With the ability to automate and streamline interactions around sales, marketing and support, AI chatbots can be a game-changer in the manufacturing industry. In this article, we will talk about the benefits and the transformative use cases of chatbots for the manufacturing industry.
The AI chatbots automate knowledge sharing and improve interactions with customers, suppliers, employees and vendors. This eases work processes for better collaboration.
If you are wondering “Why do you need chatbots for the manufacturing industry? Then read this article till the end.
What are AI Chatbots for the Manufacturing Industry and How do they Work?
AI chatbots for the manufacturing industry are specialised virtual assistants which are specially programmed to comprehend and respond to user queries and tasks within the manufacturing industry.
This includes tasks like providing production updates, assisting with inventory management and bridging communication gaps between different systems, machines and human agents.
Furthermore, these chatbots leverage AI and natural language processing to interact and provide seamless communication between systems, machines and human agents in the manufacturing sector.
What are the Pain Points of the Manufacturing Industry Which Conversational AI can Address?
We all know that there are numerous processes in the manufacturing sector which are not in our control. For example, we can’t make the manufacturing machines and equipment run faster. Similarly, we can not deal with supply chain issues and predict unavoidable circumstances such as factory shutdowns.
So, instead of focusing on things which are out of our control, why not focus on those aspects that we can control easily?
For instance, we can:
Offer prompt and interactive customer support
Streamline repeated tasks such as data entry, order tracking and resource allocation.
Optimize and automate supply chain operations
But the problem is to ease manufacturing processes, we need AI-powered technologies to automate and streamline communication and manufacturing operations.
And that’s exactly where conversational AI comes into the picture.
In the manufacturing industry, we’ve seen a big rise in using conversational AI. Research shows that by 2028, the conversational AI market could be worth $29.8 billion. Even though chatbots were first considered as a tool for B2C marketing, they’re now used a lot in B2B too.
Now let’s see what are the pain points of the manufacturing industry that conversational AI can address.
Conversational AI can address several pain points in the manufacturing industry such as:
Improved Efficiency: Chatbots can streamline manufacturing processes such as order tracking, inventory management, production scheduling etc. This leads to enhanced operational efficiency.
Reduced Downtime: Conversational AI can offer real-time troubleshooting and maintenance support to help minimize downtime caused by any technical issues.
Enhanced Customer Support: Conversational AI can offer instant customer support such as resolving product inquiries and providing order status and technical support.
Optimized Supply Chain: Conversational AI can facilitate better communication and coordination across the supply chain. This leads to smoother logistics and inventory management.
Data Analysis: Conversational AI can analyze large amounts of data to identify trends, predict maintenance needs and then provide actionable insights for decision-making.
Overall, Conversational AI has the potential to transform the manufacturing industry by addressing the aforementioned pain points.
Chatbots Use Cases in the Manufacturing Industry
Here are the top use cases for chatbots in the manufacturing industry:
Inventory Management
The manufacturing industry is all about supply and demand. Companies need to know what they have in stock to fulfill orders on time. Sometimes, businesses lose money because they stock up on supplies before they’re needed.
A chatbot can help businesses by giving them updates on their inventory through messaging apps like WhatsApp. These AI chatbots connect with the company’s existing systems to get the information they need quickly. This helps manufacturing businesses make better decisions about inventory and supplies.
Offer Personalized Product Recommendations
When you have many products to offer, your customers might get confused about which product to choose. Instead of sending your sales representatives to help each customer, you can use an AI chatbot like SmatBot for personalized recommendations.
These intelligent chatbots use predictive analytics and machine learning to understand each customer’s preferences by analysing their historical data. They can then suggest the best products, making it easier for customers to decide what to buy.
Handling of Floor Queries
A manufacturing firm is a massive setup that covers many acres and floors. Employees spend a significant amount of time moving from one place to another within the factory to address minor inquiries and updates. This extended travel time leads to confusion and delays.
Here, a chatbot can play a crucial role and allow employees to task distribution and answer questions about important issues in a manufacturing plant such as:
Raising tickets
Answering FAQs
Notifying maintenance updates
Reporting technical issues
These queries and issues can take a lot of valuable time to get resolved if they are not automated. However a chatbot can save a significant amount of time as they are programmed to know which query needs human agent attention or which can be solved by themselves.
Apart from this, these chatbots also show the main problems that ground-level employees face and suggest ways to give them access to information.
