AI-Driven Contact Strategies That Turn Supply Chain Delays into Differentiators

The Silent Bottleneck in Supply Chains

Picture a manufacturer waiting for critical parts to arrive to keep production running. The order is delayed. Updates are inconsistent. The customer service team is buried under calls. By the time the right people are informed, the damage is done. Deadlines slip, costs rise, and customers are left frustrated.

This plays out every day in global supply chains. Companies invest heavily in eCommerce platforms, warehouse management systems, order management systems, and ERPs. But when those systems operate in silos, information stalls. Blind spots appear. Breakdowns at integration points create delays and missed updates.

The leaders who get ahead are investing in modern contact center solutions. Instead of allowing communication bottlenecks to dictate performance, they’re using them as opportunities to build speed, trust, and resilience.

Why Communication Matters More Than Ever

Supply chains are interconnected webs of suppliers, carriers, distributors, and customers. When communication fails, whether through missed updates, outdated tracking, or unclear roles, the effects are costly. In a fast moving environment, even a small lapse can stall production or cost millions. Clear, centralized communication is no longer optional. It is essential.

Recent industry reporting highlights this urgency. In TIVE’s State of Visibility 2024 report, 77% of respondents said that real-time visibility is a must-have, even though nearly half of companies have not yet implemented it. That gap between expectation and execution illustrates how many organizations are still exposed due to communication breakdowns.

Traditional call centers were designed to handle complaints and simple order inquiries. Modern supply chains require contact centers that connect directly with ERP, CRM, and management systems. With these integrations in place, contact centers do more than answer phones; they function as control towers, facilitating communication across every stakeholder in the supply chain.

Solutions for Modern Supply Chains

Modern contact centers strengthen supply chains not by adding more agents, but by deploying smarter technology. The priority is implementing software that enables customers, vendors, and carriers to get answers quickly and consistently across every channel.

In B2C supply chains, chatbots and voicebots can answer routine questions such as order status, shipment tracking, and delivery updates around the clock. Automated scheduling tools let customers change delivery windows without waiting for a live agent, while online returns systems generate labels instantly and provide real-time tracking back to the warehouse.

In B2B supply chains, the same principles apply, but the “customer” is often another supplier or logistics partner. For example, when you buy a product as an end-consumer, companies often rely on a third-party fulfillment vendor. When an order is received, that company must notify the vendor, the vendor must notify both company and the end customer when the product ships, and updates need to flow seamlessly across all three parties. Without integrated systems and clear communication, delays or blind spots quickly surface, impacting customer experience and eventually leading to poor customer retention.

Equally important is ensuring these solutions deliver on their promise. Regular testing of voice and chatbots is critical to confirm that interactions feel natural, reduce frustration, and align with your brand. When an issue requires escalation to a live agent, integrated systems should pass along the full context of the conversation to reduce churn. This combination of automation, integration, and testing creates a seamless experience for all participants in the supply chain.

Industry Example: From Solutions to Strategic Advantage

Capabilities such as automation and rigorous testing reduce inbound call volume, shorten resolution times, and free agents to handle complex cases. Organizations that achieve this balance will ultimately lower costs, build resilience, and deepen customer relationships.

A real-world example comes from Maersk, one of the largest global shipping and logistics providers. They faced several challenges in their contact centers, including:

Complex phone routes across multiple departments making it hard for customers to reach the right person.

Long waiting times and manual selection processes, which slowed resolution and added frustration.

Limited agent availability during peak times, leading to bottlenecks.

Inconsistent collection of customer feedback, making it difficult to identify and act on service issues.

To address these issues, Maersk modernized its operations by leveraging Cisco Webex Contact Center, a cloud-based platform that unified its contact center. Specific steps included:

Implementing a cloud-based unified phone system with intelligent agent routing, instead of navigating long menus, calls are now routed based on agent skills, availability, and customer context (via CRM integrations like Salesforce), ensuring faster, more accurate connections.

Expanding service hours – making support available to customers from 1:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. CST, creating a broader global coverage window.

Introducing automated call-back functionality, allowing customers to secure their place in line during high call volume and receive a return call without waiting on hold.

Adding integrated post-call surveys, capturing real-time customer feedback at the end of each interaction to continually improve service quality.

Equipping agents and supervisors with unified dashboards, giving them real-time visibility into customer interactions, performance metrics, and alarm management so they can adjust on the fly.

These improvements streamlined operations, reduced waiting times, and improved responsiveness. In Maersk’s own words, the initiative “massively saved us operational costs” by avoiding an on-premises system upgrade estimated at nearly $10 million.

At Kenway, we stress that adding tools is not the end goal. The real impact comes from aligning people, processes, and technology so the contact center becomes a source of growth rather than simply an expense.

Building for Today and Tomorrow

Companies must identify where communication fails today, then focus on solutions that integrate with existing systems, reduce repetitive work, and empower digital interactions. Metrics such as first call resolution, order inquiry turnaround, and customer satisfaction keep progress measurable.

The best supply chains also prepare for what comes next. Predictive analytics will help anticipate disruptions. Voice AI will provide near-instant order updates. Automation will simplify returns and exception handling. As sustainability rises in importance, contact centers will play a central role in sharing sourcing and impact data.

The organizations that succeed strengthen communication today while embracing the innovations that will shape the future. Kenway partners with companies to balance both priorities, solving current challenges while preparing for tomorrow’s opportunities.

Strengthening the Backbone

Communication has always been the backbone of supply chains, yet too often it remains the weakest link. By modernizing contact centers with proven software, continuous testing, and practical tools such as order tracking, returns management, and vendor support, companies can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and strengthen resilience.

