Especially in German-speaking mechanical and plant engineering, where high-quality capital goods and complex spare parts play a central role, the customer portal becomes the heart of the digital after-sales business. We rely on the combination of a powerful commerce engine – for example, SAP Commerce Cloud or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce – with the solutions from Quanos: InfoTwin and SIS.one. This turns a classic B2B customer portal into a self-service portal for spare parts, service, and knowledge that really supports customers in their day-to-day work.
From portal to solution portal
Commerce, in cooperation with Quanos
In B2B after-sales, three previously separate worlds often come together: technical information, parts identification, and commerce transactions. However, customers expect an end-to-end process that allows them to independently resolve faults and spare parts requirements – from the appropriate notification to the approved order, without media discontinuity and without switching systems.
For this to succeed, a customer portal is needed that seamlessly connects knowledge, catalog, and purchasing processes. Our best-practice architecture for such portals, which become true “solution machines,” essentially consists of three components:
- The commerce engine forms the experience and transaction layer. It provides users, roles, budgets, approvals, shopping cart, and check-out – including typical B2B options for mechanical and plant engineering.
- Quanos InfoTwin acts as a connected service content hub. The solution brings together distributed content – for example, from a CCMS such as SCHEMA ST4 – into a networked context and makes it searchable within seconds. Instead of static documents, users receive context-based information exactly where it is needed.
- Quanos SIS.one is the engine for parts identification and catalog management. The software consolidates and links service-relevant data, provides structures, views, and identification logic, and delivers them as an end-to-end service catalog – including visual support and modern search mechanisms.
Quanos
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More InformationMore depth in the podcast: Doku-Lounge with Quanos
Our colleague Wolfgang Posch discusses with Kerstin Berke in the Quanos DokuLounge podcast what makes a customer portal the ultimate customer retention tool:
- What does a portal for technology, purchasing, sales, and service need to deliver?
- How are AI, IoT, and self-services changing the B2B service business?
- And what does all this have to do with ice cream scoops, seals, and configurators?
Tune in now and boost your knowledge!
A look behind the scenes
The technology behind the smart customer portal
The commerce engine, such as SAP Commerce Cloud or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce, provides all relevant interactions and B2B mechanisms. Using REST interfaces and generally following the “headless commerce” architectural approach, almost all commerce functions can be seamlessly integrated into portal UIs: from shopping cart creation to check-out, from budgets to approval workflows.
This is crucial because spare parts processes are rarely linear in practice. Typically, users identify a part in Quanos SIS.one, add it to the shopping cart, check budgets and availability, and then, after approval, complete the order.
At the data model level, the commerce engine uses the integration API with so-called integration objects. These define OData-based services cleanly and consistently. This ensures that new requirements – additional fields, new processes, additional markets – can be implemented in a structured manner without compromising the portal’s stability.
Single Source of Service Truth
Quanos InfoTwin
On the content side, Quanos InfoTwin acts as a “single source of service truth.” The solution links information from technical documentation, spare parts management, and other systems into a digital information twin for after-sales and service. Instead of static PDFs, this creates context-aware knowledge units that the portal displays where they are needed: at a machine, in an assembly, directly at the error code, or along a specific service process.
The effect in day-to-day service operations is impressive: service hotlines are relieved because many standard inquiries are answered via the portal. Search times are significantly reduced, as users no longer have to rummage through documents but are guided directly to the right information. At the same time, the first-time fix rate in service increases – a key lever for customer satisfaction and profitability in after-sales.
The common thread in the spare parts process
Identification of parts with Quanos SIS.one
Quanos SIS.one is the central component for parts identification and catalog flow. The software brings together parts lists, visualizations, 2D and 3D views, and other service data in a consistent interface. Via a unified headless API, SIS.one provides these catalog and identification data to portals and apps. The identification logic remains where it belongs – in SIS.one. The commerce engine handles the actual transaction: prices, conditions, budgets, approvals, and order processing.
Important: The content sources – documentation, spare parts, media – are not duplicated, but referenced. Changes are maintained centrally, ensuring that the customer portal always accesses up-to-date information and allowing you to scale your spare parts and service business without creating data silos.
Machine and plant construction
Practical use cases
01
Spare parts business in mechanical engineering
The most obvious scenario in the B2B customer portal is the spare parts flow. A user selects the machine and assembly, identifies the required part via the structure, image, or 3D view in SIS.one, sees the relevant assembly instructions from InfoTwin in the same context, and adds the item directly to the commerce shopping cart. Prices and availability are delivered in real time from the ERP system – such as SAP S/4HANA or Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O. The order passes through budgets and approvals, and the history remains fully traceable at all times.
This pattern is convincing because it addresses three central bottlenecks in mechanical engineering at once:
- Incorrect orders are reduced by clearly identifying them through structure and visualization.
- The hotline is noticeably relieved because standard questions are resolved in the portal.
- The lead time to delivery is significantly reduced – without first having to restructure the entire organization.
02
Knowledge provision service cases
A second, often underestimated use case is the context-dependent knowledge provisioning. Anyone entering an error message, a code, or a serial number in the portal will not receive unsorted full-text results but instead will receive curated information specific to the object: from safety notes to an appropriate step-by-step guide. This is exactly where InfoTwin comes into its own. In combination with a CCMS such as SCHEMA ST4, monolithic PDFs become modular content building blocks that can be flexibly delivered across a wide variety of interfaces – in the service portal, in mobile apps, or in tools for field service. This creates a consistent digital service experience across the entire lifecycle of machines and systems.
Who benefits from a smart B2B customer portal?
A smart B2B customer portal that combines commerce, Quanos InfoTwin, and SIS.one is particularly beneficial for companies that:
- operate in mechanical and plant engineering or related industries with complex technical products,
- have a high proportion of spare parts and service business, and want to manage this more efficiently and digitally,
- professionally manage their technical documentation in a CCMS (e.g., SCHEMA ST4) and want to generate more added value from it,
- want to relieve their service organization while simultaneously increasing the first-time fix rate in the field,
- want to offer their customers a modern self-service experience – including 24/7 access to knowledge, spare parts, and service processes.