Provides Updates and Notifications
Keeping track of numerous orders and deliveries across various stages can be a challenge for manufacturers. AI chatbots offer an efficient way to manage updates and notifications.
These AI bots can provide real-time shipment tracking information, estimated delivery time and potential delays due to unforeseen circumstances. This eases the burden on customer support teams by reducing basic status inquiries and gives buyers instant updates on their orders. This ultimately improves overall satisfaction.
Streamline Customer Support
In B2B, customer support is crucial and plays an important role in maintaining a good business reputation and improving client experience. Manufacturing industries often receive a huge volume of calls and inquiries about product usage, quality complaints, delivery delays and more.
AI chatbots can help manufacturing firms manage customer requests. This reduces the workload on the customer support team. Manufacturers can create a chatbot using a no-code builder such as SmatBot to handle common user queries and deploy it where customers can chat and raise tickets related to diverse issues. These chatbots bridge the communication gap between vendors and manufacturing companies. Overall these bots support the existing customer service team and improve productivity.
Benefits of Chatbots for Manufacturing Industry
In the manufacturing industry, the adoption of AI chatbots brings numerous benefits and reshapes operational dynamics.
Real-Time Insights
Chatbots for the manufacturing industry serve as real-time data processors. It offers valuable insights into different metrics, workflow analytics and equipment status.
These bots continuously monitor and analyze data, enabling proactive decision-making. Furthermore, they help manufacturers identify issues, optimize workflows with existing inventory and respond promptly to changing conditions in the production environment.
Track Order Fulfilment and Delivery
Manufacturers need a hassle-free way to track order fulfilment and delivery. AI chatbots can handle tracking of order deliveries and inventory in real-time. This can save you from relying on manual updates from support teams or managers.
These digital assistants can seamlessly integrate with the order management system to give you quick updates on delivery times, dates and shipment status. This eliminates the need for constant communication and provides personalized updates directly to your buyers.
Saves Money
Chatbots in manufacturing play a big role in cutting costs. They automate repetitive tasks, handle common queries and offer instant support. This reduces the need for manual work, lowering labour expenses and making operations more cost-effective.
Automate HR Operations
AI chatbots are not just for handling technical operations but they can also help with HR processes like candidate screening, recruitment, managing holidays and leaves, scheduling workloads and more. This frees up HR professionals to focus on more strategic tasks.
With a factory chatbot, employees can easily interact with respective managers and departments. Additionally, the chatbot also lets them schedule leaves and appointments.
This ability to automate HR tasks is very beneficial as manufacturing firms have a huge team of employees for different tasks. Moreover, chatbots can help employees get instant access to knowledge bases and databases without asking anyone for the same.
Real World Examples Of Chatbots in the Manufacturing Industry
Domino Printers: Domino Printers which is one of the top companies in the commercial printing industry deployed chatbots to digitize their support and generate leads during the pandemic. With the implementation of a chatbot, Domino Printers was able to resolve over 130 support tickets, generate a $1.25 million attributed pipeline and boost its engagement rate by 60%.
Wrapping Up
Chatbots for the manufacturing industry are becoming increasingly essential for streamlining operations and boosting efficiency. Investing in such tools is crucial for manufacturers looking to stay competitive and adapt to the changing landscape.
AI chatbots like SmatBot are game changers that are already making a big difference in the manufacturing industry. SmatBot is a perfect platform for building no-code chatbots. It streamlines tasks, automates customer support service and boosts efficiency in the most user-friendly and cost-effective way.
Moreover, our chatbot solutions deliver personalised offers and suggestions that resonate to boost engagement and conversions for your company. With advanced features like customization options, integrations, multi-platform support, multilingual and 24/7 availability, it gives your manufacturing business a boost.
Selling on social media platforms is a revolutionary way for online businesses to boost their sales and Instagram Shopping makes it easy for small and mid-sized businesses to connect with more customers.
If you’re already advertising on Instagram, setting up a shopping page streamlines the process for your customers. It provides an easy-to-access storefront where Instagram users can purchase your products without leaving the platform. This seamless shopping experience combined with increased visibility can greatly boost your sales.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to set up an Instagram shopping page using SmatBot. This will allow you to tap into Instagram’s ecosystem and grow your business revenue.
But before we dive in, let’s cover some basics.
