Google Enterprise for Manufacturing: Become a Connected Manufacturer

By Doug Bartholomew

Over the past two decades, manufac- productivity and email; mapping software turing enterprises have installed numerous for visualizing geographic business data; a types of systems to help run their businesses. cloud-based infrastructure for software devel- These include enterprise resource planning, opment, computing, data storage and query; customer relationship management, manu- and a comprehensive search capability that facturing execution systems, Web portals, leads the industry. groupware, email, search, mapping software, Enterprise enables manufacturers to and on and on. work together more easily; visualize their busi- Yet, some of the most basic functions—such ness data; build, store, and scale applications as enabling employees around the globe to and websites on Google’s cloud; and find the communicate and collaborate securely and information they need when they need it. reliably from any location—continue to pose challenges for manufacturers. Similarly, the WORK BETTER TOGETHER ability to search an ERP system for sales leads, More than 5 million businesses depend on or to create a geographic view of customer Google Apps for Business to help employees concentration in a specific region, should be collaborate and be more productive, wher- easy for most business users, but often requires ever and whenever they work. With hosted an IT specialist. documents including text, spreadsheets and For manufacturers struggling with the presentations, Web-based video access and complexity and cost of these systems, Google easy site-building tools, Google Apps makes Enterprise offers a simple, yet elegant, suite information accessible from just about any of applications and tools designed to make browser or smartphone. technology more accessible, user-friendly By using —including and affordable. documents, spreadsheets and presenta- The Google suite of technologies for man- tions—multiple users can work together, ufacturers includes applications for worker editing online at the same time. Employees can Brought to you by:

