Author name: Infopine

Excel Sheet: A Risky Foundation for Your Business Operations Schedule Meeting With a projected value of $3 Trillion by 2030, the global textile industry is continuously growing. As this industry is expanding, it is becoming increasingly complex and data intensive. Therefore, businesses operating within the textile sector must establish efficient data management processes to stay competitive. Traditionally the textile industry has relied on excel sheets, to handle their data. While excel has remained a staple in the industry for a long time, with advancing technology, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have been gaining popularity due to their ability to integrate multiple facets of business operations.   This blog aims to cover the multiple aspects of Excel vs ERP for textile industry, and why the manufacturers must choose ERP as their textile software.  Excel vs ERP: Quick Differences  Need for ERP in the Textile Industry Insufficient use of appropriate technology has significantly contributed to the textile industry’s struggle with low-capacity utilization as low as 40-50%. This can be attributed to the industry’s complex nature, involving multiple processes like order processing, production planning, procurement, inventory management, finance management, and so much more. These generate vast amounts of data that textile manufacturers must accurately capture, analyze, and utilize to make informed business decisions. Not doing so can lead to inefficient operations, financial bottlenecks, etc. Hence, it becomes imperative for the industry to adopt suitable technological solutions that effectively manage this vast amount of data.  Let’s take a look at some reasons why the textile industry needs an efficient ERP system:  1. Handle Inventory Data: The textile industry heavily depends on efficient handling of inventory data such as stock, levels, demand forecasting and procuring as per need, etc. Without proper management of inventory data, textile manufacturers can suffer from unforeseen losses, increased wastage, stockouts, and so much more. Hence, textile software is crucial for manufacturers to keep track of inventory and take decisions proactively. 2. Handle Order Processing: Order processing is a crucial and complex aspect of textile manufacturing that involves a large amount of data. These include accurate order entry, order confirmation, planning materials and resources to complete a particular order, etc. ERP software used in textile industry allows manufacturers to carry out these tasks seamlessly and meet their delivery timelines.   3. Manage Finances: A complete textile production cycle, right from receiving orders to settling invoices, generates a lot of financial data that must be maintained. Inaccuracy in this may lead to issues in balance sheets, financial losses, invoicing troubles, etc. Textile software solves all these issues and enables manufacturers to keep track of all their finances efficiently. 4. Increased Visibility: Complete business visibility is crucial for textile manufacturers to ensure streamlined operations, optimum utilization of resources and timely order processing. ERP software ensures manufacturers stay up to date with all data related to every aspect of their business. This transparency helps identify bottlenecks, minimize delays, and improve overall efficiency.  Limitations of Excel for the Textile Industry While Excel has been a popular tool for data management, it has several limitations that make it inadequate for the complex needs of the textile industry: Manual Data Entry: Excel requires manual data entry, making it prone to human errors, duplication, and inconsistencies. In the textile industry, where accuracy is crucial for managing vast inventories and supply chains, relying on manual processes can result in costly mistakes.  Lack of Integration: Excel operates as a standalone tool and lacks seamless integration with other systems. This makes it challenging to consolidate data from different sources and limits the ability to automate processes, leading to inefficient workflows.  Limited Scalability: Excel is not designed to handle large volumes of data and complex operations. As textile businesses grow, they face challenges in scaling their data management processes using Excel, resulting in increased time consumption and decreased efficiency.   Lack of Real-time Updates: Excel operates in a static environment where data updates are manual. In the textile industry, where real-time visibility is crucial for efficient decision-making, Excel’s lack of real-time updates can lead to outdated information and misinformed decisions.  Complex Data Analysis: Excel has limited capabilities for complex data analysis, making it challenging to derive meaningful insights from large datasets. In the textile industry, where analyzing trends, forecasting demand, and optimizing production processes are critical, ERP systems offer advanced analytics tools for more sophisticated analysis.  Advantages of ERP Over Excel for the Textile Industry  The global textile ERP market is experiencing significant growth, with a promising compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.2%. By the year 2026, it is projected to reach a substantial market value of $78.4 billion. In the textile industry, the implementation of textile ERP systems offers numerous advantages over relying solely on Excel: Automated Data Management: ERP systems automate data entry, processing, and reporting, reducing human errors and ensuring data integrity. This automation saves time and resources, allowing employees to focus on more value-added tasks.  Seamless Integration: ERP for textile industry offers seamless integration with various modules, such as finance, production, inventory, and sales. This integration enables real-time data exchange, eliminates duplicate data entry, and provides a holistic view of the entire textile business.  