Manufacturing Cloud is becoming a more commonly known Salesforce product that many companies are just starting to hear about. Launched in October 2019, it “brings sales and operations teams together around a unified view of market and customer demands to more accurately forecast, plan and drive predictable business performance.” With proof that these tools are powering digital transformation at manufacturing and sales companies, more clients are asking to get on board, but not before asking us to break some Manufacturing Cloud myths.
CPQ is not required to use Salesforce, and it’s not required with Manufacturing Cloud. Just like you probably have a standalone ERP, you can have a standalone CPQ system. CPQ can handle your quoting and contracting, it can integrate with Manufacturing Cloud to set up agreements, or you can just use Manufacturing Cloud’s Sales Agreements functionality for simple Sales Agreement-style planning. Do you get more with CPQ paired with Manufacturing Cloud? Absolutely, but it’s not necessary because you get a few extra features with Manufacturing Cloud that might be enough for your organization. We’ll dig in to find out exactly what is right for you.
Manufacturers who are using Salesforce to handle their run rate business are likely missing out on great features Manufacturing Cloud has to offer. You’re able to forecast at the product level instead of the opportunity and actually base forecast and revenue recognition on when products are built and shipped instead of a closed opportunity. Staying with out-of-the-box Sales Cloud and CPQ will limit you to opportunity and quote-level forecasting.
Did you just get pitched to check out Manufacturing Cloud and are wondering why? Your Salesforce Account Executive or Uptima Solution Architect knows your needs and there’s a good reason you’ve landed here. You probably have a run rate business and need to get a better look into it. This is the right place to see that value! With sales agreements to commit your customers to terms of duration and quantities to purchase, and account-based forecast targets for your account managers to hit each week, quarter, and year, you’ll have everything you need in one place.
Of course, there is so much more to Manufacturing Cloud beyond the myths about why Manufacturing Cloud would or wouldn’t work for you. Currently, we are suggesting this product for those in the Manufacturing, Automotive, and Oil/Gas/Energy verticals. We have a team of Consultants ready to talk about how an implementation can take place right on an existing Salesforce organization without disruption to what you already have in place.
Becky Willis
Consulting Manager at Uptima