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Excel Industries Mows Down Parts Data Inaccuracies With Documoto
Technology Category
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Equipment & Machinery
Applicable Functions
- Sales & Marketing
- Business Operation
Use Cases
- Inventory Management
- Supply Chain Visibility
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
The Challenge
Excel Industries, a leading outdoor power equipment manufacturer, was facing a significant challenge with their parts lookup and ordering system. The company was dependent on a third-party provider to make changes to their parts books and manuals, which was a time-consuming process that often took five to six months to implement. This delay resulted in dealers and distributors being unsure if they were ordering the right part or accessory, damaging the trust between the company and their network. The inaccurate parts data also began impacting Excel’s costs and bottom line, with one instance of a mislabeled transmission resulting in significant shipping costs and a 30-day delay to fix the error.
About The Customer
Excel Industries is a leading manufacturer of outdoor power equipment products for turf and mowing. The company has been in the industry for over 50 years and is known for its innovative product, 'The Hustler', which was the first zero-turn mower. This product revolutionized the efficiency of cutting lawns due to its ability to turn 180 degrees at the end of a mowing row. Excel Industries sells residential and commercial mowers across the globe and strives to provide a quality owner experience. The company has a dealer network of more than 1,600 U.S. dealers and 30 distributors worldwide who work tirelessly to answer questions and provide expert service to every customer. Accurate parts lookup and ordering for dealers is paramount to Excel’s customer service.
The Solution
Excel Industries decided to take control of their parts information and began researching software solutions that would improve their parts accuracy and reduce ordering errors. They chose Documoto due to its relational database, cloud library, search capabilities, and the ability to update content themselves. The implementation of Documoto involved a careful plan to migrate thousands of documents and roll out the new system to their dealer network. Excel worked closely with Documoto account managers to ensure a smooth transition and provided training materials to their dealers. Once the data had been migrated into Documoto, Excel was able to make changes to their parts information within hours, significantly reducing the time it took to get changes out to dealers.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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