Demand Planning and Forecasting: ERP systems provide robust demand planning and forecasting capabilities. By analyzing historical data, market trends, and customer insights, textile businesses can accurately predict demand, optimize production schedules, and minimize stockouts or overstock situations.   Efficient Resource Allocation: ERP systems enable effective resource allocation in the textile industry. By integrating production planning with inventory management, businesses can optimize resource utilization, minimize waste, and enhance overall operational efficiency.  Customization Options: Unlike Excel, textile ERP systems offer extensive customization options. Textile businesses can tailor the system to their specific requirements, incorporating industry-specific features and workflows. This flexibility enhances operational efficiency and supports unique business processes.  Streamlined Financial Management: ERP systems streamline financial management processes in the textile industry. They automate invoicing, payment tracking, and financial reporting, reducing manual errors and facilitating accurate financial analysis. This helps textile businesses gain better control over their finances and

5 Benefits of Outsourcing Salesforce Administration Schedule Meeting In today’s business landscape, Salesforce has become a critical CRM tool for companies aiming to maximize efficiency, enhance customer relationships, and drive revenue growth. As per records, more than 150,000 companies worldwide are actively using Salesforce in their day-to-day processes and this number is only escalating. In today’s business landscape, Salesforce has become a critical CRM tool for companies aiming to maximize efficiency, enhance customer relationships, and drive revenue growth. As per records, more than 150,000 companies worldwide are actively using Salesforce in their day-to-day processes and this number is only escalating. However, managing and optimizing Salesforce can be complex and time-consuming, diverting valuable resources from core operations. This is where the strategic decision to outsource Salesforce administration comes into play. This blog dives into five compelling advantages of outsourcing Salesforce administration, shedding light on how this strategic move can drive sustainable growth, improve customer satisfaction, and unleash the full potential of Salesforce. So, without further ado, let’s explore how outsourcing Salesforce administration can revolutionize your business and propel it towards greater success. Why do companies need Salesforce administrators? While Salesforce has consistently maintained its position as the market leader as a CRM vendor, holding as high as 23.8% of the market share, it is a vast and complex platform! And with its plan of continuously integrating new clouds, its growth and complexity is only poised to increase. Given how large and complex Salesforce has become, it demands various roles, expertise, and skills to optimize the platform. After all, the ultimate success for a company using Salesforce solely depends on how well they are able to configure it according to their needs. This is where the role of Salesforce admin in a company becomes indispensable. A Salesforce certified admin can: Help companies customize Salesforce to align with the specific needs and processes of the organization, ensuring a tailored CRM solution. Handle the day-to-day management and maintenance of the platform. This includes everything from user management, data integrity, security settings, to system updates. Serve as a bridge between business owners and technical teams by collaborating with stakeholders to understand requirements and translate them into Salesforce configurations. Ensure data accuracy and integrity within the CRM system, implement data governance best practices, and enforce data quality standards. Stay abreast of the frequent updates and features, keeping the system up to date and leveraging new functionalities to optimize business processes. Why outsource Salesforce administration? The rising demand for efficient Salesforce administrators is directly proportional to the constant growth of Salesforce. In fact, as per research done by Salesforce, the company recorded a 148% job growth for admins in the US. While hiring in-house individual or teams for managing Salesforce is okay, outsourcing Salesforce administration is a game-changer for businesses seeking to streamline their operations, capitalize on Salesforce’s full potential, and stay ahead of the competition. Let’s look at the top 5 benefits of outsourcing Salesforce administration: 1. Gain Access to Expertise: Salesforce comprises multiple clouds and extensive features to help companies achieve long-term success. However, to leverage Salesforce to its full potential, companies need administrators who come with hands-on expertise in various facets of the platform. These administrators must also be able to update themselves with the frequent changes in the Salesforce platform. Having an in-house resource who can offer this level of expertise and who can also scale rapidly can be difficult for any company. However, outsourcing solves this problem. When organizations decide to outsource Salesforce management, they gain access to a wide pool of experts who are well-aware of the platform. These experts keep themselves updated with all the recent developments surrounding Salesforce They work with other Salesforce professionals, which makes it easier for them to deliver projects having varied requirements Since they work with Salesforce all the time, they know the best ways to use the tool 2. Avoid Losses Due to Administrator Turnover: Hiring a Salesforce certified admin who can manage the Salesforce platform optimally is one challenge for companies. Retaining them for a longer period is another challenge. Moreover, the tech industry suffers from the highest employee turnover rate of 13.2%! This poses a constant threat for companies hiring in-house individuals to