Preparing Your Service-Team for Digitalization in Machine Manufacturing
The digitaliziation in machine manufacturing is accelarating. Learn how to prepare your service-team for new digital tools and workflows.
Unlock the potential of AI-powered pricing software to revolutionize spare parts strategies in machine manufacturing. Discover how real-time market data analysis enables precise, demand-driven pricing to boost profitability. In this guide, learn the key benefits, features, and step-by-step processes for selecting and implementing the ideal pricing solution for your business.
A precise pricing strategy for spare parts is essential in machine manufacturing industry. AI-supported pricing software provides technological support for data-based, market-oriented pricing. It analyzes huge amounts of market data, enabling strategically calibrated pricing based on the current supply and demand situation in real time. On this page, you will find the fundamental principles of pricing software, highlighting its advantages for improving your company's profitability, along with its key functions and features.
In our comprehensive guide, you can learn more about the selection criteria for choosing the right pricing software tailored to your company's needs. Additionally, you'll gain insights into the step-by-step process of implementing this software effectively in your organization, ensuring it seamlessly integrates with your existing systems and enhances your pricing strategy.
Pricing software is designed to help a company determine the price for its service or goods. For machine manufacturers, and the after sales sector specifically, pricing software is a digital solution designed to facilitate the efficient and accurate determination of costs and pricing strategies for spare parts.
It relates to any commercially available application containing tools to automate pricing analytics, optimization, and execution to help businesses in their efforts to make efficient pricing decisions.
Compared to manual pricing, implementing a spare parts pricing software leads to increased efficiency, increased revenue, improved customer satisfaction, and a strong competitive edge.
The spare parts business is extremely volatile. Price fluctuations and increasing competition from alternative suppliers are causing problems for many machine manufacturers. Today, customers do not necessarily have to order their spare parts directly from the OEM, but can also use specialized internet platforms or offline dealers. There are often large price differences, although the manufacturers' spare parts prices are not necessarily always the highest. For example, studies have shown that more than 20 percent of spare parts sold by OEMs have the potential to be increased in price.
Many machine manufacturers are either unaware of the current market prices for their spare parts or are only insufficiently aware of them (“black box competition”) – and calculate either too high or too low. Their pricing remains inaccurate. Only around four percent of all purchased parts are currently priced in line with the market.
The absence of reliable market data and advanced pricing optimization software for automated, market-based spare parts pricing is a significant gap. Many companies calculate inaccurately because they do not take sudden market price changes into account in their pricing. They often work with outdated price lists, spreadsheets or self-developed analysis tools, thereby wasting a lot of sales potential – on average 17 to 20 percent.
This is a paradigm shift in pricing strategies. Instead of conventional pricing methods (e.g. cost-plus approach), spare parts pricing today requires significantly more data points (including purchase price, number of competitors, competitive prices, price potential, market density, price range, availability, delivery times, own win rates, sales and turnover volume).
Modern software for price comparison and pricing offers the necessary transparency. It provides comprehensive, up-to-date and comprehensible market data at individual part level - worldwide and regardless of the number of spare parts a machine manufacturer has in its portfolio. Achieving this level of transparency for 100,000 parts and more is virtually impossible with conventional methods and tools.
Having the best pricing software available, After Sales Specialists and Pricing Managers can calculate much more accurately and potentially generate more sales as a result. They also gain more certainty when negotiating with customers, as their pricing decisions are based on reliable data. In other words: By aligning their spare parts pricing closer to the market, companies strengthen their image as a fair service provider.
Pricing Managers are the “architects” of pricing strategies. With pricing software, they are equipt with the necessary data and tools to make informed decisions, optimize prices, and respond promptly to market changes.
CEOs have a holistic view of their company’s performance. Pricing software provides insights for leaders into the financial implications of pricing decisions, allowing them to align pricing strategies with overarching business goals.
Dedicated Revenue Growth Managers concentrate on increasing revenue by leveraging pricing software. This allows them to identify opportunities for upselling, cross-selling, and establishing optimal pricing points to maximize sales.
Spare parts pricing software plays a crucial role in enhancing profit margins fo manufacturers by leveraging automation and algorithmic calculations. It ensures that each part's price reflects its market demand, maximizing revenue potential and contributing to improved overall profitability.
