A few clicks and then simply wait for delivery: Online shopping has revolutionized private retailing in recent years, making it faster, easier and more efficient. Increasingly, it is making its mark in the industrial environment, too. For some time now, ANDRITZ has been digitalizing its products, services and machines with its innovative Metris solutions. At an early stage of this process, the company recognized the potential benefits digital technology could bring to the processes of quotation and spare part sales – both major customer touchpoints.
Josef Haintz presents the Metris Customer Care portal and the benefits of the integrated Metris Spare Parts Catalog at the 2019 Hannover Messe. Search functions, 2D drawings, 3D models and process flow sheets make
choosing the right spare part(s) a piece of cake.
To verify the demand for this change, ANDRITZ conducted a survey on customers across Europe. The response highlighted not only the importance of digital services, but also the desire for additional features like immediate assistance via remote support, or predictive maintenance notifications.
This is why ANDRITZ decided to create a single digital sphere of activity for internal and external partners: a shared online platform with access to a wide range of service modules and real-time interaction.
One of these service modules is the Metris Spare Parts Catalog, which offers the convenience of online shopping to ANDRITZ’s business partners. The tool benefits customers along the entire value chain, with high levels of transparency and traceability as well as rapid part selection, quotations and order processing.
In October 2016, ANDRITZ launched a groupwide smart services initiative. Employees worked with external partners to set up an ambitious schedule for the prototype of the Spare Parts Catalog with basic functions for areas in which spare and wear parts play an important role. Within three-and-a-half months, they had developed a minimum viable product serving around 100 machines; in less than one year, the team went live with an internal product including 2,600 machines – a status that other companies had taken three years to reach.
The premise of the Metris Spare Parts Catalog was simple: users log in, select a machine and the respective spare parts they need, place them in the shopping cart and receive a quotation generated automatically in the ANDRITZ SAP system, including prices and delivery time.
An in-house trial run enabled further improvements to the system, especially in terms of user management, equipment and customer data quality, and usability in the selection and order process.
Josef Haintz, Program Manager Smart Service
ANDRITZ introduced the Metris Spare Parts Catalog to selected customers at the beginning of 2018. “We undertook a number of detailed investigations to develop a convincing tool that fosters our mission to digitally support our customers, while simultaneously structuring and improving our own internal processes,” explains Josef Haintz, Program Manager Smart Service. Daily training and feedback from internal and external users are necessary to evolve such disruptive tools and make them successful.
The result is a comprehensive but easy-touse instrument. “The shop interface is very user-friendly and was developed to suit all our customer needs,” says Josef Haintz. “Due to the high level of individualization, the customer sees only his own plant, processes and all the related ANDRITZ machines in 2D drawings or 3D models. The right items can be identified easily, either in the drawings or models or in the spare parts list linked to them. Both the drawings and the models are highlighted upon parts selection.”
But there are many more advantages to the catalog than simply identifying parts more easily. These include a comprehensive, transparent view of the history and status at any time, from enquiry to purchase order; the ability to select customized spare part packages for regular service work; and access to operating manuals and other useful documents.
Above all else, it is important to submit a quotation promptly – speed is one of the main success factors in spare parts business. The future goal is to submit an approved offer for standard components by e-mail within a maximum of 24 hours – and even include the services of a technician in accordance with schedules and availability. This factor should enable ANDRITZ to predict and better target the personnel resources and meet the service slots available at customers’ machines.
Constant improvements to the Metris Spare Parts Catalog enhance the usability and flow of information between partners. The link between ANDRITZ’s SAP system and the customer’s ERP system enables the online catalog to be fully integrated into customers’ standard purchasing processes.
For ANDRITZ, the next steps include the coordination of all other digital service modules. Having a single point of entry for the customers will support and enhance services both internally and for the customers. Join ANDRITZ on this exciting journey into the digital future.
