Knowledge · Machine builders
What does a machine builder need for a customer portal with a parts shop, service requests and machine records?
By Gerd Bart, Founder and Managing Director · Updated
The short answer
You mostly need data and processes, and the software is the smaller part: your installed base with serial numbers and customers, a parts list for every machine you delivered, the documents that go with it, an ERP connection for prices and orders, and a team that answers service requests. Then there is the question of where your customer uses the portal, because they run machines from many manufacturers and get a separate portal from many of them. With Transaction-Network, for example, the Asset Management module covers the machine record, E-Commerce the parts shop and Service Requests the requests, in the account where your customer manages all their machines.
What the three building blocks have to do
The machine record is the foundation. The parts shop and service requests work only as well as the record knows which machine is at your customer's site.
Machine record.
Per serial number: customer and site, the parts list of the machine as delivered, manuals and documents, software version and everything done to the machine.
Parts shop.
Your customer finds the part in their machine's parts list, sees their price and availability, and orders. Successors for discontinued parts and matching spare parts kits are right there.
Service requests.
Your customer asks about a specific machine, for help, a quote or parts, and sees how far their request has come. Your team answers in the same case.
The data you need first
Most of the work is in the data. Before choosing software, check whether you have these five things and where they come from.
| Data | Where it usually comes from | What matters |
|---|---|---|
| Installed base | ERP, order processing, service database | Which machine with which serial number is at which customer, including after a move or resale. |
| Parts list per machine | ERP or PLM | The parts list of exactly the machine you delivered, with successors and retrofits. One parts list per product line is not enough. |
| Documents | Technical documentation team | Manuals per serial number and language, in the current version. |
| Prices and availability | ERP | Your customer's prices and stock, as current as in your ERP. |
| Contacts at the customer | CRM | Who orders and who sends service requests at the customer, so you invite the right people. |
If the parts list is incomplete, your customer can't find the part and calls again. So start with fewer machines and clean data, for example with the product lines of the last ten years.
Connections and processes in your company
From the ERP to the portal.
Customer prices and availability, so your customer sees what they pay and when the part arrives.
From the portal to the ERP.
Orders, so nobody retypes them, and quote requests, so your inside sales team handles them in the system they know.
Who answers.
Decide who answers service requests and how fast. A portal nobody answers does more harm than good.
Who maintains the data.
New machines, changed parts lists and new documents have to keep coming in. Settle who does that before the portal goes live.
The question often missing: where will your customer use the portal?
Fewer than 30% of purchasing decision-makers use their suppliers' digital offerings, partly because the value isn't clear to them (McKinsey, 250 respondents in North America and Europe, 2025). Your customer runs machines from many manufacturers, and many of them offer their own portal. Yours gets opened only when they look for you specifically.
Two paths are common. You build your own portal for your machines, or you bring your parts, documents and service into a vendor-neutral account where your customer manages all their machines. On the first path you go alone; on the second you use an infrastructure other manufacturers use too.
How Transaction-Network covers it
Transaction-Network is vendor-neutral software for servicing machines. Your customer manages all their machines there in one account, including other manufacturers'. You choose the modules per machine.
Asset Management for the machine record.
Every machine has its record with parts list and documents, following the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) industry standard. You show retrofits at the machine via the interface.
E-Commerce for the parts shop.
Your customer orders from you straight from the record. You load spare parts kits per serial number by CSV or interface, and a part's successors by interface. The order flows on into your ERP, with your customer's comment if you wish.
Service Requests for the requests.
Your customer contacts you, including requests for a quote or for parts.
The Service Brain on top.
It answers questions from the documents you upload and release for the Service Brain.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Do I need my own customer portal as a machine builder?
Not necessarily. Your customer needs your parts, documents and service where they manage their machines. If they run machines from many manufacturers, that can be a vendor-neutral account with your modules in it. You can keep running your own portal alongside.
Which data do I need first?
Your installed base with serial numbers and customers, and the parts list per delivered machine. Documents, prices and availability come next.
Does a customer portal with a parts shop pay off?
Not on saved calls alone; spare parts are more likely to carry it. In Transaction-Network's example, a portal with a parts shop needs 4.6% more parts revenue at $100M in company revenue to pay for itself in three years. Below about $100M in revenue you need another reason.
What does it cost with Transaction-Network?
If a customer invited you, getting started is free: nothing for up to three customers, as long as you add the data yourself. From the fourth customer you pay €5 per machine at those customers per month, at least €300 per month, with no base fee. If you run your entire installed base with us and invite your customers yourself, the base fee of €2,000 per month applies, plus the modules you choose per registered machine, for example Asset Management at €3.00. We work out what that means for your installed base with you in a demo.
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Demo
See your machines in one account.
In a demo we show you what your machine park looks like in one account: every manufacturer, every machine with its record, maintenance and the Service Brain.