MT Distribuzione at Politecnico di Milano: 30 Years of Digital Transformation Presented at the B2B Digital Commerce & Experience Observatory

Our CEO Tiziano Mantello and Christian Chiericato, IT Manager & E-Commerce Specialist, presented the MT Distribuzione case at the conference "B2b Digital Commerce & Experience: eppur si muove".

Today, October 6th, Politecnico di Milano's Bovisa campus hosted the annual conference of the B2B Digital Commerce & Experience Observatory, part of the Digital Innovation Observatories of POLIMI School of Management. Our company was among the businesses presented: Tiziano Mantello and Christian Chiericato showed how MT Distribuzione's technology stack enables a better B2B customer experience.

Thirty years, one system at a time

Tiziano Mantello opened the talk with an introduction to the company. Since 1996 we have distributed products and solutions for Home & Building Automation to electrical and plumbing installers and system integrators, with around 80 brands in our catalog and two integrated channels: the always-on B2B e-commerce and our physical store. Our mission is to simplify the daily work of professionals: the right product, complete technical information and fast service, at the counter and online, 24 hours a day.

Christian Chiericato then traced the company's technological evolution, built through progressive adoption. It starts with the ERP, in use since 1996. CRM and WMS arrived in 2013, the first release of the B2B e-commerce in 2014 (now in its third), Business Intelligence in 2015 and the PIM in 2016, to manage multilingual product sheets. From 2016 to today, we have added new services, integrations between systems and the digitalization of internal workflows.

A layered architecture, held together by custom connectors

MT Distribuzione's stack is built around the customer. ERP and WMS handle orders and logistics, while PIM and CRM describe products and customers once and only once. On top sit the touchpoints: e-commerce, physical store, training, events and social media. Specialized services enrich them: Clerk.io for smart search and recommendations, Mailchimp for email and automations, and CRIF Margò and D&B Hoovers to get to know the customer from the very first contact. Anyone registering on the portal enters just their VAT number, and the CRM record is created automatically. Business Intelligence and generative AI complete the picture: the former supports commercial decisions, while the latter speeds up technical sheets and translations, shortening the time it takes to publish products in the catalog.

The challenges along the way

There was also an open discussion of the challenges we faced. The first is integrating systems that were born separately: each platform was adopted at a different time as a stand-alone solution, and getting them to talk to each other required connectors developed in-house and maintained over time. The second is resistance to change: technology is the easy part, while supporting people, both internal teams and customers, in adopting new tools and habits is the longest job. The third is the quality of manufacturers' data, which arrives incomplete and in inconsistent formats and must be normalized before entering the PIM and the e-commerce.

What's next

Looking ahead, MT Distribuzione is focusing on a next-generation ERP, higher-performing and natively international, to support growth in foreign markets and simplify integrations. AI will go beyond content: after product sheets and translations, it could support order management, quoting, analysis, customer assistance and internal staff. The direction is clear: fewer connectors to maintain, more intelligence in support of people.

A chance to compare notes, in our 30th year

Bringing our experience to the Observatory, in the year we celebrate thirty years in business, was a recognition of the path we have traveled and a chance to compare notes with other B2B companies. Our thanks go to the Observatory's organizers and to all participants, in person and online.

If you want to find out how these tools can simplify your daily work, visit our website www.mtdistribuzione.it. We distribute with passion, since 1996.