KillerBee

Challenge

The KB&G experts have more than 30 years of experience in construction materials. With such an impressive knowledge base behind their backs, they know the challenges that concrete, aggregate, and asphalt manufacturers face daily. While aspects affecting a company’s commercial excellence are numerous, inefficient pricing and quotation processes are among the most impactful factors.

Another distinctive feature of the construction materials industry is the reluctance to let go of legacy proprietary systems that are hard to refactor and may need complete rewriting. This substantial technical debt is a major deterrent to embracing innovation and change.

KB&G had a clear vision of how these obstacles could be addressed to optimize the workflows, reduce manual labor, and increase profit margins. Our task was to take that vision and design & implement its technical side.

KB&G needed someone who would be ready to fully immerse into the industry specifics, do a lot of math, and write tons of algorithms to select the most suitable ones. On top of that, we were expected to develop a solution that would assure data communication between KB&G’s innovative product and their clients’ legacy systems, often lacking proper documentation.

Solution

It was crucial for Redwerk to deliver the technical solution that matches our client’s high consulting expertise. Since the product was built from scratch, we were engaged in every stage of the SDLC and provided additional services in terms of UI/UX design, QA, and DevOps.

Automated smart pricing is a SaaS product designed by construction materials experts for construction materials companies. It’s a robust web app that can be further enhanced and customized to suit KB&G clients’ needs. Its functionality cannot be condensed to one case study, but here are some of the modules we have successfully implemented:

• Quote Generation. This functionality allows speeding up the quotation process by 90%. What used to be done manually and was prone to human error can now be accomplished automatically in less than 5 minutes. All that KB&G clients have to do is enter their data into the given input fields and press the button to generate the quote. The pricing algorithms factor in numerous conditions, including order volumes and varying prices across regions.
• Pricing Tiers. This feature is one of the central pieces of KB&G’s commercial excellence program. It makes the process of forecasting revenue easy and transparent. Its primary purpose is to help construction materials companies customize their pricing policy based on their clients’ engagement, focusing on the clients that drive the highest profit.
• Competitors View. Knowing your competitors is great, but visualizing them on a map is way better. This feature allows calculating the distance between the manufacturer and consumer, an important aspect affecting price formulation. With mapping systems designed for bulk freight, companies can make informative decisions and tweak pricing based on the actual truck routing, road widths, and bridge weight limits, among other circumstances impacting delivery.
• Heat Maps. Clearly seeing what areas and regions are winning deals and what are lagging behind has numerous benefits. Not only can companies timely react to emerging issues but also gain invaluable insights as to what drives increased profitability and what sets them back.
• Data Import & Export. This is one of the most highly requested features as it allows construction materials companies to integrate their legacy systems with KB&G’s modern solution. Utilizing the capabilities of database management systems, we assured order import from companies’ proprietary software to the smart pricing app and vice versa for those orders with approved quotes.

We also built a mobile version of the automated smart pricing app for sales managers to be able to generate quotes on the go. Its functionality is slightly simplified, yet it still enables accurate price formulation compliant with major commercial excellence principles.

Another resource-saving solution we shipped is a software module designed specifically for aggregate companies. Its primary purpose is to help these companies optimize their production and minimize quarry waste by calculating the right settings for stone crushing. With this software, aggregates can produce more of those materials that are in demand, which positively impacts their profitability.