Case Summary
The Challenge
The client faced multiple inefficiencies across its lead-to-order-to-manufacturing processes. The product data was spread out in different engineering systems, and was often incomplete, inconsistent, or erroneous. This made scaling up difficult, hurt speed to market, and negatively affected the customer experience.
Custom orders were particularly cumbersome. The sales teams passed requirements to engineering through spreadsheets to manage options and rules. Which meant engineers had to hunt down the right parts and CAD files, use separate tools for pricing, re-enter data into the configurator, and finally create orders manually. In case the orders needed to move between plants, it added significant rework.
The client needed a way to speed up the entire process, make the data more reliable, and take manual effort out of the equation. That’s when they brought in SLK.
The Solution
SLK partnered with the client to overhaul the way enquiry-to-order requests moved through the business. The solution focused on several areas:
- Mapping and streamlining the process: SLK studied how leads moved to orders and into manufacturing, and laid out a clear roadmap to bring different product lines under a common process.
- A single place for calculations: SLK created a unified platform for sizing calculations, linked directly with CAD tools and electromechanical and thermal calculations. Having all of this together made it easier to get configurations right the first time.
- Fixing CAD data issues: SLK did a detailed cleanup of the CAD data, comparing BOM between CAD and PLM records to fix mismatches in item details, quantities, revisions, and other key fields.
- Connecting CAD and PLM: Using a mix of standard tools and third-party connectors, SLK ensured that design data stayed in sync across platforms.
- Smooth transition to manufacturing: Once designs and assemblies were complete, the solution pushed data straight into the ERP system for procurement and production, linking CRM, the configurator, PLM, and ERP into one flow, without extra manual hand-offs.
How It Works
Here’s how the integrated setup runs today:
Sales teams enter requirements into the CRM, which talks to the product configurator to pull up existing configurations or process new requests. The configurator ties directly into CAD and PLM systems to ensure it always uses the latest product data.
Once designs and BOMs are finalized in PLM, the system automatically pushes this information into multiple ERP platforms. That’s where procurement and manufacturing pick up, without needing anyone to manually transfer data. This end-to-end connection removed duplicate work and cut down errors and delays.