At Kenway Consulting, we help organizations diagnose challenges, design tailored solutions and implement strategies that deliver lasting impact. Contact us today.

Assemble Your SWAT Team to Face Market Volatility

Market volatility is back. To survive and outperform, organizations must act quickly to build internal shock absorbers starting with a Pricing SWAT Team: a cross-functional group empowered to react quickly, make informed decisions, and minimize the impact of volatility on revenue, margin, and customer trust. If you haven’t started already, start small and iterate to deliver impact quickly.

What a High-Impact SWAT Team Does

A mature Pricing Team drives value through optimal pricing. These teams are agile, informed, and engaged with all parts of the business. Their core responsibilities are:

Pricing Process Management: Create and enforce clear pricing policies, exception protocols, escalation paths, and campaign planning processes.
Technology Ownership: Sponsor pricing tools, dashboards, and data platforms that support real-time analysis and decision-making.
Process Improvement: Continuously refine workflows around pricing, sourcing, quoting, and approvals, especially in volatile environments.
People & Talent Management: Identify who needs to be at the table. Ensure representation from finance, supply chain, sales, ops, legal, data science, and product. Empower them with ownership and accountability.

This team becomes your organization's shock absorber, helping you respond to volatility instead of being steamrolled by it.

The SWAT Team Maturity Curve: Where Do You Stand?

Our clients land across the maturity spectrum. Here’s how we define the four stages of evolution:

Level 0: Least Mature

No formal team or cadence.
Pricing decisions happen reactively based on gut feel or urgent pressures.
No data integration, governance, or cross-functional alignment.

Your business is flying blind—and every shock hits you at full force.

Level 1: Foundational

A small SWAT team forms with a draft charter.
Meetings begin with basic agendas. Early attempts at defining policies and escalation paths.
Decisions start to incorporate limited data and cross-functional input.

You’re beginning to reduce friction, but execution is still inconsistent.

Level 2: Structured

Formal Pricing Council with defined roles and meeting cadence.
Pre-reads, KPIs, and playbooks are in place. Tactical and strategic discussions both occur.
Governance is enforced. Outputs influence forecasting and sales planning.

You now have a real shock absorber—capable of withstanding moderate volatility.

Level 3: Strategic

Executive-sponsored, stable cross-functional council.
Focus is on forward-looking decisions, scenario planning, and market strategy.
Fully integrated with financial planning, S&OP, and lifecycle management.
Drives competitive advantage through pricing excellence.

You’re not just absorbing shocks—you’re turning them into strategic wins.

Kenway Can Help You Get Ready — Now

We help clients:

Stand up Pricing SWAT Teams fast—with the right structure, roles, and governance to drive quick wins and mature over time.
Build decision-grade reporting that empowers data-driven pricing decisions.
Design agile workflows that connect strategy to execution without bureaucratic delays.
Facilitate change management to align internal teams and communicate with clarity to the market.

Prepare to React Quickly to Tariffs. Build out your ‘What-If’ Tools

Companies that were caught off guard by the spikes in inflation and tariffs a few years ago, lost market share and profit. Those who were prepared, were able to position themselves advantageously.

Uncertainty and rapid change are back. Companies need to be able to quickly respond and adjust.

For leaders managing complex product portfolios and pricing agreements, relying on manual analysis cobbled together from multiple sources will lead to slow and poor decision-making. The company will be at risk of margin erosion and competitive disadvantage.

What-If Analysis

To navigate this volatility successfully, organizations need processes and technology that enable swift, data-driven decision-making. The goal is to move beyond reactive adjustments towards proactive scenario planning, understanding potential impacts before they fully materialize. One highly effective approach is What-If Analysis.

What-if analysis is a data simulation technique used to understand how changes in a set of input variables will impact key business outcomes.

For example, a firm may need to understand the overall impact of different scenarios where country-specific tariffs, input costs, inflation, are all moving at once and unequally impact each of their SKUs. As they weigh the probability of different scenarios, they will need to know the potential impacts to things like product line margin, business unit profitability, inventory holding cost, competitor price positioning, etc.

What-if Analysis allows leaders to explore various potential future states based on different assumptions and external factors.

Real-World Example

Imagine a new 10% tariff, effective in 30 days, is unexpectedly announced on goods from Vietnam. A robust What-If model could be leveraged in the following way:

Identify Scope of Impact:
- Exactly which products are sourced from Vietnam?
- Which products have raw components sourced from Vietnam?
Timing and Inventory
- How does this tariff apply differently to our current on-hand inventory (often valued at pre-tariff cost)?
- How are in-transit shipments (which might clear customs after the effective date), and future orders impacted?
- What alternative sourcing options outside of Vietnam can be leveraged?
Margin Risk:
- If we don't adjust prices, what's the precise dollar impact on gross margin next quarter, considering the mix of pre-tariff and post-tariff costed goods to be sold based on forecasts?
Pricing Levers and Constraints:
- Can we simply increase list prices?
- How are customers on special pricing agreements impacted?
- Do specific contracts preclude price increases for a fixed term, forcing us to absorb the cost for that volume?
Competitive and Demand Impact:
- Will passing the full cost make us uncompetitive, potentially leading to a drop in sales volume?
- Might we see a surge in pre-buying before the tariff hits, impacting inventory faster?

By modeling scenarios, you can quickly evaluate options and choose the strategy that best balances profitability, customer relationships, and market realities.

