Was bedeutet Digital Sales im Maschinenbau?

Digital Sales im Maschinenbau bedeutet, digitale Produkte, Softwarefunktionen oder Services online verkaufbar zu machen. Dazu gehören nicht nur Produktseiten und Checkout, sondern auch Angebotslogik, Laufzeiten, Verträge, Rechnung, Lizenzierung und Freigaben.

Warum reicht ein klassischer Webshop für digitale Services im Maschinenbau nicht aus?

Ein klassischer Webshop deckt meist Katalog und Checkout ab. Für digitale Services im Maschinenbau braucht es zusätzlich Kompatibilitätslogik, Vertragsdaten, Subscription Management, Lizenzbereitstellung, Rechnungsprozesse und oft auch Compliance-Prüfungen. Genau diese Prozesskette macht den Lead-to-Cash-Ansatz aus.

Welche Rolle spielt Middleware bei Digital Sales im Maschinenbau?

Middleware verbindet Webshop, Angebotslogik, Subscription Management, Lizenzmanagement, Compliance-Prüfungen, E-Mail-Kommunikation und Prozessstatus. Sie sorgt dafür, dass aus einem digitalen Touchpoint ein belastbarer End-to-End-Prozess wird.

Wie funktioniert Lead-to-Cash für digitale Produkte im Maschinenbau?

Lead-to-Cash beschreibt den Weg vom Produktinteresse über Angebot, Bestellung und Freigabe bis zu Vertrag, Rechnung und Bereitstellung. Bei digitalen Produkten kommen oft Subscription Management, Lizenzierung und transaktionale Kommunikation hinzu.

Welche Systeme müssen bei Digital Sales im Maschinenbau zusammenspielen?

Typisch sind Systeme für Produkt- und Preisdaten, Vertrags- und Subscription Management, Lizenzmanagement, Rechnungsstellung, Finanzdaten, Compliance-Prüfungen, transaktionale E-Mails und Analytics. Welche Systeme konkret angebunden werden, hängt vom Scope und der bestehenden IT-Landschaft ab.

What does "digital sales" mean in the mechanical engineering industry?

Digital sales in the mechanical engineering industry involves making digital products, software features, or services available for purchase online. This includes not only product pages and checkout, but also pricing logic, terms, contracts, invoicing, licensing, and approvals.

Why isn't a traditional online store sufficient for digital services in the mechanical engineering industry?

A traditional online store typically handles the catalog and checkout. For digital services in the mechanical engineering industry, additional requirements include compatibility logic, contract data, subscription management, license provision, billing processes, and often compliance checks as well. It is precisely this process chain that defines the lead-to-cash approach.

What role does middleware play in digital sales in the mechanical engineering industry?

Middleware connects the online store, offer logic, subscription management, license management, compliance checks, email communication, and process status. It ensures that a digital touchpoint is transformed into a robust end-to-end process.

How does the lead-to-cash process work for digital products in the mechanical engineering industry?

Lead-to-Cash describes the journey from initial interest in a product through the quote, order, and approval stages to the contract, invoice, and delivery. For digital products, subscription management, licensing, and transactional communication are often added to this process.

Which systems need to work together in digital sales within the mechanical engineering industry?

Typical examples include systems for product and pricing data, contract and subscription management, license management, invoicing, financial data, compliance checks, transactional emails, and analytics. Which specific systems are integrated depends on the scope and the existing IT landscape.

Digital Sales in Plant Engineering

Customer Testimonial | Success Story

Digital Services.
Successfully scaled.

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How We Implemented an End-to-End Self-Service Sales Solution for a Plant Manufacturer

In this success story, we show how we implemented a digital sales channel for an equipment manufacturer within four months. The digital service combines hardware, software, and recurring services into a single offering that customers can discover, configure, and order on their own.

To achieve this, we created the end-to-end foundation: from the web store through subscription management and compliance checks to automated license provisioning.

In this success story, we show how we helped a manufacturer of complex technical systems expand its portfolio to include digital products and services. The focus was on one key challenge: How can complex offerings be marketed in a way that allows customers to understand them immediately and purchase them easily?

The answer lies not in individual systems, but in a seamless customer journey. Prospective customers inform themselves, configure the package that suits their needs, and complete the purchase without any disruption in the user experience. In this reference project, a scalable digital sales model was developed that combines hardware, software licenses, and subscription models. Approvals, contract logic, billing, and license provisioning all work together seamlessly.

