Saint-Gobain, a French group specializing in the production, transformation, and distribution of materials was founded in 1665 to reduce France’s dependence on Venetian glass production. This trend of innovation continues today across 68 countries and a wide assortment of manufacturing entities.

DSC, Saint-Gobain’s Sanitary Heating Distribution business unit, started to transform their business in 2016 in response to consumer demand. They began developing new services for professional customers (like heating engineers, plumbers, and installers) who had been impacted by the rise of digital technology, change in the mode of consumption, and regulatory conditions which called for the mandatory individualization of heating costs in collective housing.

Heating costs had previously been calculated based on surface measurements (flat fee). But these new regulations required condos to equip homes with appliances to allow for individualized heating costs. The shift to consumption (usage) was a challenge for installers who lacked the ability to collect, measure, calculate, and invoice for collective consumption. This meant they were forced to rely on specialized service providers, thus cutting themselves out of the relationship with their customers — and future business opportunities.

Seeing an opening to provide value-added services, Saint-Gobain developed Temperly, a global solution for the individualization of heating and water costs.

According to Jean-François Pinard, Director of New Products and Services of DSC, Saint-Gobain, “Saint-Gobain had never done anything like Temperly — technically, in business, or in culture — so we needed an agile platform to accelerate the launch of our recurring business model.”

Since Temperly’s business model is based on renting energy meters for installation for 10-year commitments, they needed a subscription management platform that could support consumption monitoring and provide long-term stability to retain customers.

“Zuora’s stability and specialization are a guarantee of performance and durability for Temperly. Not only is it the best solution for subscription management, but it’s flexible — which means that we can adapt the solution to meet our business needs,” said Pinard.

In just a year, Saint-Gobain was able to launch the pilot project, a digital turning point for the company.

Zuora supports Temperly by automating and managing invoicing and subscriptions. As Pinard notes, “The automation of invoicing allows significant gains. Imagine if a group owns 100 condominiums with 300 units each — manual invoicing would be very time-consuming. Invoicing automation allows significant efficiency gains, saving literally thousands of hours in the long run.”

Zuora has also made it possible for Temperly to close accounts faster and create quotes more quickly — with fewer resources!

Already Saint-Gobain is seeing a positive impact from the launch of Temperly, with professional installers who had started to lose their clients now finding themselves “back in the game.”

As Pinard notes, “Not only does Temperly have a significant environmental impact, reducing residents’ energy consumption by 20%, but, by helping our professional clients, we are adding incalculable value, and deepening their relationship with the Saint-Gobain brand.”