Customer relationship management (CRM) technology isn't just for managing customer relationships — it's also a game changer for order management in manufacturing. By connecting your sales, production, and logistics teams on one shared platform, a manufacturing CRM ensures everyone has access to real-time, accurate info. That means fewer mistakes, less miscommunication, and fewer missed deadlines. The result? Optimized operations, faster response times, and happier customers. For production managers in particular, using a CRM can seriously save a ton of time.
Let's look at what CRM tech is, how it works and why it makes sense to align it with your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.
Silos Are for Farms, Not Factories
You might be wondering: Didn't you get rid of all the information silos when you implemented your ERP setup? Well, yes and no.
You may have eliminated silos inside the plant, but were marketing, sales and customer service included? Even with a fully integrated CRM system — whether it's part of your ERP or separate third-party manufacturing software — it's not as simple as just plugging in a system or flipping a switch. You still need the right processes, procedures and people-to-people communications in place to ensure all that coordination actually happens. It's the follow-through — the day-to-day actions — that make accurate data useful and turn your IT investment into real, actionable benefits.
A successful ERP system can help break down information silos by allowing data to flow freely between different departments — whether it's production, inventory, sourcing, engineering, planning, or accounting. But what happens when a customer calls to check on the status of their very important order? Or when the sales agent needs an accurate promise date for a custom-built manufactured product? When there's an unexpected disruption in the plant that threatens the on-time shipment of an order, is that communicated to the sales/customer service teams accurately and immediately?
Integrated manufacturing CRM software, built on the same database as an ERP, enables two-way communications between the supply side (operations) and the demand side (sales), which is essential for efficient operations and exceptional customer service.
Beyond Customers and Salespeople
Think of CRM tech as the operations side's counterpart to ERP systems. It helps track and manage all the data about prospects, customers, orders, and shipments. This data then feeds into everything from marketing and sales automation to processing customer orders and handling fulfillment tasks. That includes communicating with customers, managing inventory, shipping, invoicing and collections. For items that aren't in stock, it also covers things like backorders, special requests, and even advance orders or reservations (like purchase contracts and blanket orders).
Available-to-promise (ATP) and capable-to-promise (CTP) are stock metrics and good examples of close coordination between CRM and operations. ATP looks at the inventory a business can confidently say it has in stock to fulfill future customer orders. On the other hand, CTP looks at the bigger picture, factoring in things like production capacity, resources, and the entire supply chain. While ATP focuses on what's already on hand, CTP considers things like incoming orders, supplier lead times, alternate sourcing options, and the availability of raw materials and labor.
Working Together: Manufacturing CRM and ERP
When sales and marketing (CRM) work closely with operations (ERP), it ensures the production team gets real-time, accurate info about orders. This way, the operations team can prioritize tasks that align with what the sales team is telling customers.
Imagine a company receives an order that requires specialized manufacturing, and they provide the customer with an estimated delivery date based on current production schedules — either through available-to-promise or direct communication with the schedulers. A week later, something throws off the workflow, and now the ship date has slipped by another week. The sales team definitely needs to be in the loop as soon as the delay is spotted. They might be able to update the customer right away, work out a new ship date, or figure out how important that original date really is. From there, they can pass that info back to production to explore possible solutions.
It could work the other way around, too. Maybe the customer suddenly needs the item sooner or later than originally planned. In that case, production might be able to adjust their schedule to meet the new request with minimal disruption (or maybe even a positive impact) on other orders in the pipeline. The key in both cases is the ability to share the update with production early, thanks to integrated software. The sooner they know, the less impact it will have on efficiency and on-time delivery.
Closing the Communication Loop
For manufacturers, an integrated approach with quick, effective communications between sales and operations is essential for order management. Better communication means faster responses, fewer mistakes and surprises, and ultimately, happier customers. For instance, consider a manufacturer that supplies industrial components to a large construction firm. If the sales team has direct access to real-time production and inventory data — such as material availability, lead times, and equipment schedules — through an integrated tech platform, they can quickly notify the construction firm if there are any issues with the order, such as a delay in sourcing a specific material.
If the sales team or operations is giving customers ship dates, quoting availability, setting production schedules, or trying to balance priorities based on Excel spreadsheets or handwritten notes, no one really has the full picture. Everything — communications and decisions — needs to be based on a single, shared database that everyone across the company can access. There's an old saying: 'If you have one clock, you know the time. If you have two clocks, you can't be sure what time it really is.'
A Holistic Solution
While CRM tech is all about managing customer relationships, manufacturing CRM integrated with ERP takes things a step further, ensuring smooth operations. It also creates seamless coordination with production, aligning supply with demand. By connecting CRM tech with ERP, manufacturers can optimize operations and drive significant overall improvements in manufacturing efficiency and accuracy.
