Story highlights
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At a glance
- Industry - Manufacturing
- Region - Global
- Company Size - 5,000+ employees
- Project - Global CRM, customer service and field service transformation
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Products & Services
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales
- Customer Service
- Field Service
- Microsoft Copilot
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Results Snapshot
- 80,000+ customer accounts managed
- 18 languages supported
- ~40,000 service calls handled each year
The Customer
When you think of highly specialised conveyance technologies and services with a worldwide footprint, Intralox stands out from the crowd. In fact, chances are high that what you are eating, reading or using right now has touched and moved through the supply chain and into your hands from one of Intralox’s state-of-the-art conveyor belts.
Intralox’s conveyance solutions have transported the world’s most critical products for more than 50 years. With an extensive portfolio of modular plastic conveyor belts, they can be found in food processing plants, industrial manufacturing facilities and logistics and material handling applications worldwide. Although known for its innovative product line, that is not the company’s only distinction. Intralox is also recognised for its comprehensive customer support, thanks in part to its partnership with Hitachi Solutions and Microsoft technology.
The Challenge
While Intralox is an expert in keeping things moving, it faced significant operational challenges managing its expansive customer base of over 80,000 accounts. Operating across multiple regions and 18 languages, plus handling nearly 40,000 service calls annually, the company struggled with fragmented systems that hindered efficiency and visibility.
Each customer service call requires deep product knowledge and rapid response time, which means technicians and service representatives need innovative tools capable of providing quick access to complex customer histories and needs. Intralox’s legacy CRM, ERP and field service software lacked the flexibility and integration needed to support a growing business and evolving customer expectations. With the right tools, strategy and partner in place, Intralox knew it could deliver consistent, high-quality service across channels and globally at scale.
The Solution
After evaluating a number of solutions and implementation partners, Intralox chose Microsoft for its best-in-class technology and Hitachi Solutions for its depth of experience. Intralox knew its CRM was a big piece of its ecosystem. From sales to customer service to field service, it is the central nervous system for all operations, so anything a customer touches directly, or that frontline employees use to serve customers, was part of the transformation journey.
Intralox set the stage to replace siloed operations with a centralised process that could integrate globally within the company, provide standardised processes using best practices, and replace the varying technologies across workstreams with one cohesive platform. Microsoft Dynamics 365 (Customer Service, Field Service and Sales) was the ideal solution to streamline and strengthen Intralox’s operations. In addition, Hitachi Solutions introduced Microsoft Copilot for case and work order summaries, which allowed for synthesised interactions and improved follow-up messaging, opening the door for further AI value.
Why Hitachi Solutions
For Intralox, the differentiator was a partner that took the time to understand the business and think big picture before building anything, and one that used a hybrid delivery model to grow Intralox’s own capability rather than create dependency.
I think what sets Hitachi Solutions apart is really wanting to understand our business. They really think big picture. When we started our engagement, we spent probably four to six weeks of just discovering, really understanding what we were trying to accomplish. It was incredibly important how closely they partnered with us and their role in facilitating best practices.
The Benefits
- Improved access to information, with a real-time snapshot of the current state of accounts now that all team members’ activities are captured in the system
- Increased productivity and reduced inefficiencies
- Time saved for both Intralox and its customers, leading to enhanced overall customer satisfaction
- Standardised processes and one cohesive platform across sales, customer service and field service
- Microsoft Copilot case and work order summaries that synthesise interactions and improve follow-up, opening the door to further AI value
- Successful adoption on a global level, supported by Hitachi Solutions’ change management processes
What’s Next?
While Intralox has experienced increased productivity and found new, meaningful ways of connecting with its customers, it has also become more adaptive, and remains focused on further customer service innovation and technical support improvements. It is a company that truly embraces learning and self-sufficiency.
What I appreciated in Hitachi Solutions’ hybrid development approach, combining waterfall and agile methodologies, is how it helped our team grow and empowered us to be self-sufficient. We truly appreciated the trusted support and their expertise. They really taught us how to fish and helped develop our teams’ skills over time.
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