GfK GeoMarketing
Custom-tailored turnover planning for the door provider BAWO with RegioGraph and KapHoorn
The door supplier BAWO has been unlocking new possibilities through the implementation of RegioGraph in combination with the ERP solution "eEvolution" and the software "KapHoorn". The GfK GeoMarketing partner EXSO. is responsible for linking these various software products and adapting them to BAWO's specific needs.
"This is where we'll be sending our next mailings," says Winfried Glaser, CEO of Germany-based BAWO Türelemente GmbH, as he points to a newly printed color map of a region between Passau and Hof. This area is more lightly shaded than others – an indicator that BAWO has a below-average level of turnover in the region. "I'm confident that there is demand for our cottage doors in this area," says Glaser.
As a major provider of wooden door-related products, BAWO has long been helping home and apartment owners customize the interior of their residences according to their specific tastes. BAWO's flexibility and customer-oriented approach have made it very successful: In 2006, the company acquired a new, significantly larger building in the commercial district of Remagen, Germany. The lower floor contains an exhibition space in which BAWO's doors are on display. BAWO's high-quality products are regarded as successful combinations of traditional craftsmanship and modern production techniques.
Inventory management enhancement with RegioGraph
In September 2008, BAWO decided to implement a combination of RegioGraph and the reporting tool KapHoorn, produced by the Düsseldorf-based software provider EXSO. business solutions GmbH. The aim was to enhance the predictive capabilities of the inventory management software eEvolution, which the company had been using for several years. For any commercial entity, it's essential to identify regional differences in its active markets. Thanks to this software solution, BAWO has discovered that preferences for specific door types vary significantly according to region.
As a first step, BAWO created a map analyzing turnover according to postcode areas (with each displayed area colorcoded according to turnover volume). and one analyzing customer types according to the assigned sales representatives. The cartographic illustions reveal not only regional turn-over, but also regions in which unmet demand likely exists as well as regions that could benefit from more aggressive sales and advertising campaigns. The insights gained from RegioGraph support not just BAWO, but also the various commercial entities to which it delivers its products. The knowledge provided by the RegioGraph analyses helps these businesses position BAWO's products more successfully among end consumers.
Before: Wall map. – After: Cartographic reports distributed automatically by e-mail
The results are generated in two steps: First, the values from the ERP solution eEvolution are created in an Excel spreadsheet. This is done via the reporting software KapHoorn, which can create values according to postcode area, customer-representative assignments, customer group, product group, etc. The next step entails importing the data into RegioGraph. Thanks to the standardization of this process, these RegioGraph analyses can be produced each month in just a few minutes. Previously, BAWO used printed maps to assign sales territories to sales representatives.
Sales territories are transferred to RegioGraph and then further refined. Map extracts of sales territories are automatically created. Diagrams depicting turnover levels for specific products can then be added to the individual sales representative territories illustrated on the RegioGraph maps – a feature BAWO plans to make use of in the future.
Helmut Klöckner, BAWO's head of sales responsible for the implementation of the software, is enthusiastic about the solution: "The project was completed in a very short period of time and then successfully implemented. We were helped by the fact that EXSO. promptly delivered the most important data results along with some RegioGraph sample projects. In working with RegioGraph on a daily basis, we are becoming aware of ever more analyses that we can easily carry out thanks to the user-friendliness and flexibility of the RegioGraph-KapHoorn combination."
Author: Margarethe Chabrzyk
EXSO. business solutions GmbH
Project leader, m.chabrzyk(at)exso.de
EXSO. is currently working on a more seamless integration of RegioGraph with KapHoorn. The goal is to be able to generate a catalog of cartographic evaluations at the press of a button and then – as was the case with the Excel files produced with the KapHoorn software – automatically distribute this map catalog each month to relevant employees.