Truck parts distributor reduces sales order processing time by 30 percent and helps customers save by ordering the right mix of parts
New York—Infor, an industry cloud company, has announced that Midwest Wheel Companies, one of the largest truck parts distributors in the Midwestern U.S., is using Infor Coleman AI-driven parts recommendations to boost customer service — reducing sales order processing time by 30 percent and helping customers save money by ordering the right mix of parts.
Midwest Wheel has seven facilities in Iowa and Missouri and carries a full line of replacement heavy-duty fleet products, light truck accessories, light trailer products, commercial fleet parts, and school bus replacement parts.
According to Steve McEnany, vice president of marketing and technology at Midwest Wheel, Infor’s cloud solutions have played a key role in growing the business and enabling Midwest Wheel to recently open its seventh location. “I really don’t see us having a seventh location if we hadn’t made the move [to Infor cloud solutions], because we would have been on a much slower growth path.”
He added that Infor’s Coleman AI solution has put parts information and recommendations at the fingertips of its customer-facing teams, enabling them to serve customers more effectively.
Previously, some of the company’s customers lost time at the sales counter, or over the phone, when salespeople had to manually search for the right interdependent parts to order for repairs. In some cases, customers needed to come back and place orders for more parts if they didn’t get all they needed the first time. Further, salespersons sometimes missed additional sales opportunities because they weren’t always familiar with all the combinations of parts that are commonly sold together.
In looking at ways to automate and improve the process, Infor developed an artificial intelligence (AI) application, which analyzes order data and includes a recommendation engine. The application was deployed in only four weeks, and Midwest Wheel’s salespeople didn’t need any special skills or training to use it.
McEnany said the Infor Coleman AI solution has improved the customer experience and improved sales productivity — as parts recommendations have now been embedded in sales order screens.
“Infor Coleman AI can shorten the time on the phone and parts counter by up to 30 percent. When you look at what it costs per minute to spend time with a customer to process an order, there are certainly some dollar savings just in that alone. And, the fact that the machine is recommending parts, which a salesperson might have forgotten to suggest, also adds to the bottom line.”
For example, McEnany noted, Infor Coleman AI was able to recommend 10 accurate additional parts for a spring order, based on what has been ordered in the past. Ultimately, customers can also save money, because initially ordering the right mix of parts can translate to increased product lifetimes and fewer repairs.
As a long-time Infor customer, Midwest Wheel also is using Infor CloudSuite Distribution and Infor Birst analytics to help manage inventory across its seven warehouses, enable complex Infor Intelligent Open Network (ION) workflows and alerts, and do more online business. With Infor’s multi-tenant cloud solutions, including Infor OS (Operating Service), the company has improved customer service, realizing as much as a 15 percent improvement in order fill rates.
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