New Features Create a B2C Experience for B2B Manufacturing Products to Enhance Real-Time Collaboration and Improve the Buying Experience

CHICAGO and STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Sept. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Tacton, a global leader in Smart Commerce solutions for manufacturers with CPQ, today announced the launch of new self-serve capabilities that allow manufacturers to enable their customers to visualize, configure and purchase B2B manufacturing products with ease. The new capabilities empower end customers by improving the real-time collaboration process, thus shortening the sales cycle.

One of the biggest challenges of B2B manufacturing buying and selling is the amount of back-and-forth collaboration that needs to take place between manufacturers and their customers. This challenge has been exacerbated by the global pandemic, which has left companies short-staffed and forced more interactions online, accelerating the need for a B2C experience in B2B manufacturing. Customers need to be able to do more through self-service channels. Tacton’s new capabilities help overcome this challenge by putting the power in the hands of end customers so they can visualize and customize products on the devices and platforms they prefer, all but eliminating the need for meetings and phone calls with sales reps.

“Tacton already has the most advanced configuration and visualization on the market, allowing manufacturers to quickly customize and visualize advanced products for their customers. These new capabilities take it a step further and put that power in the hands of the end customer so they can remain engaged throughout their entire buying journey,” said Nils Olsson, Chief Evangelist Officer at Tacton. “This shortens the cycle time from product concept to completed product, and significantly decreases the cost of getting a correct quote to the customer.”

Customer Self-Service Adds Value
The Gartner “New B2B Buying Journey & its Implication for Sales” special report says, “suppliers must enable buyers to complete buying jobs. To win in this B2B buying environment, suppliers should focus on providing customers with information that is specifically designed to help them complete their buying jobs. We call this ‘buyer enablement’ — the provisioning of information to customers in a way that enables them to complete critical buying jobs.” Further, “As hard as it has become to sell in today’s world, it has become that much more difficult to buy. The single biggest challenge of selling today is not selling, it is actually our customers’ struggle to buy.”*

Tacton’s Customer Self-Service functionality is designed specifically for B2B manufacturers and allows for account-based pricing, product portfolio browsing, contracted pricing and personalized offers. Advanced constraint-based online product configuration enables customers to create draft proposals on the same day a new product offer is launched.

Customer benefits include:

• Accelerated sales velocity that lets customers create their own quotes to shorten the quote process.
• Improved operational efficiencies that empower customers and sales teams to work together.
• An enhanced customer experience that enables customers to serve their own specific needs.
• Unmatched value by giving customers the self-service capabilities they want. Tacton customers on average see a 34% increase in efficiency and a 30% increase in sales volume, leading to a 20% increase in net profit.

“For Husky’s digital transformation it’s key to use ‘best of breed solutions’ that span across all businesses,” said Steffen Bönecke, Director of Global Engineering and Operation Transformation at Husky. “Tacton is a key element in Husky’s sales process.”

Needs-based guided selling configuration and visualization now make it possible for customers to configure manufacturers’ complex product on their own, even without any deep technical knowledge. The visual configurator helps buyers customize products with just a few simple clicks, making for a consumer-grade experience.

In a Sept. 17 webinar, Tacton will demonstrate how personalized customer experiences, product configuration, real-time 3D visualization and proposal collaboration create a frictionless buying experience while increasing sales efficiency. Register for the webinar at https://www2.tacton.com/webinar-empower-your-customer-us

*Gartner “New B2B Buying Journey & its Implication for Sales,” 2020. https://www.gartner.com/en/sales/insights/b2b-buying-journey

About Tacton
Tacton enables Smart Commerce for manufacturers by empowering organizations to extend beyond traditional commerce. Tacton Smart Commerce ensures manufacturers always offer optimal solutions to their customers throughout the entire B2B buyer journey. Our industry expertise and leading technology enable a seamless customer experience. Tacton provides solutions to our global customers such as ABB, Bosch, Caterpillar, Daimler, MAN, Mitsubishi, Siemens, Toshiba and Yaskawa. Tacton is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and Stockholm, Sweden, with regional offices in Karlsruhe, Germany; Warsaw, Poland; and Tokyo, Japan.

Contact:
tactonpr@bocacommunications.com

CHICAGO and STOCKHOLM, August 26, 2020 — Tacton, a global leader in Smart Commerce solutions for manufacturers, today announced the appointment of Bo Gyldenvang as CEO.

