Canadian manufacturers need to start thinking like tech companies

Canadian manufacturers have grown accustomed to grappling with occasional spikes in demand, but nothing like what COVID-19 has asked of them.

In this case, instead of simply taking on more orders for products, manufacturing was among the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic’s call to digitize many traditional processes and to harness data as the linchpin of all future strategies.

As lockdowns and sheltering-in-place became the norm, what we once described as technological disruption became less a matter of economic opportunity and more of a necessity to survive.

Behind the scenes, for example, field service teams that may have never worked from home suddenly needed to be equipped with the tools to do so. On the front lines, manufacturers have had to look at applications to facilitate collaboration among distributed teams or that offer greater visibility into potential supply chain problems.

It’s not that digital technologies and data-driven thinking weren’t a core part of manufacturing firms until now, of course. It’s just that these tools traditionally might have been focused on areas close to product development and design.

As we enter what hopefully is the final phase of the pandemic, manufacturers must recognize that those tools now need to be woven into every aspect of their daily operations.

This is what a lot of technology companies do: We look at the way businesses have worked, sometimes for decades, and try to identify where innovation can be introduced to produce greater value.

How that value is defined may vary from one shop to another, but the goal always is to put the customer at the heart of every decision. Doing so makes choosing the right technologies to meet their needs and expectations much more straightforward.

Apprehension to Acceleration

Even before the coronavirus outbreak, there was evidence that manufacturers were already beginning to adopt the customer-centric thinking of the best tech companies.

In a May 2019 report produced by the IT Media Group in partnership with Salesforce, a staggering majority -- 95 per cent -- of Canadian manufacturers indicated that customer expectations would influence their decisions on digital transformation. This was significantly higher than the 70 per cent who said that developing new products and services would be a catalyst, or the 40 per cent who cited changing international trading conditions as a factor.

On the other hand, the same research painted a picture of Canadian manufacturing as apprehensive about technological change. Just over half, or 55 per cent, had not yet invested in advanced manufacturing technologies, and one in five did not intend to do so in the next five years.

Manufacturers are hardly alone in this. What we’ve since seen as businesses have adapted to the realities of COVID-19 is a recognition that digital transformation is not only necessary but overdue. Plans to adopt new technologies that may have originally stretched over a five-year period, in some cases, were completed in a matter of months or even weeks.

Approach Digital Transformation With Confidence

This doesn’t have to be a daunting prospect. Rather than trying to modernize everything overnight, manufacturers across Canada can move with speed and efficiency by taking an approach that looks like this:

Learn. The only way to develop a holistic strategy that aligns with all customer needs is by establishing a clear picture of what’s happening right now. Using a customer relationship management (CRM) platform, for example, allows manufacturing teams to come together around the most accurate and up-to-date information about the customers they are serving. In fact, a cloud-based CRM was almost tailor-made for remote or decentralized groups of employees to act in a cohesive, customer-centric way.

Act. A CRM platform becomes the gateway to harmonizing data across many other departments, including marketing and support. This allows manufacturers to become more agile than they ever thought possible. Imagine uncovering opportunities for additional sales that might otherwise be overlooked or addressing potential customer problems before customers ever even encounter them. The better manufacturers know their customers, the more proactive they’ll become in fine-tuning every aspect of their operations.

Lead. Manufacturers can’t afford to work in silos. They are part of a supply chain that includes suppliers, retailers, dealers, and other partners. The benefits that data-driven decision-making and digital processes bring internally will soon find their way to the larger ecosystem. This not only means greater productivity across the board, but that manufacturers will be driving innovation rather than struggling to adapt.

Canadians have always been known for our resiliency (thanks to our ability to get through some challenging winter weather) and for our compassion as a people. Those same qualities will be at the heart of what allows our manufacturing sector to continue to thrive. It’s a matter of thinking like a tech company, and then learning, acting, and leading the way on behalf of our customers.

Dave Borrelli is area vice-president, commercial and enterprise west sales, for Salesforce Canada, 10 Bay St., Suite 400, Toronto, Ont. M5J 2R8, 647-256-4126, www.salesforce.com.