Configurateur de produit visuel 3D à fort impact
Comment CMTP cut citant time from 2 days à 5 minutes avec Épicor CPQ
“Just getting away from the spreadsheets has been fantastic!”
CMTP is a specialist packaging company based in Victoria, Australia. Known for innovation, quality, and speed in the packaging industry, the company has a rich legacy spanning almost half a century.
It all started with company Director Chris Meade crafting timber bins in his backyard. From modest roots, CMTP has grown, now boasting 11 state-of-the-art manufacturing sites, with even more expansion on the horizon.
Deeply rooted in family values, this proudly Australian-owned venture is backed by a down-to-earth, dedicated team finely tuned to its clients' diverse needs. Its products range from customizable pallets to wooden cases, corrugated cardboard boxes, and specialized corrosion protection packaging, all designed and manufactured with precision and sustainability in mind.
Les défis
Manual Processes and Operational Inefficiencies
CMTP manages operations across 11 independent sites, a strategy that allows each location to customize its pricing and services to meet the unique demands of its local markets. However, despite its benefits, this fragmented approach occasionally resulted in inconsistencies in how quotes were prepared.
Another challenge for CMTP was the company’s reliance on manual, disjointed spreadsheet-based processes, which risked delays and miscommunication. Price lists and material cost updates were processed individually at each site rather than in a unified manner, causing data duplication and inefficiencies.
The manual workload persisted even after a quote was approved. Information from these quotes needed to be manually entered into the company’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Then CAD drawings and specifications had to be produced, a time-consuming process taking 15-20 minutes per drawing.
Although these manual processes were crucial to uphold CMTP’s commitment to reliability, they inevitably consumed resources that could have been allocated to other strategic projects. The company set out to find a solution.
La solution
Automating with Epicor CPQ
To streamline its quoting and sales processes, CMTP implemented Épicor CPQ, a cloud-based system that delivers visual Configuration du produit and end-to-end automation. By integrating with CMTP’s existing technology stack, Épicor CPQ introduced seamless efficiency gains across the company’s operations.
At its core, the system provides an intelligent repository for pricing, materials, and product specifications accessible across all CMTP locations. Serving as a single source of truth, Epicor CPQ enables fast, unified quoting activities enterprise-wide.
Tight integration with CMTP’s ERP platform allows Epicor CPQ to automatically incorporate up-to-date cost information into quotes in real time. This eliminates the previous reliance on spreadsheets, reducing quote turnaround from two days to just 5-10 minutes. Once finalized, quotes are smoothly transferred to production via the ERP, closing the loop from order to manufacturing without duplicates or errors.
Epicor CPQ also integrates with CMTP’s CAD system, Solidworks, to instantly generate technical drawings for each custom quotation. This fully automates the manual drafting previously required, freeing up the engineering department to work on more innovative and less transactional work.
Furthermore, the intuitive visual programming empowers non-technical users to create and maintain the logic, rules, and constraints that ensure quoting accuracy company-wide. New employees can get up to speed quickly thanks to the user-friendly interface and 3D models Epicor CPQ generates for each configurable product.
Avantages
Achieving Time and Efficiency Win
CMTP has experienced tangible and impactful results from implementing Epicor CPQ. Most notably, the quoting time has been dramatically reduced from two days to just 5-10 minutes. This swift turnaround means CMTP can deliver quotes and technical drawings to customers at an unprecedented speed–without increasing pressure on their team.
“It’s taken a quoting process that might have a turnaround of two days into something that now takes five, 10 minutes max. So that’s a massive, massive difference.”
Here are some of the other benefits CMTP has experienced:
Centralized quoting system
CMTP now has a unified pricing and quoting system that harmonizes operations across all sites. This change has eliminated inconsistencies, ensuring a streamlined approach.
Rapid quoting time
With the automation of Epicor CPQ, the time to generate quotes has drastically reduced. Complete with CAD drawings, comprehensive quotes are now produced within minutes.
Automatic cost updates
Gone are the days of laborious data entry. Epicor CPQ auto-fetches material costs from the ERP, resulting in an up-to-date and error-free quoting system.
CAD automation with Solidworks
Integrating Epicor CPQ with Solidworks means CAD files are automatically generated for every quote, eliminating manual intervention and accelerating the overall sales cycle.
Robust ERP integration
Once quotes are finalized, data flows seamlessly into the ERP system and then to the factory floor. This digital thread ensures a rapid transition from order to production and guarantees data integrity.
Visual programming
Epicor CPQ ensures accuracy with sophisticated business rules that enable CMTP team members to quickly create and maintain the solution using intuitive, visual programming.
Empowering New Team Members
The visual tools in Epicor CPQ and Snap have helped new employees adapt quickly. The short learning curve has supported greater productivity and satisfaction across teams.
As CMTP continues to push boundaries, they have set their sights on the future. They plan to make Epicor CPQ’s visual product configurator available not just to their sales team but directly to their customers for self-serve transactions. This forward-thinking approach signifies CMTP’s relentless drive to enhance customer experience, positioning them at the forefront of the dynamic packaging industry.