How do you create international sales of technically complex industrial products without building local offices, greatly increasing the organization, or losing control over quality and business logic?
It's a question that many Swedish small and medium-sized manufacturing companies are facing as exports take off. For Weland Solutions, a manufacturer of advanced warehouse elevators and automation solutions, the answer was a comprehensive digitalization of the sales process – in close collaboration with Swedish IT company Wexer.
Today, Weland Solutions' journey is highlighted in the international university study Industry Analysis of SME Internationalisation as a clear example of how digital tools can enable sustainable global growth.
In our previous customer case, we describe how the collaboration between Weland Solutions and Wexer began – with a focus on speeding up quotation work and reducing the risk of errors in the sale of technically complex warehouse elevators. Read the customers case here.
From more efficient quotes to an international model
When the collaboration began, the starting point was relatively concrete: Weland Solutions wanted to shorten the time for quotation work and reduce the risk of errors in the configuration of technically complex products. Sales required a great deal of experience and knowledge, and the processes were both time-consuming and person-dependent.
The solution became a digital sales tool built on the Wengineplatform, where product logic, technical rules and dependencies were built directly into the system. This allowed both internal salespeople and resellers to work in the same structured flow, with consistent quotes and technical specifications. With the right language, unit of measurement and voltage level for the market.
What started as a streamlining project gradually developed into a completely new international sales model and global sales platform.
Dealers as part of the same structure
A central part of Weland Solutions' strategy has been to let resellers work in the same system as internal salespeople. After a short training, resellers can configure products themselves, produce accurate quotes and work according to the same business logic, regardless of market.
Today, Weland Solutions sells through resellers in 35 countries and exports to over 50 countries. Despite this, the international business can be handled by only two people internally, as resellers can only configure products themselves and produce correct documentation in the system after a short introduction.
“We would never have been able to build our export sales the way we have without Wengine. It allows us to handle over 40 markets in parallel, respond quickly to customer inquiries and maintain the same quality in every deal. Today, our dealers can produce correct quotes in just a few minutes, copy them and create multiple variants extremely quickly, with very high accuracy and rarely needing help from us. For us in export, it has been absolutely crucial.”
Alexander Ljungberg, Export Manager, Weland Solutions
Public configurators that create deals
The next step was to open up parts of the sales flow to the market as well. Smaller public configurators were launched on the Weland Solutions website and at several retailers, where potential customers could configure their solutions themselves.
The result is that deals often start even before a salesperson picks up the phone.
To date, over 550 qualified leads have been created via the public configurators. These include Boeing, Tesla, ABB, Bosch, Williams Racing, Rolls Royce, Space X, Parker, and others, who have used the configurator to develop their own project documents that then end up directly in Wengine, ready for follow-up by the sales team.
It has fundamentally changed the sales process, from traditional outreach sales to a model where demand largely drives the business.
Confirmed by research
The Industry Analysis of SME Internationalization examines how small and medium-sized manufacturing companies internationalize in practice. The report emphasizes that successful global expansion is increasingly based on learning, networking and digitalization, rather than traditional entry strategies.
Weland Solutions is highlighted as a digital exemplar, with the researchers describing Wengine as a key factor behind the company's efficiency, scalability and competitiveness. The study particularly points to how digital sales tools make it possible to decentralize sales and service, while production and control can remain centralized.
“Digitalization of the sales process has been absolutely crucial for our international growth. Wengine CPQ has enabled us to scale global sales without compromising quality or increasing complexity.”
Mattias Larssen, CEO, Weland Solutions
Lessons for other companies
Overall, Weland Solutions' journey shows how a Swedish industrial company, with the help of a digital structure and close collaboration with a smaller technology company, was able to build a global sales model without growing in cost or organization.
For other Swedish SMEs with export ambitions, both practice and research point in the same direction: the right digital tools can be crucial to international success.
The facts in brief, Weland Solutions & Wengine CPQ
Time savings per transaction
- Several hours are saved on each quote through automated configuration and calculation
- Less dependence on senior product knowledge in the sales process
Previously, a quote could take several hours to generate, with Wengine CPQ the same work takes about 5 minutes. What does it mean if you make 30 quotes per month and save two hours each time?
≈ 2 hours saved per quote (cautiously calculated)
Time savings > 60 hours per month = 700 hours per year.
When quotes and variants can be generated directly, the response time to the customer is drastically reduced. The customer quickly receives new options, which shortens the decision-making process and increases the accuracy of the deal.
Professional and consistent documentation
- Technical specifications, quotes and order specifications are generated automatically, with the correct/selected language and unit of measurement.
- Same structure and expression regardless of who sells
- Reduced risk of misconfigurations
- A uniform and professional impression that makes the company feel larger and more structured
Digital structure that saves time, increases quality and makes global sales possible in practice.
Scalable export sales
- Sales to over 50 countries
- The international business is handled by only 2 people
- Resellers work in the same system as internal salespeople
Demand-driven sales
- 500+ qualified leads via public configurators
- Large international industrial companies use the configurator for their own projects
Through public configurators on the website, customers create their own projects that end up directly in the sales flow. This results in hundreds of qualified leads, often with ready-made documentation even before the first call.
Confirmed by research
- Featured in Industry Analysis of SME Internationalization
- Examples of how digital structure enables global growth without increasing the cost base
The report describes Wengine as a key component of Weland's international expansion and a textbook example of how smart digitalization creates efficiency, quality and global reach.
