Manufacturing was once the shining star of industries for the UK. As the center of the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, the UK was the world leader in innovation, creating machinery and mechanized processes to speed production, increase efficiency, and drive more revenue than ever before. Since then, many companies have shifted to offshore manufacturing as a more profitable option; however, this caused a newsworthy reduction of the UK workforce and dealt a serious blow to the Manufacturing industry in the UK. 

Time for a Revolution

This past year, for the first time, manufacturing businesses spent more on technology and IT infrastructure than on manufacturing and warehousing. Furthermore, UK patent applications increased 5.7% with a record 5,000 applications filed, proving that manufacturing organisations are more focused on innovation than ever before. 

What’s driving this new momentum? These businesses are moving back to the forefront of innovation in a modern industrial revolution— all thanks to technology. They are embracing cloud technology and innovating with tools like Salesforce, which are creating new channels through which to engage with customers, distributors, and partners. 

Omnichannel for B2B

The Manufacturing industry finally recognized that most people bank, shop, socialize, and work online. It’s now necessary for businesses of every type and size to engage with their customers in the online space. Many B2C companies have already embraced omnichannel customer service, responding to customer messages and requests on any channel, including social media. However, these channels are far less utilised by B2B organisations that traditionally tend to prioritize contact with customers through email, phone, and paper communications. 

The fundamental goals of omnichannel customer service transcend the B2B or B2C distinction. Every business wants to provide exemplary customer service as well as streamline their sales cycle. A single access point for customers to find product information, get real time support, and track an order means distributors and resellers are enabled to find the service and selling tools they need online. 

Bluewolf has worked with many Manufacturing companies seeking to invest in their business technology. With Rolls Royce and Partners, we built a mobile community to provide a simple and engaging experience for their customers. We helped launch an easy-to-use account management system using the Salesforce1 Mobile Platform and a customer portal using Salesforce Community Cloud. This lets customers browse inventory and access their lease documents, invoices, and technical utilization data about their engines whenever they need to. Rolls Royce sales reps are now able to communicate with customers much more efficiently, and can track conversations and interactions through the application. The new community is a scalable system that allows Rolls-Royce & Partners Finance to help their clients realize their business goals faster and easier than ever before.

Embrace the New

40% of businesses believe that self-service is a crucial feature to customer service. In an age where technology allows everything to be shared online, leveraging this to increase your knowledge of your customers is powerful. Technology like Salesforce allows for streamlined service, which increases sales by building the reputation of your company and growing customer retention. Manufacturing businesses that transform the way their organizations use technology and embrace omnichannel methods are seeing incredible results. This is one revolution you don’t want to miss. 

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