Rootstock Cloud ERP + Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud

In September, Salesforce launched its new Manufacturing Cloud to help brings sales and operations teams together around a unified view of customer to help salespeople create more accurate account based forecasts. At Dreamforce 2019 in November, Rootstock demonstrated how Rootstock Cloud ERP leverages these new Manufacturing Cloud forecasts to create more precise production, procurement and distribution plans. When the two solutions are combined, manufacturers can maximize margins and revenue opportunities.

Rootstock’s Dreamforce 2019 presentation showcasing the combined Salesforce and Rootstock solution is now available as a video, Improve Sales & Operations Planning W/ Rootstock Cloud ERP + Manufacturing Cloud. In the video, host Dave Stephans, Chief Revenue Officer at Rootstock, demonstrates how Rootstock’s 360° Sales and Operations Planning engine works with the Sales Agreement and Account-Based Forecasting features of the Manufacturing Cloud. The video discusses how Rootstock Cloud ERP populates Salesforce Sales Agreements with actuals from ERP so sales teams have visibility to the actual ERP activity against an agreement and their progress against forecasts.  Dave also discusses how these new, more accurate forecasts are consumed by the Rootstock planning engine to create more timely and accurate production and supply chain plans.

You’ll also learn how integrating ERP and CRM gives you a 360-degree view of your customers to help you better understand demand, optimize profitability and respond to changing customer needs.

Why Combine Rootstock Cloud ERP with Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud?

For many manufacturers, getting sales and operations on the same page is challenging. Each department has its own goals and unique set of problems, and they are often at odds with each other. Their goals can sometimes conflict and the disconnected systems they are using exacerbate the problem.

On the sales side, managing run-rate customer agreements is often a manual processes. The customer’s actual order history and volumes are not usually recorded in CRM and are spread across many systems. This makes it difficult for sales teams to measure the customer’s performance on the agreement and to accurately predict the customer’s behavior. This can be even more difficult if the customer buys multiple products and if a company has multiple ERP systems. The information provided to operations for forecasting and planning suffers as a result.

Meanwhile, operations cannot rely on poorly vetted sales forecasts and have to use a combination of experience and historical analysis to build production and supply chain plans. The cumbersome process of managing agreements, creating forecasts and entering them into planning engines can also create a time lag, resulting in plans that don’t stay in synch with customer demand, leading to under- and over-stocking situations. There is no early warning system in place for operations.

In the video, Dave Stephans talks about these sales and operations planning challenges and how to overcome them, both with and without technology. Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud combined with Rootstock Cloud ERP’s 360° Sales and Operations Planning Engine solution provides the technology solution including:

Manufacturing Cloud

Manufacturing Cloud introduces two new features to manufacturers:

• Sales Agreements: This feature turns Sales Agreements into real-time data, including planned volumes and revenues, giving sales and operations a 360-degree view of the customer. Sales can manage the full sales agreement lifecycle and can see committed and actual order volumes, the performance of the agreement against the forecast and other time-phased custom metrics.
• Account-Based Forecasting: This feature gives manufacturers a complete view of their current business and future opportunities, enabling sales, finance and operations to create more accurate forecasts while breaking down internal silos.

Rootstock 360° Sales and Operations Planning Engine

Rootstock’s Sales and Operations Planning solution has three main capabilities:

• Provides ERP visibility to sales teams to generate more accurate sales forecasts. Rootstock Cloud ERP provides real-time updates on actual orders, which are integrated into the Sales Agreements. The resulting 360° visibility allows sales teams to better manage accounts, monitor progress against agreements and predict future ordering volumes.
• Consumes and aggregates account-based forecasts for planning. Rootstock’s planning engine takes aggregate data from Manufacturing Cloud’s Account-Based Forecasting and applies updates to a company’s different accounts and products. You can compare forecasts against existing orders, net current inventory and supplies to generate a plan for production and procurement while improving lead times, cash flow, revenue and profitability.
• Consolidates ERP information on the Salesforce Platform. For companies with multiple ERP systems in different locations or business units, Rootstock’s ERP Data Framework can help consolidate ERP data. Using a tool like MuleSoft Anypoint Platform, you can easily transfer ERP data to Rootstock’s ERP Data Framework, where account staff can then view it. In addition, consolidated ERP data factors into the appropriate sales forecasts to drive more accurate production and procurement across the company.

Better sales and operations planning is possible! Watch Improve Sales & Operations Planning W/ Rootstock Cloud ERP + Manufacturing Cloud to learn how you can overcome your own sales and operations planning challenges.