As leaders in their industry, Multiquip wanted to provide customers with a convenient way to access product information on the Web. To supply dealers with the most current data on construction equipment, Multiquip product managers needed an easy and reliable system for updating the Web site as new products were released throughout the year.

Before choosing RedDot, Multiquip managed their Web content in a homegrown system controlled by an external Web vendor. After moving their Web site in-house, Multiquip still required technical resources to complete simple Web tasks, such as modifying templates and posting content. Multiquip also found that it was unable to replicate some of the site’s previous functionality in the newer Web project.

Managing different versions of its Web site in separate locations began to impact consistency as well as Multiquip's budget. The result was a Web site that was out of date, poorly managed and costly to maintain.
Internally, Multiquip faced the challenge of administering company information that was stored in several locations and on different platforms. The lack of a corporate Intranet – a centralized portal that would allow employees to easily access company files and applications - created manual work, insufficient data and user frustration.
Solution

Multiquip realized that their current content management process was not meeting the needs of customers or employees. "We wanted more out of our Web site. With our previous solution, the administrator was required to know the system in depth and possess technical skills to ensure that the Web site was up and running," says David Price, Web Development Coordinator at Multiquip. "We wanted a Web content management solution that could give us more flexibility without requiring a full-time programmer on staff."

Multiquip began to search for a content management system that met their budget and provided a simple user interface for non-technical contributors. The Web team researched and evaluated several content management vendors, including RedDot and Microsoft.

Price states, "We found Microsoft to be very complex. It appeared to be much heavier on the back-end and required staff that was knowledgeable in coding templates and handling multiple servers." He continues, "RedDot was a lot simpler. Also, the system is intuitive when it comes to building and managing templates. RedDot doesn’t require any technical skills or employees in IT to help maintain the site."

RedDot offered Multiquip a solution that required minimal effort and technical skill to publish content within a short time frame. David Price attests to this strength as a major factor in Multiquip’s decision to select RedDot as their WCM solution. "RedDot's major draw was providing product managers with the ability to make their updates directly in the CMS system. We wanted to make sure that if they needed to make a change to a piece of content, such as changing a spec, they were free to do it without asking IT for help."

RedDot was a lot simpler. Also, the system is intuitive when it comes to building and managing templates. RedDot doesn’t require any technical skills or employees in IT to help maintain the site.

David Price, Web Development Coordinator

Finally, Multiquip envisioned building an internal company site with search capabilities and personalized content based on employee profiles. Price reveals, “One of the reasons we chose RedDot was the strong personalization capabilities that the solution offered. We were looking to build an Intranet down the road and also wanted to start running online marketing campaigns using RedDot LiveServer.

Multiquip chose RedDot for its ability to provide:

• A convenient, browser-based interface for administrators and end-users
• The ability to personalize campaigns and deliver content based on user settings
• A centralized portal for increasing sales response time and employee efficiency
• Strong customer support and a quick implementation time

Today, Multiquip easily maintains its product catalog Web site in the RedDot Web content management system. Online, Web visitors are able to easily browse and search for a product model, view photos and read detailed descriptions on benefits and specifications.

The most significant change has been Multiquip's Intranet, which gives employees the ability to sign in once and access company applications in one, central location. Inside the portal, Multiquip employees can submit expense reports, navigate within the company’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution and retrieve reports directly from the SAP system.

RedDot has helped Multiquip automate and simplify day-to-day business processes that were previously manual, broken and difficult to track. Employees can now submit time-off request forms through an automated workflow, which goes directly to their supervisor’s inbox for approval.

Multiquip's sales and service employees are also finding great use in the Intranet’s reporting system, which is integrated directly with SAP. Using a simple dropdown menu, sales can automatically generate different reports based on customer order number and location. RedDot stores the dropdown value in each employee’s profile as a query that can automatically re-populate upon their next visit. This process is a time-saver for sales representatives who need to run quick, accurate reports when servicing customers out in the field. Also, because the information is pushed directly from the SAP system, sales employees are receiving critical customer information in real-time.

"The new Intranet helps sales better understand their customers. When a customer calls, a sales representative can view when an order has shipped, where it is located, the tracking number and the exact date it left their warehouse. Instead of calling accounting, shipping or inside sales, they can easily get those answers and respond quickly to their customers," says Price.

Multiquip is very satisfied with the RedDot system, as well as the customer support they have received from the RedDot team. Price believes that RedDot’s customer support and education opportunities have been instrumental in helping to get the Multiquip sites to where they are today. “The RedDot professional services team has been pretty phenomenal. They were able to come on site and put together our LiveServer portal in three days. The system they have built for us is great, fast and works well for our organization."

The Multiquip Web team plans to follow up on their current success by redesigning their existing portal to include an employee database where staff can easily search for colleague phone numbers, titles and even view photos. Other future projects include incorporating personalization into their Web site where visitors can log in to view information that is explicitly geared towards their user profile.

RedDot, The Open Text Web Solutions Group with more than a decade of experience in Web Content Management (WCM), provides Web-Centric ECM solutions to create, manage and deliver the content that drives business. RedDot content management and delivery solutions are recognized throughout the industry for their legendary ease of use and feature leading multilingual support; enterprise Web 2.0 capabilities; content integration; and contextualized delivery. From midmarket to enterprise, more than 2600 clients around the world rely on RedDot to create, manage and deliver personalized Web experiences for their Intranets, Extranets and Web sites.

For more information about RedDot, The Open Text Web Solutions Group, please visit: www.reddot.com