hartl crusher - future watch case study

HARTLCRUSHER– CASESTUDYTEAMFINLANDFUTUREWATCHREPORT,JANUARY2016DIGITALIZATIONEXAMPLESFORTHEMANUFACTURINGINDUSTRY

Case-kuvaus verkossa:bit.ly/digicase-hartl

HARTLCRUSHER– THECOMPANY

• HartlCrusher(www.hartl-crusher.com) isasmallcompanyof19employees,whichsellsbucketcrushers,bucketscreenersandscreenplants.ThefirmisbasedinMauthausen, Austria,and isownedandrunbytwobrothers,DominikandAlexanderHartl.

• TheHartlfamilyhasalong traditioninthecrushingindustry,goingbackto1935.Theyusedtomanufacturebigger track-mountedmobilecrushers,butsoldthebusinesstoAtlasCopco in2010.

• ThecurrentcompanyHARTLEngineering&MarketingGmbHwasestablishedin2011,butthefirstproductswereintroducedattheBauma fairin2014.

• Hartlproductsaremostlysoldthroughtheirdealernetwork.Thecompanyhascloseto40dealers,whichsellHartlproductsin44countries.

TeamFinlandFutureWatchReport– DigitalizationExamplesfortheManufacturingIndustry– www.insyke.fi

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DominikandAlexanderHartl

HARTLCRUSHER– DRIVERSFORCHANGE

• Aftersellingtheirpreviouscompany,theHartlbrotherswantedtostayinthecrushingbusinessandutilizetheirexpertise,butatthesametimesetupatotallydifferentkindofcompany.

• Theywantedtocreateamodernbusiness,whichwouldbeeasytomanageandwhichwouldofferbettercustomerexperienceforboththedealersandtheendcustomers.

• Sellingtheoldbusinessallowedthemtoinvestinsettingupthenewcompany;includingsettinguptheonlineplatformforrunning theoperations.


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HARTLCRUSHER– THECHANGE

• Companyoperationshavebeenbuiltaround theironlineplatform,whichautomatesallcorebusinessprocesses.

• Themostimportantpartoftheplatformisthewebstoreforhandlingorders,sparepartsdeliveryandwarrantyclaims.Thestorehasbeenconnectedtothefinancesystemtominimizeaccountingandreportingwork.

• Bothdealersandendcustomerscanviewtheirpurchasehistoryandeasilyorderspareparts.Therearealsoextensiveinstallation,operationandserviceinstructionswithplentyofvisualmaterials,suchasphotos,graphicsandvideos.

• Tomakemanaging thebusinesseasier,allmanufacturing hasbeenoutsourcedtotrustedpartners.Hartlisresponsibleforstockingproductsandoperatingaglobal sparepartwarehouseattheirheadquarters.

• Hartlsellsmostproductsandpartsviatheirdealers,allofwhichusetheonlineplatform,butalsoendcustomerscanplaceordersdirectlyusing thewebstore.

• AllowingendcustomerstoaccesstheonlineplatformdirectlysetsHartlapartfromtheircompetition.Endcustomerscanordersparepartswithoutgoingthroughtheirlocaldealer,iftheywish,andalsoaccessallproductdocumentation.

• Movingtoanonlinesaleschannelhasalsomeantthatproductandpartpricesareopenlyseenbyeveryone.Thismakesitfasterandeasierfortheendcustomertoseetheirinvestmentcost.Atthesametime,thismeansthatthepriceshavetobethesameinallmarketsandcountries.


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HARTLCRUSHER– BENEFITS

• Bettercustomerexperience – Openpricing,real-timeinventorylevels,shipmenttracking,andgoodproductdocumentationhelptoimprovethecustomerexperience.Alsotheprocessesarefaster,aseverythingisautomated,andonlinepaymentsenablefastshipments.

• Lessnon-productivework – Thenumberofinteractionshasbeencutfromabout6-8toanaverageofjust1,astheordersareplacedinthewebstore.Thissavesalotofwork,asthereisn’tasmuchneedtohandleexceptionsandcorrectmistakes.

