VentBOM: Cloud-Based Quoting Solution for Chimney and Venting System

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Michael Beisheim, President

Cloud-based configure price quote (CPQ) software solutions are growing at breakneck speed,redefining customer experience and satisfaction,by helping sales organizations configure product pricing and generate quotes. HVAC manufacturers often rely on legacy quoting solutions that require substantial investments toward development and a high-level of technical knowledge for operation. Moreover, it is impractical for sales reps to memorize each possible configuration and ensure that the final product fits the physical space it is designed for. As errors can cost both time and money, having a CPQ that addresses pricing models, product dependencies and discount policies accurately is indispensible. This is where VentBOM offers an easy to deploy and cost-effective quotation platform. The firm is successful in providing top-notch quotation software for the chimney and venting industry since its inception in 2006.

Their VentBOM and Visual Vent enable their client to create vent and duct layouts with ease, executing both sizing and simulations. The VentBOM platform allows manufacturers to exercise complete control over their products and pricing while giving oversight of activities such as quoting, pricing, and documentations through their reporting system. The platform also includes and comes with a calculation and simulation engine called Visual Vent. Michael Beisheim, President of VentBOM, shares his valuable insights on their quotation software for the chimney and venting industry.

Necessity Calls Innovation

VentBOM was founded in 2006, and we have been primarily focusing on the venting and ducting industries. Specifically, we concentrate more on technical applications where either schematic or 3D drawings for the structure are essential. One of the biggest challenges in this landscape is that there are numerous platforms available which are too technical to be practical. Choosing a platform and discarding it later due to profoundly intricate technicalities is very common in the industry. We are addressing the problems of a group of the workforce who are not necessarily engineers but sales representatives. We use automation for calculation and bill material processing in order to make it easier for the sales persons to run the entire design and quotation process,to make sure that it is not sent to the manufacturer without processing. In this process, both the manufacturer and the distributor save a lot of time and cost.

Once Complex Now Seamless

As a SaaS solution, VentBOM is entirely web-based and does not rely on 3rd party software. We give complete access to the manufacturers to control their products and pricing, who also have the oversight of all activities via a reporting system. Additionally, in order to implement our service, there are no requirements for server equipment or other IT-related infrastructure. We also bring to the table Visual Vent—our calculation and simulation engine for the VentBOM platform, which makes use of the manufacturer-certified equipment data and approved engineering methods.

We concentrate mostly on technical applications where either schematic or 3D drawings for the structure are essential

Our clientele includes almost all major manufacturers of the chimney and related accessories in North America. Because we consistently update our technology and keep innovating, we can be pioneers in this niche market, a fact that is evident from the technology updates we receive today. We have grown from a small Windows-based program to an entirely cloud-based SaaS solution. Lately, our firm has been collaborating with heating appliance manufacturers Our cost-effective and infinitely scalable solution allows us to analyze the specific requirements of each manufacturer and come up with a strategy that enables them to create technical layouts. One of additional advantages of VentBOM is that it doesn’t necessarily require an individual with engineering skills—anybody with basic computer knowledge can master our solution.

Our solution, when compared to regular SCADA based applications, is much more cost effective and easy to deploy. We maintain compatibility between products manufactured by different producers, such as a boiler manufacturer and a venting manufacturer. VentBOM makes sure that both of their individual sets of regulations go along without discrepancies on the same layout. We also report all the quotation activities to the manufacturer as an email sent across to them every Friday. This allows the manufacturer to review activity that have been done throughout the week. Assessing the work done by the sales representatives is another value proposition that we bring about. By utilizing this aspect, the manufacturers can access all the data of the work done by distributors and sales representatives.

Thanks to SaaS

We use technical data on specific equipment and pair that with approved engineering methods. In essence, we are heavily involved with writing necessary standards as well as software design. I am working as a handbook subcommittee chairman for ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) alongside the technical committee to develop industry best practices for the HVAC system. We work with the chimney design equation and some of the ASHRAE Fundamentals, and for that reason, we directly involve writing the calculation methods while simultaneously implementing that into the software. As the software is cloud-based today, users can get setups online. They can access a list of their projects and generate distinct layouts under each project followed by creating the bill materials and drawings. Finally, they can create pricing and get a final proposal. Recently, we have added a drawing format, and for that reason, it is possible to take what was previously a static drawing, and then load it into any web browser, tablet, or phone as a dynamic drawing which the user can view in 3D.

Further, we take the technical information from the equipment and run it with real-world data to make sure that we give all the necessary information into the system— we can then run the simulation as a snapshot of the real world situation. This means, that if somebody changes the parameters such as elevation or temperature, it can be loaded into the system, allowing automatic simulation of those individual situations, giving the user a full perspective of how the application works in real life.

Future is on “Cloud” Nine

We plan to focus more on the BIM (Building Information Modeling) technology, giving the users the ability to extract BIM data directly from the software. The process to import the same into Revit and other applications are underway. We are also working with automation specification, which would enable us to offer specifications for the products— which are more specific to the engineering standards—that are being quoted. VentBOM also envisions expanding into other industries where 3D technology can be used for the CPQ landscape. The challenge right now is that getting a core application set up for organizations, which require people with knowledge about the specific industry. But we envision equipping them with an easy to deploy, cost-effective platform which is also infinitely scalable.