Because awareness and know-how breathe life into supply chains and other structures, education, interaction and collaboration are crucial at all stages and along all available avenues.
“We’ve been part of the supply chains of our oil and gas, refining, chemical and energy customers for more than 50 years, but many habits changed during COVID-19,” says Sara Anderberg, product manager of non-contacting radar (NCR) technology at Emerson. “People are doing a lot more online research before making decisions, and we’re all attending many more online meetings. Because it was necessary during the pandemic, it became more acceptable to connect using digital tools like Microsoft Teams. One of the main benefits of video streaming is that we can demonstrate products, and explore devices and software without visiting in-person.”
To better cope with longer product lead times and project delays during COVID-19, Anderberg reports that her colleagues sought to balance shortages by opening dialogs and working more closely with their clients to see if projects could be redesigned or if different products could be used. Nowadays, these interactions are also enabled by Emerson’s web-based Level Technology Advisor and Connect with an Expert program, which lets users ask questions of experts, collaborate on troubleshooting, find documents, get support for pinpointing the most suitable technology and devices for a specific technology, access quick-start guides, or set up meetings.
Likewise, 12-year-old Eurotech Automation in Milan, Italy, reports it optimized its technical clarification and procurement tasks by using the online MyEmerson/MyTransaction platform for procuring field devices, and making documentation more accurate and less costly. Eurotech reports it reduced time spent sizing, selecting, configuring quoting and ordering by 70%, and also cut technical support time by local digital sales engineers by 70%. It also achieved 100% clean orders and improved turnover by 3%.
“Reducing purchasing time by 70% with MyEmerson means I can spend more time finding customers and creating more value for my company,” says former Jessica Prieto, CEO at Eurotech.
Anderberg adds establishing and maintaining these relationships was especially helpful when Emerson launched several NCR transmitters during and after the pandemic. “When we released the Rosemount 1408, Rosemount 3408 and Rosemount 1208 level transmitters, they could be configured and purchased online,” explains Anderberg. “This capability has been expanded to all our level products, so customers can find them, view interactive videos and 3D demonstrations, and configure and buy them. Online ordering has been available for a long time, but now we have a better-defined user experience.”
