case history

Alfa Refrattari

ALFA REFRATTARI Group, active in the construction sector since the 1970s, is a leading company in the production of refractory products (fireplaces, barbecues, ovens, refractory mortars and linings, etc.). The constantly expanding Group focused its attention on customer service via a widespread sales network. Alfa Refrattari adopted the Dialog Sistemi’s Explorer suite several years ago.
ANALYSIS
Goals

To Implement a solution to control sales networks and create a historical and detailed Data Warehouse system for customers, by entering all personal information, old invoices, orders, trading conditions and complete profiles relevant to the purpose of the business activity and marketing. To obtain multidimensional analysis, reports and management dashboards for group management control.

Solution

Alfa Refrattari chose the Explorer suite, an Italian product, due to its flexible features in adapting already existing corporate management systems. The Winner/CRM application, created in partnership with Dialog Sistemi, created a Data Warehouse based on a Linux server with an Oracle database that pulls network management data from a Windows-based server in order to allow:

  • Access to customer profiles (payment conditions, logistics, trading, vendors and other user information).
  • Market analysis and its potential on the basis of product lines and the area assigned to the vendor, after having examined Alfa’s position in relation to the client.
  • Historical analysis of customer behaviour over time and automatic report generation on the sales structure.
  • Cross-selling support procedures for targeted campaigns that aim and towards identifying customers characterized by similar behaviours and “tele-selling”, or rather sale actions of products with personalized offers made directly on headquarters.
  • Product Sale Performance analysis in comparison with the budget.
IMPROVEMENT

Thanks to Explorer, Alfa Refrattari created an IT system that provides a complete view of the business. We finally have the detailed information needed in order to perform a thorough analysis of the companies, areas and product lines, as well as the sales area, all the way to both the seller and the customer”, says Patrizia Giovannini Head of the Management Control group. “Furthermore, thanks to its reports produced in Office and Excel, it permits the sales network to always be up-to-date.” “We can therefore monitor all information that is vital for the functioning of the company and we can measure the performance in all areas, allowing us to act immediately and implement different processes where necessary. Explorer is an extraordinary tool for marketing purposes too.

As Alfa Refrattari has now split into several different companies, we can still access all the data as if it were still one single entity. We will start new initiatives and are thinking about extending Explorer to new corporate areas.” Marcello Ortuso, Alfa Refrattari Group CEO.

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