MHB develop and produce high quality steel windows, doors and facades. Their motto is ‘More Light’ and they create windows and doors that do indeed provide more light due to the specially developed steel profiles.
Over 3 generations, the family run business has grown into a flourishing organization. They now employ over 200 professionals working from their headquarters in Herveld, the Netherlands.
MHB developed the special facades of the Music Building in Amsterdam, the particle accelerator at the Technical University in Eindhoven and the office of the Dutch Department of Public Works.
Implementing DriveWorks
To make a clearer distinction between standard products and customer-specific projects, MHB implemented a DriveWorks configurator. Michel van Kerkhof, Head of Innovations at MHB, explains: “Because previously each product was designed from scratch by our engineers, we always tended to go along with specific customer wishes. Therefore, we wanted to implement a clear standard segment by means of a configurator.”
With DriveWorks, a variety of standardized made-to-measure products can be designed. Because there’s no engineer involved in these projects anymore, this standardized assortment can be offered in a lower price segment. This way, MHB has been able to add a whole new product category to their portfolio.
Partnerships
MHB works with partners that are located all over the world. They are the channel between MHB and the customer and therefore they are the ones that use the DriveWorks configurator.
“Our partners simply fill out a form on the internet, which then automatically generates all necessary documents. We started the implementation with a select group. By now, all our partners use the configurator, to their full satisfaction”
The Configurator
Customers can put a complete facade together using the DriveWorks configurator.
“DriveWorks generates a steel frame of 12×9 squared that forms the basis for every facade. Each square can be filled in as desired: facade, door or window.
Customers can also choose the type of doors and windows, as well as various properties such as glass type, glazing bar and opening inwards or outwards.” – Michel van Kerkhof.
This way facades can still be composed upon customer specification, using standardized parts.
The Benefits
Working with DriveWorks saves MHB a lot of time compared to the old process: “Previously, the customer told us his wishes based on sketches, after which we put a calculator to work to compute a price. Only after the final order was given, an engineer came into play. With DriveWorks, all documents are already finished at the moment that the customer receives a quotation.”
DriveWorks directly generates quotations, drawings and specification lists for MHB. Besides that, the ERP system is filled with all necessary production data.
“With DriveWorks, all our documents are ready within an hour, whilst previously this could take over 4 weeks, depending on how busy we were.”