Problem:
Elkay Manufacturing Co., a leading manufacturer of sinks, faucets, water coolers, fountains and related kitchen products, needed a customized tool to enable distributor showroom consultants to efficiently order visual displays of sinks, faucets and accessories for installation in their showrooms. These showroom displays can be customized with combinations of sinks and faucets, along with accompanying graphics. Elkay needed a system for showing display options and enabling all the supporting processes related to ordering. Elkay specified the need for built-in controls to allow only certain combinations of compatible products in each display.
Solution:
Interline Creative Group developed a customized, Web-based tool that facilitates design, ordering, approval and monitoring of all aspects of the program. The password-accessible site provides simple instructions, display graphics and helpful hints. Consultants can build and place orders for displays according to pre-set configuration parameters and allowable sink, faucet and accessory combinations. The system then automatically generates a unique order ID number and submits orders to Elkay for approval. Once approved, the showroom consultant is notified with an order confirmation and an anticipated lead time for display production and shipment.
Result:
Elkay has efficiently shipped more than 250 custom displays throughout the U.S. with a total approximate value of $1 million. The first generation of the system penetrated almost 20% of the eligible showrooms. The display ordering tool provides complete control of the process, as well as easy monitoring from beginning to end for Elkay administrators and showroom consultants. Due to the success of the system, Elkay has given Interline the approval to immediately initiate the next generation of the program.