Building out Your What-If Dashboard

Several key steps are needed to build out a What-If Dashboard:

Define the Needed Answers: Clearly identify the business questions related to tariffs, inflation, pricing, costs, and inventory that you expect to address.
Identify Critical Data Inputs: Determine the essential data points which often include:
- Product Master Data: SKU, Hierarchy, Finished Good and Component Countries of Origin
- Costing Data: Raw Component Costs
- Inventory & Procurement Data: On-hand/In-transit/Open POs; Tier 1 and Tier 2 Supplier Locations
- Pricing & Sales Data: List Price, Average Sell Price, Special Pricing Agreements
- Market & External Factors: Competitor pricing intelligence, inflation indices, FX rates, demand elasticity estimates.
Consolidate & Prepare Data: Define the best approach to consolidate the data. More advanced companies will have already integrated their BI tools with sources of this critical data. Maturing companies may need to find scrappier, manual work arounds to quickly gain access to insights.
Build & Validate the Model: Develop the analytical model incorporating the data and business logic. Validate outputs rigorously against historical data or known scenarios to build confidence in its accuracy.
Select the Right Tool/Platform: Choose technology that offers the necessary flexibility. While sophisticated spreadsheets can work for simpler cases, BI platforms are better equipped to handle complex calculations.
Integrate & Iterate: Embed the tool and its outputs into key business processes (e.g., Pricing SWAT/Committee reviews). Ensure cross-functional teams (Sales, Finance, Supply Chain, Procurement) understand how to use the insights. Continuously refine the model as business needs and data sources evolve.

Kenway Can Help

We've supported many of our clients build out What-If Analysis to support data-driven decision-making. Don’t lose margin or market share because you didn’t act fast enough to prepare for these volatile times. If you want to know how it would work in your organization, read more here or reach out to us today.

Building Shock Absorbers in a Volatile Environment

The current business landscape is marked by significant uncertainty. Rising costs, potential tariffs, and shifting supply chain dynamics create a volatile environment that demands proactive preparation. Companies that merely react to these pressure risk margin erosion, operational disruption, and damage to customer trust. Instead of being caught flat-footed, forward-thinking organizations are building internal functions that can act as "Shock Absorbers,” strategic capabilities designed to reduce the impact of macroeconomic volatility. These shock absorbing capabilities are not established overnight; safeguarding your company requires investment and planning.

1. Acknowledge Volatility and Assemble a SWAT Team:

It must be recognized that navigating turbulence requires dedicated focus by a core, strategic, cross-functional SWAT team. This group, comprised of leaders from finance, operations, supply chain, sales, and data analytics, must be empowered to:

Monitor: Leverage open-source intelligence (e.g., news feeds on commodity prices, government trade policy updates, industry reports on logistics), internal data (e.g., sales & inventory trends, cost fluctuations, customer feedback), competitor data (e.g., public price adjustments, changes in marketing messages) to ensure that the team has a strong foundation in the most up-to-date facts.

Direct: Create a clear chain of command for decision-making (e.g., defining approval thresholds, assigning domain leads, establishing escalation paths)and create a decision-making framework (e.g. establishing risk tolerance)

Prioritize: Prioritize efforts to refine the pricing process to maintain competitive advantage (e.g., enhanced reporting and price change processes)

Decide: Act quickly and decisively to mitigate risks and seize opportunities. This team needs clear mandates and streamlined pathways for action.

2. Implement Rapid, Decision-Grade Reporting:

Gut feel isn't enough in volatile times; quantitative analysis is critical. Your SWAT team needs timely, relevant data to make informed choices. This means moving beyond standard operational reports to:

Identify Critical Metrics: Identify key indicators (e.g., cost of goods, supply lead times, customer order changes, competitor pricing) that signal shifts
Develop Scenario Planning: Implement "what-if" analysis capabilities. How would a 10% tariff impact margins? What's the operational effect of a key supplier delay? What is the impact of pricing elasticity?
Build Agile Reporting: Ensure your data infrastructure can quickly adapt to new reporting needs as conditions change.

3. Define Adaptive Business Processes:

Decisions are only effective if they can be implemented swiftly. You should review and refine your core business processes related to pricing, sourcing, inventory management, and production planning. The goal is to create workflows that are:

Flexible: Design processes that can adapt to changing inputs or decisions without significant churn.
Efficient: Proactively identify bottlenecks in the current process and mitigate them.
Clear: Define roles and responsibilities to drive clarity in execution and eliminate burdensome bureaucracy. In this environment processes need to be lean.

4. Master Change Management and Communication:

Volatility impacts everyone: employees, partners, and customers. Clear, consistent and reliable communications are critical to maintaining trust with your internal partners and customers.

Internal Alignment: Ensure your teams understand the challenges and the rationale behind decisions. Consistent internal communication prevents confusion and facilitates buy-in.
Market Transparency: Communicate proactively and transparently with the market through your sales channels. Explain how you are managing the situation and the potential impact on pricing or lead times.
Highlight Stability: Customers crave reliability. In uncertain times, they will often pay a premium for stability and predictability. Position your company as a stable partner that is proactively managing economic pressures. Clear, consistent communication about your approach reinforces this perception and can become a significant competitive advantage.

Building Your Resilience with Kenway Consulting

Developing these internal shock absorbers requires expertise and focused execution. This is where Kenway Consulting can help.

Establishing Pricing SWAT teams: Structuring and driving the teams and initiatives needed to build these capabilities efficiently and effectively.
Establishing Agile Decision Frameworks: Helping you instantiate the right cross-functional teams and operating models for rapid, informed decision-making.
Data & Analytics Strategy and Implementation: Defining the critical metrics, building the reporting infrastructure, and enabling the scenario planning needed to navigate uncertainty.

Don't wait for the next economic jolt. Proactively building your business shock absorbers will not only help you weather the coming months but also position you for greater stability and competitive advantage in the long run. Contact us today to partner with you to transform your organization into a resilient enterprise that thrives amidst tariff uncertainties and supply chain volatility.

