Press Release
For immediate release: October 11, 2018
Mountain Point is among the most promising Manufacturing Technology Consulting and Implementation Companies in the nation according to a recent feature in CIO Review.
Earlier this week, the magazine listed Mountain Point as a firm to watch on its 2018 roundup of digital consulting and implementation firms.
“We’re honored to be recognized by a publication that is as trusted as CIO Review,” Andrew Rieser, President of Mountain Point, said. “It’s exciting to showcase the amazing results our team and our clients have achieved.”
The profile highlights Mountain Point’s recent work with Lodge Cast Iron, a century-old company that is at the forefront of using new technologies to better connect with customers.
Mandy Finotti, Customer Service Manager at Lodge, said the manufacturer’s digital transformation investments are paying off.
“Unified and quicker response times, cross-department communication and efficient follow-up have led to our customers’ gaining greater trust in our brand,” Finotti said.
Mountain Point specializes in cloud ERP, marketing, finance and customer service solutions built on the Salesforce platform. The firm is the only Salesforce partner in the country focused exclusively on serving the manufacturing sector.
The following article originally appeared in the October 2018 Manufacturing Issue of CIO Review.
Mountain Point: Leading digital transformation in manufacturing
To say that the manufacturing sector is experiencing a shakeup is an understatement. The fourth industrial revolution is driving change at an unprecedented pace. And the shockwaves of disruption are of a magnitude not seen since the rise of mechanization more than a century ago.
At the forefront of this seismic shift is Mountain Point, a systems integrator and consulting firm.
Mountain Point guides old-school industries through the uncharted territories of Manufacturing 4.0.
If words like “servitization,” “customer experience,” “Cloud ERP,” and “data science” are on your company’s roadmap, chances are, Mountain Point can help.
Their team excels at guiding manufacturers through digital transformation initiatives. And they’re a national leader in helping industrial companies harness the power of the Salesforce platform.
“We’re the only Salesforce consulting partner in the country focused exclusively on the manufacturing sector,” Andrew Rieser, President and Co-Founder of Mountain Point, said. “Our focus in this ecosystem allows us to deliver real, sustainable results for our customers faster than our competitors. We don’t have to get up to speed on what our clients do. We know manufacturing!”But it’s not just about improving efficiency.
“Manufacturers are no longer mere widget makers focusing only on the product,” Rieser said. “They’re now in the Age of the Customer. And with that comes expectations of immediacy, personalization, consistency, and anticipation.”
So what’s the number one factor for success these days? According to Rieser, it’s all about analytics and insight.
“It used to be, it was about making a better product, faster and cheaper than anyone else,” he explained. “You can’t start with that goal anymore.”
“Instead, we tell our clients to focus on understanding their end customers’ problems. Then find a way to solve them. With the rise of big data, IoT, AI, and omnichannel engagement platforms, we can gain a clearer perspective of a product’s end users than ever before.” Shifting customer expectations are the driving force behind Mountain Point’s work. Take, for example, the firm’s recent project with Lodge Cast Iron.
Founded in 1896, Lodge has weathered many a storm. So when new patterns in customer behavior began to surface, they didn’t wait for sales to decline before making a change. They hired Mountain Point to help them get ahead of the curve.
In the past, customer care was primarily the job of the retailer, not the manufacturer. But Lodge recognized the importance of putting customer experience at the forefront of their operations. They looked to Mountain Point to help them refine, streamline, and centralize their customer service processes.
“Unified and quicker response times, cross-department communication, and efficient follow-up have led to our customers’ gaining greater trust in our brand,” said Mandy Finotti, Customer Service Manager at Lodge Manufacturing.
“Tracking feedback and questions, in turn, helps us to improve our online self-service content as well as our packaging Use & Care content—giving our customers the answers they want and need up-front,” Finotti said.
Not only are the customers the recipients of better and faster information, but Lodge managers and executives are utilizing the back-office integration to gain insights into product sales, customer YoY history, shipments, and returns.
“We now have greater tracking and insight into specific product returns and can hone into potential manufacturing defects quickly leading to a reduction in manufacturing costs and increased customer satisfaction,” said Finotti.
Mountain Point’s work in this arena is nothing short of visionary. At a time when many in the U.S. were writing off the manufacturing sector as a casualty of globalization, Mountain Point took the opposite approach. They recognized the emerging technologies on the horizon and saw an opportunity to revitalize U.S. businesses.
Though only four years old, Mountain Point was recently recognized as the third fastest growing company in the Charlotte area, one of the most rapidly advancing tech hubs in the United States.
Their track record proves that with the right guidance, even small and mid-sized U.S. manufacturers can compete on a global scale.