BIG ASS FANS
Cool manufacturing partnerships Big Ass Fans partnered with many specialty firms to provide expertise in key areas of their transformation . One partner , Reaktor , was brought in to help overhaul their website design .
“ Reaktor comes with an exemplary pedigree of work on website experiences and technology . We were struggling with how best to marry our residential experience and our industrial experience online and making that seamless for our customers . Reaktor helped us think through that and implement the changes .”
“ What really impressed me about Reaktor is that they were willing to work with us upfront to prove their value . They went in and evaluated our website and came back with some real recommendations before we even had a formalised working arrangement .”
In Spring 2024 , Big Ass Fans will launch its new online experience , which is going to be familiar , yet refreshed .
Another of Big Ass Fans ’ strategic partnerships is with CTSI Global , the vendor for its new transportation management system , Honeybee™ .
“ Our goal was to improve our logistics experience for our customers . We want to make sure that the customer is informed on the status of their shipment ’ s progress in a timely manner as well as help to streamline our internal operational processes . A transportation management system is something that our operations facilities utilise to pick the best route at the best price , and then optimises that selection to ensure timely delivery for our customers ,” she says .
Through interfaces with CTSI , Big Ass Fans can better inform its customers in a more proactive way about where their shipment is along that path .
“INDUSTRY MUST MOVE WITH THE SPEED OF TECHNOLOGY ”
KIMBERLY EUBANK CHIEF DIGITAL INFORMATION OFFICER , BIG ASS FANS
“ We are about halfway through the project . We expect to get a lot of efficiencies out of the new system as well as having a lot more visibility through the final leg of delivery for our customers . We are very excited to complete that project .”
Over the next 12 to 18 months , Big Ass Fans will be focused on completing a lot of its first tranche of work . But the busy season for fan purchases is fast approaching .
“ Our busy season , as you might imagine for fans , is in the summer ,” she explains . “ We have a lot of things that we ’ re trying to get done before then .”
In the autumn , Big Ass Fans will begin to take its ERP to the cloud .
“ We ’ re committed to not carrying over technical debt into the new architecture and to rethinking what ’ s the right operational processes for how we do business in 2024 and beyond .”
Eubank is looking forward to evolving the current ERP into the cloud with new , cleaner , more streamlined and automated work processes , so the company can keep building fans that keep customers comfortable , without compromise . 68 April 2024