Manufacturing Cloud vs Core Salesforce - Which is Right for you

Choosing the Right Salesforce Solution: Sales/Service Cloud vs. Manufacturing Cloud

As a manufacturer navigating Salesforce solutions, one of the key decisions is whether to implement core Salesforce product (Sales / Service Cloud) or Manufacturing Cloud. This choice can significantly impact your business operations, cost structure, and long-term scalability. Below, we explore different scenarios to help guide your decision-making process.

Finding the Best Fit for Your Business

Scenario 1: Using Manufacturing Cloud as Both an ERP and CRM

For small to mid-sized businesses (SMB) or growth-stage companies, Manufacturing Cloud has the potential to serve as both an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform. This can result in cost savings by eliminating the need for separate systems, reducing integration complexity, and lowering overall IT maintenance efforts.

However, this approach is typically viable only for companies with simpler operational needs. If your business requires deep ERP functionality, this may not be a sustainable long-term solution. Understanding the depth of your operational needs will help determine if this approach is right for you.

Scenario 2: Integrating Manufacturing Cloud with an ERP

For most manufacturers, an ERP system remains a core part of operations. In this case, the decision becomes whether Manufacturing Cloud is a necessary addition to your ERP. Here are 3 key indicators that Manufacturing Cloud might be the right fit:

1. Complex Partner Relationships and High-Touch Communication

If your business model involves frequent interactions with partners, distributors, or suppliers, Manufacturing Cloud can enhance visibility and improve collaboration with advanced tools. Some factors to consider:

High volume of partner communications and transactions (such as managing warranties/claims and asset tracking)

Collaborative selling and account planning

Need for sharing business insights, demand signals, and supply chain data

2. Expecting Significant Custom Development

Not all business processes are the same. Some require significant customization, automation, and logic. If you’re anticipating heavy customization to your CRM, Manufacturing Cloud’s robust suite of automation tools (OmniStudio, Business Rules Engine) can save you tens of thousands of dollars in development and maintenance. This can look like:

Partner portals requiring advanced collaboration features or UI/UX requirements

Complex workflows and automation

Need for an intricate rule engine to manage pricing, quoting, or supply chain logic

3. Heavy Reliance on Sales Forecasting

Some organizations leverage statistical models to predict supply/demand. But for many manufacturers, this is only half the story. Many organizations rely on their sales teams and partners to extend their demand signal and provide meaningful inputs into their planning process. These individuals and entities have invaluable knowledge and insights that need to be considered. Manufacturing Cloud offers robust forecasting tools, specifically designed for manufacturers, that differ from traditional statistical forecasts. If your business relies heavily on sales-based forecasting to drive production and inventory planning, Manufacturing Cloud provides a more tailored, complete, and user-friendly solution than what can be accomplished with an ERP + Sales Cloud.

In addition to these 3 key indicators, more generally speaking, a major portion of your business depends on a capability that Manufacturing Cloud provides out-of-the-box, it may be worth adopting early.

When to Adopt Manufacturing Cloud

If Manufacturing Cloud is a strong fit and your organization has an immediate need for its capabilities, the best time to adopt it is from the beginning. Waiting too long can lead to unnecessary custom development, technical debt, and costly rework.

A frequent scenario involves organizations starting with Sales and Service Cloud, only to later realize they’ve custom-built many of the features that Manufacturing Cloud already provides. While this phased approach can work, it can also lead to inefficiencies and redundant development efforts.

A Purposeful Approach to Staged Adoption

If Manufacturing Cloud is a fit but you don’t need its full capabilities immediately, one strategy is to start with Sales Cloud licenses and upgrade when ready. This approach allows users to:

Get comfortable with Salesforce core functionality (Accounts, Contacts, Leads, Opportunities)

Reduce change management strain

Defer costs until necessary

However, this method requires discipline. It’s easy to get started with Sales Cloud and never look back. If you choose this path, work with your Salesforce Account Executive to schedule a structured upgrade plan in advance.

Making the Right Investment for the Future

If you’re uncertain about which path to take, pause and assess your business needs against Manufacturing Cloud’s capabilities. Understanding your long-term goals, current processes, and required functionality will help ensure the right investment for your business’s future. Kenway is here to help. Reach out to one of our trusted experts today.

Case Study: Crafting Compelling Wine Narratives with Generative AI

Client Profile

Industry: Direct-to-Consumer Online Wine Retail
Client: A leading online wine retailer known for its captivating storytelling in email marketing
Solution: Seeking to streamline content creation while maintaining brand voice, they partnered with Kenway to explore the potential of generative AI

Our client cultivated a loyal following of 27,000 subscribers through captivating email marketing that goes beyond product descriptions. Each email is an immersive experience, transporting the reader on a journey centered around a specific wine. Evocative storytelling is penned by a dedicated writing staff who meticulously follow a defined style guide. This unique voice, both informative and engaging, is a key driver of sales and a differentiator in the competitive DTC wine market. However, crafting these compelling narratives was a costly and time-consuming process. Recognizing the potential of AI to streamline content creation, our client approached Kenway with the objective of maintaining their brand's unique voice and storytelling magic while exploring new avenues for efficiency.

The Problem

While captivating narratives were the backbone of our client's email marketing success, crafting them presented a significant challenge. Each email, meticulously crafted by a dedicated writing team, aimed to be more than just a product description; it was an immersive journey centered around a specific wine. This commitment to storytelling yielded impressive results, fostering brand loyalty and driving sales. However, the very process that fueled their success became a hurdle to further growth.

