Building a connected business is less about just plugging in a new technology and more about how you can use that technology to automate your business, optimize processes and power growth. As a result, NAED is committed to “Building A Connected Business For The Future”.
In 2019, the NAED Education & Research Foundation published an in-depth report, “Building a Connected Business,” which explores the industry’s transition to digital. The outcomes of the research, conducted by Frost & Sullivan, gave NAED members a roadmap for digital transformation informed by customer and manufacturer input. Since the publication of that report, a lot has changed. The pandemic accelerated digital trends that were already under way. Customer shopping and buying expectations have shifted. AI and other emerging technologies have made their way into the mainstream – widening the gap between distributors that have invested, and those that haven’t.
NAED has condensed that report into a an 18-page guide that is now available from the association’s Education and Research Foundation.
Over the next few weeks, tedmag.com will provide you with 5 parts of the report to help you map out this critical journey of where you are today – and where you want to go. Part 1 looked at the challenges electrical distributors now face. Part 2 describes a more connected customer.
A More Connected Customer
Customer needs and expectations are changing. Between supply chain constraints, inflation, and labor shortages, distributors’ customers are contending with a growing list of challenges. Though most of the discussion in this section involving customers centers on electrical contractors, many of the insights extend to other customers.
Challenges facing end-users include:
Labor Shortage: Customers need to hire and train skilled personnel to support complex installations. Acute labor shortages are a growing challenge.
Online Marketplaces: Online marketplaces pose a significant threat to electrical contractors. With prefabricated products on the rise, suppliers can use marketplaces to cut out contractors and sell directly to installers.
Inventory Platforms: Differences in supplier inventory platforms can be challenging for customers to navigate. Variations in interfaces, data output, and operating processes increase training time and frustrate customers – especially when they must learn new workflows for every supplier.
To offset obstacles, customers demand more from their distributors; they want visibility into the supply chain and greater access to building design support and training. Frost & Sullivan’s research found that:
- 52% of customers want to see their distributors invest in building design-support capabilities.
- 44% want distributors to invest in product training and product knowledge enhancements.
- 32% said order discrepancies, which led to project delays, were a top project challenge.
Buyers consider product training, design modeling via BIM, better materials management, and stronger partnerships to be critical value-added services. Thankfully, this allows electrical distributors to step in and deliver greater value to their customers.
Distributors can mitigate some of these issues through digital product training, installation-related technical training, workflow management applications, and AI-based tools.
You can read and download the entire report at www.naed.org/building-a-connected-business
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