Area
Before Implementation
After implementation
Valuation time for a large property (>10 million PLN)
A dozen or so days, hiring many specialists
15–30 minutes; can be done during a meeting with a client
Product Structure Management
Manually recalculating parameters for each configuration
12,000+ components in a single system with validation rules
Integration of Sales and Production Data
Scattered spreadsheets and systems
A single data source integrated with SAP
Number of configurations created
Thousands of variations, each one unique
8,000+ saved configurations
For over 35 years, Unia Grains (formerly Araj) has been designing, manufacturing, and installing advanced facilities for drying, storing, and transporting grains, cereals, and oilseeds—from silos and dryers to cleaning plants and conveyors.
The company has built a strong international presence by supplying systems to customers in Europe and beyond. Annually, Unia Grains’ systems dry 15 million metric tons of corn and 35 million metric tons of wheat.
years in business
Countries of Operation
properties sold
thousand metric tons of storage capacity of the silos built
The goal of the project was to develop and implement a business platform with a product configurator that allows for the quick and precise preparation of technical specifications and commercial proposals for installations valued at up to several million zlotys. No manual recalculation of parameters and no risk of costly errors.
The scope of the collaboration also included implementation processes:
* detailed planning and control of component production, and
* project management, including shipping schedules.
All processes are integrated with the ERP system. As a result, the sales and production teams now work with the same, up-to-date data—with full confidence that the offer aligns with actual production capabilities.
The implemented system is now the primary source of information on sales and project execution within the company, giving management full control over the process from a single location.
The process of configuring and pricing these types of facilities is extremely complex and always poses a major challenge. Sales are conducted on a project basis. Each quote requires a precise price calculation for a unique technical configuration—for both domestic and international customers, through multi-channel sales.
Before the configurator was developed, the process looked like this:
* Specialists in the quoting department spent over a dozen days pricing a single facility, because each configuration of silos, dryers, and cleaning plants required manual recalculation of technical parameters.
* The sales team risked pricing errors in high-value quotes while working with thousands of components and complex rules for combining them.
* The project management department worked with separate data for quotes and order fulfillment, losing control over production and shipping schedules.
* Management lacked real-time visibility into the sales pipeline because quote, purchasing, and production data operated independently of one another.
The solution we’ve delivered utilizes advanced mechanisms for managing complex products, which speed up the quoting process and boost sales.
Ready-made configuration templates
Eachproduct is built from components combined according to proven rules, with ready-made preconfigurations that speed up sales representatives’ work.
Multiple price lists simultaneously
Supportfor different price lists across multiple markets and sales channels.
Automatic calculation of parameters
The systemautomatically calculates, among other things, the electrical power of the installation, the number of vehicles needed for delivery, and the number of installation hours broken down by specialization.
Sales funnel with access control
Salesforecastingbased on prepared quotes, with restricted visibility of quotes between departments and sales representatives.
One of the biggest engineering challenges arose during the development of the configurator concept: the need to reformulate the product definition from a single description into a set of components combined according to specific validity rules. This structure makes it possible to create any product in a short amount of time.
working hours
products
components
configuration
Thanks to this approach, the EXSO team was able to meet the requirement for full flexibility in tailoring products to customer needs while also ensuring consistency in production and shipping components.
The result is a system in which each configuration is both fully customized and fully predictable for production.
The solution was built on the EXSO+ platform, which was enhanced with mechanisms to support project execution and shipment management. Integration with the SAP ERP system, meanwhile, made it possible to use a proprietary project module to support controlling processes.
EXSO+ platform modules used in the project:
The most important outcome of the implemented solution is a reduction in the time required to prepare quotes and the provision of user-friendly tools that have a tangible impact on sales effectiveness and the length of the sales cycle. This, in turn, contributes to the company’s overall performance.
"The partnership between Unia Grains and EXSO is an ongoing one, which ensures that the systems used by our company are continuously updated and adapted to changing market needs. The high operational efficiency of our company, which is highly regarded in the market, is also due to EXSO’s efficient and reliable solutions."
The introduction of the configurator has made it possible to speed up quotations in several languages.
Reducing the risk of financial loss or communication breakdown caused by underpricing or overpricing of complex products.
Ability to use multiple price lists for individual markets / sales channels.
The configurator enables the offeror to have precise knowledge of the cost and price of the object, ensuring accurate pricing for the client.