Maintaining brand consistency and crafting these narratives required a dedicated writing team to research each wine, develop the story, and meticulously adhere to a clearly defined style guide. This meticulous approach, while ensuring brand identity, limited the volume of content our client could produce. Scaling their email marketing efforts with the current process proved to be cost-prohibitive and resource-intensive.

Storytelling: These narratives weave stories around the featured wine, incorporating details about origin, vintner philosophy, and tasting notes – all delivered in a lively and engaging style.
Consistent Brand Voice: A clearly defined style guide ensured a consistent brand voice across all emails, a key differentiator for subscribers. Specific elements like sentence structure, tone, and figurative language were meticulously followed.
Costly & Time-Consuming: While the human writing team consistently produced high-quality content, the current approach presented a challenge in terms of cost-efficiency. The meticulous attention to detail required for each email, including research, writing, and style guide adherence, presents a high fixed cost of content creation.
AI for Efficiency: Recognizing the potential of AI to streamline content creation, our client approached Kenway with the objective of maintaining their brand's unique voice and storytelling while exploring new avenues for efficiency.

While the captivating narratives were effective, crafting them was a resource-intensive process. The dedicated writing staff's attention to detail, while ensuring brand consistency, was expensive and limited the volume of content that could be produced. Our client saw potential in AI to bridge this gap. They envisioned a system where AI could create content or at a minimum generate the initial drafts, freeing up their writing team to focus on editing, polishing, and exploring new creative avenues. However, their primary concern was maintaining the unique brand voice that fueled their email marketing success.

The Solution

Before addressing any technical aspects, our first step was to convert dreams and ideas into a workable vision that garnered consensus. Successful AI implementation requires a shared vision, and for our client, this meant fostering collaboration across various stakeholder groups beyond just the technology team.

We began by thoroughly assessing their current email marketing processes. This in-depth analysis allowed us to map out the necessary workflow adaptations and considerations that would be essential for successfully integrating an AI solution into their content creation pipeline. This collaborative approach ensured everyone involved had a clear understanding of the project's goals and the impact on their roles.

With a well-defined vision in place, we could then turn our attention to exploring the technical solutions that would bring this vision to life.

Kenway explored two approaches to achieve our client's goals. The first approach involved leveraging a pre-trained, publicly available generative AI model. We hypothesized that by feeding the model with the style guide, descriptions of successful past narratives, and specific wine details (name, vintage, winery, etc.), we could guide the model towards replicating the brand's desired voice and style.

Our team experimented with various prompt engineering techniques:

To guide the model towards replicating our client's brand voice, we experimented with incorporating the style guide directly into the prompts we fed it. This essentially provided the model with a roadmap for writing content that adhered to the specific elements outlined in the guide, like sentence structure, tone, and figurative language.
We further evaluated the model's output by assigning scores based on how well it adhered to these elements from the style guide. This scoring system allowed us to gauge the model's progress in capturing the brand's desired voice and style.
We also explored providing the model with examples of past successful narratives and prompting it to analyze and describe their writing styles. Then, we incorporated those descriptors into the prompts for new narratives, hoping to generate content that mimicked the tone and style of those successful examples.
Finally, we established an iterative feedback loop. We generated content samples using various prompt engineering techniques and presented them to our client's Chief Marketing Officer and content editor. Their feedback was thoroughly documented and incorporated into the prompts, further refining the model's output.

While the pre-trained model generated factually accurate content, it lacked the precise storytelling elements and brand-specific nuances that were crucial for our client's email marketing. The narratives, while grammatically correct and informative, often fell flat, failing to capture the engaging and evocative style of the human-written narratives.

Recognizing this limitation, we shifted our approach to fine-tuning a custom AI model specifically tailored to replicate their unique writing style.

Fortunately, our client maintained a comprehensive archive of past email narratives, along with corresponding performance metrics such as click-through rates and conversion rates.

This rich data provided a valuable foundation for training. Each past narrative was paired with a prompt based on the original wine details, essentially transforming the archive into a vast prompt-response dataset.
This dataset was then used to fine-tune a Mistral 5B model chosen for its cost-effectiveness, performance, and accessibility.
The fine-tuning process involved training the model to recognize patterns and relationships within the existing narratives, allowing it to generate new narratives that mimicked the style and voice of the human-written originals.
Ultimately, the fine-tuned model was deployed on secure AWS servers, ready to generate narratives based on user input.

What We Delivered

With the fine-tuned AI model humming in the background, our focus shifted to user experience. We wanted to ensure the writing staff could seamlessly integrate AI-generated content into their existing workflow.

Here's what we delivered:

User-Friendly Interface: We designed a single-page web application with a minimalist interface. This streamlined approach minimized distractions and learning curves for the writing team.
Simple Data Input: Users could easily input essential wine details like name, vintage, winery, and style (e.g., Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir). These details were then automatically integrated into a prompt sent to the model.
Direct Integration with Email Drafting: Upon receiving the prompt, the model generated its narrative. This content was then displayed directly on the screen, ready for review. A convenient copy function allowed users to easily transfer the generated text to their email drafts.

While developing the interface, we explored additional functionalities like:

Style Guide Adherence Scoring: This feature would have rated the generated content based on how well it adhered to the style guide.
User-Defined Revisions: We explored an additional feature where the web app offered a secondary input window after displaying the initial content. This allowed users to provide the model with additional instructions on how to modify its response, facilitating a more iterative approach to content creation.

However, for this project, the simple approach was chosen. The focus was on evaluating the raw performance of the AI-generated narratives with only the potential for controlled influence of human editing. This clean data allowed for a more objective assessment of the model's effectiveness.

