business intelligence

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.

Its not a lack of wanting to succeed; its 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 arent either. But combine the two and youll 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 for

manufacturers?

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 youll 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 dont. Technology has moved on

and there is software that does it all for you. You input a

question and itll 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 havent 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 youll 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 help your 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 lets 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 youll 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. Youll be able to spot areas of

improvement, youll 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

CHAI

N MUS T BE KEP T

UPDAT ED

better

supply chain

management

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 identify sales 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 isnt 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

isnt 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 doesnt 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 youre

not organized. Its nothing new that as businesses grow,

processes change and the flow of information becomes

somewhat blurred. Whats 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

your business

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 practice for 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 dont 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 youre 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 dont have the

hours in the day to keep things organized.

BI can quickly identify the precise products that a

customer has bought, what they havent and more

importantly, what they should be buying from you. Having

instant access to information will make a vast difference

and you wont 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, data

Any 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 demonstration and judge our software for yourself.

find out more e : t e l l m e m o r e @ s a l e s - i . c o m

w w w . s a l e s - i . c

o m

North America

1840 Oak Avenue,

Suite 100,

Evanston,

IL 60201

t: 877-646-8277

UK

Prologis House,

1 Monkspath Hall Road,

Solihull,

B90 4FY

t: 0845 508 7355