How ERP Improves Sales Management and Growth Through Automation

WHITEPAPER
www.omegacube.com info@omegacube.com (630) 250-0002
How does an ERP solve key
Sales Management
problems and grow sales?
There is no doubt that Sales Management is one of the core
functions of a manufacturing enterprise. The constant inflow of
sales is what keeps the wheels of production planning, inventory
management, shop floor operations (and other manufacturing
functions) running.
The enterprise ceases to function if this inflow is affected and
therefore it is critical to identify issues surrounding sales
management and solve them. If the shop floor is the heart of a
manufacturing enterprise, then sales is the oxygen keeping the
enterprise alive.

Lack of Dedicated Time towards Sales
Manufacturers especially from the small and medium
segment rue the lack of time needed to iron out sales and
order management issues.
They are busy fire-fighting issues pertaining to shop-floor,
production planning, inventory, supply chain and
post-sales support because they want to overtake their
rivals in the increasingly competitive market.
Their sales machinery is outdated and manually executed,
leaving them in a tight spot on deciding what workflows
and processes to automate and how.
This is where an ERP comes in.
Sal󰈩󰈻?
Sor󰈸󰉙 n󰈡󰉃
no󰉒!
WHY ARE MANUFACTURING
ENTERPRISES UNABLE TO
ATTRACT SALES?
External Factors
The global manufacturing market is volatile owing to
delicate economic conditions, trade agreements and
sanctions, wars & conflicts, stock markets, demand
fluctuation, increasing operational costs, fluctuating labor
availability etc.
While a manufacturer cannot do much about bringing a
positive change to these factors, they always can shield
themselves to an extent by adopting technology and
becoming more proactive.

Evolution of Buyers
Gone are the days when prospects wanted to know about
your product and filled a physical/online form or called
your number to enquire. That was considered a hot lead.
The sales rep explained the product details & benefits at
length and convinced the prospect to place an order.
While the practice may still be prevalent, with so much of
the selling process going online, buyers have evolved to a
large extent and have already read about your product,
product reviews, product comparisons on the web, etc.
before they approach you for a demo.
This has completely altered the sales environment and
manufacturers must reinvent themselves by modifying
their sales workflows per today’s way of selling.
Digital = New Sales Platform
Most manufacturers who have been in the industry for a
long time,grew and sustained their business with the help
of traditional and word-of-mouth marketing methods.
However, with the rapid emergence of internet marketing,
social media, mobility and cloud, they may suddenly be
missing a chunk of the market.
Enterprises who quickly adopted to digital technology and
Social Media as their new sales platform quickly grew to
prominence and overtook many of the others; while many
became mired in the old traditional methods and now
may be unclear on how to make the switch.
BUY
OPEN

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THEIR
EXISTING SALES
MANUFACTURING PROCESS?
Manual Quote & Estimate Generation
A manufacturer’s market success depends on how fast
they can respond to prospect’s Request for Quotation
(RFQ), prepare an accurate quotation, and dispatch it at
the earliest.
But many manufacturers aren’t able to do this quickly
enough. They have to manually compile product &
component pricing, inventory availability, personnel &
machine availability, current production schedule, BOM,
part details etc. and prepare a quotation.
This takes up time at the cost of losing the order to
competitors who reach the customer with the information
much earlier.Remember,the market is ﬁercely competitive
and every second counts
Lack of Visibility to Customers
Customers have placed an order, but they do not know the
status of what’s going on and when it would be delivered
to them. They do not have access to invoice details,
material certiﬁcations, sales invoice, shipment details,
location tracking etc.
The absence of a system that provides complete sales &
order visibility to customers can affect their own business
operations as there is an air of uncertainty over their
order. This diminishes the trust they have of the
manufacturer.
Wha󰉃’󰈼 m󰉘
Or󰇷e󰈹
Sta󰉃󰉉󰈼?

Inefficient Supply Chain Management
Suppliers are a most vital link for the manufacturer as
they are the primary source of raw materials,
semi-assembled parts, consumable products, equipment
etc.
Not having the right communication channels with
suppliers has an adverse impact on sales and production.
When manufacturers do not know when the supplier’s
shipment will arrive, they also don’t know when the
product will be manufactured and delivered to the
customer as per the agreed time.
This puts the entire production and customer interaction
team into a chaotic state and can severely damage market
reputation.
Manual Order & Contact Management
In the absence of an ERP/CRM, prospect enquiries and
leads are manually recorded and stored in spreadsheets,
papers, notebooks, notepads etc.
These become the primary data containers in a
manufacturing enterprise. Thus, work orders are manually
generated with inputs from the Sales Order and delivered
to the shop floor. The chances of inaccurate data are high
as they are prone to human error.
In addition, the shop floor has little visibility over how
many work orders they have to cater to on a particular
day/week/month. Historical records required to forecast
sales and demand are missing, incomplete and inaccurate.
All these greatly reduce the efficiency of the
manufacturing enterprise and places it behind
competitors who have automated these processes.
Whe󰈸󰈩 󰇽󰈹e
m󰉘
Go󰈡d󰈻?