The Result

Our client conducted a two-week experiment to assess the effectiveness of the AI-generated narratives. Their email subscribers were divided into four groups:

Control Group: This group received no email during the experiment, acting as a baseline for measuring the overall impact of email marketing on revenue generation.
Human-Written Group: This group received emails written by our client's dedicated writing staff, maintaining the existing content creation process.
AI-Written Group: This group received emails where the narratives were entirely generated by the fine-tuned AI model.
AI/Human Hybrid Group: This group received emails where the AI model generated the initial narrative draft, which was then edited by the writing staff before being sent to subscribers.

The experiment yielded valuable insights:

As expected, the control group, which received no emails, performed the worst in terms of revenue and profit. This confirms the importance of email marketing in generating revenue for our client.
The human-written and AI-only groups performed similarly in terms of key metrics, with the human-written group having a slight edge in total revenue. This suggests that the AI model was able to successfully replicate the core elements of our client's brand voice and storytelling approach.
When factoring in operational costs, the AI-written group emerged slightly ahead. While there were initial costs associated with model development and infrastructure setup, these were significantly lower compared to the ongoing costs of employing a dedicated writing staff.
An intriguing finding was the underperformance of the AI/Human hybrid group. This suggests that the human editing process may have inadvertently altered the AI-generated content in a way that diminished its effectiveness. This highlights the importance of further research into the optimal integration of human and AI content creation processes.

Conclusion

While further refinement and experimentation are needed, our client is now positioned to leverage AI to streamline their email marketing content creation process. The fine-tuned model can generate the narratives, freeing up their writing staff to focus on higher-level tasks like concept development, strategic content planning, and human-centric editing.

This case study demonstrates the potential of generative AI to optimize content creation in the marketing and advertising space. With AI Powered content creation, businesses can create compelling and brand-consistent content while improving efficiency and reducing costs. The success of this collaboration between Kenway and our client paves the way for further exploration of how AI can be used to enhance content creation across various industries.

Ready to unlock the full potential of Artificial Intelligence? Connect with our experts today to get started.

Case Study: Transforming Operations in the Manufacturing Industry with Salesforce Implementation

CLIENT PROFILE:

Industry: B2B/Logistics

Client: Manufacturing company in the food industry

Solution: Salesforce Sales Cloud Implementation

The client, a prominent manufacturer specializing in food packaging equipment such as metal clips, loops, and labels, faced a critical challenge we see very often in this sector: outdated data management practices. They sought a technology partner to help modernize their processes, systems and overall infrastructure

THE PROBLEM:

The manufacturing industry lives in a competitive landscape where staying ahead requires efficiency, agility, and streamlined operations.

With the industry currently witnessing a technological boom, the absence of a robust Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system was hindering their ability to adapt and scale effectively.

THE CHALLENGES:

Wide and disparate data: Given the heavy reliance on disparate spreadsheets for Data Tracking, the client was facing operational inefficiencies, time consuming processes, and possible manual errors

Limited Insight: The client struggled with limitations in reporting due to the use of legacy technology

Confusion for users: The client was using manual processes for communication, causing delays and progressive loss of customer trust

THE SOLUTION:

Recognizing the need for a transformative solution, Kenway embarked on a phased approach centered around implementing Salesforce as the client’s CRM backbone. The strategy aims to modernize operations, starting with a Sales Cloud solution to streamline sales processes and enable future growth opportunities.

To execute this implementation, establishing a seamless integration between their existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and Salesforce was key. This integration not only facilitated data flow between systems but also laid the groundwork for future data utilization and analytics.

Kenway supported the implementation of Salesforce by:

Configuring and customizing objects to precisely match the client's unique business workflows and requirements. This support involved tailoring the platform to optimize efficiency and effectiveness in line with their specific needs.
Ensuring a seamless integration of Salesforce by leveraging tools and processes familiar with the client, such as Outlook, which facilitated a smooth adoption and minimized disruptions.

WHAT WE DELIVERED:

Kenway’s comprehensive scope of services encompassed:

Current State Assessment: Thorough analysis of existing workflows and technical architecture to identify pain points and optimization opportunities.
Requirements Gathering: Collaborative sessions to define business flows and tailor Salesforce implementation to the client's specific needs.
Implementation Support: Configuration and customization of Salesforce objects to align with the client's business processes.
Integration: Integration of Outlook and ERP systems with Salesforce to establish a cohesive data ecosystem.
Data Migration: Seamless transition of data from spreadsheets to Salesforce, ensuring accuracy and completeness.
Testing and Deployment: Rigorous testing protocols followed by smooth deployment to minimize downtime and disruptions.
Training and Documentation: Creation of user-friendly guides and comprehensive technical documentation to facilitate user training and system maintenance.

THE RESULTS:

The integration of Salesforce unraveled transformative outcomes across the organization:

Inception of a Single Source of Truth. Consolidated data within Salesforce provided a centralized hub for accurate and up-to-date information, eliminating data silos and discrepancies.
Custom dashboards provided visibility cross functionally to better track and report out measurable KPIs
Employees also gained timely access to critical data, empowering them with actionable insights for strategic decision-making.
A foundation for a strong sales strategy was created to offer not only success in the present but also paving the way for future growth in services and increased revenue.
Groundwork was laid in Salesforce as the system was designed to accommodate future processes such as servicing activities to further optimize operations and elevate customer satisfaction to new heights.

By leveraging Salesforce as a catalyst for digital transformation, the client positioned themselves for sustained growth and competitive advantage in the dynamic manufacturing landscape.

To find out how we can help transform your business with technology modernization, reach out to one of our experts at Kenway Consulting.