What Is Instagram Shopping?
Instagram shopping is our new end-to-end e-commerce bot designed especially for Instagram. With this remarkable feature, businesses can effortlessly integrate and showcase their products, allowing users to seamlessly browse, analyse and make purchases—all directly on Instagram.
Isn’t that fantastic?
Moreover, we offer payment collection and immediate post-payment responses right within the Instagram platform. But hold on, there’s even more!
Our e-commerce bot also features a robust product categorisation system, ensuring a smooth and organized shopping experience for your users.
Top Use Cases of Instagram Shopping:
Businesses can effortlessly showcase and sell their products and services directly on Instagram.
Small and mid-sized businesses that don’t have their own e-commerce websites can leverage this feature to sell directly to active users.
Online sellers seeking additional channels or platforms to boost sales can use Instagram Shopping.
Businesses can launch new product collections to reach a wider audience and generate immediate sales.
Businesses can expand their reach to an international audience without physical stores.
Influencers and affiliate marketers can use this feature to resell third-party products.
Influencers and affiliate marketers can take advantage of Instagram shopping to promote third-party products and services in an organized manner.
Benefits of Instagram Shopping:
Instagram’s shopping feature provides a seamless in-app experience. This will boost conversions and sales.
Marketers can create shoppable content based on their audience’s interests.
Marketers and businesses can build authority by partnering with each other.
Customers can easily discover and purchase their preferred products directly on Instagram, covering the gap between product browsing and shopping.
Instagram Shopping enables businesses to reach global customers, access new markets and promote growth.
Businesses can showcase their products to a wide audience of active users. This will increase their brand visibility and awareness.
How To Set Up Instagram Shopping For Your D2C E-Commerce Business?
Here, I am going to share a step-by-step guide on how to set up your Instagram shopping page with SmatBot:
Let’s begin.
Step 1: Create an account on SmatBot.
First, you have to create your account on Smatbot. For this, you can follow the steps shown in the video: Create an Account.
Step 2: Connect your Instagram business account to the SmatBot dashboard.
Next, you will need to connect your Instagram business account associated with a Facebook page to the SmatBot dashboard. For this follow the below-mentioned steps:
Step 2a: Select the option “Instagram Installation” under the “Install” tab. (as shown in the image below).
Step 2b: Click on the “Connect with Instagram” button
Step 2c: If you are already logged in and your Instagram account is connected to the same user ID, click on “Continue as [your user ID]”.
Otherwise, log in to the “Meta account” associated with your “Instagram Business account”.
Step 2d: Now, simplyclick on the “Edit settings” button. (as shown in the image below).
Step 2e: Next, you can preview the “Instagram Account” which is connected to the ID and click on the “Next” button.
Step 2f: If a business has multiple brand pages on Facebook, it can choose to select one specific account or multiple accounts.
Step 2g: In the next step, you will need to grant permission to “Manage” and “Access” all options by toggling the button to “YES”. Then, simply click on the “Done” button.
Step 2h: The Smatbot dashboard is now linked to Facebook.
Step 3: Select Instagram Business Accounts
If there are multiple “Instagram Business Accounts”, select any one of them and click on the “Save” button.
Congratulations, your “Instagram Business Account” is successfully connected to Smatbot.
Step 4: Go to the ‘Flow Setup’ tab
Now, navigate to the ‘Flow Setup’ tab. Here, you will find various options, but you need to select the ‘Carousel with Buttons’ option (located at the bottom left).
Once the option is added, click ‘Edit Question’ (pencil icon).
Step 5: Select your Product Categories
To organise and showcase your product offerings effectively, you will need to choose your product categories and list individual items within them. You can include accessories, clothing, and more. Each category can have its own dedicated product cart and jump flow for easier navigation.
Step 6: Choose Order Items
Next, select the option “Order Items” (located at the bottom left). Once the option is added, click on the “Pencil icon” to add products to the cart.
Step 7: Name your Product Flow
Now, name your product flow. For example, instead of saying “Add Products to Cart”. You can also mention “20% off on Men’s Shoes”.
After that, you will need to provide a few additional details as mentioned below:
Choose the “Currency” specific to your country such as AED, INR, USD etc.
Add the available sizes for your product. For example, shoes have numerical sizes (UK 7, UK 8, UK 8.5, UK 9, etc.).
To save the changes, click on the “Save” button.
