New technologies and analytics are already two of the company’s strategic pillars. Worthington’s Austria facility, which belongs to its Sustainable Energy Solutions business segment, is already using the pillars to fast forward traditional manufacturing into the digital age.
The company’s Customer Service Manager, Peter Holzknect, is already working with the Worthington IT department and external partners to streamline the two digital platforms and merge them into one user-friendly web portal.
On the new digital move, Gabriele Zeilerbauer, European Sales Director for Industrial Products and Light-Duty Vehicles, said, “We’ve been hard at work to digitalise Worthington for over two years now.”
“We had inherited via an acquisition a digital platform, or web shop, that served primarily as a pick-and-pack distribution service, predominantly for small replacement items. In parallel we built a digital self-service platform for very large orders, but it was underused and not as user-friendly as it needed to be.”
To help provide the best customer service, Worthington has carried out voice-of-customer research with gas production customers. According to Worthington, the research generated insights into the types of information and services customers value most.
The company’s withstanding self-service platform already provides 24-hour platform where customers can access their accounts, and monitor dates of readiness and collection. Later this year, users will be able to view the breakdown of dates for various stages of production, which permits greater flexibility for customers to alter elements of their order at different stages of the production line.
In addition to this, customers can access and download all order notes, credit notes and invoices in their account history, and access all required third-part certification for ordered products. On the interface, customers can also generate and download spreadsheets for all orders.
Holzknect, added, “We plan soon to add a Configure Price Quote feature that will provide an actual quote based on accurate, real-time prices. This will give customers price certainty and knowledge, allowing them to have greater control over their buying decisions.”
“We have completed the first two phases, which have involved vastly improving the offerings and functionality of our existing web shop and SSP platforms. The goal is to complete phase three, which includes launching the price configurator, among other features, shortly, and then tackle the final stages of development, involving artificial intelligence and other tools during 2022.”