Modern pricing software incorporates advanced analytics capabilities that enable manufacturers to:
This data-driven approach allows companies to make more informed pricing decisions to increase profit margins.
Pricing software enables a shift from simple cost-plus pricing to more sophisticated market-based and dynamic pricing strategies:
This flexibility allows manufacturers to stay competitive while maximizing revenue potential for each product and spare part.
By automating pricing processes, software significantly improves efficiency and reduces the risk of manual errors:
These gains in efficiency free up resources and ensure more accurate pricing decisions.
Pricing software provides enhanced visibility into pricing performance:
This improved visibility enables manufacturers to quickly identify and address pricing issues, further optimizing profitability.
By leveraging these capabilities, machine manufacturers can optimize their pricing strategies, improve profit margins, and gain a competitive edge in the market.
A Brief Overview of Market-Based Pricing Strategy in Machine Manufacturing - Principles and Benefits
Find out more about the benefits of pricing software, the factors that play a role in pricing strategies and why intelligent price adjustments increase turnover and margins in after sales.
Manufacturing pricing software leverages advanced analytics to identify optimal pricing strategies:
By relying on comprehensive data analysis instead of intuition for pricing decisions, companies can establish prices that are more effective in supporting sales.
Modern pricing software enables dynamic pricing capabilities:
This flexibility allows companies to stay competitive and capture additional market share.
Pricing software provides insights that enable better customer segmentation:
By tailoring prices to specific customer segments, companies can increase conversion rates and overall sales volume.
Pricing software equips businesses with a competitive advantage through these features:
This ability to stay competitive while optimizing margins can again lead to increased market share and sales volume.
The best pricing software includes tools for managing promotions and discounts:
By running more effective promotions, machine manufacturers can increase their demand and sales volume. By leveraging these capabilities, pricing software allows to make more informed, data-driven pricing decisions that can significantly improve sales volume while maintaining or enhancing profitability.
First of all, it is important to clearly define the specific requirements for spare parts pricing.
This includes the following points:
Conduct a pilot project to test promising solutions and focus on the following:
Carefully weigh up the costs and benefits of the various options! Take the following points into account:
Specialized pricing software may be worthwhile for complex requirements, while Excel or BI tools may be sufficient for smaller companies. It is important that the chosen solution optimally supports the company-specific requirements and can be integrated into the existing processes.
The Ultimate Guide to Market-Based Parts Pricing
Grow your revenue with market-oriented pricing and increase customer satisfaction at the same time. Our ultimate guide shows you how to identify spare parts prices below or above the market level and use these insights profitably.
Find out why conventional pricing approaches (e.g. cost-plus) are no longer up to date and how market-oriented pricing utilizes artificial intelligence to increase sales in the spare parts business.
Software for price comparison and pricing in machine manufacturing industry can be utilized in numerous ways to optimize pricing strategies.
The versatile use of such software enables machine manufacturing companies to significantly professionalize their pricing in the spare parts business and exploit the full potential of their after sales business area.
The software can automatically calculate optimal prices for each individual spare part based on various factors such as manufacturing costs, market prices and the competitive situation. This enables dynamic and market-based pricing.
The pricing software creates comprehensive analyses and reports to monitor and optimize the effectiveness of prices, margin development and other KPIs.
The software can continuously monitor market prices for comparable parts and highlight deviations from your own price level. This enables you to stay competitive and make timely price adjustments.
For companies operating globally, the software can handle currency conversions and consider country-specific price adjustments.
Individual prices or discounts can be automatically generated for different customer groups based on customer history, purchase volume and other factors.
When introducing new spare parts, the software can provide price recommendations based on comparative parts and market data.
Various price scenarios can be simulated in order to forecast their impact on sales and profits. The resulting findings can be taken into account for strategic pricing decisions.
By linking with other company systems, relevant data such as orders, stock levels and customer information can be included in pricing.
Spare parts can be automatically divided into different categories. This allows a differentiated pricing strategy to be developed for different segments.
The pricing software takes seasonal sales fluctuations into account and adjusts prices accordingly to increase sales and margins.
