Inforte Creates Enterprise CRM Solution To Enhance Sales Processes And Drive Product Development For Plastic And Fiber ManufacturerCompany BackgroundOur client, headquartered in Midland, Michigan, is widely recognized as a world leader in silicon-based materials technology and has
pioneered the development of silicones for commercial applications. Today, this plastic and fiber manufacturer is expanding the boundaries of its technology, building on its expertise in silicone to tap the
commercial potential of a much broader array of silicon-based materials. The company's research efforts are aimed at developing new products
that exploit the technology of silicon-based chemistry to help its customers succeed in
the marketplace. Business IssueOver the years, this plastic and fiber manufacturer has implemented business solutions
that have helped manage product development, sales leads, opportunities and
customer service requests. The Company has also adopted a straightforward approach
to product development - as it works with customers to understand their needs and
then implements targeted solutions to meet them. As a result, information from service
requests is often used for potential product development and marketing opportunities.
Our client constantly looks for ways to incorporate customer feedback into the
development of new products to address needs within existing and new markets in
order to help customers succeed in the marketplace. In order to address customer desires and objectives and meet customer relationship
management (CRM) objectives as defined above, our client had implemented a
Microsoft Outlook-based CRM application to provide core sales force automation (SFA)
functionality and to build best practices for the sales force, while leveraging a nonlicensed
solution. In addition to providing core sales functionality, however, the plastic and fiber
manufacturer needed a solution that provided a comprehensive picture of customer
relationships across multiple division and data repositories. To this end, the Company
wanted to implement a more advanced CRM solution to coincide with the
implementation of new sales practices and changes in business processes across
divisions. The Company was also looking for a CRM solution that would integrate with
its SAP-based Customer Interaction Center and back-office implementation of SAP R/3. Inforte's SolutionOur client selected the Oracle-Siebel Sales 7 application software to replace the
Outlook-based SFA solution. This solution would enable the Company to migrate to an
enterprise system that better addressed scalability of usage and performance
improvements. In selecting an implementation partner, our client narrowed its list of
potential integrators to three, and eventually chose Inforte, an experienced Oracle-
Siebel partner with over 100 successful implementation projects. Inforte partnered with the plastic and fiber manufacturer to validate
detailed functional requirements, design and implement the Oracle-
Siebel Sales application software, integrate the new CRM solution
with legacy SAP applications (R/3 and CRM) and rollout the
application to 1200 global users across the sales, technical
service, customer service and marketing groups. Leveraging
Inforte's methodology, the solution was efficiently delivered in 13
weeks - including a three-week user design phase and a 10-week
design, development and implementation phase. Inforte and the Company defined a phased approach to address
various business and technical challenges. The main objectives
of the initial 13-week Phase One project were to rapidly deliver
CRM business benefits, replace the legacy Outlook-based
application and implement a scalable, enterprise system. Next,
the Oracle-Siebel CRM platform needed to provide the
foundation for subsequent phased rollouts regarding service and
marketing initiatives. For example, future functionality -
leveraging service request management - will include
integration to customer support resource scheduling (availability,
work hours, etc.) for resource planning and assignments. Also,
the Company outsourced outbound e-mail campaigns; Oracle-
Siebel Marketing, configured on the sales CRM platform, will
bring this functionality in-house. The two primary challenges facing the implementation team
were the SAP integration component and change management.
Regarding the SAP integration, the Inforte team worked closely
with the Company, Oracle-Siebel and SAP resources to design
the integration approach using Oracle-Siebel's SAP connector.
The connector was used primarily for SAP R/3 integration, and
was further configured by the joint team to provide integration to
SAP CRM. Our client recognized early in the project that change would be
a risk, and that communication and training needed to be
planned accordingly. The leadership team, which included
Inforte and the Company's project management and Steering
Committee, defined a communication plan to inform users of
status, issues and the implementation timeline during the first
phase. Additionally, our client defined focus groups and
identified power users to assist with communication, acceptance
testing, training development and delivery. "From my perspective, we were able to complete
our CRM initiative in an aggressive timeframe due
to our solid and trustworthy relationship with
Inforte. Inforte showed a real desire to help make
our company successful, not only by implementing
a software solution, but by a genuine drive to
understand our business, flexible attitude in
making staffing decisions and follow through. You
look for someone you trust in a partner, and Inforte
always lived up to its promises." - eBusiness Specialist Business Benefits DeliveredOur client has launched a strategic initiative to build an enterprise
CRM platform to support its sales processes and drive product and
market development opportunities. The Oracle-Siebel 7 CRM
project is a key platform component of this initiative. The primary
business benefits include: - Customer management and segmentation according to market
classifications.
- Contact management in a global, enterprise-wide manner to
provide both commercial contacts and marketers with precise,
shared information that will assist them in building
relationships.
- Opportunity and lead management segmented by "product,"
"service" and "input" to product marketing and development
functions.
- Revenue data and forecasting used to calculate and track
various metrics including estimated annual sales and estimated
sales volume.
- Integration to the Customer Interaction Center (CIC) module of
SAP CRM to provide call center representatives visibility into
customer activities.
- Customer activities managed within CRM to coordinate sales
and service efforts toward customers.
"One other area of concern for us was the
complex integration with our existing SAP
environment. We planned to use Oracle-Siebel's
SAP connector, but knew that it was not designed
for a specific type of SAP software we currently
use and might make the integration more difficult.
Inforte was able to quickly get up to speed on our
systems and configure the integration required to
make the project a success. The combined team
performed well, both individually and as a team." - eBusiness Specialist Words of AdviceGlobal trends in the chemical industry have recently included a
rash of mergers and consolidations to implement cost-cutting
moves and address increased competition. Additionally,
companies are striving to introduce new and existing products
into new and existing markets. CRM processes and technology
solutions that effectively manage information around delivery of
leads and opportunities to not only the sales teams but also to
back-office operations, product marketing and customer service
teams become critical tools in sustaining competitive advantage.
Our client believes the Oracle-Siebel/Inforte enterprise CRM
solution will provide its employees with critical customer, sales
and product information on a worldwide basis. |