Podcasts about tacton

In this episode, Frank speaks with Kristian Frøstrup Madsen, a CPQ expert with over 13 years at CPC (now part of PDSVision), about how modular thinking is reshaping CPQ for complex manufacturing industries. They cover: How CPC approaches Modular Architecture, Modular PLM, and Modular CPQ Why a product-focused background leads to better CPQ outcomes than pure IT consulting The growing need to connect PLM and CPQ Practical insights on where AI adds value to CPQ projects—and where it doesn't Partnerships with leading CPQ vendors like Tacton, Configit and Epicor Kristian also shares a personal glimpse into his life near Denmark's “Cold Hawaii,” where he surfs with his kids—and what keeps him passionate about solving complex configuration challenges. Whether you work in CPQ, PLM, or complex B2B manufacturing, this episode offers valuable perspectives on building smarter, modular configurators.

In this episode of the CPQ Podcast, Frank sits down with Kristofer to dive into the evolution of DynaMaker, a platform that seamlessly integrates CAD and visualization software with CPQ vendors. Kristofer shares insights on how DynaMaker enhances usability for engineers, fosters community engagement, and advances API integration. They also discuss the growing demand for visual configuration in CPQ, highlighting how customers expect dynamic, interactive previews of their configurable products. Kristofer explains the benefits of parametric visualization, which enables real-time 3D model adjustments, reducing the reliance on static images and improving the quoting process. Additionally, the conversation touches on DynaMaker's focus on the European market, its potential for U.S. expansion, and its partnerships with CPQ vendors like Tacton, Elfsquad, and Experlogix.  Whether you're an engineer, a CPQ professional, or just interested in the intersection of visualization and automation, this episode offers valuable insights into the future of CPQ-driven visual configuration. DynaMaker contact information: Website: https://dynamaker.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristofer-skyttner/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dynamaker 

The CPQ Podcast team has some updates for you before we take a short break for the winter holidays. 1. CPQ Sales Reports Are Here! We've been busy collaborating with CPQ vendors throughout 2024. We're proud to announce the release of our first industry analyst report called "CPQ Sales Report." These insightful reports analyze leading CPQ solutions, highlighting their strengths and ideal use cases. While we initially aimed to publish 10 reports by the end of the year, we're happy to report we're on track to deliver several more in the first quarter of 2025. Our goal remains to have 25-30 CPQ Sales Reports available by this time next year. 2. Power Up Your Feedback We want your help to make the CPQ Podcast even better in 2025! Here are some ways you can contribute: Would you like to see us regularly on YouTube? What do you love (or not love) about the show? Would you prefer deeper dives into specific CPQ topics with experts?  Are you craving more technical discussions? Let us know your thoughts! Your feedback is crucial as we strive to create even more engaging CPQ content next year. Share your ideas with us at info@novuscpq.com. We appreciate all your input and will take it to heart. Happy Holidays from the CPQ Podcast Team! We look forward to bringing you another year of thought-provoking episodes in 2025. The CPQ Podcast will be back on January 26, 2025

Have you been wondering how to best leverage customer reference calls to make better CPQ Solution decisions? In this episode, we dive into the essential questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how. We'll share practical tips and best practices to make the most of these important and powerful calls.

Unleash the power of modularity! This episode features Karl-Johan Linghede, a business veteran with over 25 years of experience, hailing from Stockholm, Sweden. He's the mastermind behind Modular Management, a company that's been revolutionizing how businesses handle complexity since its research roots in the 90s at Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology. Get ready to: Discover Karl-Johan's initial foray into the world of modularity and configurability. Learn the fascinating origin story of Modular Management – a research project turned industry leader. Deep dive into the MFD (Modular Function Deployment) Methodology – their secret weapon for tackling complexity. Explore their areas of expertise – from industries they serve to customer sizes and geographic reach. Gain insights into current market conditions and how they're shaping the future. Uncover the top 3 reasons why companies turn to Modular Management (hint: complexity is just one!). Get the scoop on their brand new PALMA configurator, just released in May 2024! But that's not all! We'll also delve into much more, giving you a comprehensive understanding of how Modular Management can help your business conquer complexity. Ready to take control? Tune in and unlock the power of modularity! Links: Website: https://www.modularmanagement.com/en/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karl-johan-linghede-710012b/

