8 February 2023
How Kleber Helped Pave the Way for a Multinational Construction Company
A multinational known for providing essential equipment, technologies and services to the construction, mining, energy, government, waste and quarry industries needed address validation for several projects.
The Client
The client is an industry-leading manufacturer and supplier of equipment, technologies, and services for the construction, forklift, mining, industrial and forestry markets. They were established in 1921 and are known as the second largest construction equipment manufacturer in the world.
The client started corresponding with DataTools in 2019. They wanted a service that could help them with address and phone validation.
When COVID hit the country, lockdowns and travel restrictions meant that an overwhelming number of consumers moved to online shopping and e-commerce. With this in mind, they began a Kleber trial in 2020. Despite a rocky start, this client was won over by Kleber’s impact on their system. They were ready to commit and upgrade to a monthly plan less than two weeks into their three-month trial.
The Challenge
Since reaching out to us in 2020, we have had the privilege of working through multiple use cases with the client. Here’s a quick summary of our projects:
- Real-time and batch verification for Australia and New Zealand addresses
- Geocoding to help customers locate and identify the nearest company branch
- Integrating address validation into the MS Dynamics system
The Process
Facilitating Complex Deliveries
Construction equipment can be large and heavy, requiring specialized delivery methods. Accurate address data is critical for ensuring that the equipment arrives at the right location, on time, and with minimal damage.
A delay in delivery can have serious consequences, especially in the construction industry where projects havetight deadlines. A few days’ delay can already mean more money spent on dead time, idle and frustrated laborers who could have been present in other projects, and a pushback in construction schedule for a high-paying client. Kleber reduces the risk of wrong deliveries and delays by providing clean and accurate addresses.
The client first reached out to us in October 2020. They found DataTools through a web search and wanted to discuss estimates for Kleber monthly and annual subscriptions. However, since Kleber is priced exclusively on usage, we asked for an estimate of the volume of addresses they expected and how often they would use the service for batch processing.
Our contact explained they may do a one-off bulk upload and thereafter users would only be entering around 500 addresses a month in the CRM.
We had a quick call to discuss Kleber’s Australia and New Zealand address capture, batch verification of AU and NZ addresses, and email and phone validation. Since Kleber has different Search, Retrieve, and Repair methods for different countries, we suggested formatting their first address question as a dropdown box, where users could select the country before they filled in the rest of the address form.
By November, the client was eager to push through with Kleber and we started discussing the legalities of the software. In December, we officially welcomed them to the Kleber family.
Two years later, they returned to ask for another Kleber demonstration. The contact explained they were using a Google API for geocoding and that the business was currently working on integrating the functionality into their portal. The geocoding would identify and set the customer’s closest branch. They needed powerful, fast, and accurate software that could align with this project.
The client clarified that the licence for an unlimited model would include both development and production environments for addressing and geocoding; and that DataTools’ unlimited model would be more cost-effective, considering the volume of addresses they needed to validate.
Later in the same year, they resumed discussions and expressed their need to build address validation into their MS Dynamics system. They discussed three different possibilities:
- Implementing predictive address capture in their CRM;
- Cleansing existing data in their CRM;
- Applying predictive address capture to data being entered through the customer portal, which will end up in the MS Dynamic CRM. This interface is most likely to support predictive address capture and we explained the methods that could be used.
In October 2022, they reached out to us with a query. Several addresses returning in error, they explained, could be found using Google Maps. We quickly liaised with Australia Post and relayed their answers to the client. The list of addresses they presented had a mixture of addresses with incorrect details, invalid addresses, and correct addresses that were validated and added to the database.
To date, they still have a Kleber private batch server, and they are working on integrating their second Kleber plan on a different site.
The Impact
Unmatched International Address Validation
The client invested in Kleber because of its address validation capabilities in Australia and New Zealand. Recently, they returned to inquire about international validation as well.
Heavy equipment is often used on remote construction job sites, and companies will need accurate addresses to make sure that their deliveries reach the right location. Our collaboration with this client gave them the confidence to continue manufacturing and distributing heavy equipment, products, and other services across Australia and New Zealand, with the potential to expand to an international market in the future.
