Salesforce for
Manufacturing

A CRM for the manufacturing industry manages a manufacturer's customer, dealer and distributor relationships alongside the ERP. Where the ERP runs production, inventory and orders, the CRM runs accounts, pipeline, agreements, forecasts and service. On Salesforce, that is Sales Cloud and Service Cloud, with Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud for run-rate agreements and account forecasting.

Manufacturers use a CRM for:

• Account planning: one view of each customer account, its plants, contacts, open opportunities and service history.
• Dealer and distributor management: partner portals for orders, leads, rebates and shared pipeline.
• Forecasting: account-based forecasts and sales agreements for run-rate business, next to the opportunity pipeline.
• Service and warranty: cases, asset and warranty tracking, and field service work orders after the sale.

The CRM depends on ERP data for products, prices, inventory and orders. If your ERP is NetSuite, see NetSuite Salesforce integration; for SAP, see Salesforce SAP integration.

A manufacturer usually combines several Salesforce products. The table maps common manufacturing processes to the product that carries them and to the Techila page for each.

Which product fits a process is our guidance and depends on your scope. For the problems these products solve, read Salesforce challenges in manufacturing.

Plan the program with Salesforce implementation services, keep it running with Salesforce managed services, and budget with the Salesforce implementation cost guide.

• Accurate Gauging runs Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Field Service and Experience Cloud. Results: +45% technician productivity, +50% first-time fix rate and −35% service response time. Delivery took 14 to 18 weeks.
• Gal Power System moved estimating from Excel into Sales Cloud. Results: 90–100% less reliance on Excel-based estimates and 30–40% less time on quotes and estimates.

Both sets of figures come from the linked case studies. Other manufacturing programs in the library include Kirloskar, Melby Maskin, JR Equipment, Millennium Semiconductors and US clients Nexeo Plastics, Ever Zinc and Associated Compressor & Equipment.

Trailhead says Agentforce Manufacturing, the name it uses for Manufacturing Cloud, "is built on top of Sales Cloud and Service Cloud". It adds sales agreements for run-rate business, account forecasting, partner rebates, asset warranty tracking and a partner portal.

So the question is whether you need those additions. Sales Cloud and Service Cloud cover the pipeline, quoting and the service desk on their own.

• Choose Manufacturing Cloud if you sell run-rate business under long-term agreements, forecast by account, or run partner rebate programs.
• Start with Sales and Service Cloud if the first goal is a pipeline, quoting or a service desk.

Editions and list prices are on the Manufacturing Cloud page. To decide, book a discovery call.