One of the world’s leading glass and glazing manufacturers faced a paradox. With multi-billion turnover across building products, automotive, IT materials, and glass fibre, they needed standardization across Europe. But their most successful country operations were the most resistant to change.
Each country had developed bespoke front office systems for the automotive aftermarket. The fragmented approach worked well in some countries, poorly in others. Performance gaps were widening.
The challenge wasn’t poor-performing countries – they wanted change. The obstacle was high-performing countries. They had built effective systems and didn’t want to lose them.
The automotive aftermarket was dynamic. Windscreen replacement required fast turnaround on short notice. Recent years had seen proliferation of windscreen types within each vehicle make, model, and year.
Identifying the right screen was challenging enough. Duplication of coding systems made it worse. European-wide systems, national systems, plus the company’s own material master data were all in the mix.
Routes to market varied by country: wholesalers, distributors, big national fitters, small independents. Each country had optimized for their specific market reality.
The most successful customer service organizations were most resistant to any change. They had built systems that worked. They understood every workaround. They trusted their processes.
Why abandon something that was delivering results?
The company needed a centralized, standardized European-wide process that would demonstrably outperform the best in-house legacy systems. The bar wasn’t mediocrity . It was excellence.
The SAP team decided to build a comprehensive automotive aftermarket product catalog and brand new sales order front-end. After extensive research, they concluded rival solutions weren’t flexible, advanced, or lean enough.
“We decided to develop something slick, eye-catching, but functional and effective. The sales order front end was business critical, as was the product catalogue maintenance. Our top priority was minimum clicks, maximum information.”
They chose Pivot for proven track record in new SAP technologies and positive attitude toward skill transfer. But the real challenge was user buy-in.
Anticipating user resistance, Pivot consultants worked closely with the business team in the most successful country. They were the organization most committed to their legacy system.
This was strategic. If they could convert the skeptics who had the most to lose, others would follow.
Pivot used agile, iterative approach with rapid prototypes, continuous feedback, and improvements. They created a solution that not only met requirements but gained buy-in from resistant business users.
The new system launched in Germany first. On day one, the sales team reported for work early and started using the system before official training.
This spontaneous adoption proved the intuitive design. If skeptical users chose the new system over familiar processes without being forced, the solution had won.
Users saw just two screens instead of multiple SAP sessions typically needed for sales orders. But those screens enabled complete customer order fulfillment.
Intuitive search to pinpoint exact parts increased order values. Customer identification and verification from phone numbers, ensured correct trading terms and credit status.
Pivot’s willingness to cross-skill internal staff differentiated them from other consultants who “would have simply said no.” The in-house ABAP specialists developed new sales front-ends with Pivot support.
The client became self-sufficient for future developments. They became more reactive and proactive to internal IT needs.
The system is now live across Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, Poland, Austria, Sweden, and Denmark. It’s become a global benchmark with seamless European rollout and no teething problems.
The result: happier staff, more satisfied customers, increased sales during recession. Most importantly, skeptics became advocates.
The most successful teams often make the worst change candidates because they have the most to lose.
Yet Pivot successfully turned the most resistant users into the strongest supporters.