Self-Service Rate
Standard cases start digitally.

Until the offer
From interest to a concrete offer.

Licensing
From Approval to Deployment.

Making Digital Products Marketable

Why Digital Sales in the Plant Engineering Industry Quickly Become Complex

Digital products and data-driven services are expanding the portfolio in plant engineering. However, sales often still rely on manual inquiries, emails, and ad hoc coordination.

The result: Digital offerings are available, but they cannot be sold seamlessly. Pricing, terms, contract creation, licensing, and billing are handled by different systems and teams.

This reference project addressed precisely this challenge: The digital service integrates hardware, software licenses, and subscription models.

How the self-service sales channel improves the process:

Customer experience: Understand the product, configure options, and be guided securely through the ordering process.
Sales: Handlestandard cases digitally and manage special cases in a targeted manner.
Back office: Seamlessly integrate contracts, invoices, approvals, and licenses.
Scalability: Easier expansion intoadditional digital offerings and markets.

Solution

Digital Sales Solution

The digital sales solution provides the technical and procedural foundation for the new self-service sales channel. The first phase of implementation remains deliberately focused: purchase on account, email communication, and clearly defined standard cases.

The architecture is designed as a scalable and adaptable platform foundation. This allows the online store and middleware to be expanded in later phases to include additional products, markets, and self-service features. The current solution consists of several components:

Web Store: Guide customersfrom product information through offer configuration to checkout. Analytics show where customers drop off and how the flow can be improved.
Middleware: Orchestrates the online store, subscription management, licensing, and email communication. Contract creation, license generation, and adjustments are automated; approvals and triggers remain under targeted control.
Subscription Management: Manage pricing, terms, contract changes, and billing processes, including upgrades, downgrades, and terminations.

Licensing: Automatically generate and provision licenses upon approval.
Compliance: Integrate export controls and VAT ID verification into the ordering process.
Digital Product Insights: Transparent product and usage data provide valuable insights into customer behavior and enable informed decisions for the further development of digital products and features.
Further Development: Lay the foundation for additional products, markets, and self-service features.

How the Lead-to-Cash Process Works

E-commerce lead-to-cash process in four steps: inform & configure, review & order, approve & orchestrate, deliver & inform.

The essence of the reference lies not in the store alone, but in the process chain behind it.
It integrates the customer experience, sales logic, and backend systems into a repeatable workflow.

1. Learn & Configure: Interested parties learn about the digital service, product benefits, features, and options in the online store. They choose between a trial period or a direct purchase and create a quote using the required device and company information.

2. Review & Order: The solution checks compatibility based on defined rules, displays a price preview, and sends a quote via email. The buyer can later return via a link to continue the process and enter order and billing information during checkout.

3. Approval & Orchestration: VAT ID, legal confirmations, and export controls are taken into account as approval steps. Only after approval is granted are the contract, license, invoice, and customer communications initiated.

4. Provision & Notification: The Digital Sales team receives relevant process information. Defined special cases can be handled manually before the license is provisioned and the customer is notified.

How doubleSlash Implemented Digital Sales

In this project, doubleSlash combined architecture, implementation, and operation of—with clear accountability for the outcome. The project was carried out on a fixed-price basis: a predictable budget, a defined scope, and risk assumption within the agreed-upon framework.

Our Timeline:
Implementation within 4 months

Key quality requirements were taken into account from the very beginning: EU cloud operations, multilingual support, GDPR-compliant data collection, transactional emails, error handling, and traceable approvals.

Anyone looking to scale digital products in the mechanical and plant engineering sector cannot stop at the online store. The key is an end-to-end lead-to-cash process—from quote generation to subscription management and license provision. This integration is precisely where our strength lies. – Sebastian Bitz, Solution Expert for Digital Service Shops, doubleSlash

Explore Digital Sales for Your Services

Do you want to sell digital products or services at scale? doubleSlash uses concrete scenarios to show you how to turn a digital offering into a robust lead-to-cash process.

In an initial consultation or workshop, we’ll work together to determine:

Potential: Which digital offerings are suitable for self-service?
Process: Where are manual steps currently slowing down sales and delivery?
Scope: Which initial phase of expansion delivers quick benefits while remaining scalable?

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