A lot of hydraulic business is boring in the best way. A plant changes filter elements on a schedule. A rebuild shop uses the same seal kits every month. A mobile equipment customer goes through bulk hose and a predictable mix of fittings. The problem is that boring, predictable orders still arrive late, by phone, right after the customer runs out.
Repeat orders should be the easiest business you have. The app has three tools to make them that way.
Reorder: buy it again in two taps
Reorder lets a customer buy a past order again, or pick from saved items. The maintenance planner who orders the same return-line filters and spin-ons every month opens last month's order, checks the quantities, and sends it. No searching, no typing part numbers, no wrong elements.
AutoPilot reorder: the customer's usual items, on schedule
AutoPilot reorder orders the customer's usual items on a schedule so they never run out. It can also be tied to scanning, so one scan orders what the customer actually uses, sized to the number of days of stock they want on hand.
The customer decides how much control to keep, using a simple dial with three settings:
- Suggest: the app suggests the reorder and the customer places it.
- Ask first: the reorder is prepared and waits for the customer to say yes.
- Run on its own: the customer's own schedule releases the order without a check-in, for items they have chosen to trust to it.
Most plants start at Suggest or Ask first. A buyer who has watched the suggestions for a few months may move filters and O-ring kits to Run on its own, and keep anything expensive, like a pump or a cylinder, on Ask first. The customer sets the dial and the schedule; the app follows the rules they set. You can see which customers have AutoPilot turned on from the admin side.
Blanket orders: releases against a contract
Some hydraulic customers buy on contract. An OEM building balers or lifts agrees to a year's supply of a certain hose assembly or valve at a set price, and pulls releases as production needs them. Blanket orders let the customer release against that contract in the app, so each release does not turn into a new PO conversation.
For you, a blanket order makes purchasing simpler, because you know what is coming. The buyer's desk helps on your side: reorder by vendor with minimums and free freight levels in view, late vendor POs, and special orders in one place.
Why predictable orders matter
When filters and seals arrive on time, the plant changes them on time. That means cleaner fluid and fewer failed pumps, which is good for the customer and for your reputation. It also means the call your counter gets is about the interesting problem, not "we ran out of elements again."
Bulk hose deserves a note. Many customers buy it by the reel or the cut length and assemble their own. AutoPilot can keep the reel and the matching fittings moving together, so a plant does not end up with plenty of hose and no ends to crimp on it.
Look through your accounts for the ones that buy the same consumables month after month. Set them up with Reorder first, then offer AutoPilot on the Suggest setting. Let the customer see it work before they turn the dial further.
Want to see it with your own hose, fittings and customers? See how it works.