Due to the lack of market insight and challenges regarding competitive intelligence, Dieffenbacher used to apply traditional cost-plus pricing for spare parts. In a challenging competitive environment with numerous competitors offering the same parts as Dieffenbacher, they were unable to swiftly adapt to market dynamics as required – with pricing being the key lever to change that.
Reflecting on the company’s future, Ralf Schmidt, Head of Global Service Wood & Recycling, faces two major challenges:
1.) Leveraging spare parts to create a sustainable competitive advantage
2.) Enhancing customer relationships to establish Dieffenbacher as a trusted and dependable partner for comprehensive and seamless spare parts provision.
Thanks to MARKT-PILOT, Dieffenbacher succeeded in transforming their pricing strategy from traditional cost-plus pricing to market-driven spare parts pricing. This helps Dieffenbacher maximize parts revenue and profit as well as improve their customer relationships. Building and implementing an agile operating model in today’s spare parts business takes time and continuous optimization - which makes it even more important for Ralf Schmidt's team to embrace a long-term collaboration with MARKT-PILOT.
The digitaliziation in machine manufacturing is accelarating. Learn how to prepare your service-team for new digital tools and workflows.
From IoT and AI to digital twins, digitalization in manufacturing plays a key role in enhancing efficiency in the aftermarket.
Integrating AI solutions allows machine manufacturers to optimize production processes, making them more efficient, accurate, and flexible.
Price calculation in pricing software ensures accurate and consistent pricing, reducing errors and saving time, while also providing businesses with the flexibility to adapt to market changes and optimize pricing strategies for improved profitability and competitiveness. Additionally, it enables data-driven scenario analysis, and personalized pricing, enhancing overall efficiency and decision-making.
Companies today are drowning in a flood of data, and many don't know how to make sense of it.
The advanced analytics capabilities of price comparison and pricing software allow companies to quickly analyze large amounts of data.
This enables them to make reliable, data-driven pricing decisions to maximize profitability. It also enables them to identify pricing opportunities, optimize existing pricing strategies and forecast demand.
Furthermore, the software's ability to analyze large amounts of data quickly and accurately allows companies to identify and track the impact of price changes on sales and profits.
The best pricing software is able to implement any company-specific pricing model in real time, regardless of its complexity.
Dynamic pricing software can automatically modify prices based on real-time market conditions, such as supply, demand, and competitive pricing. For instance, airlines and travel companies are famous for using dynamic pricing, but moreover, it has become pervasive in many other industries over recent years. Dynamic pricing software does away with manual price adjustments by automatically determining optimal price points to maximize revenue and profit margins.
Markets might be complicated, but reporting doesn’t have to be. Pricing software can consolidate analytics, compliance, and reporting across regions, verticals, sales channels, and platforms so that you can keep track of performance centrally.
Unterschiedliche Preiswettbewerbsstrategien können sich erheblich auf die Marktposition auswirken, indem sie die Kundenwahrnehmung, die Wettbewerbsdynamik und den allgemeinen Markenwert beeinflussen.
In dynamic markets, OEMs must consistently update their pricing and pricing strategies in order to capitalize on revenue and profitability. Pricing software ensures that pricing aligns with market trends and customer demands. As a result, this responsiveness to changes in costs and competition also helps you to maintain a competitive edge.
Leveraging analytics is key for making informed pricing decisions. Additionally, OEMs can gain valuable insights into customer behavior and market trends by utilizing intelligent pricing software with advanced analytics capabilities.
Software for pricing significantly influences business outcomes.
Pricing software is crucial in optimizing profit margins for machine manufacturers. It utilizes automation and algorithmic calculations to ensure that the pricing of each part aligns with market demand, thus optimizing revenue potential and increasing the manufacturers' overall profitability.
Pricing software plays a major role in improving sales volume by identifying optimal pricing strategies. Better pricing insights allow businesses to target specific customer segments and optimize their offerings, helping them stay competitive and capture additional market share.
By analyzing competitor prices, businesses can gain a competitive edge by offering more competitive prices without sacrificing profitability. Utilizing a pricing software can differentiate a business from its competitors.
Pricing software can help to increase customer satisfaction by offering strategic prices that align with customers’ expectations. This further improves the overall customer experience, customer loyalty and retention.