What’s Inside?
- Unified Global Workflow: Implementation of a single platform (Product Creation Form – PCF) to manage product enrichment and validation worldwide.
- Cross-Departmental Synergy: Drastic reduction in silos between marketing, packaging, R&D, and production teams.
- Market Agility: Significant acceleration in time-to-market for new products and complex assemblies.
Context
Our client is a world-renowned industrial group with diverse activities, operating on a global scale. To maintain its competitive edge, the group recognized the need to overhaul its traditional “Product Creation Form” (PCF) processes, which were used to manage the lifecycle of new products and complex assemblies across its international subsidiaries.
Challenges
The primary objective was to eliminate fragmented data silos and manual validation hurdles. The client faced several critical challenges:
- Disjointed Validation: The need to manage the entire enrichment and validation path on a single, transparent platform.
- Collaboration Barriers: Difficulty in synchronizing efforts between global marketing teams, packaging departments, design offices, and production units.
- Process Latency: Slow hand-offs between different stages of the product development cycle, delaying global launches.
The Solution
Spoon Consulting developed a robust solution based on the Salesforce Platform, tailored to the client’s unique manufacturing requirements. The implementation included:
- Customized PCF Tool: A specialized application allowing all global subsidiaries to follow a standardized product creation process.
- Advanced Integration: Implementation of APIs and Web Services to interface the new platform with existing third-party tools.
- Tailored UX: Custom development using Apex and Visualforce to create intuitive interfaces for diverse user groups.
Our Contribution
Spoon Consulting provided end-to-end expertise, acting as a strategic partner from conception to ongoing maintenance. Our responsibilities included:
- Strategic Scoping: Leading workshops and presentations to align stakeholders with the new digital vision.
- Technical Architecture: Designing the integration architecture to ensure a seamless flow between Salesforce and legacy systems.
- Enablement: Managing user testing and providing comprehensive training to ensure high adoption rates worldwide.
- Sustainment: Providing Third-Party Application Maintenance (TMA) to support the platform’s evolution.
Benefits
The digital transformation delivered measurable improvements to the client’s operational efficiency:
- Rapid Time-to-Market: New products and assemblies are now launched significantly faster thanks to a streamlined validation process.
- Enhanced Visibility: Management now has real-time clarity on all pending requests and development statuses across the globe.
- Collaborative Excellence: The solution simplified interactions between marketing and technical teams, fostering a more agile corporate culture.
Key Figures & Dates
- Project duration: 2011 – 2013
- Workload: 100 man-days
- Impact: 210 users across global subsidiaries