Step 8: Click Cart Option
Click on the “cart” icon to “add item” for display.
Step 9: Add Products
Add the products that are relevant to the category. For example, for footwear, you can add shoes and slippers.
Then, provide product details such as product name and price.
Note: The currency will be pre-set and cannot be changed from the cart. Add the “Unique Item ID”, this will be passed to the vendor to recognize which product has been purchased. Now click on the “Save” button.
Step 10: Add a Confirmation Message
Next, add a confirmation message to notify the user about the payment link generation.
Step 11: Payment Settings
Now, add a dynamic question to call the “payment API”. The payment page will open in a third-party app (e.g., Razorpay) and the payment will be collected there.
Voila! You have successfully set up your Instagram Shop using SmatBot. Now, enjoy your seamless shopping experience and start reaching more customers effortlessly.
Wrapping Up
With Instagram Shopping, you can connect with potential customers on the platform where they’re most active. This leads to improved visibility, conversions and profits.
So don’t waste any more time! Engage your potential customers on Instagram and turn them into sales with SmatBot. Our end-to-end e-commerce bot will work wonders for your sales.
HR departments play a crucial role in every company, but they often face challenges with routine tasks such as managing employee relations, recruitment, onboarding, payroll and benefits enrollment. To boost efficiency, HR teams require automation tools to handle these tasks effectively.
HR automation frees up valuable time for HR teams, allowing them to focus on more strategic issues. However, when digitally transforming your organization, it’s crucial to strike a balance between automation and providing human support for employees. Be mindful of the HR workload to ensure a smooth transition. Companies are increasingly using automation for tasks like payroll, job interviews, resume screening and onboarding new employees.
In a recent survey conducted by Gartner, approx 50% of HR leaders identified HR automation technology as their top investment priority.
If you are curious to learn and implement HR automation technology to make your HR processes easier, this guide is for you.
What is HR Process Automation?
HR automation simplifies and speeds up essential tasks that are usually done manually. This includes repetitive work like managing vacations, tracking employee performance and handling talent recruitment which are prone to errors.
By automating these tasks, HR minimizes errors and frees up valuable time for strategic projects and employee concerns. In addition, HR automation tools ensure all documents and tasks are completed on time, eliminating the risk of loss. Moreover, it enhances the employee experience, leading to a more engaged and productive workforce.
Why Is HR Automation Important?
HR automation is crucial for saving time, money and human capital by automating manual tasks and improving efficiency. As per one report by G&A Partners, 73% of HR’s time is spent on administrative work. Here’s where automation can greatly improve HR professionals’ productivity, freeing them to focus on more strategic tasks like talent management and employee engagement.
Furthermore, HR automation helps bridge the gap between HR leadership goals and improved recruitment, onboarding and training programs. Many businesses that are not currently using this advanced technology in their HR operations are planning to do so for higher efficiency and productivity.
You don’t have to take our word for it, I have mind-blowing numbers to support our statements.
Below, I am sharing some of the impressive stats about HR automation:
Nearly 57% of businesses plan to expedite their recruitment process. (IQ PARTNERS)
A healthcare company saved almost $4000 per month by implementing HR automation. (Gravity Flow).
54% of HR leaders find automation technology as an efficient way to focus and invest their valuable time on important tasks. (Northeastern University)
Types of HR Automation
With the right HR automation system like SmatBot, your HR operations from onboarding to offboarding can easily go digital. This saves a lot of time and makes things better for employees and companies.
Here, I am highlighting some crucial HR processes that you should be automating to ease your workload:
Recruitment Automation – With recruiting automation, you can find better and well-deserving candidates, conduct more efficient interviews and onboard them quickly. Here’s how recruitment automation helps: automating job postings, matching candidate’s profiles with job requirements, screening candidates, scheduling interviews and handling candidate communications.
Onboarding Automation – Bringing in new employees often involves repetitive tasks like training sessions, induction programs, access to business applications etc. With HR automation, you can streamline this process from start to finish. This ensures new hires are productive from day one and enhances their perception of the organization.
Here’s how your onboarding automation helps: Automating handling paperwork, generating offer letters, sending welcome emails, scheduling training and induction programs, providing access to apps, setting up payroll and benefits and more. Platforms like SmatBot can also automate workflows like background checks, health insurance management and more.