manage their Salesforce. When an in-house Salesforce administrator leaves, it disrupts the smooth functioning of the Salesforce platform, and can lead to potential losses. Outsourcing Salesforce administration saves this trouble for the companies as the cost of turnover is borne by the outsourced firm. By outsourcing, companies can also save time and resources needed to hire new administrators They can minimize the productivity gap that gets created upon an in-house administrators’ departure Ensure a smooth transition when one administrator leaves and the other takes over 3. Very Little or No Ramp Time: When an in-house Salesforce admin chooses to leave the company and is replaced by a new one, it creates a productivity gap and invites losses. The new hire takes weeks or months (ramp time) to understand the current system, adapt to it, and reach his/her full potential to deliver the desired outcomes. By outsourcing Salesforce administration, companies can ensure very little or no ramp time during their transition. It is found out that on average, companies can save nearly four weeks of ramp time if they have an outsourced Salesforce admin. Outsourced Salesforce admins are already proficient in using the platform and hence, they can offer immediate support to the company Reduced ramp time also ensures accelerated time to value and faster return on investment Companies can avoid expenses associated with training, onboarding, and lost productivity during the learning period. 4. Increased Efficiency at Controlled Budget: Having a sole in-house Salesforce administrator may result in limited expertise, divided attention, and missed opportunities for efficiency and scalability. Additionally, companies often incur higher costs by employing in-house Salesforce administrators, paying 1.25-1.5 times the salary of an employee. With outsourced professionals handling Salesforce management, businesses can leverage their expertise and experience to streamline processes, optimize workflows, and improve overall

Salesforce Price Hike: How Does It Affect End Users? Schedule Meeting Salesforce has long been a leading CRM platform, empowering businesses to connect with their customers and streamline their operations effectively. However, Salesforce’s announcement of hiking the prices on their products by an average of 9% has raised concerns among users. In this blog, we will explore the implications of the Salesforce price hike and shed light on how users can still gain significant value from their Salesforce investment. Understanding the Salesforce Price Hike: After maintaining stable list prices for seven years, Salesforce has finally decided to increase the costs of their products. The increase in list prices will be effective from August 2023 across Service Cloud, Sales Cloud, Industries, Marketing Cloud, and Tableau. The increased prices only affect new purchases or renewals Existing customers who have an ongoing contract have a grace period of at least 2 years before they start incurring the increased costs Take a look at the revised prices: Subscription Type  Former Pricing  Renewed Pricing  Professional Edition  $75  $80  Enterprise Edition  $150  $165  Unlimited Edition  $300  $330  Let’s take a closer look at how Salesforce price hike compares with its competitors in the CRM market. The bar graph below showcases the subscription costs of Salesforce and its major competitors for the Enterprise Edition: How does this benefit end-users? Despite being competitively priced, Salesforce offers unparalleled features and capabilities that set it apart from its competitors. Let’s explore how amidst the price hike, end-users still stand to gain benefits from their Salesforce investment: More Value through New Features: Since its last price hike in 2016, Salesforce has delivered around 22 new releases and added numerous features to expand the platform’s capacity and improve user experience. The price hike will encourage the customers to optimize their current Salesforce usage in order to get the most out of the platform. This involves identifying areas where the platform is underutilized or redundant and making modifications in their contracts to optimize the new features. The Power of Generative AI Integration: Over the past few months, Salesforce has released Generative AI products like Einstein GPT, AI Cloud, Sales GPT, Service GPT, etc. These products will allow customers to leverage the power of Generative AI through Salesforce helping them get valuable insights, lower costs, increase overall revenue, while ensuring increased efficiency. Upgrading and Customization Opportunities: With the price hike in place, customers can seize the opportunity to upgrade their existing Salesforce products. They can also consider expanding their usage to cater to evolving business needs. Furthermore, customization options allow businesses to tailor Salesforce solutions to their specific requirements, boosting competitiveness and business performance. Optimizing Salesforce Spending: Salesforce price hike prompts existing customers to reassess their Salesforce spending and find ways to maximize their returns on investment. Businesses can collaborate with Salesforce consultants and experts to optimize their current usage, streamline processes, and identify areas where cost-efficiency can be improved. In addition, the existing users who can currently enjoy a grace period before they start paying the increased prices can take this time to plan their Salesforce usage in advance. This will allow them to form strategies that will help them get the optimum benefits. Conclusion: While the Salesforce price hike poses challenges for end-users, it also presents opportunities for businesses to reevaluate their strategies and optimize their Salesforce usage. With a proactive and strategic approach, businesses can continue to harness the power of Salesforce and deliver exceptional customer experiences while ensuring cost-effectiveness and long-term growth.