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As the digital transformation is penetrating niche industries and market segments, the traditional business processes are becoming increasingly irrelevant and outdated. Manufacturing which was considered as one of the most traditional industry sectors is also undergoing major digital transformation and hence businesses are relying more and more on technology and digital solutions to stay ahead in the competition.

The manufacturing industry is going through extremely uncertain times and unpredictability regarding consumer spending/confidence on one hand and the larger geo-political and macro-economic picture on the other is high. In such conditions the push to automate and save costs, while increasing efficiencies (enhance time-to-market, digitize, and digitalize to maximize revenue, etc.) becomes even higher. To overcome these challenges, Salesforce, the world’s leading CRM, has introduced Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud that aims to boost the manufacturing industry by driving forecast accuracy and visibility, increasing team collaboration and standardizing business processes.

While the capabilities of Salesforce are well-known, but specifically for manufacturing business Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud could be a real boon as the suite will include sales management, marketing automation, partner relationship management and customer service. The powerful, cloud-based CRM has proven capabilities that helps companies manage customer accounts, track sales leads, conduct and monitor marketing campaigns, and provide service post-sale.

As Salesforce mentions in its blog, “We intend to help drive this transformation with Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud, a new solution specifically designed for manufacturers to unify account planning and forecasting for greater transparency and collaboration across their entire ecosystem. This unified view provides a clear picture of manufacturing customers through new sales agreements and account-based forecasting solutions that enable them to accurately forecast, plan, and drive predictable (and better) business outcomes.”

One can see a plethora of features that Manufacturing Cloud comes with at https://www.salesforce.com/products/manufacturing-cloud/features/ , however a summary of few features is below:

• Sales agreements to empower manufacturers to unify run-rate business with data stored in ERP and OMS systems with negotiated contract terms (including planned volumes and revenue) so both operations and account teams have a 360-degree view of the customer.
• Account-based forecasting surfaces insights across the entire business by breaking down internal silos to allow sales, finance, and operations teams to develop more accurate forecasts
• Einstein Analytics for Manufacturing for analytics and intelligent experience with out-of-the-box KPIs through critical data sources like account health, product penetration, price information, sales agreement progress, and demand insights

At Aress, we help manufacturing companies scale to the next level of digital transformation with consulting from industry experts and Salesforce certified architects and domain specialists. If you’d like to learn more about how Aress can implement Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud for your manufacturing company, please contact us today.