Industry
- Consumer Electronics
- Manufacturing
Project Features
- Sales Cloud
- Salesforce CPQ
- Supported SAP Integration
Project Outcomes
- Improved data governance
- Optimized quoting and pricing processes
About Panasonic
Panasonic Canada Inc. is a world leader in technology and innovation, operating through four divisions: consumer products (electronics, small appliances); enterprise solutions (computers, tablets, unified communications), life & device solutions (HVAC, ventilation, storage); and integration services (engineering, onsite field service).
Challenge
Having made an investment in Salesforce, Panasonic was seeking a partner to help them optimize their existing Sales Cloud environment and align its use across its multiple lines of business to break down data silos and create a single view of the customer. Additionally, and critically, Panasonic was in search of a more effective process for managing quoting and pricing. Customer, pricing and product information were housed entirely in SAP and heavy reliance on spreadsheet-based manual processes meant that Salesforce adoption was near zero.
Solution
In 2017 AppCentrica was engaged to assist the Panasonic team in optimizing their existing Sales Cloud instance and help to establish better data governance practices across the lines of business.
Having proven to be a trusted partner, AppCentrica was then retained to help Panasonic implement and optimally configure Salesforce CPQ. This complex project relied on an integration with SAP (via MuleSoft) to ensure that all relevant customer and pricing data was present in Salesforce. In addition, AppCentrica had to extend the CPQ solution with customizations to meet specific Panasonic business process requirements.
Outcomes
The new CPQ solution and unified Salesforce Sales Cloud org provide a foundation that meets the unique needs of Panasonic. Quoting for the Toughbooks division, which manufactures and sells ruggedized laptops, is now completed in Salesforce which has significantly reduced reliance on spreadsheets and manual effort. As well, access to more data has enabled improved reporting and better decision making.
Panasonic continues to enhance its Salesforce solution, shifting away from Marketo to Marketing Cloud and bringing in other lines of business that can take advantage of Service Cloud and telephony integrations. AppCentrica remains their dedicated partner for these initiatives.
“We began working with AppCentrica since they helped optimize our Salesforce instance back in 2017 and over the years, they have demonstrated true partnership. One of our more recent, and ambitious, projects included implementing CPQ for several of our businesses here at Panasonic Canada, including our Toughbooks computer division. The project was challenging, involving an integration with SAP via Mulesoft, and some custom work on the CPQ side to accommodate our new model approvals process and pricing management. The CPQ solution is now in production and giving us more control and visibility. We continue to engage AppCentrica and would recommend them as a partner with high integrity and determination.”
Sue Oehrlein, GM, Business Process, Sales Operations & IT Solutions, Panasonic Canada