Case Study · Manufacturing & Distribution · Illinois
A Chicago-area manufacturer forecast by gut and tracked warranty in spreadsheets. We put order-to-cash on Manufacturing Cloud.
Forecast guesswork, a disconnected order-to-cash process, and warranty data in spreadsheets. We deployed Manufacturing Cloud with Field Service and B2B Sales Cloud in eleven weeks.
Industry
Industrial manufacturing & distribution
Platform
Manufacturing Cloud + Field Service + Sales Cloud
Timeline
11 weeks to production
Outcome
+30% forecast accuracy
The challenge
A Chicago-area industrial manufacturer and distributor
A long-established manufacturer serving distributors across the Midwest ran forecasting on spreadsheets and instinct, kept warranty records in a shared drive, and had no clean line from a quote to a paid invoice.
Forecasting by gut
Demand planning lived in spreadsheets and tribal knowledge, so production and inventory were always a step behind actual orders.
Order-to-cash was disconnected
Quotes, orders, fulfillment, and invoicing sat in separate systems, slowing cash and hiding the real margin picture.
Warranty on spreadsheets
Service and warranty claims were tracked by hand, with no link to the product, the account, or the field team.
The architecture
From forecast to fulfillment to field service on one connected platform
We put demand and order visibility on Manufacturing Cloud, connected the B2B sales motion in Sales Cloud, and unified warranty and installer work on Field Service, so order-to-cash finally runs end to end.
Sources
Salesforce core
Automation
Forecast collaboration and an automated quote-to-order-to-invoice flow, wired to the ERP.
Outcomes
What we built
Manufacturing Cloud
Demand planning, forecast collaboration, and order visibility replacing spreadsheet guesswork.
B2B Sales Cloud
Quoting, pipeline, and account management built for repeat distributor buyers and long industrial cycles.
Field Service for installers
Warranty and installation work orders tied to the product, the account, and the crew in the field.
ERP & order-to-cash integration
Quote, order, fulfillment, and invoice connected end to end for faster, cleaner cash.
How we delivered
11 weeks to production, start to finish
Discovery & audit
We mapped the process, data quality, and the single metric that mattered most.
Design & data model
Data model, security model, and an automation blueprint signed off before a line was built.
Build & migrate
Configured in a sandbox, wired to existing systems, with a careful, verified data migration.
Test & parallel run
User testing and a parallel run against the live system until the numbers held.
Launch & tune
Production launch, role-based training, and 30 days of monitoring and tuning.
The results
What changed for the business
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Forecast accuracy | Gut feel | +30% |
| Order-to-cash cycle | Baseline | 25% faster |
| Warranty tracking | Spreadsheets | On-platform |
| Order visibility | Fragmented | One view |
| Distributor ordering | Phone & email | Self-serve |
| Time to production | — | 11 weeks |
“We plan production off the forecast now instead of arguing about it. The order-to-cash picture is finally one number.”
VP Operations · Chicago-area manufacturer
Connecting order-to-cash in Illinois?
Book a free 30-minute scoping call. We will map forecast, orders, and warranty onto Manufacturing Cloud and hand you a plan scoped to a defensible payback, at no cost.
Client identifying details have been anonymized at the client's request. Metrics reflect the outcomes of a real engagement.