Manufacturing

Industry Report:
Mastering Industry
4.0 With E-Commerce

1 | Manufacturing Industry Report: Mastering Industry 4.0 with E-Commerce

Manufacturing CONTENTS
Industry Report: 1. The Manufacturing Industry Status Quo
2. A Brief Introduction to E-Commerce for Manufacturing
4
5

Mastering Industry 3. Industry 4.0 Explained

4. The Industrial Internet of Things
7
8

4.0 With E-Commerce 5. Autonomous Robots

6. The Cloud 10
9

7. Big Data and Analytics 11

8. Cybersecurity 12
9. Horizontal and Vertical System Integration 13
10. Simulation 15
11. Augmented Reality 16
12. Additive Manufacturing 17
13. Manufacturing Industry Challenges 19
14. Learn More About E-Commerce for Manufacturing 26
15. Sources 27
 1 Introduction
How can I increase sales? Ensure profitability?
Keep my clients coming back?

These are some of the most common challenges we

hear about from our manufacturing clients. So much is
changing in the manufacturing industry that it can be
a challenge to ensure that existing sales processes can
keep up.

In this report, we take a closer look at the Industry 4.0

developments that are transforming the manufacturing
industry as we know it — and how e-commerce can help
manufacturers overcome the new challenges they face and
capitalize on unprecedented opportunities afforded by new
technologies.

Read on and let us explain how digitizing sales processes

can help manufacturers thrive in a rapidly changing industry
landscape.

3 | Manufacturing Industry Report: Mastering Industry 4.0 with E-Commerce

 1 The Manufacturing Industry Status Quo
Post-Crisis Manufacturing
Traditional industrialized economies suffered immensely in
the global financial crisis of 2008–2009. Nations including the
U.S., France, Germany and the UK saw a massive decrease in
size of their typically robust manufacturing industries.
The crisis caused a power shift within the industry, allowing
developing economies to enjoy unprecedented growth,
which hasn’t stopped since. The United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO) listed China as the world’s
largest manufacturer in 2015, surpassing the U.S. and leaving
Japan, Germany and South Korea in third, fourth and fifth
positions respectively.1
4 | Manufacturing Industry Report: Mastering Industry 4.0 with E-Commerce
Recent Developments
In recent years, the accelerated post-crisis growth has
slowed down. This can be attributed to falling commodity
prices and poor foreign finance conditions, such as the
post-Brexit financial uncertainty looming over Europe.
At the close of Q3 2016, UNIDO expected global
manufacturing growth to remain low for the entire year.2
The world manufacturing output was expected to increase
by 2.8%, with trends indicating that in contrast to previous
years, there would be no breakout from the low-growth trap
in 2016.
While this might not seem like a promising time for the
manufacturing industry, recent developments indicate that
there are plenty of reasons for manufacturers to be excited
about the future.
 A Brief Introduction to
12 E-Commerce for Manufacturing
Before we dive into the opportunities and benefits
e-commerce offers in combination with the
developments driving Industry 4.0, let’s look at what
online sales already offers the manufacturing industry.

The Development and Drivers of B2B E-Commerce

Exciting things are happening in the manufacturing

industry, but it isn’t breaking new ground when it comes to
e-commerce.

B2B e-commerce is already a force to be reckoned with, and is

actually larger than retail e-commerce in terms of transaction
volume. According to Forrester, total B2B e-commerce sales
in the United States are expected to exceed $1 trillion by
2020.3 Meanwhile, global B2B e-commerce sales are expected
to hit $6.7 trillion by the same year, according to Frost &
Sullivan, as companies rely less on EDI and more on Alibaba.
com, AmazonSupply.com, and other online marketplaces.4

This growth can be traced to changes in the behavior of

professional buyers and the considerable cost savings
e-commerce offers both suppliers and clients, along with the
convenience of being able to place orders online.

