheirdealernetworks.
• Theonline platformactsasanenabler,enablingbothexcellentcustomerexperienceandscalingofthebusiness, withouttheneedtohiremoreemployees.Thesebenefitswillbegainedmostinthemedium tolongterm.
Effectsonemployeesandmanagement
• Well-defined processes andavailabilityofreal-timebusiness dataonanydevicemakesthecompanymucheasiertomanageandlead.
• Withtheprevious company,managingtheordersandmanufacturingtheproducts amountedtoalotofnon-productivework.Nowthecompanycanfocusmoreonvalue-adding things– thatisservingtheircustomersandbuilding thebestpossible salesorganizationanddealernetwork.
• Hartlhadanuniqueopportunity tobuild theirnewbusiness fromscratchutilizingtheirlongexperienceinthefield.Forexistingcompaniesasimilarchangecanbequiteabitmorechallengingduetobusiness andtechnologycommitmentsalreadymadeandresistancetochange– bothinside andoutsidethecompany.
Openandgloballyfixedpricing
• Productandsparepartpricesarevisible tobothdealersandendcustomersinthewebstore.Thismeansthatthepricesaregloballyfixed,whichisunusual inthisindustry.Differencesinoperationcostsaretakenintoaccountindealercommissions,whichmeansthatdealersinhigh-costcountriesgetabiggercutofthesalethanonesinlow-costcountries.
Hartlisagoodexampleofutilizingdigitalizationtobenefiteveryone:thecompanyitself,theirdealersandofcoursetheendcustomers.
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HarriLakkala,[email protected]+358452603884
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