Gyldenvang joins Tacton with extensive software and services experience and was most recently COO at Software AG Americas, a leading enterprise integration and IoT software platform globally. Prior to this, he held management positions at software companies such as BMC Software and HP Software. Gyldenvang will bring deep global enterprise software experience to the existing Tacton leadership guiding the team in the next growth phase.

Gyldenvang takes over as CEO from Frederic Laziou, who since late 2016 has successfully driven the transformation of Tacton from a leading European on-premise CPQ vendor into a leading global SaaS CPQ vendor as recognized by Gartner.

Lars Lunde, Chairman, says: “We are very excited to have Bo lead the team at Tacton. His extensive and proven expertise in leading global and growing software and services organizations will be a strong asset to the company’s continued impressive growth journey.”

Klas Orsvärn, Co-founder, adds: “I am also thrilled to have Bo joining us with his experienced leadership, and I look forward to supporting him as a Tacton board member. The commitment from our investors to our vision is a strong foundation, and I am grateful that Frederic has led us so far on that journey.”

Lars Lunde continues: “Tacton is experiencing strong demand for its software and services offering driven by the increasing focus by manufacturers globally to reinvent and digitalize the B2B buying experience. With our market-leading CPQ solution, Tacton is a critical component enabling smart commerce for manufacturers. Our unique market position is highlighted by being named as a Visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for CPQ. I look forward to working with Bo and the strong Tacton team in this exciting new chapter for the company.”

“I am very pleased to join Tacton at this pivotal time in the company’s history,” says Bo Gyldenvang.

“Tacton truly stands out as a thought leader in the CPQ market. With their unique product and unparalleled manufacturing expertise accumulated over 20 years, they are perfectly positioned to help manufacturers in their battle to design, sell and deliver highly customized products in a smart way. I really look forward to working with the broader Tacton team to execute on our growth strategy,” Gyldenvang concludes.

About Tacton

Tacton enables Smart Commerce for manufacturers by empowering organizations to extend beyond traditional commerce. Tacton Smart Commerce ensures manufacturers always offer optimal solutions to their customers throughout the entire B2B buyer journey. Our industry expertise and leading technology enable a seamless customer experience. Tacton provides solutions to our global customers such as ABB, Bosch, Caterpillar, Daimler, MAN, Mitsubishi, Siemens, Toshiba and Yaskawa. Tacton is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and Stockholm, Sweden, with regional offices in Karlsruhe, Germany; Warsaw, Poland; and Tokyo, Japan.

Contact:
tactonpr@bocacommunications.com

Danish Food Packaging Pioneer goes live with Tacton Smart Commerce shortening time-to-value and delivering sales efficiency

Plus Pack goes Live with Tacton Smart Commerce

STOCKHOLM, Sweden and ODENSE, Denmark, June 2, 2020  – Tacton, a global leader in enabling Smart Commerce for manufacturers, today announced that one of their newest customers, Plus Pack, has gone live with Tacton Smart Commerce. Plus Pack, an established food packaging manufacturer based in Odense, Denmark, has made Product Configuration a crucial component of their digital strategy. Plus Pack’s mission is to become the preferred partner of customized and sustainable packaging solutions, and with Tacton Smart Commerce they are well-equipped to reach their goals faster and more efficiently.

Plus Pack’s products are essential to the food supply chain and as such, their production lines have continued operating during the Covid-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, Plus Pack’s project teams have been working from home, continuing their CPQ (Configure Price Quote) implementation project, including testing and internal training. Plus Pack sees CPQ as a key software of their digitalization strategy and that enables them to maintain their promise of helping their customers stand out.

“For us at Plus Pack, we needed a tool that allows us to continue implementing our partnership strategy with our customers, while also allowing our sales processes to run more efficiently. Tacton CPQ will help ensure that we can deliver exactly what was promised to the customer,” Bastian Fietje, Head of Groups Projects at Plus Pack.

The CPQ implementation is the latest milestone in their digital transformation journey, which is driven by Plus Pack’s CEO, Anders Top Haustrup. His team understood the value and impact digitalization has on manufacturing. Previously, they have been successful in replacing their legacy ERP system, paving the way for a Could-based CPQ solution like Tacton. With today’s launch, Plus Pack trusts Tacton Smart Commerce to increase their ability to deliver a faster, more flexible, and superior buying experience for their customers.

