From enquiry to installation

By Greg Beachim, sales manager, Cyncly.

It’s a cliché, but a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. And in a manufacturing environment, efficiency is constrained by bottlenecks.

Typically, we think of those bottlenecks as being a slow cutting and machining centre, or not enough people assembling the windows, or even an inefficient dispatch department. But in reality it is any point along the enquiry-to-installation journey.

If you think a manufacturer’s responsibility ends when the window is unloaded on site, you would be missing a trick. We’ve created the ability within our Zandi module for manufacturers to offer more control over the manufacturing process to their customers, which creates a more streamlined journey from enquiry through to installation, reducing error and saving money in the process.

And this is being driven by demand, because window companies are just as happy today to manage their relationship with their supplier via an online portal, rather like how they would manage regular purchases via an online store. This means fewer phone calls, allowing customers to interact with manufacturers whenever they want, while removing a potential for errors to occur.

Our Zandi platform allows manufacturers to create accounts for their customer where they can log in, see any conversations, answer questions, pull up order confirmations, confirm production dates, set delivery dates, and issue invoices.

This also improves processes at the retail end, because window companies are not isolated from the manufacturing process. And because everyone benefits from a joined up approach, you are more likely to see repeat business as a result.

Thanks to Zandi, and the fully connected Window Designer software platform, manufacturers can create workflows and streamline information based on triggers and events, which then allows them to remove paper from the operation altogether.

This results in products being manufactured and dispatched at the optimal time – for both manufacturer and customer. At every point in the process, the window company can see where their order is, and the manufacturer has a complete overview of the whole operation, ensuring that all parts work seamlessly together.

It reduces administration overheads. It minimises staffing levels. And it promotes efficiency and profitability at all levels.

Finally, by putting more control in the hands of your customers, you are creating an environment that makes it hard for them to leave, because you ultimately save them more money than alternative systems where they are alienated from the manufacturing and delivery process.

This is where Cyncly excels as a business, because Cyncly’s expertise extends out far beyond design processing and optimisation solutions for the manufacturing space. Cyncly is focused on the different spaces within the home, and how the homeowner’s buying journey is simplified from initial enquiry all the way through to installation.

And we are seeing this trend feed back up through the supply chain, creating more opportunities for manufacturers to better manage the product’s journey from enquiry all the way through to installation.