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 The Difference Between EDI and B2B Web Stores
Online sales are nothing new to manufacturers. Electronic
Data Interchange (EDI) has long been used by the
manufacturing industry. The automotive industry has been
using EDI to streamline the communication between car
manufacturers and the rest of the supply chain for over 40
years, paving the way for efficient production lines.
While there is no doubt that EDI can add substantive value
for manufacturers, that doesn’t mean that other forms of
online commerce can’t also offer benefits. That’s because
EDI and web stores serve different purposes, and the two can
be combined to cover all necessary online sales channels.
EDI streamlines communication about recurring orders of
standard goods between manufacturers and their suppliers
and clients with an efficiency an online store simply cannot
offer.
Conversely, web stores let you showcase all your products
and offer potent cross-selling and upselling opportunities.
They make it easier for clients to place one-off or irregular
orders and browse for alternatives to their regular products.
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What Sets B2B Online Sales Apart
One-off B2B sales suited to web store transactions differ
from consumer sales in several ways: larger order volumes,
decision-making units instead of single buyers, ordering on
credit, and more. This means that e-commerce platforms
need to offer a different suite of features to meet B2B
sales requirements and provide sufficient support for sales
representatives and professional buyers.
The simplest way to ensure that product information and all
existing agreements with clients are accurately reflected in
your sales portal is by integrating your e-commerce platform
with your ERP system. Your ERP is the repository for data
such as tiered pricing, client addresses, inventory levels and
more.
By integrating e-commerce software with your organization’s
core systems, you are not only able to ensure your web store
reflects your tried and tested commercial processes, it also
helps you further automate your entire value chain.
We will discuss integrated e-commerce in more detail later
on in this report.
 3 Industry 4.0 Explained
From steam technology, to electricity, to digitization, to the latest innovations in automation: the manufacturing industry
has long used technological advancements to increase efficiency, lower overheads and more. Now, nine key developments
are coming together in Industry 4.0, allowing organizations to create smart factories that will once again revolutionize the
way we approach manufacturing.

What is Industry 4.0? The Nine Pillars of Industry 4.0 and E-Commerce

Back in 2013, the term “Industrie 4.0” was first used
in a German government memo that outlined a plan to
computerize the manufacturing industry without human
involvement.5
Central to this theme is the idea of the smart factory. These
will use information and communication technology to
transform supply chains as we currently know them. Cyber-
physical systems will be used to monitor virtual processes
and use that data to make decentralized decisions. Self-
optimization and artificial intelligence will minimize the
amount human influence required to keep processes running
smoothly.6
This might sound like a futuristic vision, but very real (and in
some cases very familiar) technologies are driving Industry
4.0. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has defined nine
pillars of technological advancement that are helping
Industry 4.0 become a reality.7
In the following chapters, we will take a closer look at the nine
foundational technologies and how e-commerce ties in to
them.

7 | Manufacturing Industry Report: Mastering Industry 4.0 with E-Commerce

 4 The Industrial Internet of Things
One of the most striking things about Industry 4.0 is the level of autonomy we can expect from smart factories. The Internet
of Things, or IoT, is the technology that makes this possible.

Opportunities for the Parts Market and

Connecting Smart Devices Inventory Management

IoT facilitates communication directly between devices — Smart, connected items could prove to be a huge commercial
with a “device” being anything from a mobile phone to a opportunity for the parts market. Sensors in products can help
car. This makes smart machines better at accurately and keep track of when the items or individual parts need to be
consistently capturing and communicating information.8 replaced or when they require maintenance.

Speaking of cars: one example of the Industrial IoT is the
Michelin Group using sensors inside tires combined with
analytics to let them coach truck drivers on how they can
save fuel. 9 This is just one of the ways that Industrial IoT
helps bolster operational efficiency.
But the Industrial IoT offers additional operational
e-commerce benefits. Connected products are traceable,
for instance, which simplifies the processing of tracking and
handling inventory. Imagine receiving a notification about low
inventory levels or slow-moving products.11

The Industrial IoT offers an incredible potential payoff.

