“We’ve counted on Pearl Technology’s resources for second-tier desktop support, as well as all maintenance and warranty-related items for eight years now. Their engineering staff and leadership team participate in key roles when we undertake any server-based project. Having a complex infrastructure and supporting global operations, I rely heavily on Pearl Technology for their support, advice, and guidance with my daily operations.” – IT Manager, Kress Corporation
Customer Profile
The Kress Corporation is a family-owned manufacturing and engineering company located in Brimfield, Ill. Kress is recognized worldwide as the leading and most innovative producer of material-handling equipment for steel mills, copper smelters, and strip mines, and has been contributing to the industry with groundbreaking equipment since its inception.
Business Requisites
Kress IT Manager, Monte Kenney, approached Pearl Technology to complete the design and development of the carriers portion of the website, which had been initiated by an independent programmer but needed to be executed with more expertise. Customers and dealers needed to be able to access Parts, Service, Bulletins, and Flash files on each model. The process would need to include uploading files and coding them to link to their respective Kress Carriers, and coding had to allow for modification as new types of equipment are added to Kress's inventory.
The Pearl Technology Solution
“Pearl came out and listened to what we needed, made some suggestions, and we arrived at a sound starting point,” says Gene Higgs, Technical Information Specialist for Kress Corporation.
The development team at Pearl completed Kress’s customer and dealer online portal project by creating a new database, migrating data, and designing and implementing the Kress Carrier portion of the website. Pearl quickly gave Kress the ability to upload files to the portal and coded these files to link to a specific Kress Carrier or a broad range of Kress Carriers. They also gave Kress personnel the ability to modify the coding as new types of equipment are added to meet their customers’ needs.
With Pearl’s solution, customers and dealers visiting Kress Corporation’s website are better able to access the information they need on Kress Carriers quickly and easily. Pearl Technology not only uploaded files into the new database, but they also gave Kress the ability to do this in the future without wasting valuable time hand- selecting file links to all related machines—which sometimes could be in the hundreds. To avoid this hassle for Kress Corporation personnel, Pearl designed a timesaving program that simplified the process, requiring only a valid part number to automatically populate all vehicle types, models, and serial number fields for a data file.
Benefits to Client
- Collaboration opportunity for personnel and suppliers
- Content centralization & integrity
- Efficient & flexible online database structure through retainable data and drop-down forms
- Enhanced security hides dealer-only options from customers and vice versa
- Simplified data migration and easily uploaded documents
- Cost savings—template developed to minimize data modification time allows resources to be reallocated as needed
Client Reaction
The site is now more focused on quality customer service and user experience. “We have received several favorable comments from our customers regarding the way the Kress Support Information Portal is user friendly and provides the information that they need to service their Kress Carrier,” says Higgs. “Another added plus is Kress personnel are now using the site to access information for themselves as they put service and design information together.”