2010: Quoting & Configuration Tool Allows Manufacturers to Design Their Own Hardware

Saturday November 13, 2010
By Sandra Guy, Chicago Sun-Times

Much like fashionistas mix and match their latest outfits online, heavy-machinery companies are now specifying their industrial fashions on the Web.

The system is the brainchild of the Godard Abel, CEO and co-founder of BigMachines in Deerfield, whose grandfather, Wilhelm, started an industrial pump making company in Dusseldorf, Germany, 63 years ago.

The pump manufacturer, Abel Pump, now operates as a Pittsburg, Pa.-based subsidiary of Roper Industries. The pump company's inner workings proved to the younger Abel the need for big-machinery companies to use cloud-computing software to design their complicated equipment and serve as a virtual information-technology group.

"The big challenge to Able Pump when my father ran it was that the company had only two IT people. There was no way for its customers to custom-configure their orders on-line," Godard Abel said.

Godard Abel had become fascinated with technology, and in particular Dell Inc.'s offer to let its customers design their own computers on-line. He wanted the same for his family's company.

Abel, with investor backing from his father, Goerdt, the younger Abel co-founded BigMachines 11 years ago with his former classmate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chris Shutts, to let industrial companies design their equipment in the Dell model. The company's early investors included former Apple Computer CEO John Sculley and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

BigMachines built a Web interface so that companies could upload their product and pricing specifications to design their own versions of the Dell PC. Behind the scenes, a rules engine lets them pick components to create just the right machine for the job.

The Web solution relieves industrial companies of having to write or host their own software, and BigMachines and its distributors act as remote IT experts when necessary. The technology is also used by medical, high-tech, telecommunications services and other industries.

The software makes the difference in how well industrial-strength pumps work in everything from a roller-coaster ride to the space-shuttle launch pad.

Those are the types of pumps made by Quincy Compressor, a Bay Minette, Ala.-based company that operates a smaller-compressor plant in Quincy, Ill.

The company started using BigMachines' software five years ago, and sells its compressors through distributors, including National Pump and Compressor in Melrose Park.

The distributor prepares equipment-purchase specifications and quotes using the BigMachines software.

Quincy Compressor's competitive advantage is its ability to customize the compressors it makes, so it is able to meet the demands of customers who need machinery for the outdoors, dusty plant floors or the exacting standards of the space shuttle.

"BigMachines' software lets us quickly convert a customers' quote into an order and analyze the different configurations that our customers are buying," said Chris Knuffman, new product project manager at Quincy Compressor, noting that Chicago is one of the company's top five markets.

BigMachines is growing quickly, as industrial company executives grow more comfortable with on-line ordering and community experiences.

"The digital generation is used to doing everything on amazon.com and on Facebook, and they are using the Internet as a sales tool," Abel said.

BigMachines has its own Facebook-like feature, letting customers log onto "My BigIdea" platform and toss out product-innovation ideas.

Since BigMachines can operate worldwide without having to add infrastructure, its latest growth spurt has come from international sales. In the past year, BigMachines' European business has doubled and it has opened offices in Tokyo, Japan, and in Singapore. Its revenue has jumped by 99 percent for the first half of this year from the same period a year ago as its customer base has expanded by 50, to 230, so far this year. Its client base includes well-known technology names such as Motorola, Kodak, Siemens and Xerox.

Abel sees the company's Chicago location as a competitive advantage, since there aren't as many technology companies as in the Bay Area with which to compete for workers. He has had no difficulty hiring skilled software and technology workers, and appreciates their Midwestern work ethic.

The company's growth has propelled its workforce to 220, with 120 working at the Deerfield headquarters. BigMachines has hired 100 new workers in the past year and continues to hire engineers and sales-and-marketing representatives.

Yet BigMachines also faces more rivals than ever before.

"We have to innovate ahead of the competition," Abel said. "Every year, we add more than 100 new features to our solution."

Gene Alvarez, Forrester Research's research vice president for customer relationship management and e-commerce, said companies have become more interested in self-service automation because it reduces costs.