MB Innovation Lab

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO in MAS SEGUROS, we are the Insurance Broker Lider in Heavy Trucks market in México

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire MB Innovation Lab, and what were your goals?

The company decided to have a Customer-Centric initiative as a strategic axis, for this, developing a mobile application that allows our clients to have at hand all the information related to their policies was considered as a starting point to improve our interaction processes.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We carry out a supplier selection process by publishing an RFP, with which we qualify the technical skills, delivery times, service and price guarantee, additional MB to come out better qualified, we had references that allowed us to select it.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We developed a mobile application (Android / IO's) where our insured can consult: Policies, Payment Receipts, Invoices, Claims, Next payment due dates, geographical position of their units among other functionalities

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

1 project leader and 3 developers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Today we have 30% of our Clients using our application and we seek greater penetration; with the use of it we have improved the quality of our contact data with them

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

MB stands out for their commitment to the scope established in the projects, the personalized treatment, and the technical level of its development team

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I was impressed with their empathy for the needs and situations of MAS Seguros.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Currently, we believe that we could have developed on other platforms, however, we decided the platform to develop the mobile application, we should have listened to MB more carefully

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of Auri Graduaciones. My family started the business 30 years ago, and five years ago we decided to make some changes. We now offer jewelry and photography services for graduates.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MB Innovation Lab?

When I took over the company, I wanted to do something different and introduce new technology. I asked MB Innovation Lab to create a system that could handle our clients and our sales.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started the project with several meetings. We raised our questions to MB Innovation Lab, and they helped us make decisions. They brought us many ideas and options and then built the whole system from scratch. I’m not totally sure what technology they used, but it might have been Java. 

The website enables our clients to customize their graduation jewelry and photographs. They can select, for example, what type of framing or color they want and pay for it through the website itself. Our other products and services, such as the spring break travel package, are also on the site along with other business information. 

MB Innovation Lab continues to maintain the website to this day. Anytime we encounter an issue, they help us out.

What is the team composition?

There are around 5–6 people working on the project, and we have one point of contact. 

How did you come to work with MB Innovation Lab?

They were recommended to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent around $15,000. I had to pay 40% at first, and then I had the chance to pay the rest later. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them two years ago, around April 2020, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The system has provided us with a completely different way to work. Our sales have improved by 100x because we’re now able to do more, deliver our services more quickly, and gather sales data. We can see what our clients are buying and what they want more of, and I can see how much I am investing in technology and materials. Because of this, we can now offer new things to our customers.

MB Innovation Lab has delivered a whole new way for us to manage our business, and they’ve very much exceeded my expectations. There have been some minimal issues, but anytime something maybe isn’t working as we planned, they are there to fix it very quickly. 

How did MB Innovation Lab perform from a project management standpoint?

We had 1–2 meetings a month. We also communicated through phone calls and text messages.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They saw things that I didn’t, and they made suggestions that I hadn’t thought of. That was the most impressive thing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would have liked to see the models better because it wasn’t very clear in the beginning. We’ve also had to change the signup process many times because it was complicated for us, but they never had an issue with fixing it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

MB Innovation Lab is professional, and they do what they say they will do. They’re flexible, always on time, and very transparent about the money.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of Pastes Kiko’s. We are a chain that offers traditional Mexican food, and we have 110 stores. We sell pastes, which is a pastry that came from English minors, and we adapted the recipe from the British people to our culture. We have 24 different flavors, and we sell around $3 million per year.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MB Innovation Lab?

I hired Hector (CEO) and his team to help me with a lot of different software services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MB Innovation Lab has created a point of sale tool and a data mining tool. The tools help us predict all of the sales in the stores and how to refill our inventory. They’ve also developed dashboards for me so that I can see the sales from all of our stores in real-time. 

They’re also currently developing other tools for our inventory supply. I don’t know a lot of technical terms when it comes to the ERP, but they’ll be building a type of bridge that allows us to send information from one system to another.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with five people from their team, including Hector who assigns the number of people needed depending on the project. For example, he assigned five people for the first project we worked on, then assigned just one person for the last project. I think the number of people depends on the difficulty of the project.

How did you come to work with MB Innovation Lab?

Hector and I went to the same university and took different roads after. We saw each other several years later at an entrepreneurship meet. I also got in touch with him on LinkedIn. He has a lot of clients here in Mexico and other parts of the US.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $3 million Mexican pesos (approximately $150,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around January 2018, and our engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

I don’t have any metrics, but they’ve helped us make several improvements. For example, the data mining tool they created has helped us improve our forecasting and production system. I also have a point of sale, but I didn’t have a dashboard to see the metrics. I asked Hector to develop it for me, and I can now see my current sales and inventory — it is a really helpful tool.

