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Digital transformation in manufacturing refers to integrating digital technologies into all areas of the manufacturing process. It replaces manual tasks with digital tools and encompasses changes that manufacturers make to their design, sales, and production processes to streamline workflows and reduce bottlenecks. Digital tools are revolutionizing how manufacturers run their businesses, providing more opportunities for efficiency, accuracy, and customer satisfaction.

Getting new products to market quickly and efficiently is challenging for many businesses. The challenge is significant for manufacturers of custom or semi-custom products, as traditional design processes can often take significantly longer than standard product workflows. Design automation and CPQ technology enable manufacturers of custom products to streamline complex design processes, reduce costs, and get their products to market quicker.

Implementing a CPQ solution to optimize pricing and quoting enables businesses to manage increased demand and drive growth, without compromising accuracy, efficiency, or customer satisfaction. Because DriveWorks is modular, scalable, and incredibly versatile, our customers use our technology in many different ways, building a CPQ solution to suit their needs and scale with their business.

For manufacturers of custom products, long sales cycles are a common challenge. By adopting digital tools such as design automation, CPQ, guided selling, and 3D configurators, manufacturers can significantly shorten their sales cycles. Enabling a streamlined purchase process, faster response times, and fewer opportunities for error, contribute to making it easier to design and sell even the most complex of custom products.

Manufacturers across a range of different industries benefit from using DriveWorks design automation, product configurator, and CPQ software. Autex Acoustics Ltd specializes in the development and production of innovative interior acoustic and insulation products. Autex wanted to improve its efficiency when closing deals, reduce its quote cycle times, and enable its sales team to sell more. Building a robust CPQ solution using DriveWorks technology helped them to achieve these goals.

Twin City Fan is an industry-leading designer and manufacturer of high-quality custom, semi-custom, and standard fans ranging from heavy-duty industrial process fans to commercial supply and exhaust fans. They needed a solution to support standardized and highly customized orders. By integrating DriveWorks into their process, they have streamlined production, reduced manual tasks, and boosted efficiency across their operations.

Automating repetitive design engineering tasks is a smart strategy to increase productivity, reduce errors, and focus more on creative engineering work. By following a structured approach -identifying tasks, choosing the right technology, and starting small – you can effectively integrate automation into your workflows. Tools like DriveWorksXpress and DriveWorks Solo are great starting points for design engineers looking to adopt automation without overwhelming their current processes.

DriveWorks is now part of Bechtle AG. We will continue to operate as an independent company, based in Thelwall, Warrington, UK, serving our resellers and customers in 54 countries. We remain committed to innovation and delivering technology to manufacturers worldwide, while valuing the people who make it all possible.

As the custom manufacturing industry grows and competition increases, providing a superior B2B customer experience is essential. B2B buyers want a tailored, streamlined, and responsive customer experience that is frictionless and helps them achieve their goals faster and more efficiently. Using design automation, 3D product configurator, and CPQ technology, manufacturers can provide an excellent customer experience and win more business.