EndeavourAWARDS 2017 Sponsored by

Endeavour Awards Winner TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION

Smarter solutions for the future

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OLENTIVE Software is a 100 per cent Australian owned and based custom software development company, founded by Chief of Innovation, Kareem Tawansi, in 1993. Tawansi believes that the invention of software systems to create long-term, sustainable competitive advantage is the way of the future. Solentive Software has since become a trusted technology partner to numerous organisations, many for over 10 years including Clipsal by Schneider Electric. The company offers end-to-end innovative software services from design thinking, consulting and software development to testing and managed services. Clipsal by Schneider Electric is Australia’s number one brand of electrical accessories and is a market leader in the data communications, industrial and home automation markets. With the backing of Schneider Electric, Clipsal is now able to offer a vast range of electrical accessories and devices from switches and “smart home” solutions to specialised medical electrical equipment for patient treatment areas in hospitals and medical practices. At the recent Endeavour Awards 2017, the Clipspec program that powers the Clipsal channel won the Technology Application Award which rewards the most advanced technological solution that improves productivity and improves the user experience. “We are proud that the Clipspec program empowers the Clipsal channel consultants to deliver an enhanced customer experience to Clipsal’s customers through identifying the best products for their homes,” said Tawansi. Providing a customer centric process in the conceptualisation of Clipspec program allowed the Solentive team to explore with Clipsal 20 JULY 2017 Manufacturers’ Monthly 

Georgina Maslen and Kareem Tawansi from Solentive Software and Anthony Locke from Schneider Electric. the business benefits, application users’ needs and unique functionality of the system which was enhanced through their software development experience. “We then use a proprietary agile development process that both defines the architecture for scale and delivers key functionality quickly to help Clipsal leverage the benefits of their investment as soon as possible,” Tawansi continued.

The winning feeling and future plans Tawansi described the Endeavour Awards win as a recognition of the coming together of Solentive’s innovative capabilities and how they were able to use that in a way that affected the lives of those who use the software. The development of the Clipspec application has enabled Clipsal’s channel consultants and display home consultants to visually showcase and

guide the specification and upsell of electrical products by dragging and dropping products directly onto customer floor plans. The sophistication of the application is to the point where the customer is able to take these floor plans directly after their consultation to their contractor, ready for fulfilment. By both creating a pleasant buying experience for Clipsal’s product end-users and ease of upselling through product visualisations in the application, Clipsal by Schneider Electric has managed to take on board 180 builders nationally last year, from just 23 when the application was first launched in 2009. In addition, the number of consultations conducted on the application has grown consistently year on year by more than 20 per cent since its launch. “We were proud of the fact that we helped one of our clients turn a $12 million business area into

one that’s now worth a quarter of a billion dollars. With the recent advancements of AI and augmented reality, we’re especially excited about the possibilities of where we can take Clipspec to in the coming years. “We are in the process of expanding organically – both in terms of opening new offices and more profoundly, adding new service offerings,” said Tawansi. These new service offerings are in the area of Design Thinking and Artificial Intelligence and according to Tawansi, this will allow for more innovation in software and products that will make the manufacturing industry more efficient, more socially responsible and more in line with customer demands. “Next year we look forward to seeing innovation continue and where software systems can make a difference to the industry,” Tawansi concluded.

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