On Windows: Navistar Improves Pricing with Big Data

March 15, 2013- 

Navistar, one of the world’s largest truck manufacturers and service parts suppliers, has adopted the PROS pricing solution powered by Microsoft SQL Server.

The automotive company needed the ability to analyse high volumes of data to assign pricing across channels and market segments in a timely way.

PROS worked with the manufacturer’s IT team to use existing transaction data.

Navistar now publishes pricing six times per year – three times more frequently than it did in the past.

“Given the size and dynamic nature of that footprint, we couldn’t handle all the data with manual processes and our existing infrastructure,” said Joel Larsen, vice president of parts sales at Navistar International. “We needed an analytics tool that could grow with the complexity of our business and our geographic presence.

“What PROS does for us is drill up, down, and sideways to get to a level of granularity and segmentation in data analysis that we had difficulty getting to before.”

With PROS, the company can identify targets of sales and margin opportunity, and the pricing team can then adjust prices for individual parts and bring them in line with competitive prices. This approach drives transparency and gives Navistar employs the tools to provide benefits for dealers and grow sales.

By using scientific analytics and Microsoft products, Navistar can react more nimbly to regional and local competitors, and better serve dealers and customers. “The only rational plan is to utilise data,” said Larsen. “Whether we’re looking at SKUs, dealers, or customers, we have to know where to aim.”

Navistar sells more than one million product SKUs and serves more than 700 dealer locations in North America.