How did MB Innovation Lab perform from a project management standpoint?

Hector is involved in each project, and he really understands the business aspect of things, which is very important. Also, he and his team don’t think like a conventional company where they just follow whatever order is given to them. Instead of doing that, they propose other solutions that we haven't thought of. Overall, they’ve been really helpful.

We use Infor Syteline along with other tools for project management. We’re located in the same town as them, so we hold a lot of in-person meetings. We also communicate through WhatsApp, Zoom, and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Hector understands the business even though he isn't part of it. He’s also really good, honest, smart, very professional, and loyal. The companies that are in direct competition with mine have tried to do similar projects, but he has refused to work with them because of ethical reasons.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you are going to hire MB Innovation, my recommendation is to put a specific person in place during the project to make sure everything goes the way you want it to. I didn’t do that for the first project I did with them, and the project was a little bit slow. After I realized the problem was coming from my company and not from theirs, I put a specialized and professional person in place to follow all the development, and their team helped us a lot with that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Orbita CoWorks, a co-working space that rents shared offices and hot desks to companies. We also host projects around technology with social and environmental impacts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MB Innovation Lab?

We hired MB Innovation for their web development and design services; they also built a mobile app for us. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MB Innovation developed a website for me at another company prior to the current project. It was a more complex website than the one we’re working on right now. They followed my other company’s branding guidelines and provided maintenance services while the site was up and running.

I’ve engaged them again to develop Orbita CoWorks’ website, which has two interfaces. One is directed at customers to engage them using basic content about our spaces and online booking. This interface has an online quote generator, along with testimonials from our members. The other interface is on the backend. It allows members to interact with companies that are members of the co-working space.

For specific tasks, our team has handled user journeys. Meanwhile, MB Innovation is responsible for everything from the UI/UX designs to the graphics of the website. They use our branding guidelines as they work on the website’s imagery. They’ve learned about the colors and fonts we want to use, along with the overall mood and personality of our company.

In terms of requirements, the site should show that we like to work with sustainable development goals; it should communicate our values effectively. We’ve also requested them to build the site from scratch and not use any template; that way, we can have control over anything that we want to add in the future in terms of function. The team has also developed a mobile app to complement the website. 

This is only the first stage of the project. When we stabilize our business, we’ll proceed to the second stage of the project. We’ll make the backend better so members can interact more with others in the space. MB Innovation won’t be providing maintenance for this website since it’s not so interactive on the frontend. However, we do need them for things that need to be modified or updated. 

What is the team composition?

I deal directly with two people from MB Innovation; they’re our main points of contact. One of them is a developer. 

How did you come to work with MB Innovation Lab?

One of my friends told me about MB Innovation, saying that they were great. During the interview process, I liked the way I connected with Hector (Founder & Partner). He seemed to truly understand us. Other developers felt hard to connect with, while Hector understood our needs. They also had a smooth and structured process as they presented a clear project roadmap. This earned our trust, so we started working together. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $25,000–$30,000 in this project. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started around January 2019, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The website is up and running, while the app is available for download on Apple and Google app stores. We haven’t received any comments about the website, though we also receive no complaints about it. Meanwhile, the app has garnered positive comments from users. Everyone loves its graphics and visuals, which are truly engaging. 

Meanwhile, since the app is quite complex, it does need constant maintenance. However, MB Innovation sorts things out easily and quickly. Overall, their service is good. I like the fact that they’re always keen on helping us and solving our problems. I also appreciate that we have one point person with whom we can follow up on things.

How did MB Innovation Lab perform from a project management standpoint?

MB Innovation is great at sticking to deadlines and delivering tasks on time. If any delays or issues arise, they communicate well. They tell us the reasons for the delays, and this allows us to adjust whatever we need to adjust. To communicate, we often used emails, WhatsApp, and regular calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re great at UI/UX design and provide good customer service. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

MB Innovation can improve their attention to detail. There are some issues that customers might not see at first, but if they dig deeper, they’ll end up noticing them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as clear as possible about your needs. Give MB Innovation some examples of what you need them to do, and share your branding guidelines — make sure your guidelines are on point. If you can bring as much information as possible, you can give them the tools they need to translate what you want your brand to communicate.