Customer case

From 3 Days to 3 Hours: Onboarding a Configurable Product Catalogue with Claude

Kingspan Light + Air, part of the Kingspan Group, makes daylighting, smoke ventilation, and natural fire safety systems for buildings. The company had invested in Salesforce RCA to give its sales teams a fast, self-service way to configure and quote its products.

The Complexity Bottleneck in Product Catalogues

The catalogue itself was the bottleneck. Many of Kingspan's products aren't simple SKUs, they're highly configurable systems with dozens of attributes, hundreds of valid size combinations, and calculated outputs (area, load, CO₂ output, U-value) that all have to respect the underlying engineering rules.

Getting one of these products properly modeled in RCA meant translating a product engineer's Excel spec into Salesforce attributes, picklists, and CML (Configuration Modeling Language) constraint rules, the logic that stops a sales rep from quoting a combination that can't physically be built. That work needed a rare mix of skills: deep RCA and CML expertise, plus real familiarity with the product itself. Only a handful of people could do it well, and even for them, one product took 24 to 35 hours of focused effort, at a cost of roughly €3,000 to €5,000 in specialist time. With a catalogue running to dozens of products, Kingspan's RCA investment was returning slower than it should have.

Overcoming the High Cost of Manual CPQ Onboarding

The math was working against the business case. At three working days per product, expanding the RCA catalogue fast enough to matter meant either tying up scarce senior specialists for months, or accepting that most of the product range would stay off the platform. This meant sales reps falling back on manual quoting for exactly the products where mistakes were most expensive. A single missed constraint rule in a configurable roof ventilator isn't a cosmetic bug; it's a quote for something that can't be manufactured.

The Strategic Blueprint: A Collaborative Solution

Nextview partnered with Brink's, adopting a "shoulder-to-shoulder" approach with a phased, agile implementation. This was a strategic business transformation, not just a technology project, guided by Nextview's design-led approach and business advisory expertise. The project began by completing a service blueprint and leveraging pre-built accelerators to understand Brink's business context. Crucially, this collaboration extended to the field through observation days and feedback sessions. While the transition required an initial adjustment, this transparent approach turned early skepticism into high satisfaction and a widely supported solution. This agile and iterative execution, built on a SCRUM sprint cycle, allowed for continuous validation with these key users, mitigating risk and driving deep-rooted adoption. The solution involved:

• Phased Roll-out: The implementation was strategically planned to be risk-averse. It began with the Retail business, which had lower complexity, in a region-by-region  roll-out of Salesforce Field Service replacing legacy FSM systems with a modern, integrated platform.
• Core Functionality: Key features implemented included work order and parts management, dispatching, and a mobile app for engineers. This provided a single source of truth and a streamlined workflow.
• Data Migration and Integration: A low-complexity data migration strategy was executed, and integrations were established with the existing MS Dynamics ERP system and a third-party middleware (AWS) to ensure seamless data flow.
• Training and Adoption: A train-the-trainer program was designed to ensure smooth adoption, with on-site support provided during the go-live phase to manage risks and support end-users.

The Impact: Driving Tangible Results

The project delivered significant results, transforming Brink's field service operations:

• Reduced Business Continuity Risk: By decommissioning the outdated FSM systems, Brink's eliminated a major operational risk.
• Operational Efficiency: Real-time insights into travel times, on-site working hours, and current inventory levels have enabled optimized planning. This resulted in a 20-25% increase in Stops Per Hour (SPH).
• Enhanced Service Delivery: By implementing a streamlined system, Brink's has significantly strengthened its ability to meet contractual SLAs and KPIs. This commitment to seamless service is reflected in the results, with the overall quality of service delivery increasing by 40% to 50% across various clients.
• Increased user empowerment: Field engineers now have a modern mobile app with all necessary information, enabling them to work more efficiently and accurately.

Paving the Way for a Resilient Future

Looking ahead, Brink's is now positioned for continuous innovation. The Salesforce platform provides a scalable foundation for future enhancements, including:

• Deployment of Field Service to other countries and partners.
• Fast enhancements of new features and optimizations based on user feedback.
• Extensibility through easier integration with a new ERP system 
• Efficiency at scale through native AI and automation capabilities

This transformation has not only addressed a critical business challenge but has also enabled Brink's to solidify its position as a reliable and future-ready partner in the financial services industry.