The Challenge: Shipping industrial equipment for international trade fairs

Part of what enables MAKEEN Energy to be at the forefront of innovation is meeting stakeholders worldwide and attending trade fair exhibitions. Most of the time, that involves bringing heavy machinery to locations in far-flung corners of the world. That isn’t always easy to facilitate on a tight deadline, and it can quickly accrue significant transportation costs and demand a lot of floor space for the larger facility equipment. 

Anders C. Anderson, CEO at MAKEEN Energy, shared with us how the company identified a need to leverage the power of modern technologies that could mitigate some of the challenges of attending these global events on a regular basis. It was important for the salespeople at MAKEEN Energy to meet customers on location and still give them an opportunity to get close to the product.

So, instead of having to ship heavy machinery from country to country for every exhibition, the team at MAKEEN Energy realized that being able to show their industrial equipment in a fully rendered, 3D virtual showroom might be a fantastic way to enhance their global exhibition offering. 

The Solution: A true-to-scale virtual showroom

The team at MAKEEN Energy found an easy way to construct a virtual showroom of their product line using the SynergyXR platform while still being able to generate an accurate representation of their real-life gas filling stations. We break down how XR is enabling sales for this global energy company. 

Useful and dynamic

With the digital showroom builder in SynergyXR, it wasn’t difficult to feature complex industrial systems in an intuitive and engaging way. Using 3D models of their equipment in a seamless virtual environment, MAKEEN Energy was able to easily pack their sprawling machinery into a portable VR headset, like the Meta Quest 2, and use it as an add-on to their physical stand at international trade fairs. This was a boon for their global business segments, whose success is based on providing customers with a strong impression of their products.  

Lars Sall, Regional Director of Asia Pacific at MAKEEN Energy, describes how SynergyXR has been an invaluable asset in the overseas trade fairs he and his team have been attending. He notes how virtual showrooms give customers a realistic impression of their equipment up close, even down to the most intricate details. 

Not only have the salespeople at MAKEEN Energy been using virtual showrooms at trade fairs, but they are also using them to enhance remote customer meetings around the world. Lars goes on to explain how the pandemic is still felt in certain parts of Asia, and because these countries are enforcing strict limitations around social gatherings, having the ability to close the distance and present MAKEEN Energy’s products virtually is a great alternative that lets them bypass logistic barriers and sell to customers frictionlessly.

Worth implementing

Getting the project off the ground turned out successful, though it certainly involved a lot of moving parts. Lillian Christensen, Head of Corporate Communications at MAKEEN Energy, tells us that getting everyone on board with new technology in a global company, within a rather conservative industry, was a process that took both time and patience. In her view, it wasn’t just a matter of embracing SynergyXR at corporate headquarters. It was equally important that the commercial terms were properly instructed in adopting the solution. 

Now that the system is thoroughly off the ground, we’re seeing the direct benefits of its implementation.

Lillian Christensen | Head of Corporate Communications at MAKEEN Energy

While it was a new and modern approach to how they’d done things traditionally, MAKEEN Energy was willing and flexible enough to adapt. Anders notes how they already had some of the resources available to them for a smooth implementation, such as their team of young engineers who could easily render their 3D designs and plug them directly into SynergyXR. 

SynergyXR designed an approachable step-by-step plan for MAKEEN Energy’s implementation process and provided regular support for the development of their virtual showroom, ensuring that everyone involved was thoroughly onboarded and accustomed to the new technology. 

“It felt like the natural next step for us. We needed to lean on professionals, and the team at SynergyXR are professionals,” explains Anders. He adds that, “of course, it’s easy for me as the CEO to say ‘I want this’, but it has to be implemented correctly. In this case, we had a 3-month deadline to prepare for an exhibition and build our very first virtual showroom. SynergyXR took us by the hand and walked us firmly through the process. We made it on time, and it was well-received by our customers.”

The Result: Unforgettable product demonstrations and an evolving company tool

Since introducing their virtual showroom at trade fairs, MAKEEN Energy has had great successes bringing new customers into their sales funnel. Its reception among trade fair attendees has been incredibly positive and often had people lining up at their booth, excited to try the unique virtual experience.  

With a smile on his face, Lars remarks how he “was curious to see if high-ranking managers or directors would risk looking a bit silly with these googles on, but there was no hesitation about it whatsoever. It only helped to make them connect with the product in a more memorable way.” Especially among new customers, Lars observed how bringing them straight into an accurately scaled representation of a MAKEEN Energy production hall leaves a vivid impression with the customer and awakens their curiosity to further explore the product line.

In extension of that, Anders elaborates how the social aspect of their business has been enhanced with SynergyXR. Because MAKEEN Energy deals in capital goods that are costly to implement, they typically have to convince a great number of decision makers and purchase managers among their customers, who all need to be on board to complete a deal. Using SynergyXR as a demonstration tool, it’s proved to be a powerful way of showcasing the detailed specifications of their products to engineers and service technicians among their international stakeholders. While it doesn’t serve to replace the face-to-face interaction altogether, it’s been a useful supplementary tool to accelerate the process. 

Surprising benefits

As a natural evolution of their continued usage, Lillian tells us how they’re discovering new and unexpected uses of SynergyXR. Besides showcasing MAKEEN Energy’s new product line to international customers, which has greatly improved their external communication, they’re also using it to showcase the new product line internally among their commercial staff around the world. By slowly expanding its capabilities to cover more areas of functionality, the team at MAKEEN Energy are finding more reasons to apply the platform in the future training of staff and even using it to promote the company at job fairs to attract new talent. 

Finally, Lillian unpacks how the rising use of SynergyXR is helping MAKEEN Energy stay at the forefront of innovation and sustainability. “By no longer having to ship heavy equipment around the world for exhibitions and reducing travel with virtual product demonstrations, we’re able to limit our carbon footprint and reinforce our brand as a responsible energy company.”