Customers in the steel and metals industry have high expectations for quality products at reasonable prices. This particular marketplace is also highly competitive and customers are often quick to turn to the competition if you can’t be as responsive as the next steel service center or fabricator. Don’t waste time during the quoting process or risk mistakes with calculations that could hurt your bottom line.
Precision is a key word for steel and metal businesses and it doesn’t only apply to the manufacturing process. Precision is what separates a profit from a loss and a satisfied customer from a frustrated one—starting with the estimate. Missing data, underestimating time and materials or calculation mistakes will result in a bad quote, and it only gets worse from there. Get the precise data you need, when you need it by replacing legacy systems with an integrated management solution, like RealSTEEL.
4 Key Features That Strengthen Customer Relationships
RealSTEEL is a comprehensive ERP solution specifically tailored to address unique operations within the steel and metals industry. There are several key features that will strengthen customer relationships:
1. Cost calculators: Built-in calculators will analyze the four components of job costing including direct and indirect material and labor costs, overhead costs, and outside processing costs and time. Optimization engines utilize cutting layouts to minimize waste and operating time. RealSTEEL includes 1D and 2D Optimization Calculators, and Burn and Cut-to-Length Calculators.
2. Customer specifications: Enter key information and RealSTEEL will enable defaults for other attributes. Manage each attribute to the item and variant level including metal specifications including size and grade.
3. Document management: Maintain all customer drawings, blueprints, specifications and labels during the sale process and link to them during order fulfillment. Eliminate the time wasted searching for data and provide your team with access to key customer information through RealSTEEL.
4. Comment management: Customer interactions provide additional information not often found on paper. Track comments made through customer interactions or across other departments within RealSTEEL. This added insight will support customer service activities throughout the sales cycle.
Know what customers want and be ready to respond quickly by having the data you need at your fingertips. Contact our industry experts for additional information about the powerful business intelligence features within RealSTEEL.
By The Wolcott Group, providers of RealSTEEL, a ‘real world’ solution for the steel and metals industry