• Dealersandendcustomersseereal-timeinventorylevelsandcanplaceordersinthewebstore,andgetDHLtrackingcodesforeachorder,sothere’snoneedtosendqueriesaboutorderstatus.Alsothepossibility toorderwrongsparepartshasbeenminimizedbyasparepartselectorbasedonproductserialnumbers.

• Businessscalability – Theplatformmakesitpossibletoservemoredealersandendcustomerswithouthiringmoreemployees.DominikHartlestimatesthattheycoulddoubletheirbusinesswithexistingstaff.

• Differentiation – Onlineplatformaccessibledirectlytoendcustomers,openpricingandexcellentafter-salessupportsetHartlapartfromtheircompetitors.

• Self-service –Mostendcustomerswishtomaintaintheequipmentthemselves.Usingtheonlineplatformtheycanorderthesparepartseasilyandhaveaccesstothemaintenanceandrepairinstructions.


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HARTLCRUSHER– LESSONSLEARNED

• Stillfewdirectorders –Mostendcustomersstillprefertoorderthroughtheirlocaldealer;mostendcustomersaresmallcontractorswhoarenotveryweb-savvyandtypicallyhavealongandtrustedbusinessrelationshipwiththedealer.

• Needtoeducatethedealers – Anonlinestore,whichisopenalsototheendcustomersissomethingthedealersarenotyetfamiliarwith,soHartlneedstogothroughtheprosandconswiththembeforesigningthemupasadealer.

• Globalandopenpricing – Previouslytheendcustomershadtoaskadealerforaquotetoseethepricing,andthepricesvariedcountrybycountry.Nowthepricesareshownopenlyandarefixedglobally,whichhasbeenabigchange.


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HARTLCRUSHER– COMMENTSONTHECASEEXAMPLEBusinessimpact

• Asthecompanyisstillveryyoung,business impactofthechangecan’tbereallyestimatedbasedonannualrevenuegrowth.Andmuchofthefuturegrowthwilldependotherthings,forexamplebuilding thedealernetwork.

• Thoughcommonplace inB2Cindustries, online platformsarestillrareinsmall-to-medium sizedmanufacturingcompanies.SeveralofHartl’s competitorshavetheirownonline portals,butthoseareopen justfortheirdealernetworks.

• Theonline platformactsasanenabler,enablingbothexcellentcustomerexperienceandscalingofthebusiness, withouttheneedtohiremoreemployees.Thesebenefitswillbegainedmostinthemedium tolongterm.

Effectsonemployeesandmanagement

• Well-defined processes andavailabilityofreal-timebusiness dataonanydevicemakesthecompanymucheasiertomanageandlead.

• Withtheprevious company,managingtheordersandmanufacturingtheproducts amountedtoalotofnon-productivework.Nowthecompanycanfocusmoreonvalue-adding things– thatisservingtheircustomersandbuilding thebestpossible salesorganizationanddealernetwork.

• Hartlhadanuniqueopportunity tobuild theirnewbusiness fromscratchutilizingtheirlongexperienceinthefield.Forexistingcompaniesasimilarchangecanbequiteabitmorechallengingduetobusiness andtechnologycommitmentsalreadymadeandresistancetochange– bothinside andoutsidethecompany.

Openandgloballyfixedpricing

• Productandsparepartpricesarevisible tobothdealersandendcustomersinthewebstore.Thismeansthatthepricesaregloballyfixed,whichisunusual inthisindustry.Differencesinoperationcostsaretakenintoaccountindealercommissions,whichmeansthatdealersinhigh-costcountriesgetabiggercutofthesalethanonesinlow-costcountries.

Hartlisagoodexampleofutilizingdigitalizationtobenefiteveryone:thecompanyitself,theirdealersandofcoursetheendcustomers.

LauraNurmi,[email protected]+358295055623

HarriLakkala,[email protected]+358452603884

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