On Nov 17th, 2010, XCMG and Microsoft (China) held the launching ceremony of informatization cooperation in Beijing. And this cooperation is mainly targeted on the XCMG customer relationship management. The cooperation between XCMG and Microsoft is expected to raise the level of XCMG customer relationship management, press ahead with the construction of XCMG marketing and service system, and optimize the marketing and service process to increase the customer satisfaction.
Present at the ceremony were Mr. Lu Chuan, vice president of XCMG Machinery, Mr. Liu Jiansen, vice director of XCMG informatization leadership board, Mr. Zhang Qiliang, assistant director of XCMG informatization management department, Michel Van Der Bel, COO of Greater China Region, Microsoft (China) Co., Ltd., Mr. Sun Zhiwei, general manager of business application department, Microsoft (China) Co., Ltd. And they were interviewed with media afterwards. In addition, more than 20 core media from the fields like finance, IT and manufacturing industries attended this ceremony, and 5 key media had an exclusive interview with XCMG and Microsoft leaders after the ceremony.
XCMG has remained as a pacesetter of Chinese construction machinery industry for 21 years since its foundation. It has established a R&D system with the national technology center and Jiangsu Xuzhou Construction Machinery Research Institute as its core; its nationwide marketing network, together with over 100 foreign agents, enables it to offer all-round marketing service to global customers. As a large domestic enterprise and international group, XCMG has attached great importance to and invest much money in the informatization construction, and kept it always ahead of its fellow enterprises in this field.
The CRM system is an important part to XCMG strategy. As a matter of fact, the overall informatization project has been carried out for 2 years within XCMG. Great hope is placed on the CRM system for it is concerned with how to promote the marketing management and how to raise the customer satisfaction and service level. The two major goals are as follows:
Firstly, to improve the management of precise marketing;
Secondly, to help the front-line marketing personnel to raise their management efficiency with this platform, and finally increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.
The ceremony site is fervent with questions from media. The following is part of exclusive interviews:
Journalist with Computer Partner World: I have a question for Mr. Lu. Just now you have mentioned that XCMG is a model enterprise in the integration of informatization and industrialization, in addition to the overall informatization project in 2009, what other strategic measures do you think are in line with the plan of a model enterprise?
Vice president Lu: XCMG has always attached importance to the informatization construction and the integration of informatization and industrialization, and it is a domestic leading enterprise in this field. In response to new changes in the industry and the further adjustment and implementation of XCMG strategic planning, we launched an overall informatization project in 2009. As I have mentioned in the above speech, the overall informatization project runs through the whole process, the entire value chain and the full life period, ranging from R&D, management of supply chains, to production, and even to marketing and service. As early as in 2000, the enterprise resources planning system or ERP was implemented with XCMG Heavy Machinery as its representative, and we have made some achievements and gained some experience. In fact, the project in 2009 is a process throughout the whole value chain. In recent 3 years, we invested 100 million yuan in the informatization construction every year. Indeed, our investment has raised the corporate efficiency, the customer satisfaction, and the speed of technical innovation, particularly thanks to the informatization. Here I give you an example. The design of our products comes from CRM, from the customer's feedback. As for production and supply management, our informatization system is hooked directly with our suppliers, and we can get feedback directly from them. Similarly, our trucks are manufactured according to the customer's needs. After the product is turned out, the data of its debugging, testing, experiments are all automatically collected so as to offer customers long-term guaranteed service. In the service of the market, it is very easy to retrieve all data about this product according to its VIN or product code. Who is the supplier? What generation of product is it? Or what shape is it? All these questions can be easily answered by CRM and MES. So it is not merely a form of informatization or the integration of informatization and industrialization, but an all-round enhancement of customer-related work quality and value. It is safe to say that it is the enhancement of the corporate value and the management innovation, and it will be finally reflected on the enhancement of customer value.
Question: I am a journalist with China Construction Machinery. First of all, congratulations on the cooperation between XCMG and Microsoft on the CRM system. I have a question about XCMG. What measures will XCMG take to explore the market potential and satisfy the customer's needs? Will you set up a larger technology center?
Liu Jiansen: As a pacesetter of Chinese construction machinery industry, XCMG has always been attentive to customers and the market. We have developed the market round the informatization construction in recent years. Firstly, the enhanced great customer center is about to be put into use. The other is the long-distance diagnosis. Now staying in XCMG, you can see all real-time work conditions of large-tonnage equipments across the country, like oil pressure, oil temperature, rotational speed. Overriding will trigger the alarm. In addition, we can directly send technicians to serve on the site. So, the customer relationship management system is merely a beginning. In the following all-round integration and application will be performed on service and products. As a matter of fact, these have come true with our large equipments. Take financial lease for example. If it is overdue, we may reminder our customer or execute remote manipulation. That is what the Internet of things really means. We can handle our office work on the move or send the nearest truck to the site. Our ultimate purpose is that our large customers can develop a concept of fleets when looking at equipments. Here I would like to talk about the concept of cloud computing. XCMG does not adopt the cloud computing because it does not offer us a good solution so far. Actually we need it very much. In our talks with leaders of Microsoft today, we mentioned that the CRM system was related with work flow and thus concerned with cost accounting heavily. We may take it on leasing so that without too much investment in hardware and software we can use a good platform to press ahead with the informatization construction. It is by means of the third-party and social informatization force that we can raise our informatization level.
Manufacture Information Engineering of China: What features does this CRM system have?
Zhang Qiliang: This CRM system is different from the traditional CRM systems, and it is an integration of our current systems. First, it is integrated with the traditional software like ERP, MES, and GPS. In addition, we are hooked to the phones of marketing personnel, the service cars, spare parts, and the call center. That is what the internet of things really means. What we are thinking of is that the customer satisfaction is increased by the shift from passive to active service. When the embedded application for mobile phone terminals are installed, XCMG business personnel will enjoy more convenience and raise their work efficiency greatly. In addition, as the customer data are uniformly managed, the application of sales funnel and market decisions will make the sales activities better targeted and effective and help explore the market potential by tapping the customer value. XCMG makes use of the CRM system to enhance its care for its strategic and valuable customers and accordingly increase their loyalty, laying a solid foundation for its further development.
Michel Van Der Bel, COO of Microsoft Greater China Region, said, "First of all, I am thankful to XCMG for the opportunity that makes us strategic partners. Secondly, we hope that our product can maximize the customer relationship management."
Sun Zhiwei, general manager of Microsoft (China) Greater China Region, said, "It is a great honor for us to cooperate with XCMG. We will work together with XCMG to push forward the informatization of Chinese equipment manufacturing industry and jointly set up a benchmark for the industrial application."
The cooperation between XCMG and Microsoft sets up a good example for the informatization of manufacturing enterprises. Against the increasingly competitive market, the customer relationship management has become the pivotal factor and the potential profit source for an enterprise. A construction machinery enterprise, which is intended to grow, must establish the "customer-centered" business mode to maintain and promote the sustained contribution of valuable customers, and then enhance its profitability in an all-round way.
