Enabling digital transformation with Cloud4M

Manufacturing companies face a real challenge in that they are largely product-centric, rooted in constraints of physical supply and delivery, and highly dependent on distribution and dealer networks. They often work across a variety of platforms where data is not consolidated and are unable to view their customers and connected products in one single view. Without that transparency, manufacturers may be unable to deploy accurate forecasting tools and struggle to identify potential issues before they become problems.

As traditionally product-centric organisations, manufacturers are not accustomed to putting the customer at the centre of the business and find difficulty understanding the customer journey. This leads to poor customer experiences and an inability to engage clients fully.

In fact, research from Deloitte Insights indicate that manufacturers are not yet taking advantage of opportunities to automate and scale operations and improve productivity, field service quality, and sales predictions beyond the point of purchase. These organisations are finding it difficult to know where to start and when to make the required technology choices. As a result, manufacturers may invest in a variety of different technologies that face low overall ROI business adoption and impact.

In Switzerland specifically, manufacturing companies need to differentiate themselves through a high-level of customisation and a seamless customer experience. Swiss companies that are operating globally face low cost competitors all over the world. Therefore, exceptional customer engagement processes supported by analytics and forecasting tools help Swiss manufacturers maintaina competitive advantage.

Achieve customer centricity with Cloud4M

Take advantage of the potential opportunities digital transformation can bring your company with Cloud4M, launched by Deloitte in collaboration with Salesforce.com. Connect with your customers and key stakeholders in entirely new ways and start shifting from a product-centric organization to a customer-centric one. Cloud4M helps you create positive experiences from marketing to purchase to service and can help you capitalise on opportunities to improve existing products, create new ones, and offer data from smart technology.

Combining various Salesforce.com clouds with preconfigured manufacturing-relevant partner solutions, based on your strategic digital focus, the solution drives customer-centricity and provides an iterative way to prove value and scale quickly.

Cloud4M also includes a pre-packaged Independent Software Vendor (ISV) app built on Salesforce’s Manufacturing Cloud platform for complex B2B selling and provides a single consolidated view of sales agreements and order placement for sales representatives, demand planners, legal representatives, as well as your partners.

Cloud4M empowers your Industry 4.0 programme

Cloud4M helps companies capitalise on Industry 4.0 opportunities by offering pre-configured solutions, where Deloitte’s depth of industry experience brings business processes and manufacturing relevant data science. Cloud4M also:

1. Provides a single view of customers and products designed to support the end-to-end customer engagement process, from lead generation to servicing assets in the field
2. Takes existing, relevant Salesforce.com clouds and combines them with appropriate ecosystem solutions and Deloitte’s manufacturing know-how
3. Can be tailored based on business needs, goals and where your company wants to head  

During a recent information session, manufacturing companies in Switzerland also highlighted that Cloud4M reduces the complexity of managing, interpreting, and utilising data and increases overall customer centricity.  

How an international manufacturer accelerated their service transformation

Cloud4M was recently used by an international manufacturing company who develops cargo-handling machines. Deloitte implemented a Field Service Management System to plan, manage, execute and report field maintenance activities since the company’s existing tools did not provide an integrated single view for their service function.

After their digital transformation, the company was able to:

• log customer requests with the correlating asset, entitlement and customer details
• create work orders and service appointments using the intelligent scheduling dispatch console
• track parts and conduct inventory management in the field
• have an overview of costs in the field
• create customer and site safety service reports

The impact of this transformation is in the synergies created by using one tool which ensures a customer friendly delivery of value-adding services resulting in a great customer experience.

A global mechanical engineering company added value, expanded functionality and unified the customer experience

This multinational company was looking for ways to provide a consistent and global approach to automation, data integration, and to unify experiences across their international commercial network. They needed a global solution to support the creation and capture of customers in established and emerging markets.

Deloitte supported the creation of a digital operating model across multiple cross-functional teams for agile delivery and change management and a governance model to centralise management of the roadmap, investments and ensure alignment to deliver.

These optimisations resulted in the rationalisation of a consolidated CRM environment, enabled new digital channels and business programs and unified the customer experience across OEM and dealer channels for Marketing, Sales and Aftermarket.

If you want to learn more about digital transformation, click here for the digital transformation story of Borealis, leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals, and fertilizers. Additionally you can learn more about Cloud4M here.