To help it handle such huge volumes of data , the company has turned to data specialists MicroStrategy , who collect the data and make it visible to everyone in the supply chain , which facilitates collaboration between manufacturers and distribution groups
“ We have 1,700 customers ,” says Hardin . “ These are independent shops that leverage our customer-relationship management ( CRM ) platform , and this is the endgame for everything that we ’ re doing .
“ As much as we focus on understanding patterns with parts , the supply chain and failure rates , ultimately what matters is the relationship with the consumer .”
Hardin says the data Epicor has today , when made visible at every level of supply chain , will create a channel-level CRM .
“ Everybody in the value chain – from manufacturers all the way down – will want to influence a relationship of some sort with the end consumer ,” he says .
“ Ultimately everything always comes back to the relationship with the consumer ”
TIM HARDIN , SVP GLOBAL DATA & EXTEND SERVICES ,
EPICOR
He adds : “ The connectivity we provide via data at all levels has created a sub-vertical for us , whereby marketing organisations within manufacturers are asking us to help them understand better how they can drive a better customer experience .
“ It ’ s opening up new opportunities and new channels . We ’ re now having conversations at the C-suite level with marketing officers and those are responsible for customer experience ” which is detrimental in a risk scenario .”
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