Conservative estimates project worldwide spending to reach
$500 billion by 2020. More optimistic estimates set the
figure as high as $15 trillion.10

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 5 Autonomous Robots
One type of device that makes the Industrial IoT potent are autonomous robots. Current robotic machines are becoming
more and more autonomous, flexible and even cooperative. In the near future, robots that interact with and learn from
humans will be a reality instead of science fiction trope.
A Step Above Current Robotics
Robots have long been a fixture in manufacturing, taking care
of heavy lifting tasks that are unsafe or simply impossible for
human assembly line workers. In order to fulfill this role, the
robots have traditionally been large and often dangerous to
the humans who worked alongside them.
The new generation of manufacturing robots has more to
offer than sheer power and speed. There are already machines
driving screws into hard-to-reach parts of engines at a Renault
SA plant in France, for instance, while others are designed
specifically for the delicate job of assembling consumer
electronics — something that is currently done mostly by
hand.12
This agility combined with the power and potential of
machine learning offers exciting possibilities for the future of
manufacturing.
9 | Manufacturing Industry Report: Mastering Industry 4.0 with E-Commerce
Advanced Picking, Packing and Shipping
Technology is already helping e-commerce companies
optimize their fulfillment processes, but so far software
has been the main contributor. Amazon warehouses, for
instance, still depend on human workers to pick items for
orders — though they are helped by software that helps them
quickly locate the products.13
This is already beginning to change. An Amazon subsidiary,
Kiva Systems, is developing warehouse robots that could
replace human pickers. And Amazon themselves made
headlines in 2016 when they made their first drone delivery.
According to the official service page, Amazon is planning
to roll out Prime Air once they have the regulatory support
needed to safely realize their vision.14
 6 The Cloud
It’s a trend that we’re more than familiar with, both at home and at work. But in the manufacturing industry, advanced cloud
computing offers many more benefits than simply having access to files across devices.
Operational Excellence Through the Cloud
For many organizations, it’s hard to imagine getting by without
cloud-based applications — whether it’s a SaaS software
product or the ability to efficiently share documents and data
without having to worry about version management.
But the cloud has more to offer. As the performance of cloud
technologies continues to improve, reaction times will dwindle
to mere milliseconds. This makes it possible for cloud-based
systems to offer immediate equipment response times. In
turn, this offers huge benefits for manufacturing, particularly
when it comes to safety: instantaneous kill switches, for
instance, and robust systems for rigorous process and quality
control.15
10 | Manufacturing Industry Report: Mastering Industry 4.0 with E-Commerce
Unprecedented E-Commerce Opportunities
Flexibility and lower costs are two key benefits of the cloud
that also apply to e-commerce.
By choosing a cloud-based approach to web stores, not
only can manufacturers quickly set up a web store through
plug-and-play technology, but they can also get high-level
service and performance at a fraction of the cost of in-house
expertise.
A prime example of this is web store security — something
that is especially relevant when e-commerce platforms
are integrated with critical systems such as ERPs. Hosting
with a third party such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon not
only means that manufacturers don’t have to invest in the
hardware, it also offers the assurance of security at a level
that no one else can provide.
 7 Big Data and Analytics
It isn’t the volume of the data gathered and stored in the cloud that adds value: it’s the fact that we’re now able to analyze it
with enough efficiency to derive insights that would otherwise be beyond our reach.
Driven by Data
In Industry 4.0, data can be collected from a variety of
different sources, such as CRM systems, ERPs, and connected
devices involved in the production process. Bringing this data
together will grant businesses unprecedented insight into their
operations and help them spot both process optimization and
commercial opportunities.
83% of manufacturers expect data to have a significant
impact on their decision-making in five years. This is
compared to just 50% that are currently making data-driven
decisions.16 The increase is no surprise, given how effective
big data analytics is proving to be. GM, for instance, has
been able to realize savings of up to $800 per car thanks to
telematics.17
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Gathering Valuable Sales Data for Analytics
Big data and analytics can be used for product and process
optimization — but also to enhance sales.
An e-commerce platform that integrates with an ERP system
should be able to save all relevant sales statistics directly
in the ERP database. This bolsters the ERP’s status as the
single source of truth, making it easier for manufacturers
to take all relevant sales data into account when running
analytics. The result is more reliable data that forms the
basis for sound, data-driven sales decisions, and that can
help manufacturers identify new opportunities for products,
markets and processes.
The e-commerce platform itself can also make smart use of
this data to enhance the online buying experience. Predictive
ordering is one such example. E-commerce software can
use data from the ERP with click data and inventory analysis,
along with information on demographics and even the
weather, to provide personalized order suggestions.
 8 Cybersecurity
The increasingly connected industrial control systems
(ICS) we have described thus far make it possible for
manufacturers to amass a wealth of valuable data — data
that they have to protect at all costs.

