Colloquia

Summary

A lot of issues can occur during the production of complex machines. This can be caused by many different things, but one cause is the lack of communication of the information about these machines. This thesis concerns the adjustment of the Sales process within companies that sell these complex machines to improve the information handling throughout this department and their communication with other departments. This will ensure that a project starts with a complete picture of what must be developed. This thesis was carried out at a company that sells such complex machines. A problem analysis of the issues occurring during projects, specifically related to the Sales department, has led to a detailed problem tree highlighting several root causes. An analysis of these root causes provides a better understanding and is the basis of a list of requirements for the final solution. This solution is a structured Sales process from the first customer inquiry until the handover to Operations. The process structure is based on both CTO and ETO principles but also introduces a new approach that bridges the gap between these two principles, called CTO+. CTO projects work solely with standard machines. CTO+ projects use these standard machines as a basis while small adjustments are made to them. ETO projects are based on the development of a new design, which means a longer process that contains pre-engineering is required. These three project types offer a versatile approach to selling complex machines while still providing a structured work process. The solution features a clear description of each step and an explanation of when each project type is applicable. It also describes how standard machines should be defined and what a checklist for these machines can look like. To support the process, improved versions of the quotation, order confirmation, kick-off document and the CRM system structure are also included. A use case of the company offers an example of the application of the created solution by providing a standard machine and its accompanying documents. This thesis does not test the process in more detail because selling complex machines can take months and is very unpredictable since customers are involved. It is therefore recommended to apply the new structure on a complete machine sale process to test the applicability, preferably at different companies.