Key takeaways
- A heavily customized legacy budgeting tool was replaced with a purpose-built Manufacturing Cloud solution.
- Sales Agreements now let teams track annual budgets at the product category and SKU level.
- Advanced Account Forecasting keeps monthly projections current with real-time market conditions.
- A built-in approval process gives stakeholders visibility before forecasts are finalized.
- The engagement aligned financial goals with operational performance across SACO's global footprint.
- 4Global regions now run on one unified budgeting and forecasting platform
- 4Integrated capabilities delivered within a single Manufacturing Cloud solution
- 1Centralized system replacing a manual, error-prone spreadsheet-based budgeting process
The challenge
SACO AEI Polymers develops, manufactures and delivers a full range of polymers to industries including building and construction, electrical and electronics, pipe and fittings, and specialty markets, with locations spanning North America, Latin America, Europe and India. As part of an ambitious growth plan, the manufacturer leveraged Salesforce to drive operational efficiency, improve resource planning and enhance service.
The first step was replacing its existing budgeting and forecasting tool, which had been built on Sales Cloud but was heavily customized and difficult to scale or enhance further. Without a centralized way to manage its yearly budgeting process or rolling monthly forecast, SACO's team relied on manual-entry spreadsheets — a process that introduced inefficiencies and raised the risk of data inaccuracies. Regularly updating and maintaining forecasts had become a persistent challenge for the team.
After consulting with Salesforce and TELUS Digital, SACO AEI Polymers determined that transitioning to Manufacturing Cloud would deliver more value than continuing to invest in customizations to its existing tool.
The TELUS Digital solution
After working closely with SACO to understand its technical requirements, the TELUS Digital team built a Manufacturing (MFG) Cloud-based system designed to strengthen the manufacturer's operational efficiency and strategic planning capabilities. The engagement centered on four key capabilities built into MFG Cloud:
- Implemented MFG Cloud Sales Agreements, giving business development managers (BDMs) and sales and operations planning (S&OP) process owners the ability to track annual budgets at the product category and SKU level.
- Established Advanced Account Forecasting, enabling BDMs and S&OP process owners to track and edit monthly forecasts on a rolling basis so projections stay current with real-time market conditions.
- Built an approval process within the monthly forecast editability window, giving stakeholders visibility into trends and the opportunity to make adjustments before forecasts are finalized.
- Fully integrated SACO's budgeting and forecasting processes, aligning financial goals with operational performance and surfacing real-time insights for decision-making.
The results
With its Manufacturing Cloud solution in place, SACO AEI Polymers moved from a manual spreadsheet-dependent process to a centralized, best-in-class budgeting and forecasting system. The new platform gives the manufacturer the tools to plan strategically and scale with confidence.
- Facilitates a continuous, accurate rolling forecast.
- Generates and tracks all annual budgets in one system.
- Monitors sales performance in real time.
- Addresses comprehensive sales reporting requirements.
- Improves visibility into financial performance and planning.