Mastering Manufacturing Sales Forecasting: Kenway Consulting Unveils the Power of Salesforce OmniStudio

In the dynamic world of global supply chains, accurate forecasting isn't just a strategy—it's a necessity. However, building accurate consensus forecasts can be cumbersome and challenging. Acquiring the holistic data needed to properly forecast typically involves multiple systems, individuals, and workflows, many of which are manual. Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud can help to consolidate much of this into a single platform with its suite of native forecasting tools. Yet, its real value lies in an often overlooked and underutilized feature which is a gamechanger for your forecasting needs: OmniStudio. Using Salesforce OmniStudio and industry/forecasting best practices, Kenway Consulting can help streamline your forecasting and optimize your demand-supply join-up.

The Importance of Accurate Forecasting

Accurate forecasting is the foundation of effective supply chain management, driving efficiency, cost reduction, and strategic decision-making throughout the entire organization. Companies that prioritize and invest in accurate forecasting are better positioned to navigate market dynamics and achieve long-term success.

The consequences of inaccurate forecasting are far-reaching, impacting both the bottom line and customer satisfaction:

Excess Inventory: Overestimating demand can lead to excess inventory, tying up capital and increasing holding costs. Unnecessary storage space and the need for promotional strategies to sell excess inventory at a discount impact profit margin. If your products have shelf-lives, this is even more painful.
Stockouts and Lost Sales: On the flip side, underestimating demand can result in stockouts, where products are unavailable when and where customers are ready to purchase. This not only leads to lost sales but also contributes to customer dissatisfaction. Losing customers due to stockouts can have long-term consequences for a company's reputation and market share.
Suboptimal Distribution: Accurate forecasts provide a basis for risk assessment and mitigation. Without reliable forecasts, manufacturers may struggle to identify potential disruptions, market fluctuations, or external factors impacting demand. This lack of foresight can lead to suboptimal distribution strategies, affecting the overall efficiency of the supply chain.
Operational Inefficiencies: A supply chain that operates based on inaccurate forecasts is inherently inefficient. Misallocation of resources, production delays, and challenges in meeting customer demand can erode the overall competitiveness and agility of a manufacturing operation over time.

Accurate forecasting isn't just a beneficial aspect of supply chain management; it's a critical driver of organizational success. By investing in precise forecasting methods, businesses can optimize their operations, minimize costs, and enhance customer satisfaction. Ultimately, accurate forecasting empowers businesses to adapt to market dynamics, mitigate risks, and maintain a competitive edge in the manufacturing industry.

Overcoming Data Integration Challenges to Optimize Forecasting

Forecasting, if done correctly, relies on numerous data points, often coming from disparate systems. Your CRM may contain information on your accounts, opportunities (deals), pipeline, and latest activity. Your ERP houses historical sales, statistical forecast models, and forward-looking supply. Further complicating this, sales forecasts are often built on a platform external to both.

While a full integration of systems can enhance the accuracy of forecasting, it can be costly and challenging to maintain. Organizations run into significant challenges upholding a single source of truth. Alternatively, navigating various systems and data sources comes with its own set of challenges:

Manual Forecasting: Sales teams and analysts may need to manually extract, transform, and load data between systems. This manual effort is time-consuming, prone to errors, and can impede the overall efficiency of the forecasting process. Inconsistencies in data between multiple systems can occur, leading to discrepancies in customer information, sales figures, and historical data.
Delayed Flow of Information: The lack of real-time data synchronization between systems can lead to delays in accessing the latest information. This delay can impact the timeliness of decision-making and response to market changes.
Limited Visibility: Lack of visibility into the entire customer lifecycle and sales process is a common challenge. Sales reps and management may struggle to gain a comprehensive view of customer interactions, leading to suboptimal forecasting.
Data Silos: Separate systems can create data silos, where critical information is stored in isolated databases. This can hinder collaboration, data sharing, and a comprehensive understanding of the customer journey.

Why Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud?

Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud (MC) positions itself as a hybrid CRM/ERP. In addition to offering Salesforce’s user-friendly core capabilities, MC also brings forecasting capabilities such as Advanced Account Forecasting and Sales Agreement Management. Forecast calculations can be tailored to meet requirements from different business units and forecast periods can be easily adjusted leading to an insight-drive.

For many organizations, especially small and medium sized businesses (SMB), this is an intriguing combination. It’s lightweight enough to be managed with minimal internal resources yet robust enough to replace tech-heavy ERP’s. However, in the instance where more robust capabilities are needed, such as advanced forecast models or detailed supply network planning, Manufacturing cloud has an additional capability which helps organizations that require both CRM’s and ERP’s. Salesforce OmniStudio, which is included in the Manufacturing Cloud license, is a collection of powerful digital engagement tools used to create apps, custom components, and guided experiences.

Imagine you use Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud for its CRM capabilities and a separate system for forecasting. Sales reps are often blind to the level of detail that an ERP/forecasting module can deliver. But with OmniStudio, you can easily connect systems and expose valuable data points to the people who are closest to your customers: Sales Reps. In the context of forecast enablement, here’s some powerful examples of what you can do with OmniStudio in Manufacturing Cloud:

Allow for real-time data write-backs to other systems directly from Manufacturing cloud:

Allow Sales Reps to create a forecast uplift directly from Salesforce and write back to your ERP

Dynamically display messages in Salesforce based on external data:

Create a notification for sales reps when a SKU is out of stock
Display real-time inventory count for SKU’s that are being discontinued
Support compliance and regulatory requirements by alerting sales reps when products can be sold in specific regions

Surface data points from external systems in Manufacturing Cloud:

Surface statistical forecast to sales reps
Surface historical product sales (1 year prior, 3 years prior, etc)
For new product launches, display historical sales of product launches of similar products
Surface historical sales of similar product promotions to improve the accuracy of pending promotion uplifts

Best of all, this can all be done with clicks, not code, eliminating costly integrations and preventing technical debt. It’s also worth noting that OmniStudio is also available at no cost for Health Cloud, Financial Services Cloud, and CPQ +. If you are using any of these platforms as an input to your Sales Forecasting, OmniStudio can still be leveraged in the above fashion, despite not having some of the forecasting tools native to Manufacturing Cloud.

