Manufacturing Industry Predictions for 2022

Looking back on 2021, the pandemic created another unprecedented year for the manufacturing sector when it comes to challenges around labor, supply chain, and digital capabilities. Despite what challenges we faced from the previous year, the future of digitizing the manufacturing sector is still bright. 

Our manufacturing thought leader, Tom Lovell, outlined his predictions for the manufacturing sector in 2022 to highlight what goals should be the focus for the new year and how to overcome challenges that may be in your way. 

No Matter Your Stage in Digitizing the Front Office, the Goal of Improving Customer Experience Reigns True

Digitizing the front office has gone through its ups and downs throughout the Pandemic, but the main goal has always stayed the same—providing a better customer experience while streamlining efficiencies. Even though each Manufacturer may be at a different stage in their journey to digitize the front office, this ultimate goal still holds true.

Customer Experience touches on many constituents. While we want to provide a better experience for our dealers, distributors, and other supply chain partners, the end goal is to reach our end customers and drive our brand. This goal also includes a connection to improve our employee experience. A positive employee experience is necessary to allow them to provide the best experience possible for all of our customers.

What does this mean for the front office? We will continue to see investments in 2022 in streamlining processes like S&OP, Service, Order Management, Direct Marketing, and ultimately analytics for each process. To start a successful implementation for these processes, it requires companies to be comfortable using them internally. From there, we can see an improved experience for our old and new customers. 

Utilizing Customer Portals Within the Manufacturing Sector Can Help Tackle Rising Challenges

Over the past year, the manufacturing sector has been hit with major challenges including the manufacturing skills gap, labor shortages, and supply chain management issues. On top of these, the future for innovative factories has created new goals for the front office to focus on, such as increasing supply chain visibility, factories becoming “smart”, and becoming more sustainable. For those who still struggle with the digital landscape, these obstacles can feel like they’re impossible to overcome. 

Although these new challenges will still be present for manufacturers into the new year, companies don’t have to face them alone. The Salesforce “Ohana” community is helping with these areas where the focus is digitizing the front office. The utilization of digital portals can help create solutions by troubleshooting with experts or connecting manufacturers to other individuals facing similar problems. 

About HIKE2, Inc.

We are a digital solutions consultancy focused on helping our clients become better companies for their customers. We help our customers unlock the potential of their organization, through technology, and all along their customers’ journey. By leveraging technology, strategic partnerships, and our experienced and passionate team, we support our clients to drive digital transformation and create incredible customer experiences while producing profitable growth and achieving operational efficiency. HIKE2 is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., Visit www.hike2.com for more information.