Join us for an insightful conversation with Heather Hershey, the Digital Commerce Research Director at IDC. Heather, a self-made entrepreneur with a unique journey from adult learner to commerce expert, shares her personal experiences and industry insights. In this episode, we dive deep into the world of IDC Analyst Reports and explore the current state of CPQ. Heather discusses her early days in CPQ, the valuable lessons learned from recent ProductScape and MarketScape reports, and her surprising discoveries during CPQ solution reviews. We also cover hot topics like digital quoting, subscriptions, and the "everything as a service" trend. Heather provides her expert perspective on these issues and shares her thoughts on the future of CPQ. Don't miss this opportunity to hear from one of the industry's leading analysts. Tune in to learn more about IDC's research and gain valuable insights into the world of CPQ. Note: Want to meet Heather in person? She'll be attending Optimizly Opticon the week of November 18th. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherhershey1/ 

We're revisiting the dynamic duo behind CPQ.se, Magnus Fasth and Patrik Skjelfoss, to see how their Tacton-powered System Integration rocket is blasting off! In this episode, you'll discover: How CPQ.se went from launchpad to success story in just 5 years (spoiler: it involves getting mid-sized companies up and running with Tacton in 4-5 months!) The latest trend of making CPQ solutions available for external users  The most critical CPQ challenges you NEED to know about (and how to conquer them!) AI in CPQ: Myth or magic? We'll explore real-world examples! When to customize your Tacton solution (and when to keep it vanilla) Their partnership with SkyMaker: Unpacking the difference between Tacton Visualization and SkyMaker/DynaMaker (so you can choose the right tool for the job!) Plus, even more insights to fuel your CPQ journey! Connect with CPQ.se: LinkedIn - Magnus Fasth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/magnusfasth/  LinkedIn - Patrik Skjelfoss: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrikskjelfoss/  Website:  https://www.cpq.se  Don't miss this episode – it's a Tacton treasure trove!

Attention CPQ enthusiasts! We've been overwhelmed with your interest in the CPQ Podcast since September 1st, and we appreciate your enthusiasm! To ensure we deliver the best possible content, we're taking a short, late-summer break until the end of September or early October. But fear not, we've already lined up some amazing guests for your listening pleasure when we return. In the meantime, dive deeper into the world of CPQ with these resources: CPQ Circle Subscription: Learn more about CPQ each month with our Newsletter and available advisory hours (https://novuscpq.com/subscriptions-cpq-circle/) CPQ Sales Report: Get the latest industry analyst report that addresses your CPQ questions about ONE CPQ solution (https://novuscpq.com/cpq-sales-report/) . Currently 2 reports are available and there will be more soon.  CPQ Buyers 101 Course: Master the fundamentals of CPQ buying processes. (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcf98S_lYEbGaOTwxlcmcm66CacC6b2tQ) We also have a quick update about the CPQ Thought Leader Summit on CPQ + AI. Due to unavailable live-customers, the summit has been canceled for now. For any questions, feel free to reach out to us at info@NovusCPQ.com 

We're thrilled to welcome Laith Al-Hashimi, founder of the Sirocco Group, back to the CPQ Podcast! Since his last appearance in 2022, Laith's Swedish system integration company specializing in CRM and CPQ solutions has experienced tremendous growth globally. In this episode, Laith dives deep into several key topics:  From University Startup to Industry Leader: Laith shares his inspiring story of launching his first company while still a student. Sirocco Group's Growth Trajectory: He discusses the impressive growth the company has achieved in the past few years and shares their ambitious plans for the next five years. CPQ Expertise Across the Board: Laith offers insights on Salesforce Revenue Cloud & RLM, Experlogix, and their exciting new global partnership with Tacton. The Value of CPQ Certifications: He explores his perspective on CPQ vendor certifications and the benefits they bring to customers. Navigating the Market Landscape: Laith sheds light on the current economic climate within their operating markets. Agile Success with Safe: He explains how his team leverages the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFE) to achieve agility and deliver exceptional results for their clients. This episode promises a wealth of knowledge and practical takeaways for anyone interested in CPQ solutions and scaling a successful business. Don't miss it! website  https://www.siroccogroup.com/ Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/laithalhashimi/ Twitter / X  @LaithAlHashimi email  laith.al-hashimi@siroccogroup.com 

