In the road to digitization and process automation, Salesforce storms in, easing the way for different business sectors, contributing to improve inward collaboration, increasing productivity and client satisfaction
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Consequences from COVID19 have undoubtedly brought a series of changes and disruption -at any activity and level- for which adaptability has been key to avoid any downtime. Productive sectors have made use of available resources for remote interaction; in fact, a lot of gradual schemes for digital transformation that many companies planned across mid-term schedules have been ramped up after conditions demanded to reduce contact exposure by people gathering in enclosed spaces.
The manufacturing sector faces different challenges, and a very important one is a forecast about end users’ and clients’ conditions. Which means, parts in collaboration must now transform every process by improving communication among each other, with better planning and more product evaluation to direct efforts aligned to the end consumer’s needs.
But not every company is prepared to face new scenarios and many of them have had to reevaluate their procedures upon impending changes. On a global scale, 57% of the manufacturing industry expresses certainty about their adaptive capacity to face changes derived from the pandemic, while 95% of the sector foresees that such changes may become permanent, and therefore they are implementing viable solutions beyond the pandemic.
Digital Transformation, more than an option
The market’s dynamics and channel diversification for back and forth communication with customers demanded innovations to improve the offer, planning and automation. The pandemic has only accelerated the stages that were already under transformation based on end consumer’s customary behavior. Nevertheless, our current environment is immersed into a digital world in which purchases are carried from mobile devices, work can be performed remotely and consumers’ habits are known through a series of data-gathering tools, enabling software able to create predictive models.
The companies’ role in this is digitizing its relationship with their consumers, centering their efforts on these end users through different digital channels already in existence.
“Digitization is, undoubtedly, one of the most solid alternatives to adapt to external events, such as the COVID19 contingency,” declared Matías Montero, Regional Vice-President of Salesforce in Latin America.
Key purposes of digitization
According to Montero, companies undergoing digital transformation processes focus on three main subjects to strengthen their business:
· Customer centralization
· A commitment to increase its staff’s tech abilities
· Analyzing operations looking forward to process automation in order to increase productivity and gather customer data
Benefits from Digital Transformation
There are multiple benefits from digital transformation, the most important are:
· New product development: Relying on the necessary tech resources is key to creating innovative products when improving processes after efficiently gathering user-generated data, getting to know customers’ specific demands, accomplishing a continual improvement process after obtaining feedback.
· Inventory optimization: Digitizing improves inventory management by replacing manual processes with automation and also allows for better data management, resulting in improved predictability of future scenarios.
· Time to revenue reduction: Automation processes able to support key areas such as marketing, sales and customer service accelerates transactions even before product launch and into the after-sale service period, resulting in less time to gain a larger market share.
Mexico: Awareness of the need of better tools
Consequences derived from COVID19 in Mexico’s manufacturing industry have not only affected the way business is conducted, but it has also left long-lasting effects into future days. According to the Trends In Manufacturing report, from Salesforce, 72% of surveyed manufacturing companies in Mexico consider that their production capacity has changed, and 70% of these companies believe such changes will become permanent. This has led to seek for internal operations optimization to keep up with growth pace within the market, as 84% of these companies prioritize their resource planning system for the next two years, and increase process efficiency (82% of them on the latter).
Another challenge for manufacturing in Mexico is the lack of transparent data, as well as scattered data, which reduces accuracy in sales prediction, a relevant factor in the current economic present. This dispersed data is considered by 74% of Mexican manufacturers surveyed as the biggest challenge they face, while 72% of them considered the use of obsolete tools a hassle.
“This shows that the industry should change to a more digital state of mind to make the most from their data, thus benefiting their own business and customers,” the executive commented.
On a large scale, digitization is gaining ground among the manufacturing industry, even though there are still companies opting not to take a risk and keeping traditional schemes. Nevertheless, resources made available by technology should be considered as allies, and not as a complicated endeavor, considering that in coming years the manufacturing industry will be even more digitized.
First steps toward Digital Transformation
It should be noted that it’s very important to consider in which direction business is going to be transformed. Some examples include the power of creating interactions centered on end user satisfaction by creating customized models and also creating a culture of adoption of digital technologies within the company and promoting team collaboration with the same goal: centering on the customer.
Salesforce as an enabler
Salesforce is a thrusting force of digital transformation in the manufacturing industry as it is in other business sectors. Resources provided by Salesforce deliver satisfactory results when deploying the required digital infrastructure to optimize collaboration with business partners, internal teams, suppliers and other strategic elements.
Salesforce’s clients in the manufacturing industry have obtained excellent results with system integration and data management to simplify their procedures, delivering a positive impact in sales, service, follow-up and continual improvement for product manufacturing and distribution.
Efforts by Salesforce are focused on the strengthening of strategic sectors for economies, including the manufacturing industry, through a better use of the kind of technology supporting digital transformation, optimizing the way to conduct business. In the case of the manufacturing industry, Salesforce considers three key elements for digital transformation:
· Transformation of operational processes: Digitization of internal processes improves performance through personnel with enhanced skills for strategic tasks and by implementing automation where it optimizes execution.
· Transformation of the end-user experience: Placing customers at the center of every process results in a better knowledge of each of them to understand them and foresee their needs. This translates into higher revenues and loyalty.
· Staff training: Tech and tools have evolved toward capitalizing on work virtualization, increasing productivity and revenue.
Salesforce relies on experts able to understand different nuances in each industry, streamlining implementation processes when specific needs are identified and covered with the right solution.
A giant step for significant progress
Being involved in a digital transformation process demands effort, but it’s not an impossible task. These processes have been performed by companies big and small in every industry. An important fact to be considered by companies still to undergo such a process is that they must also create a transformation culture toward digitization within its working force.
Adopting tech innovation is imperative not only to keep with business goals, but also to avoid lagging instead of taking advantage of what these resources offer.
“The first differentiator from Salesforce is accompanying our clients in their path to digital transformation,” finalized Matías Montero, Regional Vice-president of Salesforce in Latin America.