November 29, 2016
The packaging industry is going through a major transformation as competition heats up and markets remain stagnant. To compete, companies must reduce cost, improve customer service, create innovative designs, and deliver on time. The pressures companies are facing are forcing them to review all workflows to achieve these goals and drive improved performance. These improvements manifest themselves in transformational best practices. Here are a few:
Making It Easier to Do Business with Your Company
Packaging manufacturers are providing online quotes and ordering. Enable customer self-service with real-time tracking of production and deliveries.
Going Paperless
Electronic proof of delivery (tablet or phone) and automated billing delivers invoices immediately for improved cash flow by eliminating transaction turnaround time. Additionally, this reduces the administration effort—likely on the part of the billing person—and could eliminate a position in companies where there are large quantities of orders. By going paperless for specs and scheduling in the plant, companies can electronically collaborate from design to order fulfillment, ensuring customer specs are perfect and orders arrive in time.
Tightening Up the Sales Process
Companies are implementing sales force automation systems and workflow tools to expedite the sales process from customer inquiry through design, sample making, and quotations. This improved workflow gets the end user a more accurate, timely, and accurate quote while providing the basic information necessary for the plant to initiate approvals and production. Salespeople are also becoming more like account managers. They are assuming a much broader level of responsibility where they need access to continually updated customer information such as orders, schedules, shipping, and accounts receivable (AR) to grow an account and be part of the service paradigm. Today’s customer relationship management (CRM) systems have taken over from the good old days of personal touch and telephone calls.
Updating Records with Big Data and Analytics
Historical information is becoming a thing of the past—pun intended—as companies have access to real-time data and sophisticated algorithms that can predict the future and alert you to trends. In addition to reports and graphs, analytic tools are crunching productivity, sales, logistics, and financial information, and they present results anywhere, anytime for an actionable response to improve a situation and outcome.
Outsourcing Noncore Functions
Finally, companies are outsourcing noncore functions such as IT and payroll as plants try to better utilize team members strategically and attempt to get lean by reducing head count. The migration to the cloud is reducing IT spending, capex, and human support needs as companies need access to a team of outsourced experts versus a single expert.
Understanding your customers and your internal strengths and weaknesses are the first steps in redefining how you can operate at a higher level. Adopting new, better practices will depend on your commitment, people, and stick-to-it attitude.
John Clark is director of analytics at Amtech Software. He can be reached at jclark@amtechsoftware.com.
