Online tool from Marion Mixers expedites decisions for bakery mixer buyers
The Marion Mixers Build-A-Mixer (BAM) application is designed, according to the Iowa firm, to help users define and document the scope of their equipment needs, providing resources on the benefits and pitfalls of various equipment designs.
"An online application, the BAM will take the inputs end-users submit and apply known science and proprietary algorithms to select a specific starting mixer for their application," said the company that designs horizontal mixing and blending equipment.
The many steps involved in selecting key bakery equipment prior to making a final decision, and taking the financial leap, can be long. But Marion Mixers, that counts chocolate firm Hershey and agro-giant Cargill among its clients, claims its new online tool will 'streamline the design, quotation and documentation process for plant engineers and equipment buyers'.
"Industrial mixers are used for any number of various applications from making bread to making concrete," said Scott Jones marketing manager of Marion Mixers, adding that "after a few key pieces of data are entered, the application software will select an ideal mixer for their needs. It gives our customers a huge head start in the sales process."
Richard Moffitt of development firm StratosFour that designed the BAM application for the internet, claimed that one of the "greatest challenges" was transferring the knowledge held by the engineering team at Marion and "trying to normalise it into a specific format useable by their customers on the internet."
Six-step discovery process online
Potential, and current, buyers are guided through a series of questions and inputs which identify their manufacturing process and specific needs. Both the engineers at Marion Mixers as well as the end user are provided with an initial specifications sheet for each mixer application.
