Partner Consulting: Where CRM Meets Lean Manufacturing

Creating a Value Stream Mapping (VSM) process prior to making an investment in CRM software can help manufacturers eliminate wasteful processes and improve operational effectiveness.

Manufacturers practicing continued process improvements have made (or are in the process of making) the transition to demand-driven business models which integrate sales, marketing, and service processes. The end-goal, of course, is to become significantly more customer-centric. This often starts with investments in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology to track various touch points and generate market intelligence across multiple channels.

But to properly leverage all that CRM has to offer, manufacturers need industry-specific applications that can simultaneously meet the complex requirements of eliminating waste while providing a distinct competitive advantage. Manufacturers need tailor-made systems that capture, analyze, and act on customer intelligence, allowing them to aggregate and analyze information across the business, providing insight to guide effective decision-making and more easily adapt to changing market requirements.

The initial intersection of CRM and manufacturing is often labeled the product configurator, used externally by customers accessing the company website or internally by sales representatives to specify product purchases. Design opportunity management often builds on product configuration by simplifying multilevel relationships with distributors while impacting demand management, recognition of additional sales opportunities, and collaborative marketing efforts.

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