“These are challenging times, even for our customers working in the food industry. Launching Tacton Smart Commerce is an important milestone for us. It will allow us to better serve our customers by shortening the time to value and continue our strategy of helping our customers stand-out with sustainable packaging solutions.” Anders Top Haustrup, CEO – Plus Pack.

“Plus Pack’s implementation of Smart Commerce during these unprecedented times carries an important message to the manufacturing industry. Digital technologies, like CPQ, are more important than ever, as they enable manufacturers to work smarter and faster. I’m confident that with Tacton Smart Commerce, Plus Pack will be more resilient and able to achieve new levels of success, even under tough economic environments.” Frederic Laziou, CEO – Tacton.

About Tacton  

Tacton enables Smart Commerce for manufacturers by empowering organizations to extend beyond traditional commerce. Tacton Smart Commerce ensures manufacturers always offer optimal solutions to their customers throughout the entire B2B buyer journey. Our industry expertise and leading technology enable a seamless customer experience. Tacton provides solutions to our global customers such as ABB, Bosch, Caterpillar, Daimler, MAN, Mitsubishi, Siemens, Toshiba and Yaskawa. Tacton is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and Stockholm, Sweden, with regional offices in Karlsruhe, Germany; Warsaw, Poland; and Tokyo, Japan.

About Plus Pack

Plus Pack designs develops and manufactures innovative and sustainable packaging solutions for food and meals worldwide. The company is headquartered in Denmark, dating back to 1914 and currently run by 4th generation Haustrup family. Production takes place in Denmark and in Belgium. Plus Pack places a particular focus on the UN’s Global Goal no. 12: ‘Responsible Consumption and Production’, and the vision is to be the preferred partner of customized and sustainable packaging solutions, delivering 100% recyclable products with zero CO₂ emissions. Plus Pack employs 220 people and is in positive development based on the promise “We make food stand out”.

 Contact:

tactonpr@bocacommunications.com

Offering Shortens the Sales Cycle, Reduces Order Errors and Educates Customers by Enabling Real-Time Collaboration Throughout the Buying Process 

CHICAGO and STOCKHOLM, March 16, 2020 — Tacton, a global leader in Smart Commerce solutions for manufacturers, today announced expanded visualization capabilities, enhancing the customer experience by giving manufacturers the ability to configure and view customized products in 3D and real-time via an interactive interface. Tacton Visualization empowers customers to make informed business decisions quicker and with fewer errors, shortening the sales cycle thanks to real-time collaboration throughout the buying process.

Today’s B2B  customers want the ability to do more on their own and see their customized products in context. Antiquated processes inhibit this due to silos and manual processes that cause inefficient collaboration and misunderstandings between customers and manufacturers. Tacton Visualization confronts these challenges by giving customers the ability to bring their products to life with 3D modeling in real-time, allowing customers to make tweaks and adjustments on the fly while integrating sales and engineering teams, making for a more seamless and efficient buying process.

“The manufacturing sales process has historically been bogged down by inaccurate orders and poor overall customer experience, particularly by today’s modern standard of placing the customer at the center of every business transaction,” said Frederic Laziou, CEO of Tacton. “Tacton Visualization elevates the buying process with a consumer-like experience that allows customers to make their own design changes in real-time, which radically improves sales effectiveness for manufacturers.”

Visualization product highlights include:

• Real-time visualization. Customers communicate in real-time using an on-screen configurator, with varying viewpoints for fast navigation and orientation.

• Drag-and-drop capabilities. A consumer-grade experience allows customers to make design adjustments throughout the buying process.

• Augmented reality. Customers have the ability to visualize their products in context and use AR in live CPQ sessions.

• Manufacturers can integrate product images and QR codes for AR directly within customer quotes.
• Mobile support. A mobile app is currently available for iOS devices.

Tacton Visualization builds on the company’s 20-plus years of delivering Smart Commerce solutions, powered by Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ) technology, to manufacturing customers. Manufacturing sales teams and customers interact directly within a single tool thanks to Tacton’s deep knowledge of vertical manufacturing requirements and experience creating and managing visuals. The solution is integrated into Tacton CPQ, meaning no third-party software or plugins are required.

