Williams Furnace Company Deploys BigMachines Lean Front-End® Software to Streamline Complex Product Sales

HVAC market leader improves sales efficiencies with BigMachines configurator and proposal solution

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BigMachines, Inc., the leading provider of on-demand configuration and proposal software, announced today that Williams Furnace Company, a leading manufacturer of HVAC products, has successfully deployed BigMachines’ Lean Front-End® (LFE) solution to streamline its front-end selling processes. Williams quickly deployed the LFE, simplifying the company’s complex specification and order processes.

“Our business challenge was that we had multiple channels of distribution, served from multiple factories, sold by everyone from independent reps to large retailers”

A market leader in the HVAC industry since 1916, Williams manufactures a comprehensive line of fan coils and air handlers for new construction and replacement markets of the commercial construction industry. The company also provides a wide array of residential home heating products including wall furnaces, gas and console heaters, and evaporative coolers.

Williams deployed BigMachines’ solution as a replacement for a legacy configuration, proposal and sales tool that was difficult to upgrade and maintain, and was not integrated in the company’s IT infrastructure. The BigMachines LFE was implemented in a four-month process, from startup to rollout. It is now available online to engineers, contractors, manufacturer’s representatives, and distributors who can build product configurations and provide customers with quotes. The new system also generates key performance criteria, as well as piping and instrumentation diagram (PID) schematics, such as valve layouts, that show how different systems connect.

“Our business challenge was that we had multiple channels of distribution, served from multiple factories, sold by everyone from independent reps to large retailers,” said William Hein, VP of Sales and Marketing, Williams Applied Products Group. “Most of the products we looked at were engineering configured; we wanted one that was field sales configured that we could then integrate with our ERP system. We considered five companies and BigMachines was the obvious choice. Now, our time to produce a 100-page proposal has been reduced from days to seconds.”

Godard Abel, CEO of BigMachines, stated, “We are pleased that Williams was able to deploy our LFE so quickly and is already seeing significant cost savings and process improvements, including increased quote volumes and sales. By streamlining the processes involving their complex pricing models and multiple sales channels, Williams has seen a quick ROI following the implementation of BigMachines’ Lean Front-End.”

About Williams Furnace Company

Williams Furnace Company is a subsidiary of Continental Materials Corporation (NYSE:CUO), Chicago, IL. For more information about company products and services call [phone] or visit www.williamscomfortprod.com.

About BigMachines, Inc.

BigMachines is the leading provider of on-demand configurator, quoting, and proposal software, helping companies empower their sales teams and channels. BigMachines Lean Front-End® (LFE) solution streamlines selling processes from customer inquiry to order, and captures an organization's tribal knowledge to provide online product selection, configuration, quoting and ordering capabilities. BigMachines provides extensive reporting capabilities to analyze sales activities and easily integrates to existing ERP, CAD, and CRM systems, including those from Salesforce.com, Siebel CRM On-Demand, Oracle, and SAP. BigMachines’ rapidly growing customer base includes global leaders such as Kodak GCG, Siemens, Ingersoll Rand, and NTT Communications, as well as innovative growth companies such as ShoreTel and Aruba Networks. For more information, visit www.bigmachines.com.