Spa Table Designer
Oakworks International
For over 45 years, Oakworks has been a leader in manufacturing high-quality spa tables at its Pennsylvania facility. Renowned for innovative designs and endorsed by wellness industry leaders, Oakworks products are synonymous with excellence in construction, comfort, and advanced engineering. Their tables are found in high-end spas, hotels, and wellness centers worldwide, requiring a robust solution to handle complex customization and global market demands.
Client Overview
The Challenge
Oakworks sought to develop a web-based visual designer and configurator to enable dealers and customers to choose from over 5 million fabric, table style, and design combinations. However, their existing CRM and production system imposed a restrictive 23-character limit for part identifiers, creating a significant barrier to representing the vast array of configurations. This limitation made it difficult to encode detailed descriptions and unique identifiers for each combination, especially with advanced features like heat, radio, and power options that required precise data representation.
Further complicating the issue, Oakworks operates globally, necessitating compatibility with diverse power standards and regulations across different regions. Developing a new system demanded a complete infrastructure overhaul while maintaining compatibility with existing processes and enforcing stringent consistency checks across millions of entries. The technical and logistical challenges, combined with the potential for prohibitive costs and time investments, made the project seem nearly insurmountable.
The Solution
Coulson Solutions delivered a transformative web-based platform that addressed Oakworks' complex requirements. The solution included:
Interactive Configurator: A user-friendly website hosting graphics files and serving as an interactive tool for customers to customize products. Customers can select and configure items, tailoring designs to their specific preferences, which enhances satisfaction and engagement.
Dynamic Part Numbering System: A smart part numbering system that dynamically generates unique identifiers during the configuration process. This system seamlessly integrates with Oakworks' existing CRM and ERP systems, overcoming the 23-character limit and enabling efficient order processing.
Streamlined Workflow: Once a design is completed, it undergoes a thorough review to ensure accuracy. The finalized design is emailed to the customer as a professional PDF, while the generated part number feeds into the ERP system, creating a Bill of Materials (BOM) to initiate the supply chain process.
Global Compatibility: The platform accommodates diverse power specifications and regional standards, ensuring Oakworks can serve its international customer base effectively.
Ongoing Support: Coulson Solutions provides continuous updates and support, incorporating new features and resolving issues to keep the platform cutting-edge.
The Result
The implementation of Coulson Solutions' web-based configurator has revolutionized Oakworks' operations and customer experience:
Unprecedented Customization: Customers can now explore and select from millions of product configurations with ease, a capability that sets Oakworks apart from competitors. The dynamic part numbering system eliminates the constraints of traditional e-commerce platforms, enabling true customization.
Enhanced Efficiency: The seamless integration with Oakworks' ERP system has streamlined the manufacturing process, from configuration to production. This efficiency has reduced delivery times by over 50% compared to competitors, delighting customers with faster turnaround.
Reliable and Scalable: The platform is robust and scalable, handling the complexity of Oakworks' extensive product offerings while maintaining reliability. It supports the company's global operations, accommodating diverse standards without compromising performance.
True Partnership: Coulson Solutions demonstrated exceptional commitment, working tirelessly through challenges, adapting to product changes, and delivering rapid solutions to meet market demands. As Jim McCabe, Director of IT and Product Management at Oakworks, stated, "Contractors are easy to find, but partners are hard to come by. Coulson Technologies is a true partner."
Conclusion
Coulson Solutions transformed Oakworks' vision into reality, delivering a web-based configurator that not only overcame significant technical constraints but also enhanced customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. This partnership has positioned Oakworks as an industry leader in customization, with a scalable solution that supports its global presence and drives continued growth.
Testimonial
"
One of the biggest benefits of working with Coulson Technologies is their ability to create complex smart part number systems dynamically... It has led to efficiencies in the manufacturing process from the website they developed, which gives us the part numbers which is fed into our ERP and then turned into a BOM, kicking off our supply chain process. Our customers can now choose from millions of possible product configurations with ease and get products custom built and delivered in less time than it takes the competition by over 50%... Coulson Technologies is better than your average IT firm, can take complex business requirements, in this case, lengthy and complicated part numbering schemes, and turn them into viable, reliable, scalable web-based solutions.
Jim McCabe, Director of IT and Product Management
Oakworks, Inc.
