Pindel Global Precision Doubles its Number of Annual Quotes, Increases Win Rate by 30% With Paperless Parts

Background

Pindel Global Precision is a Wisconsin-based manufacturing company specializing in Swiss CNC Machining, Turning, and Vertical Machining for a host of industries, such as the Aerospace, Medical, and Firearms industries. Pindel was purchased by current CEO Bill Berrien in 2012 who aggressively grew the company, including expanding Pindel’s manufacturing capabilities and moving its headquarters to a 60,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility based in New Berlin. Pindel Global Precision is a proud member of the Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA), an association that Paperless Parts partners closely with.

Challenge

Tony Jordan, Pindel’s Director of Sales and Customer Service, is the company’s sole estimator. For years, he struggled with the time-consuming and tedious quoting process which was done through Pindel’s ERP system. With the ERP system, Tony had to figure out all of the raw material himself, upload all quote-related information, and manually determine similar parts for each quote. Even with modern software involved in the quoting process, Pindel’s growth and efficiency were substantially limited because the ERP system ignored key aspects of the quoting process and lacked an appropriate level of customization to Pindel’s unique needs.

In addition to the lack of focus around certain elements of Pindel’s quoting, the ERP system also made Pindel’s quoting unnecessarily complicated. Not only did Tony often find himself adding a tremendous amount of quote items into the ERP system, but the interface of the system itself made for difficulty in keeping track of quotes for later reference.

As a cutting-edge shop, Pindel knew it needed software dedicated to the quoting process that could improve efficiency, increase quote output, boost win rate, and have the potential to include more people in the quoting process through offering a simplistic digital experience.

Solution

After years of quoting through Pindel’s ERP system, Tony was keen to explore quoting-specific solutions that could accomplish more than standard ERP capabilities. One such solution was MicroEstimating, though Jordan soon realized that its software would not enable him to quote any faster than if he were to just continue using his ERP system, and that the entire solution would have to be built from the ground up to work for Pindel.

When Tony came across Paperless Parts, it was clear that its customizable software and simplistic interface checked all of the boxes and that he would be able to hit the ground running right away. “From the very beginning, we knew that implementing Paperless Parts would be a massive win for us,” Tony said.

Within the first onboarding session with Paperless Parts, Pindel had already sent out 10 quotes to customers at a record pace. The entire configuration of the platform to suit Pindel’s needs was accomplished in the matter of just a couple of sessions, and Tony has been able to set up anything quote-related in the platform in under two minutes ever since.

With Paperless Parts, Tony is now able to move through quotes roughly 10x faster than he was when quoting through the old ERP system; a quote that used to take Tony over an hour to complete is now down to just 10 minutes. The substantial amount of time saved on every quote leaves Tony with about 25 hours freed up per week so that he can concentrate on other aspects of his job and the company.

One key element of the platform that has helped speed up the quoting process for Pindel is Paperless Search. “Paperless Search saves a lot of time,” said Bill Berrien, Chief Executive Officer at Pindel Global Precision. “The ability to search every word in our Paperless Parts account, including data that used to be trapped on PDF drawings, has significantly increased our efficiency in the estimating process by giving us the ability to quickly reference past data. The ability to rapidly search technical data in the given quote, in addition to past quotes, is a key component in the manufacturing value stream and a major step shops need to take when thinking about adopting industry 4.0 technologies and leveraging the digital thread through their operations. Through this feature, Paperless Parts has made that possible.”

Faster quoting also means that Pindel is quoting more jobs than ever before because Tony now has the time and flexibility to handle more RFQs as they come in. Prior to implementing Paperless Parts, Pindel was recording about 375 quotes completed and sent to customers on an annual basis. Since using Paperless Parts, that number has doubled to 700 quotes sent out this past year. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, as material prices skyrocketed, Paperless Parts ensured a smooth re-quoting process that enabled Pindel to turn around the largest number of annual quotes in the shop’s history. “If we didn’t have Paperless Parts, I’m not sure we would have survived the re-quotes, let alone grow our quote output at all,” Tony said.

Tony and the Pindel team knew well before using Paperless Parts that the single greatest thing the company could do for its customers when it came to quoting was offer the fastest possible turnaround time. “Quick turnaround time leads to more parts, no matter what,” Tony said. “For most customers, pricing matters, but more importantly, they care about how quickly you can get a quote.” Paperless Parts helps ensure that Pindel’s customers receive their quotes as quickly as feasible, which Tony sees as the biggest competitive advantage of having Paperless Parts.

Through the massive uptick in quote output and the reduced turnaround time, Pindel has seen an increase in its win rate of close to 30% since implementing Paperless Parts, making it a significantly more competitive company with higher revenue potential.

For Tony, some of the best qualities about Paperless Parts is its ease of use and its constant improvement. Between two different ERP systems and other software in place, Paperless Parts is the easiest solution for the Pindel team to use. And unlike some other solutions, Paperless Parts is continuously making its software work better for its customers. “Paperless Parts never stops improving its product,” Tony said. “Any feedback we give to the team is valued and improvements are turned around in just a few weeks.”

Results

With Paperless Parts, Pindel Global Precision:

1. Doubled annual quote output: Before using Paperless Parts, Pindel’s average annual output of quotes was roughly 375. This past year, Pindel doubled its output, sending out 700 quotes to customers, all at considerably faster turnaround times.
2. Increased win rate by 30%: With Pindel sending out more quotes at a faster rate, its odds of winning more jobs increased substantially; while using Paperless Parts, the company’s win rate increased by 30%.
3. Produced quotes 10x faster: A batch of quotes that might have taken Tony around 15 hours to do under the old system now takes him just an hour and a half.
4. Saved 25 hours per week: Between the time saved per quote and the consolidation of information within Paperless Parts, Pindel saves about 25 hours of valuable time per week to be dedicated to other aspects of the growing company.
5. Tapped into customer demand: Even before implementing Paperless Parts, Tony knew that beyond pricing, his customers cared most about how quickly companies turned their quotes around and how quickly they received their parts. Paperless Parts enables Pindel to meet this customer demand through seamless, automated quoting.