Everything You Need to Know About Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud

Author

mirketa

September 20, 2021

Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud

After dominating the fields of Sales, Services, Commerce, Education, and Health cloud to solve the business problems, the CRM giant has taken a leap to tackle the business issues related to the manufacturing field through Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud, Einstein Analytics for manufacturing, and Community Cloud for manufacturing. Salesforce has aimed to solve the problems faced and meet the specific demands of manufacturers around the globe by providing the platform to bridge the collaboration gap between sales and operations teams through solutions like Account-Based Forecasting and Rebate Management. Salesforce manufacturing cloud plays a vital role in improving collaboration, efficiencies, and transparency to the team.

Need of Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud

Even though many of the manufacturers are still working with the traditional methods and practices, most of the manufacturing executives believe that digital transformation is critical for the manufacturing industry. With the more dynamic demands and supply conditions, manufacturers think they need a new approach and tools for better forecasting. Many manufacturers still have their customers and process data scattered in different spreadsheets or documents in various formats, which becomes difficult to extract, affecting the account performance and process efficiencies. In this Covid times, more than half of the manufacturers believe that the sales and services capabilities have been impacted permanently due to the pandemic. The manufacturing cloud can streamline all the data to never miss out on any information and improve your process efficiency significantly.

Key Features of Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud

1. Sales Agreement in Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud

The critical requirement of manufacturing where all the negotiated terms between manufacturer and buyer are mentioned can be organized efficiently with the help of the sales agreement feature. The sales agreement object also has the functionality of tracking the planned sales, actual quantities, current order status, prices, and discounts. Sales agreement helps to align the sales and operations team with up-to-date data and order consistency.

2. Account-Based Forecasting in Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud

Along with the Sales Agreement, the Salesforce manufacturing cloud has provided the capability of better forecasting with customization. With this feature, all teams can collaborate for more accurate forecasting comprising opportunity and sales agreement. Users having access to accounts can consider a number of factors influencing the forecasting to provide accurate and real-time forecasting. By taking dynamic changes in demands and market needs into consideration, better forecasting can help in the planning and allocation of resources.

3. Community Cloud in Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud

With the help of the community cloud, you can implement a transparent digital collaboration with your customers and channel partners, which will increase real-time visibility and accelerate the planning. The collaboration through the community cloud can be helpful in improving productivity and converting the deals. Community cloud can also be helpful to keep the conversation thread of all the discussions a customer or a channel partner had with the organization eliminating the need for documentation and storage.

4. Einstein Analytics in Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud

To make an informed decision, it is necessary to have intelligent insights into the business processes. Einstein Analytics is a fully customizable platform, which can be helpful to generate insights into Sales Agreements, product performance, and pricing. With the help of Einstein Analytics, one can track the accounts, their revenue contribution, forecast of the coming month, and comparative analysis on planned and actual sales. This can work as a one-stop solution for all the data analysis required for the business.

Apart from the above features, Salesforce manufacturing cloud also includes:

Rebate Management in Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud

The rebate management includes the process of sales and purchase tracking, recording of rebate agreements, and managing claims. This can be helpful to get accurate insights based on account activities, which can be helpful for customers to make better decisions. With the help of rebate management, one can track and analyze the real-time performance of a program. With the visibility of incentive progress attainment, the sales team can be empowered and an organization can keep its channel partners engaged.

Account Manager Targets in Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud

At the start of the fiscal year, every organization goes through the assessment of the performance for the previous year and based on that, with better planning, tries to set measurable goals and targets for teams. These targets become helpful for the team as well as the account manager to motivate them to convert more deals. Manufacturing cloud provides the flexibility of managing the targets like targets can be easily reassigned to another team or team member, edit the target details or delete the record.

Future of salesforce Manufacturing Cloud

Looking at the trend of digitalization and the potential competitive advantage the manufacturing cloud can provide, there is a considerable scope of improvement in customer, process, and account management for the manufacturing industry. The Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud has put a hand on the perfect spot by introducing the feature of Sales Agreement which is the ‘must-have organized’ thing for a manufacturer. With account-based forecasting, the manufacturing cloud has improved cross-team collaboration and improved forecasting accuracy. Einstein Analytics has the potential ability to improve process efficiency by generating valuable insights and the cherry on the cake will be the community cloud for manufacturing, where one can collaborate with customers and channel partners for innovative ideas and suggestions. Looking at these promising features, one can assure a bright future for the manufacturing industry with the Salesforce manufacturing cloud.

Mirketa assures you full-fledged feature capabilities and can get you the best out of the manufacturing cloud with all the required customization.

Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud – Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud?

Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud is a purpose-built solution on the Salesforce platform designed specifically for manufacturers. It helps streamline sales and operations by providing a unified view of customer relationships, contract management, and account-based forecasting.

2. How does Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud differ from regular Salesforce CRM?

Unlike standard Salesforce CRM, Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud includes manufacturing-specific features such as Sales Agreements, Account-Based Forecasting, and ERP integration. These tools help manufacturers manage complex B2B relationships and long-term contracts more effectively.

3. What are Sales Agreements in Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud?

Sales Agreements in Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud allow you to capture long-term deals with customers, including details on pricing, product volumes, and delivery schedules. This improves alignment between your sales and operations teams by creating a shared source of truth.

4. How does Account-Based Forecasting work in Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud?

Account-Based Forecasting in Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud enables manufacturers to generate forecasts at the customer level. It takes into account past orders, active agreements, and projected demand to provide more accurate and actionable sales forecasts.

5. Can Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud integrate with ERP systems?

Yes, Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud can be integrated with ERP systems like SAP, Oracle, and NetSuite using MuleSoft or custom APIs. This ensures seamless data flow between your CRM and back-office systems for improved visibility and planning.

6. What are the main benefits of Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud?

Key benefits of Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud include:

Real-time visibility into customer agreements
Improved forecast accuracy and production planning
Better alignment between sales and operations
Enhanced customer satisfaction through proactive service
Centralized management of complex manufacturing sales cycles

7. Is Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud suitable for small and medium manufacturers?

Yes. Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud is scalable and can be customized to suit the needs of small and medium-sized manufacturers, helping them modernize operations, improve collaboration, and drive growth.

8. Does Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud work on mobile devices?

Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud is fully accessible via the Salesforce mobile app, allowing field sales teams and operations managers to view and update agreements, forecasts, and account details in real time from any location.

9. How does Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud help solve supply chain challenges?

With real-time data, predictive forecasting, and visibility into customer commitments, Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud helps manufacturers better manage demand, reduce excess inventory, and respond quickly to supply chain disruptions.

10. What is the pricing model for Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud?

Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud is typically priced on a per-user, per-month basis and requires a Salesforce core license. Pricing depends on your organization’s size, specific needs, and customization level. For exact pricing, contact Salesforce or a certified implementation partner.