ServiceNow, the AI platform for business transformation, announced new purpose-built solutions for the manufacturing industry to help power faster, more efficient operations and better employee experiences.
Manufacturing Commercial Operations (MCO) incorporates generative AI (GenAI) to streamline sales, service and support, and order to cash processes. Employee Center (EC) Pro Kiosk brings intelligent self-service experiences to deskless workers, making it easy for them to access company communications, relevant resources, and seamlessly navigate hire to retire processes.
The manufacturing industry faces a complex set of challenges – including supply chain disruption, long order fulfilment times, ever changing customer requests, a lack of self-service tools, invoice disputes, high turnover, and labour shortages. At the same time, manual processes and siloed systems often result in high costs, inefficient operations, and poor customer and employee experiences. MCO and EC Pro Kiosk address these challenges by connecting systems, processes, and people on a single, intelligent platform.
"ServiceNow is uniquely equipped to turn some of manufacturing's biggest challenges into their greatest opportunities," said Rohit Batra, General Manager, Manufacturing and Telecommunications, Media, and Technology at ServiceNow. "ServiceNow's latest innovations represent more than just tools that can increase productivity. They deliver critical capabilities that unlock better ways of working so that manufacturers can deliver exceptional customer service, increase revenue, and create positive employee experiences."
Transforming end-to-end operations for manufacturers
Manufacturing Commercial Operations puts the power of the Now Platform to work for manufacturers with purpose-built solutions that simplify operations across sales, support and service, and order to cash processes. MCO is built on top of ServiceNow Customer Service Management and Sales and Order Management. It offers a single, generative AI powered solution for order exceptions, dealer operations, customer service and support, order to cash operations, and product and quality management. It seamlessly integrates with manufacturers' existing systems to help make work easier, faster, and more transparent.
Capabilities within Manufacturing Commercial Operations allow manufacturers to:
•Streamline sales management: MCO empowers agents to identify customer needs and dynamically suggests relevant products or services, transforming the service centre into a profit driver. For example, if a customer contacts a manufacturer to replace a conveyer belt that is no longer in production, MCO applies AI to recommend a newer part that's currently available, helping ensure that service interactions are helpful and driving revenue.
•Scale service management: Digital workflows streamline how manufacturers respond to issues and manage support interactions across the front, middle, and back offices, driving faster resolutions for customers and, ultimately, a more efficient and cost effective service operation. Agents can manage order exceptions and invoice disputes, help customers troubleshoot product complications or quality issues, and coordinate with suppliers — all from a single screen.
•Transform field operations: MCO integrates with ServiceNow Field Service Management, making it easy for manufacturers to deliver proactive, preventative maintenance and dispatch and route technicians to the right work to fix problems fast. If a customer reports an equipment issue, customer service teams can quickly log the problem and deploy a field technician with the necessary knowledge, skills, and equipment to manage the task — all from within MCO. Real time updates are sent to the technician's mobile device, including the customer's location and details about the product model, helping ensure that the technician has the necessary information and assets for their visit, reducing downtime and solving problems as efficiently as possible.
•Connect with customers and channel partners: Through ServiceNow Service Bridge, manufacturers can connect with customers and channel partners who use ServiceNow in a single interface, making it easy to automate and complete tasks like orders, exceptions, and cases. For example, if a retailer needs to report a quality issue with a pallet of product received from a manufacturer, the retailer can report the issue in their own ServiceNow instance. The manufacturer can open, update, and complete the request in their own ServiceNow instance, keeping the customer updated along the way. This consolidates the number of systems needed to communicate and complete tasks while reducing manual work.
Empowering the deskless workforce
Deskless workers — most often those who are working in a factory, in the field, or on the go — face a unique set of challenges, including infrequent access to company wide information and self-service resources to complete company related tasks that their desk bound counterparts take for granted. For manufacturers, this includes vitally important production and distribution staff who may not have access to a company laptop or smartphone but deserve the same high quality employee experiences.
Employee Center Pro Kiosk is an intelligent self-service walk up experience that provides a front door for everything the manufacturing factory worker needs, from requesting time off, to reviewing benefits, asking a payroll question, or accessing the latest company news and information. With EC Pro Kiosk — part of ServiceNow HR Service Delivery — employees can access critical company information and applications via a kiosk on the manufacturing floor by scanning a QR code on a personal phone or through personalised SMS messages. By bridging the communication gap between the employee and the company, leaders can help ensure deskless workers are in the loop on important updates or decisions and have the resources they need to stay informed and receive support, improving employee engagement.
MCO and EC Pro Kiosk are the latest steps from ServiceNow to address the biggest pain points in the manufacturing value chain. In March, ServiceNow announced that it acquired 4Industry and EY Smart Daily Management to accelerate digital transformation in the factory by digitising and automating shop floor processes. Coupled with the existing capabilities of Operational Technology Management, EAM, and EC Pro, ServiceNow can now support the assets, people, and processes in the factory on a single platform.