This episode features Jan Brolsma, founder and CEO of Elfsquad, a Dutch CPQ vendor focused on small and medium-sized manufacturing companies (mostly up to $200 million annual revenue, and some beyond that) since 2016. Brolsma discusses: The impact of app development on the CPQ space. How Elfsquad's easy-to-use solution minimizes the need for professional services and custom coding. Their "API-first" approach and its benefits for Elfsquad and its customers. Elfsquad's expansion plans into new markets. Their pre-built integrations with other software solutions. "Archer," their proprietary development engine and its capabilities. The importance of visualization in the CPQ process. What a typical Elfsquad project entails. Their decision to operate without outside investors. "Archer 2.0" and other upcoming developments. Subscribe to the CPQ today to regularly receive CPQ insight for businesses of all sizes! Website: https://www.elfsquad.io/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-brolsma-18598649/details/experience/  Email:  jan@elfsquad.io   

We are excited to announce two new events we will start soon: CPQ Solution Deep Dives CPQ Thought Leader Summits CPQ Solution Deep Dives: Provide information about a typical customer journey with a specific CPQ Solution from selecting a solution to implementing that solution to the experience with that CPQ Solution in a production environment. Here a CPQ Vendor, a customer (and if needed, a CPQ System Implementer) will participate. CPQ Thought Leader Summits: Are educational, relationship building events where topics related to CPQ (i.e., AI + CPQ) will be discussed with multiple CPQ stakeholders. CPQ Vendors, CPQ System Implementers, CPQ customers and CPQ Educators.  Also make sure to check out our YouTube channel here and subscribe since some excerpts from these events may be published there.  Send any questions you have to Frank.Sohn@NovusCPQ.com

We wish everyone a great summer and want to let you know that we will be back on September 3 with a great lineup of interesting CPQ guests. Please let us know if you know of any CPQ Thought Leaders which have not been on the CPQ Podcast yet. If you do send an email to Frank.Sohn@NovusCPQ.com so we can talk to them. Here some more interesting information Teams looking at more CPQ Information before they select a CPQ Solution may want to look at our CPQ Buyers 101 Course. This is a 2 hour free overview of CPQ. Learn more here. We have a YouTube channel. Check it out here  Our yearly CPQ Circle Subscription, which ensures that CPQ Vendors, System Integrators, Customers, Prospects, and individuals keen on CPQ are consistently informed with impartial, monthly updates from the CPQ world. Additionally, the subscription includes a small number of advisory hours for personalized CPQ inquiries. Learn more here.  Learn more about CPQ. Every day!

In this episode you learn a little more about regulatory requirements that impact CPQ Solutions. For example you hear about Scope 1-3 emissions, California Senate Bill 261, Cap & Trade Systems, the difficult environment for current solutions because regulations are available on federal, state and city level, sourcing requirements, CSRE, CSRDDD and much more. If you need to learn more about these regulations checkout "Reuters Events" paper called "Legislation Directory: Insights on all major sustainabililty legislations (2023 Edition)" which was authored by Simran Kaur Chana, David Odhiambo and Oliver Pike. 

These are excerpts from our recent webinar with Ron Giuntini (G35 Software), Kiana Mostajabian + Eric Brockway (Revalize), Greg Bretz (Grundfos), Madeleine Bergrahm (Tacton), Alexis de Kerchove (Xylem), Patrick Johnston (Yagna iQ) and Bryan Holloway (Slalom). Here they talk about their understanding of sustainability and how it fits into a CPQ Solution. 

