Producers and suppliers of vehicles and equipment in the logistics industry are faced with extensive market requirements. In the transport sector, these range from the rental of single vehicles (short-term rental, long-term rental) to complete tenders for entire fleets, taking into account country-specific requirements and customer-specific needs. The same applies to suppliers of agricultural equipment. The amount of variants that are made available to the customers, given the wide variety of use scenarios, must be offered correctly in sales.

In Short Term Rental (STR), existing vehicles and machines are rented out on demand for a few days or weeks. The fast-moving nature of this business requires a well-maintained fleet with clearly defined input and output processes. Information on location, availability and condition, in addition to typical features such as the lifting height of forklifts or the container volume of mixing plants in agriculture, describe the desired machine for a customer. If the data is merged and made available in a CPQ application, the sales department can quickly and easily generate quotations with the correct fee information.

The requirements for offers in the area of Long Term Rental (LTR) are different and no less complex. Here, providers and users enter into long-term contracts, which are often accompanied by regular renewal of the rented fleet equipment. Often such offers are based on extensive tenders, which have to be answered with structurally suitable proposal documents. CPQ solutions such as CREALIS® offer extensive functionalities with their complete offer generation system to cover the requirements in international sales.

Once a supplier has concluded an LTR contract with a customer, he does not simply supply him with the equipment and vehicles, but also provides the necessary or desired service at the same time. In the case of forklift trucks, this can be the monitoring of the equipment’s condition, the contractual agreement of tyre renewals, etc. In order to ensure that such topics can be defined in the contract correctly and comprehensibly for both parties, the responsible sales employee carries out a so-called site survey in order to record the conditions on site in the offer and to be able to estimate foreseeable wear and tear. In the right CPQ solution, this information can be processed directly as the basis for the quotation calculation, including the service contract, without the tedious manual transfer of data between systems.

With the right CPQ solution and its correct use, complete fleet calculations can be conveniently handled by the sales staff. Issues such as offer adjustments or contract renewals on the basis of old calculations are easy to handle. In such cases, price adjustments are carried out correctly on the respective current data basis and changes in the offer portfolio are immediately visible and can be discussed with the customer. Of course, this works in an international environment, especially if the CPQ system masters topics such as market validity and time validity.

In today’s cut-throat market in the industry, it is not only necessary to bring innovative solutions to the market quickly. Producers are forced to score points over the competition by offering price reductions and discount campaigns. To ensure that no sales losses are generated by this, release levels throughout the sales process are mandatory. In fleet calculations, for example, a salesperson can access a team that determines possible or necessary discounts at various points in the offer documents. A hierarchical representation of decision-making levels is necessary. A sales employee must submit a discount request to his superior team leader. The team leader can decide whether he has the approval for the necessary discount or whether he has to approach his supervisor. The mapping of such release hierarchies for discounts on sales prices, service prices or even rental prices is an important part of a CPQ solution. This must be backed up by an accurate authorisation system so that no misunderstandings or wrong decisions occur.

If the supplier uses promotions in their sales (such as extended discount equipment), sales staff should be quickly informed about such promotions. A CPQ system can be equipped with an information channel so that the sales staff is always up to date on what topics might be important in the sales pitch. It goes without saying that the right discount levels are set for such promotions. If a sales representative has a hesitant customer, it is possible to win him over spontaneously for a contract with a promotion that has just been activated. And if the CPQ system then immediately communicates these changes in the quotation to the customer, there will be no more obstacles to signing the contract.

In the international environment, it is absolutely necessary to take into account the various internationally applicable legal regulations. Supplying equipment to a country that is on an embargo list can be expensive for the supplier and lead to a loss of image in the industry. A CPQ system linked to embargo lists can draw attention to the issues to be considered at an early stage and, if necessary, even prevent the preparation of an offer.

The correct use of Incoterms before and at the signing of the contract is also an important area to be taken into account in the CPQ system during a quotation preparation in an international environment. Through appropriate definitions, depending on customer data and other parameters, the applicable Incoterms and their meaning can be provided to the salesperson during contract negotiations, ensuring that these issues are correctly defined and discussed.

Nowadays, machines and vehicles in the logistics sector have a long service life and are of high quality. Nevertheless, their use is sometimes limited in time because needs and requirements change. The used vehicles and equipment that become available in this way are once again available on the market. Since these devices are often in the best condition due to the service contracts concluded with the manufacturer, it can be a profitable procedure to buy up the devices, check them through and then sell or rent them out again. There are enough interested parties whose budget does not allow purchasing a new vehicle. In a CPQ solution, residual value calculations can be integrated so that the purchase and resale of used vehicles and equipment can be covered directly by the sales department. The quotation process is supported in the same way as for new vehicles. Additional functions such as location and destination-dependent delivery conditions can be integrated to guarantee a fast resale.

ORISA Software GmbH offers configuration solutions that enable users to create their individually required product variants. ORISA sees itself as a system provider for complex and multi-variant products and components from the logistics and agricultural sector and has already created configuration solutions for various manufacturers in this sector.