An evaluation of an innovative information technology — the case of Carrier EXPERT

The impact of product configurators on lead times in engineering-oriented companies

“…For example, at APC the quote process for emergency power supply systems lasted weeks before the use of configurators, and the gains from automating the quotation process at APC implied a reduction of the quote lead time of more than 90% (Hvam et al, 2006b). This reduction can be explained by the Heatley et al (1995) Carrier Corporation Order throughput cycle from 6 days to 1 day Forza & Salvador (2002b) Voltage transformer manufacturer Quote lead time from 5-6 days to 1 day Hvam et al (2002), Hvam et al (2004) Demex Electric Creation of quote lead time from 3-4 days to 10 min Hvam (2004Hvam ( , 2006a, Hvam et al (2006) FLSmidth Creation of quote lead time gap analysis indicated a reduction from 3-5 weeks to 1-2 days (Hvam, 2004) and a reduction from several weeks to a few days (Hvam et al, 2006, 2006 American Power Conversion Overall delivery time for a complete system estimated to be reduced from around 400 to 16 days Hong et al (2008) Gienow Windows and Doors Lead time from a customer order to the product delivery reduced to 3 weeks compared to an average of 2 months in the industry…”

“…Furthermore, the effects of the configurator are mentioned: "contributing to customer satisfaction, lower costs, and higher productivity"; "ensures that complete, consistently configured systems are shipped to the customer"; "simplifies field and manufacturing training needs and avoids confusion about new products that can delay time-to-market significantly"; "increases manufacturing's flexibility"; "increased the technical accuracy of orders entering manufacturing"; "assures that when the components of the order come together for the first time at the customer site the system will work"; and "major positive impact on cycle times, inventory levels, and manufacturing costs." Heatley et al (1995) describe the case of Carrier Corporation, a major air-conditioning manufacturer. Carrier introduced a configurator that is capable of configuring a set of part numbers for a particular air-conditioning equipment series based on customer request.…”

A Study of Service Innovation Management in the Malaysian Telecommunications Industry

“…CIT tools continuously update the processes in product/service development cycles used by cross‐functional team members, increasing the frequency of cross‐functional team members’ communications in the value chain (Collins & Hull, ). In the value chain from upstream to downstream consumers, knowledge about common process controls are shared to improve process speedy and timeliness (Heatley, Agarwal, & Tanniru, ). It also allows management to evaluate and control an entire project through stored day‐to‐day information regarding staff training in reviewing consumer and user satisfaction, evaluating projects, and audits (Mudrak et al., ).…”

Mass Customization with Configurable Products and Configurators

“…Difficulties of eliciting customer needs and creating sales specifications (discussed in section Specification process below) can cause severe challenges. These include loss of confidence from customers (Fohn et al, 1995), lost sales, customers, and repeat business (Fohn et al, 1995;Heatley et al, 1995), and decreased customer satisfaction (Heatley et al, 1995;Forza & Salvador, 2002a). Further, the problems and complexity of specifying, and dissatisfaction in the shopping process are often attrib-uted to the retailer (Huffman & Kahn, 1998).…”

“…Producing customized products often costs more than MP Kotha, 1995;Åhlström & Westbrook, 1999;Zipkin, 2001;Berman, 2002;Broekhuizen & Alsem, 2002;Kakati, 2002;Bardacki & Whitelock, 2003;Piller & Müller 2004MC Beaty 1996Svensson & Barfod 2002;Berman 2002;MacCarthy & Brabazon 2003;Piller & Müller 2004 MC Finding right amount, balance of offered customization Tiihonen & Soininen, 1997;Tiihonen et al, 1998 CP Component sharing across product lines may cause customer to see the products as overly similar Pine, 1993b;Berman, 2002;Kakati, 2002 MC Possible channel conflicts with retailers Wind & Rangaswamy, 2001;Broekhuizen & Alsem, 2002MC Huffman & Kahn, 1998 MC Elicitation difficulties can cause lost business, image, and lower customer and dealer loyalty and satisfaction. Fohn et al, 1995;Heatley et al, 1995;Yu & Skovgaard, 1998;Forza & Salvador, 2002a CP…”