In this episode you hear from Forrester Analyst Robert Muñoz. Robert has 30 years of business experience with companies like HP, Avaya, Lucent and AT&T before he joined Forrester in 2019. He lives with his family in Miami, Florida. Here he talks about Forrester's CPQ related research, reports and services, Revenue Management, Price Optimization, Rebate Management, Visualization, Subscriptions, the CPQ Market over the next 12 months and much more LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertmunoz/ Twitter @rmunoz_ 

In this episode Frank provides some insights and considerations regarding the CPQ Market and about selecting a CPQ Solution. It provides basic info about Product Configurators (rule -based vs constraint-based solutions), Pricing and Quoting as well as some outlook regarding additional capabilities like AI/ML, visualization and so on.  It also shows some homework that customers have to do to increase the likelihood of a successful project. If you have any follow up questions contact Frank at Frank.Sohn@NovusCPQ.com .  Note: Novus CPQ offers a 2 hour FREE course for interested customers who want to dive a little deeper into some of the topics that Frank mentions here. Send email to info@NovusCPQ.com to learn more about that offer. 

In this episode you hear from Anthony Mirante (President) and Mark Keenan (Partner) of Technicon. Tony has 30+ years and Mark has 25+ years of business experience working with discrete manufacturers. They both live in the San Francisco Bay Area and have spent the last couple of decades working with CPQ Solutions. Here they talk about common CPQ Implementation challenges, why they think implementers need 5 years of experience and much more web www.technicon.com  LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirante/ 

In this episode I share some thoughts about how (generative) AI may be used in CPQ going forward. There are also some thoughts about how users may use it and some thoughts on how CPQ administrators may use it. I'm very interested to hear what you think about this topic and how important it is for your company / use case.  Send feedback to Frank.Sohn@NovusCPQ.com 

In this episode I talk to Google's Bard about CPQ topics to learn if and how Bard can be used for anyone that is interested in CPQ. At the end of each question there is a short note from me about the quality of the answer. Take a listen and try it yourself as well. Anyone interested to follow up on this go to https://bard.google.com and try it yourself.

In this episode you hear from Alexander Franck, CPQ Practice Lead at Fluido. Alexander has 10+ years of business experience with CPQ Solutions and lives with his family in Helsinki, Finland. Here he talks about Salesforce Revenue Cloud, Salesforce Industries, Epicor CPQ, Logik.io and Tacton, top CPQ customer requirements, expectations on modern CPQ Solutions from manufacturers, headless CPQ architecture and much more web www.fluidogroup.com email alexander.franck@fluidogroup.com LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/afranck/ 

In this episode you hear from Nils Olsson, CPO & CSO of Tacton. Nils has over 25 years of business experience with manufacturing companies and Tacton and lives with his family in Stockholm, Sweden. Here he talks about Tacton's SaaS CPQ Solution, their placement in the Gartner MQ Report, combinatorial problem solving, demand for subscription capabilities, demand for visualization, CAD Automation, Pricing capabilities and much more web www.tacton.com  LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nils-olsson-400715/  

We wish all our listeners a happy and healthy 2023! Here we announce a couple of short updates Next CPQ Podcast episode will be released January 15, 2023 Review the CPQ Podcast so more like-minded listeners can find it We now have YouTube channel that regularly provides video of CPQ Leaders, Customers, Thoughtleaders etc. Subscribe to it at https://youtu.be/D-j7hzi4nQc  Any questions send to Frank.Sohn@NovusCPQ.com 

In this episode you hear from Laith Al-Hashimi, Founder & CEO of the Sirocco Group. His team is providing System Implementation Services for CRM and CPQ Solutions globally. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden and has 20+ years experience. Here he talks about their CPQ Vendor Partners: Salesforce, Tacton and Experlogix, Aftermarket Services, IoT, AI/ML, Subscriptions, customer expectations and much more website: sirocco.se  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laithalhashimi/  email: laith.al-hashimi@sirocco.se   

Interesting opportunity for CPQ Vendors to add an accomplished Sales Manager to their team.  This is an individual with 25+ years of business experience. Hear what this individual is looking for and send an email to Frank.Sohn@NovusCPQ.com if you want to be connect to that person. 

