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Domo Chemicals has grown like crazy in recent years. Processes and systems that once worked well became outdated. The company therefore relies on a comprehensive digitalization process in
Domo Chemicals has grown like crazy in recent years. Processes and systems that once worked well became outdated. The company therefore relies on a comprehensive digitalization process in which the right people in the right place play an important role.
Domo Chemicals is a Belgian success story. In just a few decades, the company, headquartered in Ghent, has developed into a global player and manufacturer of polyamide materials for the automotive and electronics industries, among others. “We have grown very quickly over the last three years, both organically and through acquisitions,” says IT director Javier Ramirez. “When something like that happens, it creates a lot of unharmonized processes.”
Ramirez is tasked with future-proofing Domo Chemicals’ IT foundation. “The previous systems still worked, but had an expiration date. If we continued like this, we risked succumbing to our own success within five years,” he explains. Around 2,000 employees spread across international offices and production sites rely on the smooth functioning of the IT systems. “We decided to take action before the problems arose.”
Before the transformation, Domo Chemicals’ IT landscape consisted of a variety of different solutions. Ramirez: “Some applications did the same thing as other applications. Other processes were different in individual plants, even though they had the same benefit in a similar context.” During the transformation, the IT manager relied on three questions:
The focus of the transformation was primarily on the customer. “We can take care of the ERP and backend afterward; the customer has to come first.” Ramirez and his team conducted an application inventory and found that Domo was using around 800 apps. After the consolidation, 150 remained. Twelve applications addressed problems that Salesforce was able to solve. The Salesforce platform’s broad coverage and customer focus led Ramirez and Domo to turn to the CRM specialist for their transformation.
The decision to use Salesforce was the result of a short- and long-term analysis. Ramirez wanted to explore functionality and value, and when it comes to value, it’s certainly about more than just the pure licensing cost.
Ramirez points out that Salesforce may not be the cheapest deal, but there are several factors that come into play. “We have a relatively small IT team and don’t want to worry about things like hosting and backups. These are labor-intensive tasks that do not create added value for the company. I think it’s a good trade-off to pay a little more in exchange for more maintenance, stability and scalability. These additional options on top of the core functionality reduce costs or risks that we no longer have to take on additionally.”
Javier Ramirez, IT Director, Domo Chemicals
There are far more factors to consider than license costs.
“There are far more factors to consider than licensing costs,” Ramirez continues. “For example, we used to work with a local French CRM tool that was more niche. The licensing costs were lower, but we were unable to find the right talent to support the application. The average cost of a consultant taking care of legacy solutions is 1,000 euros per day. A Salesforce expert in Western Europe costs half as much. I can find the people to support Salesforce on my internal team because they exist in the market. We found four good people in three months.”
“It’s attractive to just look at price,” concludes Ramirez, “but when you look at growth, scalability and talent over the long term, it’s about more than just licensing costs.”
On the backend, Domo Chemicals chose SAP for the same reason. These important solutions are well known in the market. In the first year and a half of his term, Ramirez reduced the number of outside consultants by 75 percent. He then looked for new people, so that today there are eighty experts who collectively have more experience than the hundred-plus people in the previous team. Although external consultants still support strategic projects, Domo’s internal platforms are now operated entirely by an internal team.
According to Ramirez, the migration to Salesforce went smoothly. In the first step of the migration, the portal was addressed to the customer. Salesforce has enough functionality to dramatically modernize many processes. Paper and shared files went into the physical and digital trash, and Domo customers gained access to a unified experience.
Then Ramirez and his team improved that experience. “We were able to automate eighty percent of the work,” says Ramirez. “When a customer wants to search for a product, the answer comes immediately from the database. When an opportunity arises, sellers are notified. For routine orders, everything runs automatically.”
A third phase is currently underway. Ramirez: “We want to connect Salesforce with other systems so we can predict and respond to supply chain fluctuations. For example, our sales representatives can provide better opportunities by saying with certainty that a product is in a nearby warehouse and can be delivered the next day. If we can do something like that without the salesperson having to call other people to get that information, that gives us a competitive advantage.”
The ultimate goal of Domo Chemicals’ transformation project is to create an overarching platform that integrates with Salesforce, SAP and other solutions. “Something like this is only possible if the IT systems and processes are in order,” says Ramirez. “Such a platform cannot be integrated into all apps in the world, but it can be integrated into large parties like Salesforce.”
A clear long-term vision is very important, but not the complete puzzle. “At the end of the day, a lot of IT decisions affect people who are going to experience change.” Ramirez also tried to deal with that well, and choosing Salesforce helped there too. “Ten percent of our employees already had Salesforce experience,” says Ramirez. “And then you have to know that people here often work long hours. That was an impressive number.”
I haven’t met a single user whose Salesforce experience wasn’t positive.
Javier Ramirez, IT Director, Domo Chemicals
Such people are a godsend for a major transition process. “I haven’t met a single user whose Salesforce experience wasn’t positive. People felt motivated to take on the project and explain things.” A similar story also played out in the Ramirez area. “Many of my CIO colleagues were already using Salesforce.”
Of course, not everyone is in favor of change. “Education and understanding are very important. We have invested a lot of time informing users about the challenges we face and giving them the opportunity to draw their own conclusions.”
Ramirez is convinced that a good and well-thought-out project can receive the necessary support. “And if someone really doesn’t want to change, it’s also important to know that person. In this way, you can try to understand the reasons for the opinion and implement the necessary strategies to ensure that the resistance does not negatively impact the overall success of the project.
Ultimately, under Ramirez’s leadership, Domo Chemicals has evolved from a successful company with an ad hoc IT system to a modern, digital and integrated company with room for digital future plans. The choice of Salesforce and other key partners drove this change. Compatibility and integration, the right people and employee support ensured that Domo Chemicals was able to evolve from an old environment to an example of modern IT.
This editorial article was created in collaboration with Salesforce.
Source: IT Daily
As an experienced journalist and author, Mary has been reporting on the latest news and trends for over 5 years. With a passion for uncovering the stories behind the headlines, Mary has earned a reputation as a trusted voice in the world of journalism. Her writing style is insightful, engaging and thought-provoking, as she takes a deep dive into the most pressing issues of our time.
