KBMax Blog

 

Frank Sohn at Novus CPQ Consulting recently kicked off a podcast series solely focused on the CPQ space. He just released the interview with our very own Kevin Bennett, CTO and Co-Founder of KBMax.

 

Listen to Kevin Bennett's Podcast

 

Kevin talks about features and functionality, partnerships, omnichannel experience, user experience and best practices. Additionally, he touches on the exciting future of AR/VR. Enjoy listening!

 

 

“One of the flashiest things in KBMax is that 3D visualization. But there is a lot more KBMax has to offer. It always has been a full CPQ tool and in fact, our sweet spot are complex manufacturing companies."  

 

 

 

 

 

Topics: Configurator, CPQ

Frank Sohn at Novus CPQ Consulting just kicked off a podcast series solely focused on the CPQ space. His most recent interview was with Oracle's Vinesh Vis, AVP Sales, North America for CPQ Cloud. 

 

Listen to Vinesh Vis' Podcast

 

As a highly regarded and experienced professional Vinesh shares his excitement and insights about the CPQ market, the tremendous value a CPQ solution can offer, and the vision, which comes from CPQ. Further, he shares the future of CPQ and speaks about the convergence of the two: CPQ and E-Commerce, which our customers are starting to expereience, today.

 

 

“Visualization is not just about CAD, which was the initial way people thought about this innovation. It is also about 3D rendering, which we have a fantastic partner here with KBMax...” VINESH VIS, AVP SALES, CPQ CLOUD 

 

 

Also, stay tuned for the upcoming podcast with our CTO Kevin Bennett, which will be available in early September.

 

 

 

 

Topics: Configurator, CPQ

We had a great time meeting with the Salesforce CPQ sales team in Chicago. Many thanks to their management team and Seamus Eagan who helped us coordinating the meetings and logistics, and  setting up the agenda with us to ensure the SE and AE teams are getting the "most out of it" such as  understanding the value and the feature set KBMax provides.

 

Our Salesforce partnership have come a long way. We first demonstrated our Salesforce integration during last year's Dreamforce '16 and received great reviews since then. Over the last six months, we worked very hard to formalize our partnership and integration with Salesforce CPQ. We achieved ISV status in mid March and have our Salesforce CPQ integration package listed on the AppExchange since July this year.

 

Thus, the timing to meet with the Salesforce CPQ team was ideal. As we are already engaged in some accounts supplementing Salesforce CPQ with complex configuration capabilities, 3D visualization and CAD automation, we identified a number of short and long term oppotunities, and markets we can capitalize upon.

 

 

“KBMax 3D and Snap are the two sexiest technologies at Dreamforce in years.” GODARD ABEL, SVP SALESFORCE

 

 

 

Topics: Configurator, CPQ

Early adopters of 3D technology in manufacturing, fashion or furniture just to name a few,  have gained great experience and now realize the competitive advantage of 3D visualization. 3D has matured in the last few years with greatly improved performance, user experience and simulation of materials.

 

Today, 3D solutions are now deliver significant value for companies, enabling them to reduce cycle times and ultimately create more value from innovation. However, these benefits only matter if they are translated into long lasting business results.

 

KBMax can be integrated with any CRM system like Salesforce, Oracle or MS Dynamics, PLUS it can be embedded into any external web site giving customers, dealers and distributors access to the product configurator.

 

With the additional dimension, 3D product configurators provides users with enhanced interaction with their customized products, which in return translates into major benefits for your business:

 

• Leveraging existing 3D models. If 3D models of products already exist, or a design team is in place to create them, a 3D product configurator is a natural fit.
• Getting a product configurator set up is very simple within KBMax due to our clean, integrated software and our fully integrated admin panel.
• The three dimensional model allows the user to view their product from all angles, ensuring the product meets requirements, shape and size. 
• A 3D product configurator brings products to life and impresses customers with beautiful and accurate renderings and eliminates any apprehension they may have.
• And finally, its sets you apart from the competition. While product configurators are becoming mainstream, 3D visualization is not as common and very view CPQ vendors have the out-of-the-box technology offering a great competitive advantage.

 

KBMax offers the fastest 3D Visualization technology, today.

Use 3D visuals to guide the configuration process where dynamic updates to sizes, colors, components and features give a real time product tour. Users visually configure products in 3D and share interactive links and images with their customers for increased conversion rates. The mobile responsive design supports all devices. Today, 3D is a tremendous competitive advantage to help products stand out and sell more, faster.

 

 

Topics: Configurator, CPQ

Gartner recently released its Innovation Insight for Visual Configuration report. It explores visual configurators and VR/AR products available in 2017.

 

"Providing interactive 3D product visualization is a compelling way to showcase what products have to offer and how they work. By showcasing how a product will look and function in real time, customers know they are getting the exact product they want," said Chris Haussler, senior product manager of Oracle CPQ Cloud.”

 

Visual configurators are now mature enough for widespread deployment, and most leading cloud CPQ vendors now include or integrate with one. Application leaders responsible for sales applications should seize the opportunity to disrupt their industry by being the first to offer visual configuration. Key findings from the report include:

 

 

• Companies that implement visual configuration solutions see significant improvement in their deal win rate, lower costs for drafting computer-aided design (CAD) drawings, less rework in the factory and lower carrying costs for samples at retail locations.
• There are currently more than a dozen vendors that offer 2D visualization, 3D visualization and CAD automation.
• Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) visual configuration are just becoming mainstream.