RFI (Request for Information) and RFP (Request for Proposals) that are coming to CPQ Vendors without them expecting it are called "unrequested RFI's/RFP's" and while they are rare they are becoming more common. Customers are typically surprised by this and so here are some reasons why CPQ Vendors decide to pass on or outright decline to answer these RFI's and RFP's. This Podcast provides some useful tips for customers and CPQ Vendors to have this happen less often. 

In this episode you hear from Kristofer Skyttner, Founder and CEO of Skymaker AB, a swedish company that provides tools (DynaMaker) to visualize CAD data in tools like CPQ or eCommerce. Kristofer is based in Linköping and here he talks about how they work with Tacton and Elfsquad, parametric visualization, how they integrate with CAD Solutions, why maintenance resources should know Javascript and more web www.skymaker.se  LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristofer-skyttner/  email kristofer.skyttner@skymaker.se

In this episode of RevOps Demystified Podcast, Tom Hunt and Alex Freeman are joined by Gabriel Hobbs, Head of Sales Operations at Tacton. They discuss the fundamentals of sales ops success, conventional and diverse sales ops modeling, and tips to manage existing customers and win new ones.

Ewa Johansson är oerhört erfaren och har en karriär som talar för sig själv med olika ledande positioner på Tacton, Svenska Handelskammaren i Tyskland, Winningtemp och grundare till Women in Progress. Styrelesutbildning för kvinnor med Styrelseakademin som partner. Ewa pratar om hennes internationella erfarenheter och vad som krävs för att lyckas hålla sig konkurrenskraftig: jämställdhet, jämlikhet, ledarskap och internationella affärer! Och hur de hänger ihop! Ewa sätter huvudet på spiken med man-likt (vs manligt) och kvinn-likt (vs kvinnligt) och förankrar varför olikhet är affärskritiskt. Ett normbrytande och intressant samtal där kvinnan som jobbat i mansdominerad värld och som stängt affärer i mångmiljonklassen, utan att dema produkten, driver ett styrelsenätverk för kvinnor. Här finns det många russin i kakan som är direkt kopplat till lönsamhet och tillväxt!

Dr. Albert Haag has worked with Product Configuration and CPQ Solutions since 1985 and was one of the architects of the SAP Variant Configuration (VC) and IPC and lives in Bad Duerkheim, Germany. In this interview he talks about compressed tables and how these can benefit customers, his research work with his daughter Laura (a PhD candidate), his Judo skills, his time at SAP and Tacton, investment opportunities, and more   links: http://product-management-haag.de http://researchgate.net/profile/Albert-Haag

Stephane Kors has 14+ years of experience with Product Configuration and CPQ Solutions. He lives with his family in Paris, France and is focused on the French CPQ Market. In this interview he talks about his partners Salesforce CPQ, KBMax, PROS, Conga/Apttus, Tacton and Threekit, consultant certifications, why 3D is so interesting, the biggest customer challenges they see and much more website itcelerator.fr  email skors@itcelerator.fr  LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephane-kors-crm-cpq-digital/ 

Magnus Fasth and Patrik Skjelfoss co-founded cpq.se in Sweden in 2019 after spending many years at Tacton. Magnus lives in Uppsala and Patrik lives in Stockholm. In this interview they talk about why they founded cpq.se, about Tacton (CPQ) and Dynamaker (Sales CAD) that they sell and implement, what small and medium manufacturers in northern Europe value about their offering, Hubspot CRM becoming more popular with customers and much more. LinkedIn contacts:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/magnusfasth/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrikskjelfoss/  

Mikkel Drucker is Chief Growth Officer at Tacton. Tacton is a b2b software company enabling smart commerce for manufacturing. Mikkel is a visionary leader with an impressive international career in technology, IT, Saas in US, Europe and Asia. We talked about his role as Chief Growth Office and the difference with being a CMO, about growth hacking, working in sprints and celebrating failure. As Mikkel has a strong background in product marketing, we discussed product-led growth. Mikkel also shared with us some tips on how to successfully have an international career and manage teams across continents.