The Struggle to Stay Secure

This is already a challenge for many manufacturing firms. Contrary

to IT networks, which often have robust security measures in
place, operational networks offer little to no visibility into ICS
— in particular the industrial controllers which are responsible
for managing industrial equipment and automating industrial
processes.18

In fact, ICS networks’ design and lack of basic security controls

(encryption, authentication, and so on) means that hackers don’t
even need to exploit vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access
to networks. According to Andrew Ginter, Vice President of “Indiscriminate internetworking
Industrial Security at Waterfall Security Solutions, “Indiscriminate is the biggest problem facing
internetworking is the biggest problem facing manufacturing
today.”19 manufacturing today.”
It therefore comes as no surprise that the manufacturing industry
was the second most attacked industry in 2015, according to IBM
Andrew Ginter, Vice President of Industrial
X-Force® Research’s 2016 Cyber Security Intelligence Index.20 Security at Waterfall Security Solutions

12 | Manufacturing Industry Report: Mastering Industry 4.0 with E-Commerce

 Horizontal and Vertical
9 System Integration
The key to truly benefiting from the new technologies
described in this report is ensuring that systems are a
cohesive whole. Without integration, innovation stalls.

The Urgency of Solid Integration

The need for secure networks will only become more pressing “Manufacturers must look
as system integration becomes more in-depth. Without
sufficient integration, the possibilities unlocked by the pillars
beyond process improvements,
discussed previously simply aren’t feasible for manufacturers. at technologies such as the
Sana CEO Michiel Schipperus stresses that integration is the
Internet of Things that haave the
crux of manufacturing innovation.21 potential to reshape the supply
chains in which they operate,
making them more productive
and putting them in a stronger
trade position. Once again,
integration is key.”

Michiel Schipperus, CEO, Sana

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 This is in line with the vision on system integration presented that integrates with the ERP can use this information
in the Boston Consulting Group’s report: to ensure that complex professional purchasing
processes are accurately reflected in the web store.
With Industry 4.0, companies, departments, functions
and capabilities will become much more cohesive, as
cross-company, universal data-integration networks
evolve and enable truly automated value chains.22

Your SANA WEB STORE

Unlocking E-Commerce Potential Through Integration

A key theme among the industry changes described in this

document is an increasing focus on clients and their needs.
E-commerce provides manufacturers with a vital tool to
improve customer services by automating purchasing
processes tailored to B2B sales’ requirements. Integrated
systems are essential to making this possible.

Professional purchasing processes often have complex

requirements: customer-specific pricing, for instance, and CMS
insight into real-time inventory levels, shipping information, as
well as instant credit approvals and invoicing capabilities. ERP
This data should be registered in a central database,
such as in an ERP system. An e-commerce platform

DATA & BUSINESS LOGIC

14 | Manufacturing Industry Report: Mastering Industry 4.0 with E-Commerce

 10 Simulation
3D simulations of products, materials and processes
are already widely used in the engineering phase.
However, with the rise of Industry 4.0, the same
technology is set to benefit plant operations as well.

Real Benefits

By experimenting with processes in a virtual setting,

manufacturers can optimize operations while saving on the
costs of physical testing. Thanks to simulation software
designed with the manufacturing industry in mind, it is
becoming increasingly easy for manufacturers to assess
their assembly, inventory, production and transportation
processes.

