businessintelligence software for manufacturers

Guide produced by sales-i

The pressure on the manufacturing industry is astronomical. With the increase in globalization, a flagging economy and a demanding customer, manufacturers of all sizes are finding themselves somewhat stuck. There is the odd peak here and there, when the industry is on the up, only to have dreams dashed and manufacturers soon find themselves back where they started.

Manufacturers that we have spoken to are often looking to point the finger at someone (or something) that has caused this slump in the industry. Many blame globalization, others the low cost alternatives some countries are churning out while some are looking closer to home and blaming the misuse of the heaps of data trapped inside their business.

It’s not a lack of wanting to succeed; it’s simply how business goes today. But it is often those who think outside the box that prosper in times of strife. That is where Business Intelligence has stepped up and some manufacturers are now sprinting towards the light at the end of the tunnel. `

Now, more than ever, is the time to leverage technology and data to remain ahead of the competition. ERP systems alone are no longer enough and CRM systems aren’t either. But combine the two and you’ll be halfway to what we know today as Business Intelligence (BI).

Too many providers of BI beat around the bush, telling you it is one thing and another, with none really landing on a clear, concise definition. Even then 90% of that is marketing ‘fluff’ while probably just 10% actually matters. So, we have let you in on what BI means to us.

BI is not that difficult or quite as reminiscent of Minority Report as you may have thought. While it does do a lot more and there is some of the most powerful technology behind it all, for the most part, that is all you really need to know as an end user.

introduction

50%

of businesses struggle to

extract value from data

37%

have or are planning to implement Business

Intelligence in 2014

what is business

intelligence?

Business Intelligence automates the task of analyzing data, providing a better understanding of company performance, championing a proactive sales technique, offering a holistic customer view for the entire business and streamlining the sales and marketing process.

what does it mean formanufacturers?

As a manufacturer, you thrive on processes and data. Everything has its place, has to be double and triple checked for quality and any slip up or efficiency is recorded and noted. Data soon builds up and you’ll have so much of it that you have no clue what to do with it. So why are so many of us choosing to ignore the opportunity that data can provide?

There is a perception floating around that you have to be the next Stephen Hawking in order to analyze any amount of data. In short, you don’t. Technology has moved on and there is software that does it all for you. You input a question and it’ll supply the answers. Some of the best BI solutions will even preempt your questions and provide an answer before you even know what to ask.

Most manufacturers are rolling thousands of items off the production line every single day and as a salesperson without BI, trying to keep track of which customer has bought which products, what they haven’t bought and what they should be buying is akin to trying to run uphill with an elephant on your shoulders. It is never going to end well.

A good BI tool champions the use of data, sales history, mobile applications and produces dynamic results in seconds, presenting valuable Business Intelligence in an efficient format that can be actioned and used. BI removes the heavy data silos that weigh businesses down and before long you’ll be cashing in on the information trapped within your business.

B I R EMOV ES HE AV Y DATA SILOS T HAT WEIGH BUSINESSES D OWN

can it really helpyour

business?Before we get down to hard ROI and the big advantages, you will benefit from day one with simple access to your data. A shiny new BI system will be a source of power for your entire business, transforming your sales team into the superheroes they were made to be.

So let’s look at just some of the ways BI can benefit manufacturers of any shape or size.

better supply chain management with company-wide insight

quickly identify sales trends before your competition

does organize your empire to better manage growth

There is little doubt that supply chains are becoming more sophisticated, not to mention more complicated. As a manufacturer, it is likely that you’ll work and interact directly with vendors, distributors, partners, retailers and end users all in tandem; each with varying needs and requirements from you as their manufacturer. These needs are difficult to manage and satisfy without software of some sort in place.

For a supply chain to operate at its best, information must be shared across the business for a complete 360-degree view of operations. From customer interactions, to sales activity and business performance, everything can be monitored within a BI tool. You’ll be able to spot areas of improvement, you’ll be promoting effective collaboration and real-time data sharing while your entire business has all the information they need right at their fingertips.

E V ERY S T EP O F T HE SUPPLY CHAIN MUS T BE KEP T UPDAT ED

better supply chainmanagement

Most BI solutions feed off the information you input through your current back office or accounting package (something like SAP, Sage, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics and the like). Extracting sales-ready, actionable data from such a system would take some time, time that no salesperson or marketer has to spare.

