Collaboration System Cuts Unexpected CostsCollaboration System Cuts Unexpected Costs

Collaboration technology typically is used for internal company communications, but Siemens Medical Solutions has given it a new role. Siemens recently installed a Web-based collaboration system for sharing information with its business partners and customers, and it expects the system to reduce costs associated with the sale of large, complex medical equipment to hospitals.

The sale and installation of equipment such as CT scanners, radiology information systems, and ultrasound machines is often complicated, involving collaboration among salespeople, project managers, freight companies, subcontractors, and customers.

Siemens' new E-Logistics Virtual Information System, based on technology from Groove Networks, gives all parties involved in a sale online access to information. Siemens expects that the system, which cost less than $1 million, will pay for itself within six to nine months, says Doug LaVigne, VP of logistics.

In the past, communication breakdowns often resulted in delays and extra costs for the company and its customers. For example, technicians attempting to deliver equipment sometimes found it too big to fit through a hospital room's doors. Now, when a salesperson submits a proposal into Siemens' Siebel CRM system, it triggers the creation of a job folder and alerts all involved parties. That folder collects and holds even the most basic information such as door measurements. "We have a total understanding of the project," LaVigne says.

The new system also aids sales forecasting and related functions. The data that's collected in job folders is automatically routed to a data warehouse, where it's analyzed for sales reports.

Providing a common communication platform for business partners is a step ahead of how most companies have used collaboration technology, says Frost & Sullivan analyst David Alexander. He expects that next year, collaboration vendors will try to show how their products can go beyond improving internal communications to solving specific business problems.