While simulations are by no means a new development, the

sheer complexity of manufacturing systems proved to be too
much of an obstacle.23 This is set to change, however. BCG
predicts that the use of real-time data will eventually mirror
the physical world in a virtual model, enabling operators to
optimize machine settings for the next product in line, and
thus reduce machine setup times and increase
product quality.

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11 Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality, or AR, was cemented as part of the
public consciousness in 2016 as the key tech behind
Pokémon GO, a wildly popular mobile game. But the
entertainment industry isn’t the only business that
stands to benefit from AR.

Maintenance and More

The essence of AR is overlaying the physical world with

computer graphics. This can be used not only to provide an
engaging entertainment experience, but also to provide a
boost to maintenance and support in manufacturing plants.

Vuforia is already capitalizing on this with an AR segment.

The company’s software lets manufacturers create stickers
that are applied to machines. Workers can then scan these
stickers with their phone or augmented reality headset using
an accompanying app. The app connects to a database and
retrieves data currently available for the machine part in
question.24

This is just one example of how AR can combine with other

technologies to provide unprecedented insight into factory
floor operations.
 12 Additive Manufacturing
Finally, the Industry 4.0 pillar that perhaps speaks
most to the imagination: additive manufacturing, also
known as 3D printing.

Unprecedented Speed

Additive manufacturing is the process of creating objects layer

by layer. While it won’t necessarily help streamline large-scale
production, it can definitely add value when it comes to the
creation of smaller batches, or even customized products.
This can help reduce transport distances and inventory on
hand, according to the BCG.

The speed with which parts can be created is also a game-

changer for certain industry segments. The aerospace
industry, with its need for safety and consistency, has
embraced additive manufacturing as an easy, toolless way
to prototype new products with a lightweight design without
skyrocketing costs.25

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Selling With Easily Updated Online Storefronts and Configurators

3D printing allows manufacturers to iterate products with unprecedented

speed. This paves the way for accelerated product development and
innovation — and signals the end of an era for printed sales materials.

Unlike printed marketing and sales collateral, e-commerce platforms can

be updated whenever necessary. Smart integration can even automate
this process, displaying the latest product information — from product
specifications to costs — as saved in the ERP database.

As additive manufacturing continues to grow in terms of maturity and

adoption, so is the support for 3D printing in the ERP space. SAP, for instance,
has partnered with 3D parts manufacturer APWorks, a subsidiary of Airbus
Group that provides 3D on-demand printing of parts for industries such as
aerospace and automotive. SAP is also partnering with UPS Inc. on cloud
services for on-demand manufacturing and an on-demand 3D printing
network.26 These ERP developments open up exciting possibilities for web
store integration.

There are already tools available that let manufacturers easily offer
customizable products online. Some e-commerce solutions can be integrated
with product configurators, letting clients adjust items as they wish, so that
they can compile and order a completely personalized product online.
 Manufacturing Industry
13 Challenges
With so many exciting technological developments
driving change and opening up possibilities in the
manufacturing industry, it can be easy to forget that
times of great innovation aren’t necessarily easy
to navigate.

With changes coming thick and fast, the industry has both
unprecedented opportunities and brand-new challenges. In
order to make the most of the former, manufacturers need to
overcome the latter — something that is easier said than done.

