Corevist Case Study--3A Composites
1 like1,276 views
3A Composites, a division of Schweiter Technologies, partnered with Corevist to launch a B2B customer service portal that integrates with their SAP system, enabling customers to track orders and access documents. Despite initial user adoption challenges due to customers' existing habits, the new system saw adoption rates surge from less than 1% to over 75%, significantly improving efficiency for customer service. The custom solution implemented automated email confirmations and control over email formatting, contributing to a reduction in the volume of routine inquiries to customer service reps.
Corevist Case Study--3A Composites
- 1. Visit www.corevist.com to schedule a demo today CASE STUDY : 3A Composites You built it. But will they come? The story of user adoption, B2B habits and an SAP-integrated web-based customer service channel The Challenge 3A Composites is a division of Swiss-based Schweiter Technologies AG. The company has a global footprint, and is engaged in developing, manufacturing and commercializing advanced technologies and converting commodity materials like aluminum, paper, plastics and balsa wood into uniquely lightweight solutions such as aluminum composite panels, foamed plastic sheets, foamboards, soft foam and core materials. Recently, 3A Composites partnered with Corevist to develop and launch myaccount.3AC.com – a business-to-business post-order-entry customer service portal that features real-time integration with SAP. The new site gives 3A’s customers the ability to track orders and reprint documents such as order confirmations, invoices, and more. However, the launch of this new web-based customer service channel was only part of the story. Before it could be called a success, 3A’s customers needed to know about the system and use it regularly. But, these customers were accustomed to ordering via a phone, email, EDI, and fax, which meant high rates of user adoption were going to be a challenge. So, how did we help 3A successfully introduce a web channel to existing customers with ingrained habits? We found a way Design Constraints The technology in place at 3A Composites included: • SAP ECC 6.0 • Esker Automated Sales Order Processing About 3A Composites 3A Composites has a global footprint, and manufactures lightweight materials like aluminum composit panels, foamed plastic sheets, foamboards, soft foam and core materials.
- 2. www.corevist.com ©Corevist, Inc. 2014 2 of 3 Business Requirements 3A Composites wanted to: • Make it as easy as possible for B2B customers to self-serve routine order management needs through the company’s web-based customer service channel. • Leverage an existing investment in a fax-to-SAP sales order processing solution from Esker. • Reduce (or eliminate) the volume of calls to customer service reps concerning routine and mundane inquiries about order, inventory and delivery status. What We Did We created an automated SAP generated email-based order confirmation process with custom business logic. 3A Composites was already using the Esker Automated Sales Order Processing solution to receive inbound fax-based orders into the company’s SAP system. After a new fax-based order comes in, our solution sends the customer an order confirmation email with a hyperlink back to 3A’s website. This process allows customers to continue to place orders via fax, but creates an easy, frictionless path back to the new web-based customer service channel. Our implementation includes custom logic that: • Creates a link back to https:// myaccount.3ac.com/cart/show?xxxxx where xxxx is the order number. • Determines which email address(es) should receive email confirmations, based on the SAP customer master record. • Excludes web-based orders, since the website already sends confirmations • Allows 3A to control on a customer-by-customer basis whether the system should send email order confirmations as a PDF attachment or as a link back to the website. (Some customers simply prefer the PDF attachment, so we accommodated that request.) Our implementation also gave 3A Composites complete control over the text and format of their confirmation emails, including: • The general text section that applies to all order confirmation emails • Unique text blocks for each distribution channel • Formatting of the email including fonts, colors, logos, bullets, etc. Our solution is also multilingual to support the pending launch of a Latin American implementation. The Results • User adoption rates of 3A Composites’ B2B customer service site have soared from less than 1% to greater than 75% • Huge efficiency improvements among the company’s Customer Service Reps According to Kirk Jones, 3A Composites’ Chief Information Officer, “March 2013 was our first month using the automated email confirmation messages. During that month, 869 orders were created and we averaged roughly 200 orders per week. According to our web analytics data, each week 150 of those orders are being accessed through our new B2B site. That’s phenomenal!” “Since this system launched, we’ve only had to revert to PDF confirmations on 52 orders, out of 1404. That’s less than 4%. I’m quite pleasantly surprised by this number.” We picked Corevist because of their agile development process. That meant we weren’t handcuffed to a pre-determined statement of work. Dustin Holmstrom VP, eCommerce & IT tng worldwide
- 3. www.corevist.com ©Corevist, Inc. 2014 3 of 3 What 3A Composites’ Customers Are Saying “The invoice data on this website will help us reconcile quicker! We’re experiencing mail delays up here in Canada. Now, we can match our monthly statements with yours.” “This is going to replace so many time-consuming phone calls. Now, with this website, the information is at our fingertips we can access it any time of day or night.” “We plan our own truck shipments. Now with your product availability information online, this will help us load full trucks.” “This will be a HUGE help for us in our Operations.” North America: 7474 Creedmoor Road Suite 108 Raleigh, NC 27613 United States Tel: (919) 424-2120 E-mail: info@Corevist.com SAP® is a registered trademark of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. For more case studies, visit www.corevist.com Europe: Chutzenstrasse 47 3007 Bern Switzerland Tel: +41 (43) 540-42 -25 Fax: +41 (0)44 241 39 58 Revision 2.0, 03.14