Access
Login/Register
Supplier Login
In the modern Industrial Machinery and Equipment (IME) manufacturing industry, a project-based sector in which customers buy or rent highly customised machinery and equipment must perfectly fit their specific requirements. Providing greater customer experience is becoming an essential capability to generate growth and higher profit. The new IDC Manufacturing Insights white paper speaks to three critical initiatives IME manufacturers need to focus on as building blocks to achieve growth and differentiation in today’s difficult economic conditions: emerging markets expansion; selling value-added services; and, improving customer experience.
A recent industry survey sponsored by Epicor Software Corp., a business software solutions for manufacturing, distribution, retail, and services organisations, conveys that over the next three years IME manufacturers will be on the lookout for a flexible enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that enables more collaboration, provides more timely information, and drives customer experience to new levels.
“Today’s difficult economic conditions -- with many major economies in trouble -- are significantly impacting the industrial equipment industry as the majority of clients are adopting a wait-and-see approach and are essentially reining in capital expenditure,” said Pierfrancesco Manenti, head of IDC Manufacturing Insights research practice in Europe, Middle East & Africa. “IME manufacturers are coming to realize that providing superior customer experience has to be one of their top initiatives. They acknowledge that engaging on deeper levels with their customer base is the only way to get out of the dead-end of poor economic growth and low customer loyalty.”
He added that industrial equipment companies have shifted strategic focus from products to services, “Our survey results show how 42.9% of IME manufacturers already state that the single most critical factor driving new product purchases is how value-added services are delivered and supported”.
An industrial machinery and equipment manufacturer’s viewpoint
Because of the unique requirements of each customer served, treating every client and prospect individually — from presales bid management through aftermarket services — is essential to the success of an IME manufacturer. Guttridge Limited, a leading UK manufacturer of bulk materials handling machinery and an Epicor customer, designs and manufactures a wide range of screw conveyors, chain conveyors, belt conveyors, bucket elevators, dischargers, feeders, bulk bag systems, valves and ancillary equipment for efficient bulk solids handling.
“The call to action from IDC is very timely,” said Tim Berryman, IT Manager for Guttridge. “Our business is built on providing good quality products and services that customers come back to on a regular basis. We’re not the cheapest in the marketplace by any means but we consistently win new business based on providing a good customer experience, outperforming most of our competitors. In our experience, customers these days definitely look at other values than just cost when choosing their suppliers and for us, modern technology is one of the keys to becoming more efficient and helping us go above and beyond competing solely on price.”
Key points from the survey:
Most IME manufacturers find that traditional ERP systems don’t fully support their need for fast and timely access to information or the need to further improve collaboration across business functions