Big Data Changing B2B Buyer

Management Expectations

Skills Gap The Importance of

Servitization

19 | Manufacturing Industry Report: Mastering Industry 4.0 with E-Commerce

 Skills Gap
According to a study by The Manufacturing Institute
and Deloitte, by 2025 there will be almost 3.5 million
manufacturing jobs that need to be filled. And 2 million
of these will be left empty by the skills gap.27
There are two major factors contributing to this
dramatic number.
Exit Baby Boomers
The aging workforce is becoming a focal point for companies,
according to the report by Deloitte and The Manufacturing
Institute.
20 | Manufacturing Industry Report: Mastering Industry 4.0 with E-Commerce
When it comes to skilled production workers, for example,
74% of executives questioned indicated that the retirement
of baby boomers would have a significant or high impact on
the talent shortage, with an additional 19% saying it would
have a moderate impact.
The numbers are similar for engineers, researchers and
scientists, with 70% of executives saying that baby boomer
retirement has a significant or high impact on the talent
shortage, and 19% saying it has a moderate impact.
This aspect of the skills gap will affect the area of skilled
production the most — an area that accounts for over half of
the total manufacturing workforce.
Shortage of STEM Talent
The exodus of baby boomers is significant enough, but the
lack of STEM talent is exacerbating the issue.
In the same report, executives indicated that they believe
computer and technology skills are the most serious skill
deficiencies. This was closely followed by problem solving
skills, basic technical training, and math skills.
While the technological advancements that are part and
parcel of Industry 4.0 might seem like they would help out
in this respect, the opposite is true. As the report indicates,
many manufacturers have invested in redesigning and
streamlining production lines through automation. The
remaining roles might require candidates with less technical
skill, but it takes highly skilled workers to make these
changes happen.
 The Rise of Craft Breweries in the US
Big Data Management
2011 2014
2012 2015
2010
2009
While big data and analytics are one
2013 of the driving Operationalizing Analytics
forces behind innovation in the manufacturing
5000 industry, they also pose a challenge. Governance and funding remain issues, as does the challenge
4000 of how to embed analytics as part of standard high-level
3000 Many manufacturing businesses struggle to properly leverage decision making. Another problem is changing the way
2000 big data — and not just due to a lack of data science talent. employees think: encouraging them to take a more
The Accenture report “Analytics: Insight-Driven Growth in data-driven approach and rely less on intuition and experience.
1000
1,596 1,749 1,995 2,401 2,863 3,676 4,279
Automotive and Industrial Equipment”28 describes three
additional big data challenges facing the manufacturing Adoption of Analytics Across a Complex Ecosystem
industry.
Manufacturers depend on dynamic global networks of
suppliers, partners, employees and more. The organizations
in these networks vary in terms of their analytics capabilities
and adoption. Manufacturers need to keep this in mind when
choosing the partners they collaborate with most when it
comes to analytics.

Keeping Up With Data-Driven Competitors

With more and more analytics-as-a-service options, many

manufacturers are making good use of big data and reaping
ADD TO CART the benefits. Other manufacturing businesses are still
developing their analytics capabilities and struggling to keep
up and compete with the frontrunners for increasingly scarce
top talent.

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Learn more about e-commerce for
 Changing B2B Buyer Expectations
Organizations aren’t just facing a changing
manufacturing industry: their clients’ demands are
also in flux.

The number of digital buyers worldwide already easily tops

one billion, with research projecting the number surpassing
two billion by 2019.29 As web stores continue to become part
and parcel of everyday life, they are shaping the expectations
of consumers, both on and off the clock.

A gradual shift in professional buying processes is taking

place, as businesses move from traditional top-of-the
funnel activities based on perusing print catalogs and then
contacting sales representatives through phone, fax and
email, to a buyer’s journey that is 100% digital.

This shift isn’t solely to business-to-business web stores:

Forrester research indicates that almost half of B2B buyers
prefer to make work-related and personal purchases on
the same websites, which shows a growing preference for
the kind of shopping experience that retailers provide.30
Omnichannel purchasing services are becoming the norm
as increasingly more clients expect the same buying
experience whether they call the sales department or place an
order online.
While this may not seem as relevant to the manufacturing
industry at first glance, it is a trend that organizations cannot
afford to ignore.
The same Forrester report indicates that 72% of businesses
surveyed agreed that omnichannel clients are worth
substantially more than single-channel customers, with 51%
saying that these same clients have a higher lifetime value.