Bo Gyldenvang is the recently appointed CEO of Tacton and has 20+ years of experience in the Software Industry. In this interview he talks about his previous positions at Software AG, BMC, why Tacton hired him as CEO, potential changes to the Tacton Solution, his Sales and Sales Execution focus and strength, his commitment to the US expansion, moving from on-premise to cloud solutions and much more. website www.tacton.com LinkdedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/bo-gyldenvang/ Twitter @BGyldenvang

Ruediger Dehn is a successful entrepreneur with 30+ years of business experience. He lives in Mainz, Germany and founded Lino in 2007. His company partners with Tacton and SolidWorks to integrate CAD and CPQ capabilities. In this interview he talks about running 33 marathons, visualization trends, Design Automation, reduction of 3D CAD data for CPQ visualization, 3D configurable digital twin, data model and data synchronization, displaying visualization in a browser and much more. website: www.lino.de  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruedigerdehn/

Tom is a manufacturing expert with 20+ years of business experience in discrete and process manufacturing and is leading the Center of Excellence for Infosys/Simplus. In this interview he talks about Simplus before and after the Infosys acquisition, COVID-19 impact, how they work with their colleagues in Australia and the UK, their partnerships with KBMax and Threekit, how they work with the Conga team, CLM, PLM and much more. Website: www.simplus.com    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomlovell1/ 

Ulf Harlou, a PhD in Product Development, founded CPC in 2007 as a spin-off from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in Copenhagen. In this interview he explains why his team only employs experts with a Master degree, why he partners with Configit and Tacton, why they always want to work with their customers on-site, who he considers thought leaders in modularization and configuration, how they use their “Office Fridays”,  where he expects growth and much more  Website www.pfmp.com email uha@pfmp.com 

Laith is a serial entrepreneur and founded Sirocco Group in 2008. His team provides CRM (SAP, Oracle, Sugar CRM, Salesforce, Microsoft) & CPQ (SAP, Salesforce, Apttus, Tacton) Implementation Services. In this interview he talks about their CRM Motto which is probably not what you think, why fast growth can be a concern, what customers they focus on, why he thinks a CPQ Vendor should not implement their own Software and much more.  LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/laithalhashimi/ Website sirocco.se Twitter laithlalhashimi

Frederic has been leading Tacton since 2016 and has started a number of changes to turn Tacton into a global company. In this interview he talks about what major changes he has initiated, where the changes are at this time, what these changes have done to the company culture, he shares some insights about the North America expansion, why he thinks few are excited about CPQ by itself and much more. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredericlaziou/ Website www.tacton.com Email fl@tacton.com

Produced as configured: connecting customer, product and factory with digital product models In the digital age of Industry 4.0, customer centricity and precise capturing of customer needs determine success or failure. Product configuration tools have been established in manufacturing for many years. They have been crucial to drive both sales and production. Today, it is possible to create a digital representation of the complete product variance models, connecting customer input with dynamically priced articles, drawing changes, all the way downstream to manufacturing and servicing, revolutionizing not only design and production, but also quoting, sales and after sales processes. With Nils Olsson, Chief Product Officer of Tacton, we discuss how digital product models connect customer, product, factory and services, enable a company-wide uniform view of all product variants and become a prerequisite for integrated processes during the entire lifecycle of a product. www.bearingpoint.com/talks/

FLSmidth is a leading supplier of equipment and Solution for the Cement and mineral industry. Morten  started working with Tacton’s Product Configuration tools at FLSmidth in 2008.  In this interview he shares how FLSmidth selected their CPQ tool, what their users require to accept the tools. Runtime integration of configurators between FLSmidth and suppliers. Distributed configurators. 3D and 2D integration configuration. Send Morten questions to mhb@flsmidth.com The FLSmidth website is @ http://www.flsmidth.com  

Tony started working with CAD and Product Configuration tools in the 80s and he founded his company in 1987. In this interview, Tony discusses Technicon's partnership with Tacton, his background in complex manufacturing, what he considers to be game-changers in CPQ for manufacturers. Send him any questions to info@technicon.com  The technicon website is @ www.technicon.com  The interviews with Nils Olsson can be found here