Selling configurators

[Fms]

There are some industries that have figured out mass customization- think of pizza and cars. I can order a pizza just the way I want it in the Papa John’s app, and I can option up a car and visualize my paint colors and stuff on any manufacturer’s website.

I’m convinced there are plenty of industries that have the manufacturing already in place for mass customization, but have no easy exposure to customers who might like to take advantage of it. This frustration has manifested itself for me in a couple different ways:

• I wanted a toolbox for my office, but nothing at the big box stores is the right size, shape, or drawer layout. What if you could build a business around custom toolboxes? Mechanics spend tons on their Snap On- imagine if you could sell not only the toolbox but a whole experience around custom accessories.
• Travel trailers. I rather want an Airstream, but they have a highly limited customization from the factory. The aftermarket is pretty big, but it seems to me that Airstream could benefit from having ways to choose interior finishes and visualize layouts.

I’ve thought about seeking contract manufacturers and just looking at the toolbox ecosystem, but I wonder if the thing I should do is start a consultancy for just building the software and customer interface- I call these “configurators”.

I built a small demo model for a pegboard of sorts. I’m convinced of a few facts:

• The ecosystem for taking 3D models and publishing them to the web has significant gaps, particularly given the prevalence of 3D printing and the emergence of augmented reality.
  • To give you an idea, McMaster-Carr has a lot of 3D models but they want you to install a browser plugin to view them
  • I’m convinced I could build an engine to allow
• The ecosystem for parameterized models, eg to allow changing materials, dimensions, and other options, is even more limited
• There are many possibilities for branching out with a business relationship once a configurator is in place
  • Imagine that you wanted to buy a manufactured home. You could even build in a credit check and come up with a budget before you started in the configurator, and then you could have the bundle of options that fits your budget.
• There is also potential for “world-builder” applications to show a company’s products in use in the field. For example, I’ve seen solar and deck installers include a 3D rendering of what their finished installation could look like. One can imagine extending these principles.

Action steps:

• Identify ideal customers. I think these are companies like Cavco, Airstream, toolbox manufacturers- anyone who has a manufacturing setup which could support mass customization but currently don’t expose an interface
• Start writing CEOs with pitch letters explaining the potential
• Continue technical evolution
  • Obviously, need more capability in my prototype
  • But also I need to look at CRM integration and the like, probably starting with Salesforce

Questions:

• How do I get a single pilot customer, even if I think they’re less than ideal? What should I look for? Who should I talk to?

 

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[jclean]

Seems interesting, but what do you want to sell ?

 

[Fms]

Seems interesting, but what do you want to sell ?

I wish I knew- I’m trying to get in a position to start getting feedback from the market. I think the best start would be to have a first customer to implement this for as a consultant, and then see if there’s traction elsewhere. The thing is that building these things is high-touch, at least to start. It requires integration with a website, access to models which could be produced in any number of different formats, and perhaps most importantly, CRM integration.

My initial idea for a pitch to a first customer is this: I’ll build it for free, and charge a royalty on sales made through the configurator. The idea there is that anything that the customer configured is a windfall, so it should be justifiable to pay some percentage for that marginal sale.

 

[jclean]

I wish I knew- I’m trying to get in a position to start getting feedback from the market. I think the best start would be to have a first customer to implement this for as a consultant, and then see if there’s traction elsewhere. The thing is that building these things is high-touch, at least to start. It requires integration with a website, access to models which could be produced in any number of different formats, and perhaps most importantly, CRM integration.

My initial idea for a pitch to a first customer is this: I’ll build it for free, and charge a royalty on sales made through the configurator. The idea there is that anything that the customer configured is a windfall, so it should be justifiable to pay some percentage for that marginal sale.

I have an idea that you can apply. kaizen foam for atypical tools.

(for handy man tools you already have a lot because these are always standard wrenches, hammers etc)

For example, I have a window cleaning business.
we use hand tools but they all have an awkward shape.

this makes it difficult to store these tools clearly.
this ensures that these are all kept in a box in our vans.

As a result, tools are often forgotten by customers. what can be a solution for this is a kaizen foam that is cut to size with a cnc machine that fits our tools. so that our employees always have an overview of everything before they drive off.

if you could set the configurator in such a way that you have different options per sector/ niche to have something custom made, then you have a winner in my opinion.

focus on webshops that sell tools.
first set everything up in the configurator and then find a company that wants to make this with a cnc machine.

 

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[B-qiri]

Gravestone industry might be interesting as well