 

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT HERE

 

 

“We are thrilled to leverage KBMax’ experience and tools to give our customers a superior user experience,” said Joachim Klein, VP, Product, Salesforce Quote-to-Cash. “The combination of our deep Quote-to-Cash expertise with KBMax’ cutting-edge 3D visualization and advanced rules engine will enable our customers to take full advantage of the powerful Salesforce solution.”

 

 

 

 

KBMax offers the fastest 3D Visualization technology, today.

Use 3D visuals to guide the configuration process where dynamic updates to sizes, colors, components and features give a real time product tour. Users visually configure products in 3D and share interactive links and images with their customers for increased conversion rates. The mobile responsive design supports all devices. Today, 3D is a tremendous competitive advantage to help products stand out and sell more, faster.

 

Topics: Company

 

Salesforce CPQ customers can add our MAX Modules to their Salesforce CPQ environment and take advantage of KBMax' revolutionary, interactive 3D visualization, complex CPQ capabilities  and CAD automation, which seamlessly integrate with Salesforce and are Lightning Ready!

 

GO TO OUR APPEXCHANGE LISTING

 

MAX 3D User Interface

Let your users visually configure products in 3D. Share interactive links and images with your customers to increase conversion rates. 2D product images are dinosaurs. In three years everything you buy online will be 3D. Having 3D, today is a tremendous competitive advantage to help your products stand out and sell more faster.

 

 

MAX Configure Engine

KBMax does the C in CPQ. Our KBMax Snap rules engine handles complex logic for complex products. The visual drag & drop blocks make it easy to use and fast to implement for all skill levels. Snap is not limited like other text-based rule languages. It’s Turing-complete, meaning it can build any advanced algorithm. The future of enterprise programming is here!

Topics: Company

Kevin has been a management consultant and sales professional for over 20 years. He began building Bill of Material systems as a consultant for Caterpillar in 1996 and first started working with CAD driven Product Configuration in 2001.

 

Before joining KBMax he has been at PTC for the last 14 years helping customers transform how they create, operate, and service products. He is most passionate about our customers and firmly believes that making others successful is the best path to personal and professional success.

 

READ THE PRESS RELEASE HERE

 

Kevin enjoys solving business challenges the way some people enjoy crossword puzzles. Only a few things are more complicated than helping companies transform their business and he is enjoying the challenge. For a sales executive he is fairly adept on both the technical and business side of things. He can grasp the business, technical and people sides of a problem and solve it. It is not just about selling software, rather selling a solution. It may take a while, but he is also surprisingly good at finding solutions to problems that others were unable to solve.

Topics: Company

KBMax is announcing that it has joined the Salesforce ISV Partner Program. KBMax’ ISV status recognizes its alignment and mutual commitment to customer success with Salesforce customers. This partnership enables Salesforce customers to use KBMax’ 3D visualization user interface, its configurator for complex products and its CAD automation capabilities to provide an unprecedented customer experience and faster revenue growth. Read the Press-Release here.

 

 

“We are thrilled to leverage KBMax’ experience and tools to give our customers a superior user experience,” said Joachim Klein, VP, Product, Salesforce Quote-to-Cash. “The combination of our deep Quote-to-Cash expertise with KBMax’ cutting-edge 3D visualization and advanced rules engine will enable our customers to take full advantage of the powerful Salesforce solution.”

 

 

KBMax is revolutionizing the CPQ & E-Commerce market with our fast, responsive, interactive 3D user interface. Sales users can interact with configured products on any device for increased buying experience, eliminating quoting and configuration errors.

 

• Design & visualize your products in real time with our 3D configurator.
• Cloud based enterprise software can manage simple to highly complex products.
• Out-of-the-box integrations with CRM, ERP and CAD systems.

 

 

Topics: Company, CPQ

KBMax announces an upgrade to its already fast, responsive UI, which works on any device or browser, offering an entirely new layout optimized for mobile devices. Its 3D CPQ visualization has been vastly optimized for the performance on mobile devices, which feels like a native app.

 

This new upgrade is especially designed keeping handhelds and other mobile devices in mind, and is naturally capable of enhancing the general user experience. Keeping the audience engaged at all times ensures that our clients further attract their audience towards their business, which substantially increases the probability of becoming loyal customers.

 

Further, it helps our clients to build credibility with their customers and influencers in their industry. Whether selling B2B or B2C products, with a mobile-friendly layout, anyone who tries to visit the site on a mobile device will have a proper experience, and will be encourage to see you as a credible resource for information, products and services.

 

 

 

Websites that are not mobile-friendly are quickly becoming defunct within our fast-evolving digital landscape. As time goes by, more and more sites will emerge that are mobile-friendly, pushing those that are not meeting expectations farther away from customers.

 

Topics: Company

KBMax, today announced a new strategic partnership with Arlanis Reply to deliver world-class CPQ solutions to Salesforce customers across Europe. The partnership combines Arlanis Reply’s strong company transformation expertise and implementation capabilities with KBMax’ enterprise cloud-based CPQ offering, enabling clients to become more efficient while reducing operational costs, immediately.

 

 

READ THE PRESS RELEASE

 

“We are delighted to partner with KBMax a leader in complex product configurations and 3D visualization to deliver comprehensive solutions for our customers," said Bernd Meier, CEO Arlanis Reply "Our goal is to help our clients to become more efficient, while delivering an unprecedented customer experience. With KBMax' comprehensive feature set and its seamless Salesforce integration we can achieve that faster."

 

 

Topics: Salesforce, Company, CPQ