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Striving for continuous improvement within manufacturing, Biesse Group invests in all elements that support innovation. Steve Bulmer, Managing Director at Biesse UK, recently shared his experience at the Smart Factory Expo in Liverpool. For those who couldn’t make it to the event, we caught up with Steve to share his insights on enriching the customer experience to keep their company connected.

 

Can you tell us about your role at Biesse Group?

I’m the CEO of Biesse Group UK. I joined Biesse in 1992 (28 years ago) and helped to set up the UK subsidiary. In January 1993 Biesse UK had three employees, today we are touching 100 employees directly engaging with our customer base in the UK.We have an asset base running into thousands of machines, many of which are still used in production for more than 20 years.

My focus and the vision of Biesse Group UK, is to deliver a world-class customer experience, from initial introduction to Biesse Group, through to lifetime support of our portfolio used by our entire client base.

We cover a diverse range of material processing used across all manufacturing sectors. Our client base is predominantly SME’s and Blue chip national enterprises. “It’s a technology-driven, complicated business, with very diverse customer expectations”. My role is to make sure that we have the right people, with the right tools, doing the right things, at the right time.

 

How is Biesse Group different from other manufacturing companies?

I see Biesse UK as a service provider, not a machinery sales company. Manufacturing clients are not interested in buying machines - they want their problems solved! All manufacturers strive to make products with the best quality, at the best price, in the shortest time. Our purpose is to help them achieve this.

The machine is only part of the equation. We must make sure that we help clients keep their machine assets working at optimum performance. To help achieve this we have a 5-year warranty/maintenance program “TOTAL CARE”. This is unique in our market of reference and underlines the importance we place on innovation, continuous improvement & customer satisfaction.

 

Tell us about your latest Salesforce implementation

Over the last 15 years, Biesse has worked alongside Atlantic Technologies, an International Salesforce Platinum Partner, to revolutionise the way that manufacturing & field service industries operate through careful strategic implementation of Salesforce Sales Cloud and Service Cloud. 

With 4,000+ employees dispersed among 39 branches worldwide and 300+ selected distributors, we have around 3,500 machines and cover 4 main business sectors. As the world's leading specialists, growing into new markets, we have embraced the efficiency, collaboration and measurement opportunities associated with a successful digital transformation.

 

 

Through Salesforce Sales Cloud and Service Cloud Biesse Group and Atlantic Technologies have been able to;

  • Accelerate Channel Management; for better collaboration with dealers, distributors, partners
  • Align Sales and Operations; to improve predictability by connecting operational data
  • Integrate and Modernise the Enterprise; by creating mobile, digital experience apps
  • Activate Business Insights; we can analyse data across the enterprise for actionable insights
  • Connect Sales and Service; for deeper relationships with a single view of your customer
  • Deliver Intelligent Field Service; transform by enabling mobile field technicians
  • Digitalise Lifecycle Marketing; for engagement across the customer and asset lifecycle
  • Streamline Product Distribution; to enable digital B2B commerce for customer and partner orders

 

How is improved connectivity through Salesforce supporting your global growth goals?

Salesforce has reimagined cloud solutions for the manufacturing industry. Through connectivity, insights and understanding, Biesse Group now has real-time connection among our team of technicians, customers and machines. 

With the help of Atlantic Technologies, Biesse Group has recently enhanced our Salesforce Sales and Service Cloud to help them manage their end-to-end customer communication seamlessly by adopting Salesforce Field Service Lightning. As the international roll-out progresses, there will be 500+ active users among 39 branch offices worldwide. Connectivity between our employees and worldwide locations is essential.

 

How have you improved efficiency and understanding for your field service technicians?

Salesforce's Field Service Lightning Mobile App has enabled us to benefit from an integrated system. Careful change management and training are integral to the success of any digital transformation, especially when embarking on a worldwide rollout to over 500 users who can now plan their diaries, tasks and journeys more efficiently.

Field Service specialists can then identify and record opportunities, document them correctly, easily provide a Solution Quotation and order the equipment they need. Salesforce can then be used to display this process on a dashboard that enables better reports and forecasting.

Increased workflow efficiency comes from a more simplified approach. Now that one tool is being used to manage the role of multiple systems, Biesse Group's end-to-end management, search history, and key data metrics have seen immediate improvement.

 

Now it's your turn

If it's time to start your own manufacturing customer experience transformation, download our free guide 'Next Level Customer Experience: Three Steps to Service Obsession' to set you on the same path to success as Biesse.