To say that we live in a time of extreme change is hardly an exaggeration.For example, there have been studies in the US that show that the average company experiences sharp fluctuations in demand as often as every three or four months.These surveys go back a few years.What has happened in recent years is that the pace of change has increased even more as a result of the pandemic, war in the East and major disruptions in supply chains.This often leads to major challenges for many companies that already have, or are about to make decisions about choosing systems for digitizing purchasing processes and inventory management.Two strong trends today are the need to reduce tied up capital and the demands for more accurate demand forecasts.
Promosoft's customers who have digitized their processes with SOLO are well prepared to handle greatly increased or decreased demand, and to optimize stock levels.You have more accurate data compared to companies that work with manual procedures and can therefore make faster and better decisions.At the same time, a company with SOLO cannot sit back in the belief that the business benefits of the system will come automatically.When the pace of change is high, continuous work with the digital processes is required for the system utilization to be optimal, as well as the business benefit!
That is why regular Business Reviews are included in an investment in SOLO.But, can Business Reviews also help companies facing a decision to invest in SOLO?Yes, says Promosoft's CEO Nils Robertsson, and we will develop that a little more in this blog at the same time as we talk about how Business Reviews provides customer success with a customer in Norway.
Represents the customer internally at Promosoft
- We are always there for our customers.From day one and with ongoing support in the form of Business Reviews.The goal is for our customers to get the most out of SOLO and for us to be a support for how to meet the challenges of a changing market.For us, it is important that we are alert and quickly on the spot when a customer signals a need, but also that we are proactive and driving so that the system is used optimally.It has become even more important when the pace of change is as high as today, says Elisabeth Larsen who is Project & Customer Success Manager at Promosoft.
In that role, Elisabeth acts as a link between the customers and Promosoft's development department.
- An important part of my work is to represent the customer internally with us and to drive the issues the customers see as important, and which also make them truly active SOLO users.Seeing the positive results of our business reviews is great fun!
Business Reviews contributes to customer success in Norway
Over the past ten years, more than a hundred companies in Sweden, Norway and Finland have chosen SOLO to digitize their purchasing and inventory management processes.One of the customers in Norway is Otto Olsen AS, which since the middle of the 19th century has been one of the country's largest suppliers of technical products such as seals, plastic and rubber articles and hydraulic components.The range includes more than 60,000 different items.
Despite the company's long history and large assortment, it was only about ten years ago that the company established a purchasing department.Prior to that, purchases were made by the product managers.As the business grew, the product managers did not have enough time to follow up with customers and suppliers, set prices, and meet established margin requirements.In addition, the routines were manual with the use of Excel and some support in the company's business system.
The first step to remedy the problems of excessive inventory values, unwanted capital tied up, insufficient control and statistically determined order points was the establishment of the purchasing department and the recruitment of Are Saga as purchasing manager.A decision was then made to choose a system to digitize and automate the purchasing and inventory management process.In 2018, the choice fell on SOLO.The foundation was now laid to start a journey towards better profitability, increased turnover, better forecasts, optimized stock levels and a higher level of customer service.Just over a year after the decision to invest in SOLO, the system was in operation, and a number of Business Reviews have been carried out during the journey.
- Promosoft's business reviews have been and continue to be important to us.The company's KAM is on site with us and it provides the opportunity to effectively discuss various issues from different perspectives.Sometimes it is purely technical issues and other times it can be more overall and strategic issues that are in focus.The support we receive contributes to us gradually being able to utilize more of the potential in SOLO, says Are Saga.
Are says that the results of SOLO showed up quickly after the system was put into operation.Inventory was reduced and the level of service increased.Since then inventory levels have increased but this is a result of increased sales and strategic purchasing decisions as a result of higher prices.Other advantages are that purchases have become uniform and through ABC differentiation, the most important goods are always in stock.SOLO also frees up capacity to work more strategically instead of operationally at the item number level.Are Saga is very satisfied with the support from Promosoft, and would like to see even more invested in Business Reviews.
- The general support we get is great and Promosoft are responsive and react quickly when we come up with suggestions for changes.At the same time, we would like to see Business Reviews push even harder and proactively push us to become an even better user of SOLO.We have high goals for what we want to achieve and the support from Promosoft is important for us to get there.
Removes the uncertainty before the investment decision
There are many companies that find themselves in a similar situation as Otto Olsen AS before the decision was made to invest in SOLO.You realize that many routines need better support than you can get from business systems and routines that are based on the use of Excel.At the same time, today's uncertain times, and difficulties in assessing future prospects, mean that there is uncertainty before a decision to digitize the purchasing processes with system support.What will actually be the effect of digitization?How or long short is the ROI?Are the gains so great that it is worth starting a project, and what resources do we need to allocate internally during the implementation? How does the integration with our business system actually work?
The questions can be many and many answers can be given in a dialogue with Promosoft. A dialogue that can be compared to an overall form of Business Review.
- We can call it a Business Review Light. The starting point is different compared to when a customer chooses SOLO and we will help to create customer success together over a long period of time. The fact that we can help a company get a picture of how SOLO can streamline, simplify and automate the purchasing routines removes much of the uncertainty before an investment decision. For a purchasing organization, it can also make it easier to anchor and create understanding internally with a company's management. My hope is that more companies will take advantage of this opportunity and dare to act even though there is a lot of uncertainty that characterizes the industries where we have many of our customers, concludes Nils Robertsson.