As the market leader for quality tools, the Hoffmann Group no longer just supplies tools, factory equipment, and personal protection gear, but also develops digital solutions and products together with its customers. Some 100,000 items are on hand—and that number is growing. To retain the ability to serve and advise each customer individually, field service representatives can now access the complete customer history at all times using a mobile app built on Dynamics 365 Sales. This makes on-site jobs easier and ensures that Hoffmann Group customers can still get everything they need for assembly, metal processing, and the industrial workplace from a single source.
The challenge: Good-bye, on-premises landscape! Good-bye, data center!
A digital depth caliper with a Bluetooth interface, digital production solutions, and a system for the uncrewed loading of machine tools are just some examples of how the industrial workplace has changed. In keeping with founder Josef Hoffmann’s vision, the Hoffmann company has been growing with its customers’ requirements. In 1919, when Josef Hoffmann set up his own sales agency for “technical articles and metalwares” in Munich, he could not have foreseen the future possibilities offered by digital transformation. Today, Hoffmann employs some 3,600 people. The Hoffmann Group and its partners have a total of 69 branches and dealerships in over 50 countries.
“We supply everything needed within a ten-meter radius of the industrial workplace,” says Dr. Stefan Marx, Senior Manager IT Architecture and Application Services at Hoffmann. “This includes precision tools for metal processing, clamping and measurement technology, hand tools, personal protection equipment, entire repair shops including equipment, and digital production solutions. Providing expert advice is very important to us as well. And it is increasingly about improving processes.” To be able to discuss adjustments with customers on site, the field service team requires access to all information—from order history to visit reports. “We used to have an on-premises structure for this purpose, with an SQL database running in the background—with roughly 300 GB RAM and 30 to 60 CPU cores,” says Henryk Jaskowiak, Team Lead Dynamics CRM at Hoffmann. “But there was no question that we would migrate to the cloud, as we wanted to move forward technologically. After all, many really interesting features aren’t available outside the cloud.” A year and a half before, Hoffmann had already introduced Dynamics 365 Marketing—with the aim of integrating other modules and simplifying the IT architecture. The team led by Dr. Stefan Marx and Henryk Jaskowiak opted for the lift and shift approach. All systems were first migrated and then refined directly in the cloud. Microsoft supported this project as a technology partner as part of the Dynamics Migration Program.
The solution: Hello, cloud! Hello, Dynamics 365 Sales!
The “Orange CRM,” as it is called at Hoffmann, is the central information platform for field service representatives. When with customers, they can use Dynamics 365 Sales to access all required documents and customer data right there and then on their mobile devices, including the most recent appointments and phone calls. Reports can now also be filed digitally right after a visit. Instead of a VPN connection, Hoffmann’s mobile field service app now uses Azure Active Directory. “Data synchronization is much quicker on a mobile device. With the VPN connection gone, technical access within the architecture has become much more direct and less complicated,” Jaskowiak explains. The migration went so smoothly that many of the 1,700 field service representatives did not even notice that Orange CRM had moved from the data center to the cloud. They were able to seamlessly continue with their work. All they noticed was that everything suddenly ran faster and more smoothly.
This technological change has been facilitating the work not just of the sales team, but of the IT team as well. Azure Application Insights searches for and identifies errors and inconsistencies while the migration is still in progress. “This way we can make the administration of our architecture much more transparent with just one click and without having to build a special environment,” Dr. Marx says. “Monitoring is a prerequisite for the digital transformation of connected landscapes. And the cloud features many relevant mechanisms by default.”
To take full advantage of the cloud, Hoffmann is working on a joint Dynamics platform for sales and marketing. In the future, marketing lists and customer life cycles will be managed and controlled through this platform, and website forms will be provided via Microsoft Forms. “To get an even better picture of our customers, we will create a shared Dataverse for reporting,” Jaskowiak says. “In the past, we had serious problems merging all the data in a way that would allow for well-founded reports and fact-based statements.” Therefore, plans have been made to employ additional Dynamics modules, such as Dynamics 365 Field Service.
“We will create new service possibilities and ultimately be able to better serve our customers,” Dr. Marx concludes. “All these steps and innovations are possible only with this new infrastructure. Without the cloud, our options would be far more limited.”“Just because you process something digitally doesn’t make you digital. That is why we’re always looking for processes that we can shorten, automate, and digitize. With Azure and Dynamics 365 Sales, we went the extra mile in that regard.”
Dr. Stefan Marx, Senior Manager IT Architecture and Application Services, Hoffmann SE
Beginning September 1, 2023, Dynamics 365 Marketing and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights will merge into a single offering under Dynamics 365 Customer Insights. Learn more about the evolution of Dynamics 365 Customer Insights.
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