GOOGLE ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS FOR MANUFACTURING 1 SHAW INDUSTRIES Managing different versions of the same document is a frequent prob- lem for many large manufacturers. collaborate in real time within the enterprise, or Storage, capable of meeting manufacturers’ HOW GOOGLE CAN HELP practices across geographically dispersed facili- “We’d end up with 15 different they can choose to allow edits by external busi- needs for large databases; and Big Query, an Quickly generate ideas and launch prod- ties and processes, reducing costs, improving versions of a document attached ness partners or clients. interactive query and analysis tool for sifting ucts. The ability to develop new products and quality and increasing their agility—thus to who knows how many different eliminates the need for file through massive datasets in seconds. quickly introduce them into the market is a crit- enabling them to respond quickly to new chal- emails,” says Jim Nielsen, manager attachments, and version control is easy “Being able to work together easily across ical differentiator for manufacturers. Google lenges and opportunities. Specifically, Google of enterprise technology architecture because workers share the same online copy offices not only brings the team closer together, Enterprise tools help manufacturers: Enterprise helps manufacturers: and planning for Shaw Industries, the of each doc. Documents, spreadsheets and it also saves significant time and costs,” says • Collaborate on product designs. Google • Collaborate on unstructured data world’s largest carpet manufacturer, presentations can be displayed on Jim Nielsen, manager of enterprise technology Apps enables secure, real-time collaboration from disparate sources. Manufacturers with 200 locations worldwide and with just a few clicks. Presentations can easily architecture and planning, Shaw Industries. among workgroups of all sizes, making it can share and collaborate on data within 23,000 employees. be embedded onto a website, existing intranet easy for teams to share and access informa- Google Docs and Sheets—worldwide— “Our collaboration capabilities or blog using the HTML code provided. WORK WITH TOOLS YOU CAN TRUST tion from any browser or smartphone. from just about any device, while Google began to lag behind the needs of All Google Docs are available and Google’s Enterprise solution is a set of tech- • Analyze data to make better decisions. Drive enables them to share data and files our global manufacturing company,” searchable online. Authorized users can access nologies designed to reduce complexity and Google Enterprise can help capture, man- up to 10 GB, internally and externally. Nielsen says. “We found challenges their files from anywhere, even via mobile maximize ease of use, enabling manufacturers age and create insight on heterogeneous • Maximize the value of ERP systems. in scalability and stability in our devices such as the iPhone and BlackBerry. to focus on what matters most—making parts, data culled from customer surveys, social For users who do not have direct access previous email solution. Support allows manufacturers to components and finished products. networks, warranty cases and other sources. to ERP systems (such as SAP), Google resources were also an issue, as we make content such as product-service train- Users benefit from the simplicity of con- • Find people and knowledge faster. Search Appliance can search across log required a team of three full-time ing sessions and executive communication necting via the familiar experiences of , Google Enterprise Solutions help employees outputs, unstructured process documents employees just to keep our email up more personal, visual and engaging. Google , Google Docs and other pop- and customers quickly track down the most and more structured data , from just and running.” Drive provides secure hosting and streaming of ular tools, effectively minimizing the need for relevant, up-to-date content and informa- about any device. In 2012, Shaw made the move to videos, eliminating the need to email or store training and support. tion they need by searching across numerous • Comply with global quality and safety Google Apps for Business. “The mar- large video files. Employees can upload or view With Google’s unparalleled search technol- repositories, including social media, sup- standards. GAE, Cloud Storage and keting team wanted a way to easily internal videos without the need for any special ogy, employees can find business content by port cases, defect-tracking mechanisms and BigQuery enable organizations with com- share files and work together on copy “Overall, by software—only a standard browser. using the familiar box. Google CRM systems. prehensive global compliance systems to for our website and ads with our deploying Google Google Apps also allows manufacturers Enterprise Solutions includes Google Search Better serve customers. In today’s hyper- capture and report on data at various points agencies,” Nielsen explains. “With Search internally, to tap hundreds of third-party applications Appliance, which incorporates the same algo- competitive global marketplace, it’s more in the process, from mobile devices and by Google Drive and Google Docs, not only have we in the Google Apps Marketplace, includ- rithms that have been tuned with the billions of important than ever for businesses to ensure using different applications. multiple team members could work seen a tremendous ing CRM, project management, accounting daily queries on google.com. that their products and services meet—and Optimize supply chain processes. Suppliers on content, and you could actually boost in employee and finance, and sales and marketing tools. “Overall, by deploying Google Search inter- even exceed—customer expectations. With are playing an increasingly key role in manu- see it evolve in a very short period All work seamlessly with Google Apps, nally, not only have we seen a tremendous boost Google Enterprise, manufacturers can: facturers’ ability to innovate, control costs and of time—from a concept to a script productivity, but and offer the ease of single sign-on (SSO) in employee productivity, but we’ve managed • Quickly react to customer feedback. drive process efficiencies. Google Enterprise for a TV commercial—all in the same we’ve managed access. Because Google Apps is 100 percent to delight our employees by delivering a search Centralized Google sites enable businesses helps manufacturers maximize supply chain shared document.” to delight our Web-based, software updates are as easy as experience that they are familiar with in their to quickly gather feedback from the sales- relationships by: Shaw also utilizes the Google employees by refreshing one’s Web browser. personal lives and also scales to the Enterprise,” force and customers, while Google Apps • Optimizing the product and material Cloud Platform, which provides delivering a search says Brian Kissel, Business CIO Products, sales, helps enterprises overcome language bar- bid process. enables manu- scalability and cost savings. “When experience that they WORK FROM ANYWHERE marketing, corporate development and strate- riers by translating this information, as facturers to publish requests for bids and I did a cost and benefit analysis, it With Google Enterprise, employees can con- gic alliances, Juniper Networks. necessary, for the user. makes it easy for suppliers to submit bids. was clear we needed to move to the are familiar with in nect, communicate and collaborate in real time Manufacturers also can benefit from the • Improve first-call-resolution rates. Detailed bid requirements can be made cloud,” Nielsen says. “We discovered their personal lives with cloud-based technology that is designed business-visualization capabilities of Google Google Search Appliance gathers cus- available via Google Sites and/or shared that Microsoft Office 365 would and also scales to for teams. Enterprise. Engine is a secure, tomer-support information from disparate Google Drive folders with video and other cost about 13 times more for us than the Enterprise,” , the same infra- scalable mapping platform for building and applications and puts it at the fingertips of document types, resulting in faster time to Google Apps. In March 2012, we structure on which Google runs its popular publishing maps. Manufacturing firms can customer-service reps, resulting in a richer market and reduced costs. implemented Google Apps for more Brian Kissel, Business CIO search-engine technology, can be securely share geospatial business data within the experience for the user, shorter call times • Improving production planning and than 10,000 of our associates who Products, sales, marketing, corporate development accessed by any employee working from any company or with business partners on vari- and higher first-call-resolution rates. scheduling. Google Maps can visually depict use email.” and strategic alliances, location with a Web-enabled device. This means ous devices. • Efficiently manage product recalls. critical fleet-management data, such as the “Now, team members across Shaw Juniper Networks industrial designers can work from home— Of special interest to manufacturers Manufacturers can use with location of key resources (vendors, facilities, are better connected as a result of or while traveling—on complex engineering is Google Maps Coordinate, a workforce- Forms to quickly capture and track product- distribution) and how they are connected. enhanced collaboration and effi- drawings, including those requiring real-time management tool designed to improve the recall information from any device. Utilizing • Improving forecasting accuracy. By using ciency. We have an elaborate budget collaboration with design-team members. efficiency of mobile teams. By showing the Maps API/Google Maps Engine and Google Google Forms/Sheets and Sites, stakehold- process inside IT that we were able Manufacturing software architects can take location of employees on a Google Map, Coordinate, enterprises can locate and deploy ers can stay on top of demand changes and to move to Google Sheets,” Nielsen advantage of Google Cloud Platform’s pow- managers can assign tasks to the nearest the field-service personnel who are closest to customer-order anomalies, from just about adds. “Now our master spreadsheet erful App Engine to build, deploy and scale available team member. And by providing customers who are experiencing issues. any device. can be instantly updated in real time, applications. The Google cloud infrastructure real-time visibility into team members’ where- Drive efficiencies in their operations. By Manage human capital. The ability to shaving about two months, or 50 also features Compute Engine, which makes abouts and activities, managers can optimize utilizing Google Enterprise, manufacturers recruit, retain and engage talented employees percent of time spent, off the bud- available massive computational power; Cloud work scheduling. can leverage lean strategies and other best is critical to manufacturers’ success. To get geting process.”