• Book a demo and see how Tacton can help your company increase efficiencies, sales volume, and net profit
• Follow thought leaders shaping the future of Smart Commerce on the Tacton Blog For more information on Tacton Visualization download the Tacton Visualization ebook, or visit https://www.tacton.com/visual-configuration/ .
  

  For more information on Tacton and its smart manufacturing capabilities:

• View how Visualization helped Tacton become a Visionary in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Configure, Price and Quote Application Suites
• Get the Manufacturer’s Guide to Smart Commerce to keep up with new B2B customer expectations

About Tacton:

Tacton enables Smart Commerce for manufacturers by empowering organizations to extend beyond traditional commerce. Tacton Smart Commerce ensures manufacturers always offer optimal solutions to their customers throughout the entire B2B buyer journey. Our industry expertise and leading technology enable a seamless customer experience. Tacton provides solutions to our global customers such as ABB, Bosch, Caterpillar, Daimler, MAN, Mitsubishi, Siemens, Toshiba and Yaskawa. Tacton is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and Stockholm, Sweden, with regional offices in Karlsruhe, Germany; Warsaw, Poland; and Tokyo, Japan.

# # #

Contact:

tactonpr@bocacommunications.com

Company Has Its Best Year Attracting New Customers in North America and Showing Growth of More Than 100%

CHICAGO and STOCKHOLM, March 9, 2020 — Tacton, a global leader in Smart Commerce solutions for manufacturers,  today announced strong customer momentum throughout 2019, with an equally strong trajectory expected throughout 2020. The company also achieved several honors for its differentiated product advancements. Tacton’s growth reflects strong demand for its solutions that leverage Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ) technologies to help modern manufacturers address the challenges they face with customizing high variance products, increasing efficiencies, sales volume, and net profit for Tacton clients. 

“We are proud of our recent momentum because we believe it signifies stability on three fronts: analysts, existing customers and businesses that want the support of our world-class organization and solutions,” said Frederic Laziou, CEO of Tacton. “We think all of this positivity has created a rock-solid foundation for 2020 and put us in position for further momentum moving forward.”

Tacton New Business Growth Accelerates

The company also secured a significant amount of new customers in North America to close out 2019, signing or expanding major manufacturers such as Pelco, G&W, Husky, Caterpillar, and many more.  The business had its best year to date in attracting new North American customers, showing 105% growth in annual recurring revenue (ARR).

A Gartner Magic Quadrant Visionary

In 2019 Tacton was named a Visionary in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Configure, Price and Quote Application Suites1. This is significant to Tacton because it is the second year the organization named Tacton in the report. Gartner recognized Tacton for its ability to execute and completeness of vision.

Tacton Listed as G2 High Performer for Winter 2020

Additionally, Tacton was named a G2 High Performer for Winter 2020, recognition that stems from the experience of real every-day users. G2 scores products and vendors based on reviews gathered from its community, as well as data aggregated from other online sources and social networks. The firm applies a unique algorithm to this data to calculate customer satisfaction and market presence scores in real-time.

As an example, one reviewer said, “Especially on the sales side, my company has seen such efficiency improvements since using Tacton, that working without it would no longer be acceptable. The time required for a sales representative to create a complicated technical offer has been reduced from days to minutes.”

For more information on Tacton and its smart manufacturing capabilities,

• Book a demo and see how Tacton can help your company increase efficiencies, sales volume, and net profit
• Follow thought leaders shaping the future of Smart Commerce at the Tacton Blog
• Get the Manufacturer’s Guide to Smart Commerce to keep up with new B2B customer expectations

1 Source: Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Configure, Price and Quote Application Suites, Christina Klock, Mark Lewis, 28 October 2019. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Tacton:

Tacton enables Smart Commerce for manufacturers by empowering organizations to extend beyond traditional commerce. Tacton Smart Commerce ensures manufacturers always offer optimal solutions to their customers throughout the entire B2B buyer journey. Our industry expertise and leading technology enable a seamless customer experience. Tacton provides solutions to our global customers such as ABB, Bosch, Caterpillar, Daimler, MAN, Mitsubishi, Siemens, Toshiba and Yaskawa. Tacton is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and Stockholm, Sweden, with regional offices in Karlsruhe, Germany; Warsaw, Poland; and Tokyo, Japan.

