B2B ecommerce(opens in new tab) is one of the hottest trends in manufacturing and distribution, and CMP Corp.(opens in new tab) is staking its claim with an innovative website (www.cmpcorp.com(opens in new tab)) that includes an online product configurator that’s driving new revenue and business reach.
The configurator enables buyers to configure re-engineered compressors to their specifications from the world’s leading independent manufacturer and supplier of replacement compressor parts for HVAC and refrigeration equipment. The new configurator is part of CMP’s website relaunch, which includes advanced ecommerce capabilities on NetSuite SuiteCommerce. The product configurator was developed with NetSuite partners Centricity Systems and Intente.
“The online configurator is a huge competitive advantage for us,” said Adam Harper, Director of Administration at the Oklahoma City-based company, with more than 3,000 customers in 95 countries. “Along with making more than 1,900 products available for sale online, the configurator is a key element in our strategy to fuel further growth with ecommerce.”
With its focus on B2B ecommerce, CMP is meeting fast-growing customer demand for fast, efficient and secure online purchasing with B2C-like usability. B2B ecommerce is helping CMP and other manufacturers and distributors reach new markets, drive site traffic and improve internal and customer efficiency by eliminating manual steps in phone, email and fax orders.
Distributors rank ecommerce as their #1 technology initiative (at 44 percent of respondents), according to a recent survey by Modern Distribution Management for NetSuite.[1] Rapid adoption is driving double-digit annual growth in B2B ecommerce, which Forrester has estimated at $559 billion in the U.S. alone—more than twice the size of B2C ecommerce.2
Building on Lean Manufacturing Success
CMP’s B2B ecommerce push builds on the success it has realized with a Lean manufacturing program in a NetSuite cloud ERP framework, which recently netted the 100-person company a prestigious 2014 Manufacturing Leadership Award(opens in new tab) in Operational Leadership from Frost & Sullivan’s Manufacturing Leadership Council.
Aimed at eliminating waste and redundancies, CMP’s Lean manufacturing initiative leverages NetSuite’s integrated manufacturing, inventory, financials and ecommerce for a single data set. Its previous environment was a combination of a Visual Manufacturing application and SQL Server database. That speeds data access time and decision-making from the shop floor to the executive office.
At the same time, CMP has reduced its in-house server count from 10 to two while eliminating a full-time IT position, the use of costly third-party consultants and time-consuming data back-ups. It’s avoiding the large and unpredictable expenditures of on-premise systems and virtually eliminates the risk of a disaster disrupting IT, such as a 2003 tornado that decimated its facility.
“NetSuite has given us dramatically better data access and reporting and has been instrumental in our Lean manufacturing initiative, helping us reduce costs and waste while achieving double-digit growth,” Harper said. “We basically took some of the principles of Lean manufacturing and applied them to our IT and administrative functions.”
The Manufacturing Leadership award recognizes CMP’s many achievements with Lean manufacturing and cloud ERP, including:
- Reduced crankshaft production lead time from 85 to 10 days and costs by 25%
- Reduced distance traveled for crankshaft production from 1 mile to 240 feet
- Reduced back orders by 90%, worth $300,000
- Improved IT efficiency by 75% with NetSuite
Now with NetSuite SuiteCommerce, CMP is applying its Lean principles to ecommerce, eliminating the wasted time and cost of manual ordering for itself and its customers while opening an important new channel for continued growth.
[1] NetSuite, “The Outlook for Wholesale Distribution in 2013,” June 2013.