2 GOOGLE ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS FOR MANUFACTURING GOOGLE ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS FOR MANUFACTURING 3 the most out of manufacturers’ most valuable asset—their companies, for instance, design and marketing teams are able people—Google Enterprise tools help companies: to collaborate more easily through Google, enabling them to • Improve the recruiting process. To avoid the unnec- work across time zones and quickly get answers from co-work- essary cost of employee-position mismatches, Google ers. Others are using Google Enterprise to enable sales staff to Search Appliance can search talent- visualize key business data with Google management applications, internal Maps. Still other companies’ software profiling applications, and internal developers are tapping Google’s cloud- social media and HR systems, provid- VOLKSWAGEN based App Engine to build new apps ing a holistic view of expertise both When Volkswagen first launched easier and faster. internally and externally. a Web portal to support its net- Regardless of the business problem • Optimize compliance/benefits work of 1,000 dealerships and they face, all manufacturers have one training. Manufacturers can avoid 1,200 technical help-line special- thing in common—they can harness the the cost of relying on third-party solu- ists, the portal tapped into various power of Google Enterprise for manu- tions by using Google Drive with Sites back-end sources, resulting in frag- facturing, enabling them to work well and Forms to stream training videos mented search results for users. together from anywhere with tools they from training portals hosted on Sites. The portal’s lack of an effective can trust. Companies can track compliance and search mechanism led to higher feedback using Google Forms. call volumes for technical support, GOOGLE ENTERPRISE Efficiently manage sales. Manufac- slower repair times and, ultimately, SOLUTIONS: AN EASY UPSHIFT turers continually need to find ways higher costs. FOR MANUFACTURERS to optimize the processes executed By leveraging the power- By tapping into the power of the Google by the sales team to support revenue ful Google Search Appliance, Enterprise suite of tools—Apps, Maps, generation. Google Enterprise gives Volkswagen was able to create a Cloud and Search—manufacturers are manufacturers the tools to reduce custom search function that culls achieving productivity gains and cost sales-cycle times, improve customer sat- content from multiple repositories, savings through better collaboration, isfaction and improve response times by simplifying the user experience and faster visualization capabilities, more enabling them to: avoiding redundancy. scalable application development and • Collaborate on RFPs. RFPs typically With relevant, universal search unparalleled search functionality. By require input from various people capabilities at the fingertips of taking advantage of Google Enterprise within an organization. Google Docs thousands of users, the custom solutions, manufacturers can foster allows one version of the RFP to be solution powered by Google greater innovation through more effec- edited simultaneously with input from Search Appliance has reduced the tive collaboration. At the same time, they all relevant parties. need for IT maintenance, improved can depend on the Google solutions • Understand customers better. service levels through speedier and infrastructure for secure, reliable Google Enterprise tools enable sales repairs and reduced the number of and affordable access from anywhere personnel to capture opportunity calls to Volkswagen’s help line. at anytime. details using mobile and voice while “With the GSA, we’ve main- on the road. GCE/Predictive APIs and tained information security while Doug Bartholomew is a journalist who BigQuery enable lead scoring and extending a large body of informa- has covered information technology opportunity scoring, while improving tion to repair experts in the field as for the manufacturing enterprise since forecasting accuracy. well as internal employees,” says 1991. A former senior technology edi- • Improve territory planning. Vinay Gowda, Volkswagen’s senior tor for IndustryWeek Magazine and Mapping visualization enables dynamic applications manager. senior writer at InformationWeek, he queries and ad hoc analysis for ter- writes often about manufacturing and ritory planning. Maps API and Maps the cloud, and is a frequent contributor Engine can add similar functionality to business-intelligence to the Lean Enterprise Institute www.lean.org site and United tools, enabling users to view revenues for selected regions Business Media’s Smart Enterprise Exchange. and assess how various regions could be combined to define a territory for a sales rep. SPONSORED BY

HOW MANUFACTURERS LEVERAGE GOOGLE ENTERPRISE Manufacturers in various industries are leveraging the Google Enterprise suite of applications and tools to help them work Interested in Google Enterprise more efficiently, effectively and just plain smarter. At some products? Get in touch with us.

4 GOOGLE ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS FOR MANUFACTURING