Google Enterprise for Manufacturing: Become a Connected Manufacturer
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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, Google 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 Google Drive—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 Google Docs 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 Google Sites 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 files 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 Google Hangouts 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 Gmail, Google Enterprise Solutions help employees outputs, unstructured process documents employees just to keep our email up more personal, visual and engaging. Google Google Calendar, Google Docs and other pop- and customers quickly track down the most and more structured data tables, 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 Google search 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. Google Forms 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,