To survive competition, manufacturing companies need to be innovative and scale their operations. For this, they need to recruit extremely talented employees, install high-quality machinery and equipment, employ additional working capital and make investments in marketing and sales operations. Hence, a high investment is required on the whole, for which adequate planning is required. A digital solution is needed by the manufacturers so as to enable them to comprehend customer requirements, develop better products, describe efficient processes and enhance visibility throughout the value and supply chain.

To adequately scale their business and achieve expansion and growth, manufacturers require the following information:

• Difference between the estimated and actual product quantities and revenues
• Precise estimates of stocks and inventory
• Flexibility to modify plans in case issues related to production, urgent customer requests or recession are encountered
• Systems that can automatically update actual product quantities
• Real-time collaboration between supplier and manufacturer
• Information about product performance and product enhancements
• Develop, allocate and update targets for the sales team according to the requirement.

Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud is the solution that manufacturers can implement as it offers an end-to-end CRM solution for their business. It has several features that can be used by the manufacturers to obtain information on various aspects, such as account-level forecasting, sales agreements, account manager targets, partner community aspects, etc. Using the Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud, the sales and operations teams can collaborate with one another to obtain a coherent view of the market and the requirements of customers. It enables them to obtain more accurate predictions and plans and achieve more predictable outcomes. Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud would make it possible for the manufacturers to streamline all their activities, ranging from sales agreements to obtaining solutions for product issues. Centralized data would present a comprehensive overview of the operations, leading to improved decision-making, greater productivity and decreased losses.

Manufacturers obtain the following capabilities from Salesforce that will help them scale their business to the next level:

• A coherent view of agreement terms and their conformity to product quantities and revenues. This can be used to compare the planned sales volumes and revenues with that which are actually achieved.
• Edit planned quantities, prices, sales and discounts so as to respond to variations in business environment.
• Describe different metrics of stock inventory for pricing and quantity. A 360-degree view of customers can be obtained at distinct phases of the customer life cycle.
• Obtain information from orders and update sales plan and forecasts from time to time.
• Present revenue and quantity projections at the account level to achieve accounting growth.
• A Formula Builder, using which a forecast algorithm can be easily described by the users on the basis of metrics.
• Describe, allocate and monitor sales targets through an easy-to-use method.
• Use Salesforce Einstein Analytics for the Manufacturing business to comprehend data trends and obtain appropriate recommendations.
• Provide an online channel through the Community Cloud, using which partners and stakeholders get a real-time visibility of the business processes. Planning delays are prevented by obtaining feedback from the various stakeholders and establishing trust.

To conclude, manufacturers can use Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud to obtain a comprehensive view of the customer. As it can be incorporated to the Salesforce ecosystem, it helps in obtaining real-time insights to achieve business development. Hence, Salesforce has become a must-have for manufacturers looking to scale their business.