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 E-Commerce Opportunity: Meeting
Ever Higher Client Expectations
E-commerce can help manufacturers provide a buying
experience that meets or possibly even exceeds
professional buyer expectations — expectations that
are increasingly influenced by the consumerization
of B2B sales.
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A web store tailored to professional purchasing processes
should be able to provide seamless support for the things
that set B2B buyers apart from consumers. It should also
offer all of the other elements we’ve come to expect from
major B2C companies, such as clear navigation, good design,
recognizable branding and responsiveness across all devices.
While the consumerization of B2B sales may not tie in directly
to any of the Industry 4.0 pillars, the key to meeting changing
buyer demands does. Seamless integration between the
e-commerce platform and ERP lets manufacturers combine
B2B processes with modern user experience (UX) design.
Making smart use of the business logic and data stored in
your ERP is an essential part of launching a successful B2B
e-commerce platform. If a web store is unable to meet a wide
variety of challenging client demands, your customers will
continue to use your established sales channels, forcing you to
maintain commercial processes that are fine for now, but may
not align with your strategic direction in the long term.
 The Importance of
Servitization
Sales channels aren’t the only things that are changing While there is no lack of impetus for manufacturers to
in the interactions between manufacturers and their servitize their offering, there are many potential challenges,
clients. The very nature of the offering is also changing. as mentioned in the servitization report. Service design,
organization strategy and organizational transformation are
This isn’t a new development: the term “servitization” was key in successful servitization, but are easier said than done
first coined in 1988, and is defined in “The Servitization of for traditional manufacturers.
Manufacturing; a Review of Literature” as “the innovation of
an organization’s capabilities and processes to better create
mutual value through a shift from selling product to selling
NUFACTURING VITIZATION SERVICES
product-service systems.”31 What this means in concrete MA SER
terms is that manufacturers are moving away from selling
only products to providing a more comprehensive offering
of products and related services.

The same report outlines several possible reasons that

manufacturers would embrace servitization, including
improving revenue streams and profit margins, but also more
marketing-focused drivers such as product differentiation and
customer relationships — a theme touched upon in the previous
section.

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 E-Commerce Opportunity: More
Time to Focus on Clients
Deep integration between e-commerce platforms and
ERP systems makes it possible to automate many
administrative tasks, such as entering orders into the
ERP system.
25 | Manufacturing Industry Report: Mastering Industry 4.0 with E-Commerce
This boosts efficiency in two ways. Firstly, sales
representatives and inside sales teams will be able to spend
less time manually keying orders into the ERP system.
Secondly, because order entry is automated, there are
fewer opportunities for human error in the administrative
process.
The most obvious benefit to this enhanced efficiency is
the reduction in man hours required to achieve the same
results. One obvious way to capitalize on this might seem
be reducing the size of the sales team to cut costs that
can then be reallocated to areas where the organization is
struggling to keep up with the competition.
While this is possible, there is an alternative that might
be an even better choice: instead of downsizing the sales
team, manufacturers can choose to maintain the same
number of sales experts and have them dedicate their
time to identifying and engaging with new customers32 or
communicating with existing clients for consultative selling.
 14 Learn More About E-Commerce
for Manufacturing
There are a lot of pressing issues that manufacturers need to
deal with in the face of a rapidly changing industry. Staying
afloat (and ahead of the competition) in the slipstream
of technological advancements, staying ahead of the
competition, and of course finding the right people to help you
make all this happen are a few of the biggest challenges.

In the face of so many obstacles, adding a new sales channel

might feel like a secondary concern. However, if you feel
that you are ready to make meeting ever-changing customer
demands a priority, you should consider the possibilities of
e-commerce as a way of meeting your goals.

If you would like more information about what an integrated

web store can do and how to get started selling online, Sana
has several white papers available covering topics including:
Web store security
Combining web stores and EDI
E-commerce for the automotive industry

Visit www.sana-commerce.com/resources/whitepapers to
access the free resources library.

26 | Manufacturing Industry Report: Mastering Industry 4.0 with E-Commerce

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1. http://www.unido.org/statistics.html. 20. https://public.dhe.ibm.com/common/ssi/ecm/se/en/sew03133usen/SEW03133USEN.PDF.

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27 | Manufacturing Industry Report: Mastering Industry 4.0 with E-Commerce

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