Spotlight on project VDL Translift
For this client story, Quootz travels to Dronten, where VDL Translift is located. With over half a century of experience, this company produces innovative waste collection vehicles. Since October 2014, Translift has been part of the VDL Group, which currently employs 16,000 people, 60 of whom work at VDL Translift. This small and medium-sized enterprise produces 100 systems annually, which are received as orders through the Merkato sales configurator. We spoke with Head of Resource & Development, Jeroen Scherpenzeel, about the use of the Merkato Configurator within VDL Translift.
Challenges
Until April 2016, VDL Translift used an Excel configurator. “Excel worked fine, but several issues arose that needed to be addressed,” says Jeroen Scherpenzeel. “With this approach, it was possible for the salesperson to generate quotes with systems that were simply not feasible. This often happened because the salesperson did not have the necessary engineering knowledge, which is crucial when selling our systems. Additionally, manipulation was possible, leading to errors that were sometimes barely prevented. For instance, incorrect boxes were ticked in an order, causing system combinations to be incorrect, and prices to deviate from the correct ones.”
The likelihood of errors was high within VDL Translift, resulting in strong dependency. Every order had to be carefully checked to ensure that the sold system could actually be produced. Only a few people within the company had the necessary knowledge, which caused them to lose valuable time. These points contributed to VDL Translift’s strong need for a sales configurator that would establish consistency as a core value.
Implementatie
In February 2016, VDL Translift partnered with Quootz. At the time, Henry Slager began the implementation process of the Merkato software. Thanks to thorough preparation, VDL Translift was able to fully implement the software within three months. “We gave a lot of attention to this implementation,” says Jeroen. “After two short training sessions, we took on the programming ourselves and introduced the software internally. Rinck from Quootz helped us with the input of workflows in Merkato, as this was important to create internal clarity. When we encountered issues where we needed help, we contacted Bas or Christiaan, and thanks to the rapid communication, we were able to complete the implementation smoothly.”
After three months, VDL Translift officially started using the Merkato sales configurator. It took some getting used to for the various departments that needed to work with it, but soon the entire company became accustomed to this approach.
De impact
Orders are submitted by the sales team, detailing the sold system with the correct options. Additional options are entered into the “non-standard” field. These exceptions are automatically sent to the engineering department for review to determine whether these options are actually feasible. The remaining combinations were checked for feasibility either before or during the fine-tuning of the implementation. This clear procedure has reduced dependency and made it easier for salespeople to sell the right systems.
Once the order is approved, the preparation department receives product lists automatically generated by Merkato. This makes it immediately clear which parts need to be gathered per system, so that the production department can start work.
In the production department, the ERP system and Merkato come together. The ERP system provides clear instructions for producing the system, and Merkato adds additional information through images with instructions on where specific parts should be placed. This was not the case shortly after the implementation. At that time, there were often discussions between colleagues and departments about, for example, the correct placement of a light on the system. These discussions consumed valuable time, so to save hours, it was decided to have Merkato include images that clearly indicate where parts should go.
“Thanks to Merkato, VDL Translift has made progress in several areas,” says Jeroen. “Quantifying what we’ve achieved with Merkato is difficult, but I can confidently say that our processes have become more consistent, valuable hours are used more efficiently, and no mistakes are made anymore.”
Future with Merkato
Every implementation brings new goals, and this is also true for VDL Translift. Working with clear software that incorporates precise formulas, Jeroen Scherpenzeel sees even more opportunities with Merkato. In the coming year, the plan is to create specification sheets for chassis dealers of VDL Translift using Merkato and to implement further optimizations, such as consolidating all system-related information into one image for the production department, instead of multiple images. Another upcoming step is to integrate translations, enabling international use of Merkato. In short, an exciting future awaits this Quootz client.
Key advice
“A tip for anyone purchasing the Merkato software is to prepare the implementation process as thoroughly as possible. Through our merger with the VDL Group, we documented our combinations in a way that made them presentable. This allowed us to fully implement the software within three months, saving us significant time early on. Of course, we continue to update the configurator, and fine-tuning never stops (fortunately), but the more detailed the different variants, cost prices, and consequences for the company are worked out, the more positively this will contribute to the duration of the implementation process.”