 Contact:

tactonpr@bocacommunications.com

Tacton named a Visionary in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Configure, Price and Quote Application Suites  

CHICAGO, IL and STOCKHOLM, Sweden – October 29, 2019  – Tacton, a global leader enabling smart commerce for manufacturers, has been named a Visionary by Gartner in their “Magic Quadrant for Configure, Price and Quote Application Suites.” This is the second year that Tacton has been recognized in the report, evaluated for its CPQ platform.  

According to the report “Gartner’s view of the CPQ market is focused on transformational technologies or approaches delivering the future needs of end-users. It is not focused on the market as it is today, but on CPQ technology that will contribute to digital business strategies and outcomes.” 

“To us, it’s a great honor to be once again recognized in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Configure, Price and Quote Application Suites,” says Frederic Laziou, CEO of Tacton Systems. “We are focused on providing the best software solutions for manufacturers and we believe that today’s announcement validates our commitment to our customers.” 

Tacton has been developing software solutions for manufacturers for over 20 years and its software solutions are used by some of the world’s leading manufacturers; including: Siemens, ABB, MAN, Daimler, Scania and Yaskawa.  Our CPQ solutions also integrate with other core software suites like Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics and SAP.   

Source: 

Gartner “Magic Quadrant for Configure, Price and Quote Application Suites,” by Christina Klock and Mark Lewis, October 28 2019 

Gartner Disclaimer: 

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. 

About Tacton   

Tacton enables Smart Commerce for manufacturers by empowering organizations to extend beyond traditional commerce. Tacton Smart Commerce ensures manufacturers always offer optimal solutions to their customers throughout the entire B2B buyer journey. Our industry expertise and leading technology enable a seamless customer experience. Tacton provides solutions to our global customers such as ABB, Bosch, Caterpillar, Daimler, MAN, Mitsubishi, Siemens, Toshiba and Yaskawa. Tacton is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and Stockholm, Sweden, with regional offices in Karlsruhe, Germany; Warsaw, Poland; and Tokyo, Japan. 

Media Contact
Mikkel Drucker, Chief Marketing Officer   

Tacton Systems 

Email: marketing@tacton.com 

+1 312 973 0523 

STOCKHOLM, Sweden and CHICAGO, IL – October 17, 2019  – Tacton Systems has been awarded an innovation grant by Vinnova, Sweden’s Innovation Agency to develop its Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities including Machine Learning (ML). For this project, Tacton has partnered with ScaleOut, a tech startup from Uppsala, Sweden specializing in the application of Machine Learning solutions. This collaboration aims to combine Tacton’s expertise in providing Smart Commerce solutions for manufacturers and Scaleout’s platform for developing ML capabilities and prototyping AI capabilities.

There is a wide range of practical applications of ML in manufacturing. For example, when creating a quote of a complex product, ML will enable manufacturers to not only configure the product (something the AI-powered Tacton CPQ already does quite well) but also it will be able to store data from past configurations and recommend a more optimal solution. This can also be applied to smart pricing, where changes in stock levels and on exchange rates can automatically be factored into the price. Ultimately it enables manufacturers to create a Smart Commerce experience and providing a superior customer experience to its customers.

“This research project will enable us to innovate and prototype new products and solutions,” Thorbjörn Frisk, Chief Technology Officer – Tacton. “We are looking forward to collaborating with Scaleout who will bring in new perspectives and way of working with AI and ML. I wanted to thank Max Leitgeb, Senior Product Manager, for running the project, and Vinnova for their support. These are exciting times for the team, and we can’t wait to get started.”

The grant aims to develop a prototype for a Machine Learning focusing on manufacturers as a way to promote a wide application of AI and ML in the industry. The grant is primarily focused on innovative and practical applications of Machine Learning. The project will start on October 2019 and will continue well into 2020.

About Tacton Systems: Tacton enables Smart Commerce for manufacturers by empowering organizations to extend beyond traditional commerce. Tacton Smart Commerce ensures manufacturers always offer optimal solutions to their customers throughout the entire B2B buyer journey. Our industry expertise and leading technology enable a seamless customer experience. Tacton provides solutions to our global customers such as ABB, Bosch, Caterpillar, Daimler, MAN, Mitsubishi, Siemens, Toshiba, and Yaskawa. Tacton is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and Stockholm, Sweden, with regional offices in Karlsruhe, Germany; Warsaw, Poland; and Tokyo, Japan.