Mantsinen Group Ltd Oy is a global family business that provides its customers with logistics services and manufactures materials handling machines. Mantsinen developed with Process Genius a product configurator, which is based on 3D modeling. Now salespersons can configure a customized crane or material handler during a single meeting.
Mantsinen’s delivery is based on application images where the machine required by the customer is modeled on its operating environment. “As a source of information, we need, for example, the dimensions of the harbor environment, sea height and tidal fluctuations, cargo ship types, machine placement on the dock, etc. Our machines are major strategic investments for our customers, so they have to be designed on the terms of the environment and productivity,” says Mantsinen Group’s Vice President, Material Handling Machinery, Tapio Pirinen.
From static images into a functional 3D environment
Salespersons have previously delivered source data from customers to the application engineer who has configured the machine to fit its genuine operating environment and created static model images of the machine in its environment. The necessary additional information and fixes are solved by the customer via email or phone, and the completed application images are delivered to the customer as 2D images.
With PGconfigurator, the vendor can 3D model the customer environment and configure the machine directly at a client meeting. The machine and its operating environment can be presented to the customer in every direction from the 3D model. Machine configuration can be changed while it is being created. “Before we took a couple of days to two weeks to get the finished pictures delivered to the client, and the new configurator will provide the same result in a couple of hours,” says Pirinen.
PGconfigurator improved service capability and speeded up operations
PGconfigurator was initially introduced to Mantsinen Group’s own sales organization. In the spring of 2017, it was launched on a global distribution network.
Application images submitted to the customer were made earlier in office hours in Finland. The new configurator works around the clock and is globally available at all times of the day. Technical drawings can be sent to the customer as soon as the configuration is complete. “The solution improves our service capability and speeds up our operations in the base machine sales process,” Pirinen says.
The new features and machine models are continually added to the configurator. Language versions of documents are being developed to better serve the different language areas and cultures. Pirinen hopes that in future simulator training for Mantsinen Group’s customers the standard models and general work environments will be replaced with customers’ own modeling and working environments. Utilization data from the machine could also be utilized to allow the customer to see, for example, the lengths of service intervals at the configuration stage. “The most important thing for us is that customers get the information they need for their business, and we will develop the solution accordingly,” Pirinen sums up.