Allin designed and built an ERP Integrated Sales Quotation System for JEOL, improving their sales quote generation progress.
The Problem:
JEOL Ltd. is a large manufacturer of Electron Microscopes and other analytical instruments including Mass Spectrometers, NMRs, ESRs, and Semiconductor Equipment. JEOL USA, a subsidiary of JEOL Ltd., sells many made-to-order products through its direct sales force to various public and private sector research facilities and semiconductor manufacturing facilities. Their products are characterized by a high level of complexity and variability and a high degree of customization by the customer. These factors account for potentially long supply chain lead times in acquiring the key components.
During the sales process, many customers request multiple product configurations in order to assess the best option for their budget and application. It’s critical for sales agents to recalculate the price of these multiple configurations quickly and accurately. Sales agents must also verify that configurations are compliant with the engineering rules for the instrument. JOEL’s existing system was unable to perform these tasks simultaneously, which consequently slowed their quoting process.
The Solution:
CodeLab developed a rules-based quotation system that interfaces with JEOL’s Glovia ERP package. The system provides sales agents with remote access, and users can enter, save, and modify multiple quotes. This enables agents to provide customers with instant feedback regarding requests to modify product configurations, as well as get the best possible instrument for their limited budget and delivery deadlines.
The first step in creating the new system was to compile a list of detailed business requirements. This list was used to build a design document outlining the software’s specific functionality. The process continued with client sign-off development, QA, user acceptance, and finally deployment.
The Benefits:
The new system allows JEOL to provide faster quoting, increasing the number of quotes produced daily. The rules-based engine that monitors instrument configurations and warns of instrument incompatibility provides JEOL with greater quoting accuracy, as well. The application is currently supported and hosted in the CodeLab datacenter.
About Allin Consulting:
Allin Consulting solves the real world business problems encountered by its clients; emerging, intermediate, and large Fortune 500 size companies. With extensive domain expertise in the Financial Services and Healthcare industries and experience recognizing common problems across an industry group, Allin Consulting has a track record of successful business to business software and solution development.