Reduced Customer Service
Customers often call to ask the status of a job, delivery
timeline, shipment details, invoice status etc. With all the
data stored in various physical forms and spreadsheets, it
becomes difﬁcult for service personnel to quickly search
for the exact detail and provide an appropriate answer.
This will lead to the personnel apologizing for the delay,
requesting more time to search for the information, and
then get back to the customer.
Also, service technicians visiting customer sites for repair
do not have a means to access historical customer data,
product manuals, spare parts availability, etc., thereby
reducing their efﬁciency. All this leaves the customers
irritated and frustrated, thereby reducing the
manufacturer’s service reputation.

HOW DOES ERP IMPROVE
SALES MANAGEMENT &
SALES GROWTH?
An ERP software with integrated capabilities helps manufacturers overcome their sales management
challenges. It automates the entire sales workflow and provides real-time visibility into day to day
sales operations, thereby helping manufacturers to quicken customer response, predict future sales,
accurately schedule production, and control material procurement & consumption. Let us look at the
sales areas that get improved comprehensively with an ERP.
An ERP eliminates the need for pencil & paper, spreadsheet,
manual quotation, and over-dependence on personnel skilled in
estimation & quoting. I
t gives you real-time visibility to the Bill of Materials (BOM) at
multiple levels, prices of different vendors and cost of materials,
current inventory levels etc. enabling you to arrive at the cost
you would incur for each order with the associated profit
margins.
Also, flexibility in the system means that constant change in
customer preferences/requirements (even in the design stage)
can be readily incorporated and desired results can be obtained
swiftly.
Quick Quotation & Cost Estimate
Generation

Selling online is the new way for most everyone including
manufacturers; and an e-commerce portal greatly enhances the
order and sales efficiency of the manufacturer. Today’s ERP can
be integrated with a host of third-party applications that
includes off the shelf e-commerce platforms, thereby
automating order management process and integrating with
sales management.
In an e-commerce marketplace, the chances of human error are
minimal as customers enter the order details themselves.
Moreover, the store is open 24/7 to customers thereby
increasing their convenience of looking at your products online
and placing an order instantly anytime and from anywhere.
Manufacturers can realize higher online sales, increased
customer reach, speedy recall and customer refunds, improved
customer trust and profitability.
E-commerce Integration
The growth of a manufacturing enterprise depends greatly on
how fast they convert leads to sales orders and deliver the final
product to customers. To do this, they need to automate the
entire sales process with the help of an ERP.
Once a quotation is approved by the customer, the ERP
generates a sales order. At the same time, it initiates
procurement of raw material from inventory stock and allocates
machines and manpower per the order size.
A Work Order is also generated and dispatched to the shop floor.
At each production stage, the work order is updated with
information such as materials consumed, scrap generated,
machine and manpower time etc.
Automated Sales Order Processing
Once the product is manufactured, it is packed along with system-generated shipping labels and barcode for quick tracking and
identification. An automated invoice is generated and sent to the customer at the time of dispatch and the shipment is tracked
until it reaches the customer.The automated sales and manufacturing workflows ensure that every department is updated with
real-time information for efficient work scheduling and resource allocation.
Order Confirmed
$

This prediction becomes vital data to plan and schedule production, procure goods from suppliers, efficiently manufacture
products without burdening manpower and machines, and successfully deliver products to customers just in time.
A CRM greatly enhances the efficiency of the sales team. It becomes a centralized database for all prospect and customer
information thereby making it easier for the sales team to retrieve vital information whenever required. Also, they can run lead
generation campaigns, collect leads, extract high quality leads from the lot and convert them into sales orders.
Sales personnel can conduct in depth analysis to figure out what marketing strategy or source medium worked in what areas
(location, industry segment, demographics), so that they can be replicated further to get more leads. For each customer, you can
arrive at buying patterns, peak order times, down times, etc. and leverage the same to proactively get in touch with them and
procure repeat orders.
A CRM opens up information avenues such as total number of leads, HQLs or potential sales orders, repeat orders etc. Using this,
production planners can devise their plan well in advance and ensure sufficient raw materials, machines and manpower are
available.
An advanced ERP software solution offering an end-to-end CRM
system is a powerful tool for manufacturers. An integrated
CRM-ERP system ensures the visibility of,
Available inventory at all times
Available machines and manpower in full working capacity
Total Sales Orders that have been converted into Work Orders
Work Order allocation and job progress
Total day-to-day customer shipments
Total Request for Quotation (RFQ)
Procurement orders from suppliers
This information enables the manufacturer to arrive at future
sales forecasts and predict the total approximate production
volume the shop floor can handle at any given point of time.
Using ERP’s CRM Functionality

