Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud

Introduction

The Salesforce Manufacturing cloud was launched in 2019, and is committed to put forth a modernized way for manufacturers to have an exhaustive perspective on their whole operation. This allows organizations to connect unique divisions to obtain bits of information which in turn helps in comprehending the entire organization. 

What is Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud?

Before we dive right into Manufacturing cloud let’s understand why there was a  need for a product like Manufacturing Cloud in the first place.

Most manufacturers have their data  spread across various spreadsheets and Enterprise Resource Planning solutions (ERPs). This has a negative impact on the finance, contracts, delivery, overall account performance, and the ability to predict demand precisely.

This is exactly when Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud enters as the hero to act as the end-to-end CRM Solution for the manufacturing Industry.

In order to gain more significant business predictability, Manufacturing Cloud is considered to be the perfect tool. It coordinates between the sales and operations teams by providing a profound understanding through new automated Sales Agreements and Account-Based Forecasting solutions.  

Overall, Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud aligns the Sales and Operations team much more efficiently than the organizations that simply use Salesforce and leverage opportunities for every business they bring on board. It broadens the efficency of the Salesforce Service Cloud as well as the Salesforce Sales Cloud.

How does Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud help businesses?

1. Companies can run a more streamlined business

Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud allows organizations to connect various divisions together, which proves to be extremely helpful for quick submission of sales orders and other business processes.  With Manufacturing Cloud extra steps are eliminated which further eliminates the possibility of any human error (which can be costly).

2. Making accurate business forecasts

Account-Based Forecasting will give a better understanding of an organization’s Run Rate business supervised by Sales Agreements.

3. Manage inventory appropriately

Companies need to strike the right balance of addressing customer needs and making sure there is no overflow of products. This is ensured by balancing products to meet the forecasted demand, which is assisted by Salesforce.

4. Update contracts instantly

Updating clients’ agreements from various sources separately can create confusion and chaos. With an automated digital process for contract management, any changes to existing agreements can be made instantly and accessed by all.

  How does Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud Work?

First and foremost, let us take a look at the terminologies which we will be using for a better understanding of the products.

1. Sales Agreements

The concept of “Sales Agreement” was introduced by Salesforce because of the increasing need of companies to track and manage “run-rate” business. Sales Agreements are basically legal documents that include the consent of two parties (customers and manufacturers) to commit to an agreement over a given period of time. It contains plans indicating the items to be produced, their cost, and amounts settled upon by the two parties.

The customers provide the assurance to purchase a certain amount of products over an agreed period of time. This allows the manufacturers to establish a baseline expectation so that they can plan their sales and operations efficiently as well as track transactions, profits, and revenue margins to make it more predictable.