Distributors Now Have On-line Configuration for Custom Window and Door Quotes, Bids, and Orders

June 2,2004. TDCI, Inc. (TDCI), a diversified enterprise software and consulting company serving both mid-size and large manufacturing organizations, announces that Kolbe & Kolbe Millwork Company, Inc. (Kolbe & Kolbe), a national manufacturer of high-end residential windows and doors, has gone live with a new web-based channel sales support system based on TDCI’s Sales BuyDesign software. The new system utilizes TDCI’s BuyDesign Control Center product customization management system to enable on-line configuration of custom windows and doors in support of quote, bid, and order generation activities.

With Sales BuyDesign, Kolbe & Kolbe is now providing distributors with some of the most advanced web-based capabilities available from any window and door manufacturer anywhere, including the ability to:

• Configure and order any custom Kolbe & Kolbe product on-line, including mulled units (units that combine and coordinate multiple window and door products)
• Immediately view and manipulate a 3D model of configured custom products
• Quickly generate custom product quotes for dealers, delivering them in an Excel spreadsheet format that dealers can directly translate into high quality end-customer ‘bid’ documents with thumbnail images of the configured window and/or mulled unit
• Automatically turn complex custom product quotes/bids into orders
• Instantly view the status of custom product orders, invoices, and shipments

Together, these capabilities dramatically reduce the time and effort to produce quotes and bids for Kolbe & Kolbe’s custom windows and doors – from days to minutes – while significantly reducing errors and order changes. In addition, the new system provides Kolbe & Kolbe distributors and field sales people with access to current information about products, orders, and outstanding quotes.

The new system automatically passes distributor orders to Kolbe and Kolbe’s order processing and manufacturing applications to drive production at any one of several manufacturing plants located in various parts of the United States . Integration of the web-based channel sales system with core business systems is done using the BuyDesign Integrator product.

Donald Huehnerfuss, Kolbe & Kolbe Vice President states: “On-line product configuration, 3D visualization, and rapid sales quotes give our dealers and distributors a tremendous set of tools for increasing sales and customer service. The system is also helping us significantly streamline our entire quote-to-delivery cycle. Ultimately, this reduces our lead-times as well as our costs, making us more responsive to customer needs and more competitive in our market.”

Dan DeMuth, TDCI President, adds: “Kolbe & Kolbe is taking a leadership position in the window and door industry by offering these on-line capabilities to their distributors and dealers and we are proud to be a part of the effort. This solution also serves to illustrate the power of the Internet for enabling the immediate availability of up-to-date product information and collaborative sales processes across multi-level sales channels.

About Kolbe and Kolbe

Kolbe & Kolbe is a national manufacturer of high-end residential wood, aluminum clad and vinyl windows and doors, and steel doors. With headquarters in Wausau , Wisconsin , Kolbe & Kolbe has 6 manufacturing plants.

Most Kolbe & Kolbe products are made to order, with many window and door types, each of which has many standard features, variable dimensions, and a staggering number of options. Over 400,000 configurator rules are needed to define all of the products, features, and options.

Kolbe & Kolbe sells exclusively through a network of distributors and dealers such as lumberyards and construction supply companies. The new system will be used primarily by Kolbe & Kolbe’s approximately 1,500 dealers. For more information about Kolbe & Kolbe, visit www.kolbe-kolbe.com

About TDCI

TDCI is a diversified enterprise software and consulting company serving both mid-market and large organizations. TDCI’s innovative BuyDesign Product Customization Management solutions help manufacturers of highly customized products leverage configuration, engineering, and ebusiness technologies to streamline key business processes across product design, marketing, sales, and manufacturing. TDCI also provides Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions as well as specialized consulting services for users of leading ERP solutions.