Unlocking Success: Embracing Cloud Solutions in Manufacturing with OmniStudio

96% of small and medium businesses (SMBs) in the manufacturing industry claimed to have moved a part of their operations to the cloud in the past year. In response to the growing need to adapt quickly with the changing market trends, businesses are adopting the tools and technology that will help their teams stay future-ready. Salesforce's Manufacturing Cloud, coupled with the power of OmniStudio, equips your team with the tools needed to navigate the complexities of forecasting, demand planning and customer engagements.

Embrace innovation, accuracy, and efficiency in your manufacturing business with Kenway Consulting, as we lead the charge in transforming the manufacturing landscape. Contact us to get started.

Technology Modernization and Scalability Case Study

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Client Profile

Industry: Wholesale Distribution

Client: Mid-market e-commerce company

Solution: Technology Solution Delivery

The Situation

A mid-market e-commerce company specializing in wholesale specialty light bulbs and batteries faced challenges in scaling its operations due to legacy technology, fragmented IT infrastructure, and a lack of visibility into business operations. They sought a technology partner to help modernize their processes, systems, and overall infrastructure.

The Problem

The client partners with over 100 suppliers in a drop-ship model and uses technology to match diverse customer needs with an inventory of over 1 million items.

Growth was hindered by an antiquated and under-supported technology stack, resulting in:

Heavy reliance on a small, specialized IT partner with limited support capabilities
Fragmented IT infrastructure
Dependency on senior/executive leadership to perform certain business functions
Improvements made by technology partners did not result in the improvements expected
Limited scalability of legacy systems

The Solution Kenway Delivered

To assist the organization in adopting a new technology solution, Kenway Consulting conducted an analysis to define options for technology modernization. Throughout the process, we conducted a gap analysis, developed Power BI dashboards, and ensured seamless data flow between systems.

The project included the following:

IT Platform Assessment: Evaluated existing technology platforms and provided recommendations for optimal technology scalability and modernization
Data Management, Analytics, and Visualization Optimization: Created Power BI dashboards for data visualization. Assisted with data conversion, mapping, and integration architecture for seamless data flows
RFP Facilitation: Utilized gap analysis to inform the creation of an RFI and executed the RFP process
Program Management: Managed technology modernization program coordination and oversaw integration dependencies across multiple vendors and workstreams

The Results of Technology Modernization and Scalability

With Kenway’s help, the client was able to:

Obtain clear direction for technology modernization investments, ensuring alignment with business objectives and investment optimization.
Transition to a new technology infrastructure and shift from single-resource IT partners to a best-in-class company
Establish a scalable, cost-effective, efficient, and extensible System Architecture on cloud infrastructure, centered around Dynamics 365 and Azure services.
Leverage data-driven insights for informed decision-making to maximize margin and sales.

To find out how we can help transform your business with technology modernization, reach out to one of our experts at Kenway Consulting.

From Manual to Automated: A Supply Chain (Optimization) Case Study

Client Profile

Industry: B2B/Logistics

Client: Technology retailer

Solution: Technology solution delivery

The Situation

A Fortune 500 technology retailer provides customers with multi-brand technology solutions. One of their key offerings is the buy-and-hold service, which allows customers to store inventory at the retailer's warehouse until shipment is required. This service has become increasingly valuable due to pandemic-related disruptions in the supply chain.

However, despite the competitive advantage offered by buy-and-hold, the company was losing its edge and turning away from substantial business due to inefficient processing.

The Problem

Despite generating significant annual revenue, the manual buy-and-hold process posed numerous challenges. Orders, warehouse processing, and shipments were managed through multiple spreadsheets, bypassing essential systems like the warehouse management system and order management system. This resulted in:

Delays in the order fulfillment process
Lack of omnichannel accessibility
No visibility into real-time data
Inability to quickly and accurately address customer requests

The company was experiencing employee turnover as operational teams and sellers were frustrated by the inefficient and manually intensive nature of the buy-and-hold process.

The Solution Kenway Delivered

Kenway provided the following deliverables to help the company remain competitive and achieve success:

Data strategy: Kenway performed a data analysis to identify gaps and determine which inventory data could be systematically acquired.

Extract, transform, load (ETL) process: Kenway developed a UI to capture essential data points identified in the gap analysis. Through an ETL process, this data was consolidated into a data mart.

Data aggregation and data modeling: Kenway constructed a flexible and scalable Power BI dataset that enables the data model to accommodate evolving organizational needs.

Multiple source data capture for reporting: Utilizing technical architecture diagrams, Kenway designed a data model in Power BI by leveraging data captured through the UI.

Data profiling and data cleansing: Kenway profiled the data by defining data rules, identifying distributions, foreign-key candidates, functional dependencies, embedded value dependencies, and performing inter-table analysis.

The Results of Supply Chain Optimization

With Kenway’s help, the technology retailer was able to:

Save 50 hours per month of non-value add time in manual processing/administration.

Utilize 14 Power BI reports from one aggregated dataset to service various business areas that will now enable customer and operational team visibility.
Achieve a 40% improvement in inventory and customer data quality throughout the process.

If you’re ready to take the next step in optimizing your supply chain operations, connect with us to discuss how our data consulting experts can help your company achieve an automated operation.