Ergonomics is becoming an increasingly bigger factor in society. Un-ergonomic office chairs, desks, and other work instruments leave their marks through physical and even mental ailments. Society cannot avoid ergonomics anymore. Health2Work is one of the businesses supporting these developments, as leader in ergonomic workspaces. With country-wide projects, all aimed at creating a perfect relation between people and their environments, Health2Work lives up to its name. Health2Work not only provides production of ergonomic workspaces, but shares all of its internal knowledge with its customers. Thomas Hoekstra (Quality manager at Health2Work): “You could only sell ergonomic workspaces, but adequate use of them requires extensive informing. Which is why we do not only supply these workplaces, but also workshops to increase our customers’ knowledge levels. Because even on a good chair, you could sit badly.”
Health2Work is always on the lookout for anything to do with ergonomics. Which has led to the development of the ‘Health2Work Cube’, and the ‘Health2School’ project is also booming. Also the ‘Exoskeleton’, which can support multiple body parts in work situations where a lot is asked from the body, has originated from Health2Work’s innovations.
This innovation is not only seen in their product range. The internal processes, too, are constantly looked at critically. Hoekstra: “When, as a production company, you sell wares to increase internal productivity, you need to make sure you optimize your own internal productivity. Which is where Elfsquad came in handy.” Health2Work’s sales processes too, are crying for automation. Next to that, it could also really use some optimization when looking at pre-production. “A completely automated factory often seems like the first step, but when looking at satisfying customers one should not forget that the first contact with customers is key. Which is why we are starting to use powerful software which functions as a pillar of support in our primary process.”
8.000A completely automated factory often seems like the first step, but when looking at satisfying customers one should not forget that the first contact with customers is key. Which is why we are starting to use powerful software which functions as a pillar of support in our primary process.
The numbers seen in the product configurator not only clearly show why Health2Work is looking for optimization of their pre-production process. It also shows the importance of a product configurator, and Elfsquad’s user friendliness. Every week, Elfsquad processes about 500 quotations, which are handled by more than twenty employees. By now, over 8000 quotations have been made. And these days, more than 40.000 relations have been synchronized. As such, Elfsquad forms the foundation of an effective sales process.
“Even with only a seemingly minor difference of a few minutes won with each quotation, you will already be working much more efficiently and effectively. When multiplying this by 8.000, you will see an enormous victory in efficiency during the sales process.”
Health2Work strives for a continual increase in quality, and is not only looking for this within the sales process. In the production process, too, steps must be made. Delivering top quality in service is one of Health2Work’s main goals. A streamlined work process in, among others, the warehouses where products are assembled, is required for this.
Besides Elfsquad Product Configurator and Exact Online, a CRM package was also added. This challenged Health2Work; realize a tight workflow between all of the company software, with the customer experience in mind. This turned out to be the perfect job for Ifective. And where Health2Work is a customer driven organization, it turns out that Ifective is not ignoring the human aspect either. Health2Work’s employees were involved in defining the customer journey and software integration. All of this to improve Health2Work’s quality of service. From workshop quality, to customer service quality.
“Health2Work’s product sales see a lot of variety. Anything is possible: Salesmen visit potential customers, customers are able to call or mail, and for big construction projects the salesmen will show up at the customer’s door to directly show the benefits of ergonomic workspaces. All of these sales channels need a foundation, an application in which all sales are summarized together. This foundation is found in Elfsquad’s product configurator. From every channel salesmen enter their quotations, with a direct synchronization to ERP & CRM”, Hoekstra explains. By creating all quotations from one channel, work became more relaxed internally, and it made for much shorter lead times for quotations as well.
“We sell more than just a product, we also sell knowledge about ergonomics. In turn, this requires our salesmen to know much more. The product knowledge is now stored into the product configurator, which shifts the focus of product knowledge to people knowledge. Which is indispensable in our market.” This shift is made possible because product structures are entered into the configurator so quickly. And because of the preset rules within Elfsquad, all errors are eliminated. As such, Health2Work’s salesmen can focus on what is truly important: physical and mental wellness in their customers.
The integration between Elfsquad, Exact Online, and Health2Work’s CRM package allows Health2Work to control their internal business. “Automating the pre-production process results in always being able to quickly access the correct customer data, anywhere. This takes away a lot of administrative work, like resolving incorrect data, and doubly entered data. And as such, more attention can be paid to customer experience, with qualitatively adequate service.”
“When we have rolled out a quotation, a ‘sales opportunity’ is automatically made in CRM. When the quotation is accepted by the customer, the status in Elfsquad is immediately adjusted, and the bill of materials is synchronized to Exact Online. You could say that the customer accepting the quotation, is in a way, directing our factory. This workflow is fast, errorless, and the customer is clearly involved with their own products. Which supports our sales process, and improves our customer relations,” Thomas Hoekstra tells us.
Because of a solid cooperation, better service, and more automation in the sales process, the competitive position is enhanced and Health2Work is looking towards a healthy future.