While it is not time wasted, BI will do a lot of the work, freeing up time to do what they do best and concentrate on more pressing matters. With intuitive dashboards, proactive alerts to opportunities and targeted campaign lists, your sales and marketing departments can be taken to the next level in a couple of clicks.

quickly identifysales trends

BI tools are great for your entire business, but they are particularly useful for those in a sales or marketing role. Your sales people are probably some of the busiest in your business, followed closely by marketing. Both of these departments are pivotal to keeping company revenues flowing.

BI in action

Managing and tracking every interaction at each stage of the supply chain is difficult to say the very least without BI. Say you have a customer in France. Your team in the USA is charged with supplying 10,000 units to your distributor based in England who will then work to get the product to the customer on time.

Every step of the supply chain must be kept updated with expected delivery times, logistics, involved team members and customer expectations to optimize customer service. Your global supply chain will fall apart if each business unit isn’t aware of what is occurring in neighboring branches.

BI in action

Any good BI tool can help a flagging marketing department to generate specific campaigns to both existing customers and fresh prospects, feeding the sales team with a steady stream of warm leads.

Predicting sales trends and identifying sales opportunities isn’t easy to do manually, but a BI tool can respond to your questions and provide you with a campaign plan that will actually push your prospects’ buttons, rather than churning out useless campaigns with little return.

Globalization doesn’t have to be a bad thing; in fact most manufacturers have thrived in this period of international business and trade, with new international sales channels and opportunities. But your plans for world manufacturing domination will fall flat on their face, however, if you’re not organized. It’s nothing new that as businesses grow, processes change and the flow of information becomes somewhat blurred. What’s more, the harvesting and storage of data is done in hundreds of different ways. Acquisitions, mergers, buyouts and joint ventures will only add to the confusion.But the best thing about Business Intelligence is that it feeds on ERP software, CRM systems and even ancient spreadsheets to provide clear-cut information in seconds that is useful and actionable. A central information ‘hub’ will provide simple data access and encourage collaboration across branches and even borders.

BI PROV IDES CLE AR - CU T

INFORMATION IN SECO NDS T HAT I S USEFUL AND AC T I O NABLE

organize yourbusiness empire

First and foremost, you have to clearly define what problems or issues the adoption of a BI system will respond to. Address and refer to these pain points when you are reviewing BI tools. As a global manufacturer, you are going to have to do your homework, reviewing your current practices and software before any BI project gets off the ground.

You need to know what BI is going to do to benefit your business so take a moment and think about what you want from it. Spend time with each of the departments across your business, from sales and customer service to marketing and finance, get under their skin and understand which of their problems BI will solve. It will make sign off and approval much easier with the support of key departments.

The biggest and most expensive risk you can take when deploying any new piece of technology is not having clearly defined goals from the outset.

best practicefor BI

As with any new technology, BI takes a bit of work on your part. Before you can even consider investing in a solution you need to work out what you want to get from it, who will be using it and why. If you don’t know why you need it or how you will use it to your advantage – why are you spending the money on it?

Preparation is key, particularly if you’re working in a larger organization and you have a lot of people to please.

BI in action

BI makes it easier for you to grow your empire and outsmart the competition. Selling tens of thousands of products makes it tough for your team to effectively analyze sales information and valuable opportunities will be passing them by every day simply because they don’t have the hours in the day to keep things organized.

BI can quickly identify the precise products that a customer has bought, what they haven’t and more importantly, what they should be buying from you. Having instant access to information will make a vast difference and you won’t be wasting time sorting through order forms and sales invoices to spot your next sale.

Nominate someone in house to manage the new solution, take ownership of deployment, manage training, handle simple questions and act as a point of contact between your users and your provider.

The champion will ideally be in a position of working directly with those using the new system and will be using it themselves. New tools of any kind can get messy very quickly if you have hundreds of users trying to master it so having a central point of contact will really help out.

Identify pain points

Have a champion

Data, data, dataAny BI system is only as good as the data that feeds it. Jumping in feet first with little consideration for your data quality will see any BI project fail to make a splash. No BI system will fill in the gaps or correct errors; it is a simple reflection of your data, albeit in a better-looking and more efficient manner.

Research shows that an average salesperson costs companies $500 per day to employ. For $504 (as sales-i costs $4 per user per day) sales-i provides a profitable focus for sales activities so that time is not wasted.G e r r y B r o w n , S e n i o r A n a l y s t

Give us a try, just 20 minutes could change the way you sell.

Contact us for a free, online demonstrationand judge our software for yourself.

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