Batesville Configurator Success Story

Batesville is a recognized leader in the death care industry, serving families and funeral professionals since 1884. Batesville helps families honor the lives of their deceased loved ones through a range of products, including caskets and urns. The company is headquartered in Indiana, where it was founded, with clients across the United States and Canada.   

Business Challenge 

Batesville experienced a spike in e-commerce orders for customized cremation products. Customers could personalize products, such as urns, with engravings, medallions, and other customizations. However, their product configurator was causing a series of issues for customers during an already-sensitive time, primarily: 

1. The configurator’s integration with JD Edwards resulted in incorrect pricing being displayed to customers. Customers would often have to call Batesville to get the correct price, or they would receive a different price than expected when the order was fulfilled. 

1. The configurator setup had become increasingly complex over time. What started as 7 template parts had grown to over 1,500 different rules and lines of configuration data in JD Edwards. This made it difficult to introduce new products or make changes to the configurator. 

ERP Suites already worked with Batesville as their managed services provider, and they were selected to address the configurator challenges. ERP Suites conducted a thorough root cause analysis using assessment methodologies such as "5 Whys" and others to uncover the underlying issues.  

Solution 

Instead of a quick fix, ERP Suites proposed a long-term solution to reconfigure Batesville's configurator data in JD Edwards: Creating individual configured items for each of Batesville's 400+ product variations, rather than relying on a complex set of rules. 

ERP Suites developed a proof of concept using a handful of items which covered a large majority of   Batesville's business. The proof of concept demonstrated the viability of the solution and provided a roadmap for scaling it to the full product catalog.  

The new configurator setup in JD Edwards would provide several benefits for Batesville: 

• Accurate pricing displayed to customers on the website, reducing the need for manual interventions 

• Simplified configurator maintenance, with individual part numbers for each product variation 

• Improved efficiency for introducing new products or making changes to the configurator 

• Increased customer satisfaction with a more streamlined and transparent ordering process 

Smooth Implementation and Go-Live 

ERP Suites worked closely with Batesville to meticulously plan and test the implementation. Multiple rounds of testing were conducted to ensure a seamless transition, with a focus on validating the pricing accuracy and configurator functionality. By focusing on common configurations that represented 95% Batesville’s catalog to quickly recreate over 400+ configured items, the team was able to cutover smoothly in a final cutover time of a few hours.  

The project was completed on time to hit the 18-week target and was delivered on budget. Batesville was impressed by the team's diligence and the lack of issues during the cutover, which they attributed to the extensive testing and preparation. 

By embracing the long-term solution, Batesville overhauled a complex process for maximum customer satisfaction during one of life’s most sensitive times. They are positioned for continued growth and success in the evolving funeral products market.