One of the toughest challenges of supply chain management is
keeping track of products, packages, shipment and deliveries. By
implementing an ERP integrated with a tracking technology,you
can get far greater visibility of the supply chain.
An ERP provides complete visibility of suppliers and trading
partners along with the complete historical performance such
as time to supply, product quality, credit history, pending orders
etc. It enables manufacturers to automate purchase
management through just-in-time purchase, RFQ generation
and by providing complete demand and inventory visibility to
suppliers.
Supply chain visibility is improved with advanced product
traceability right from its procurement till it goes into the final
product. All this indirectly enhances the sales numbers as
manufacturing and delivery are on time and customers are
satisfied.
Efficient Supply Chain Management
An ERP stores all incoming data to a centralized location and
this enables the advanced data analytics and reporting module
to retrieve that data and present it in various forms.
Manufacturers can utilize this to analyze sales trends, lead
sources, time taken for order processing, quotation preparation
time, etc. to arrive at useful information that can be used to
improve workflows. They can also utilize production and
manpower data to arrive at the life-cycle of various product
streams manufactured previously. Analyzing these parameters
along with current market demand will help them to accurately
forecast sales numbers.
Using Advanced Data Analytics

With the help of an in-built Customer Portal, customers can
have complete visibility of their orders, have access to past
order history, pending shipments, sales invoices, RMA, product
certifications etc.They can download product manuals and item
specifications of products they have purchased. They can also
raise service tickets from the portal itself and track its progress
till closure.
Improved Customer Visibility
Most small and medium manufacturers still resort to
conventional, manual means of communicating with their
customers and suppliers - and not use EDI (Electronic Data
Interchange).
Many ERP systems today have an inbuilt EDI system that makes
it easier for manufacturers to seamlessly communicate and
transact with their stakeholders. With EDI’s secure, automated
document handling capability, manufacturers can easily and
quickly share sales invoices with their customers and suppliers.
EDI integration with an e-commerce portal eliminates manual
keying of information by customers thereby reducing typo
errors, missing and incorrect information. Critical sales order
information can be passed on quickly to the shop floor thereby
reducing overall cycle time and improving production efficiency.
EDI can reduce the usage of paper to naught as transactions are
conducted electronically, and it is much more efficient and
quicker besides. Also, it is environment friendly as carbon
footprints are reduced due to less than those of paper usage.
Seamless Internal & External
Communication with EDI

CONCLUSION
Since 1999, OmegaCube has delivered enterprise-class ERP software for our customers with a single focus,
“No two companies operate exactly the same and they need flexibility in their systems in order to maintain
their competitive edge”.
You know your business inside-out and would definitely want your ERP software to treat you in a manner you like, and not
exactly as it treats your competitor. Our flagship product, OmegaCube ERP seamlessly adapts to your business. With best
industry practices built into the product, coupled with extreme flexibility,
OmegaCube ERP can do things better than you currently do and at the same time,adapt to what you do best.This has helped
our customers from diverse industries, realize their strategic goals such as, workflow automation, centralized operations,
cost reduction, increase in production, knowledge centralization, and effective resource & manpower utilization. Our strong
expertise in advanced ERP technology coupled with immense manufacturing & distribution knowledge allows us to deliver
quality enterprise solutions that help you gain competitive edge in the market and achieve your business goals.
About OmegaCube
Photograph Source - www.istockphoto.com
COPYRIGHT ©2019 OMEGACUBE TECHNOLOGIES
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
An ERP automates and enhances order and sales management
for a manufacturer to a great extent. It can drastically reduce the
quote-to-order-to-cash cycle and increases cash flow,
bottom-line, and profitability for the enterprise. It eliminates
unwanted workflows and processes and streamlines the entire
sales machinery. Manufacturers know exactly where to look for
more leads and potential sales, thereby helping them achieve
their goals of sustainable enterprise growth.

How ERP Improves Sales Management and Growth Through Automation

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to How ERP Improves Sales Management and Growth Through Automation

Similar to How ERP Improves Sales Management and Growth Through Automation (20)

More from OmegaCube Technologies

More from OmegaCube Technologies (18)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

How ERP Improves Sales Management and Growth Through Automation