Offboarding Automation – When an employee leaves, it’s important to secure the company’s confidential data and gather feedback for improving the employee experience. Here’s how offboarding automation helps: Instantly revoke employee access to business applications, schedule exit interviews, send surveys and task updates and automatically update the company directory promptly.
Day-to-day Automation – Don’t put a stop to your HR workflow automation once employees are settled in their new positions. Instead, leverage HR process automation to continually enhance their experience and keep them engaged.
Here’s how your day-to-day automation helps: automating workflows like sending recurring surveys, managing attendance and leave, notifying employees of HR process updates and providing health tips and reminders.
Benefits of HR Automation
You might be wondering why you should automate your HR operations. So, to remove the clouds of doubt, I am gonna highlight the top benefits of HR automation below.
Automating your HR processes brings many benefits, including:
All Data in One Place – One major benefit of HR automation is having all your data stored in one place. This includes employee information like their profile, salary, leave history, tasks, documents and contact details. Moreover, you can easily control access rights and permissions to view information about other employees.
Enhanced Communication and Collaboration – HR automation provides a clear picture of all the processes and stages, making it easier for everyone to understand their responsibilities. This enhances communication and teamwork.
Streamline the Recruitment Process – By implementing HR automation, you can quickly post job openings, search for qualified applicants in a single database and collaborate with HR recruiters to select candidates.
Create an Efficient and Highly Productive Team – Creating an efficient and productive team is much easier with HR automation. It allows HR leaders to save time, which can then be used for important tasks like training employees, conducting surveys etc. This leads to a stronger and more productive workforce.
Increase Security and Reduce Human Errors – When dealing with HR data, security is a major concern. HR automation solutions minimize the risk of human errors and security breaches. They verify users before sharing confidential documents, reducing the likelihood of losing important company files or data.
Better Resource Allocation – Automated processes make it easier to assign tasks correctly and ensure they’re completed on time. Additionally, HR automation ensures that the right people are doing the right tasks at the right time.
Save Money on Printing and Storage – Sifting from paper to digital processes not only helps the environment but also saves money on storage and printing. Digital documents are easier to store, access and manage, which can reduce physical storage space and printing expenses.
Improve Employee Satisfaction – An efficient HR automation system can help improve employee satisfaction by offering a streamlined experience. HR automation makes it easier for employees to access relevant information and quickly get the answers to their queries. Moreover, the improved experience enhances the bond between employers and employees.
Use-cases of HR Automation
Here, I am going to share some of the top use cases of HR automation:
Recruitment and Applicant Tracking
Onboarding and Offboarding
Performance Management
Payroll and Benefits Administration
Leave & Attendance Management
Training & Development Sessions
Workforce Analytics and Reporting
Employee Self-Service
Time Management & Tracking
Seamless HR Interaction
HR Automation Examples
Let’s take a look at some of the real-world HR automation examples:
Storyblok, which is an Austrian tech company, increased its team size by 270% in just a year by helping new hires feel prepared from day one. They created a checklist that included meeting team members, setting up logins, getting equipment, learning about the workspace, and introducing themselves on Slack early. HR automation saved €2,500 each month and reduced pre-boarding time by 2 hours.
Holland LP, which is a railway engineering company, automated 800 monthly field expense reports. They needed an automated system that could handle their unique expenses, so they used HR automation. This saved them 6 hours of work each month, reduced errors, and sped up reimbursement time from 5 days to 3 days.
Alasco, a Munich-based startup, used automation solutions to speed up the speed at which new employees become productive. By automating their HR workflows, they made onboarding more organized and tailored to each team’s and department’s needs. This helped them grow their team by 67% in just one year.
AstraZeneca uses HR automation to streamline talent acquisition and identify skill gaps internally, allowing them to fill specific roles faster.
Final Thoughts
In this article, we’ve explored how HR automation streamlines operations, boosts efficiency, and frees up valuable HR time. Imagine an HR department that’s not bogged down by repetitive tasks.
By implementing SmatBot’s HR automation services, you can automate workflows such as recruitment, onboarding, offboarding, and training. This allows your HR team to focus on important matters and build a better team. Embrace HR automation to help your HR team become strategic partners, bringing positive change to your company.
Key Difference between Generative AI vs Predictive AI
Imagine AI generating a logo that perfectly captures your brand essence or predicting what product a customer will buy next. This is the power of generative AI and predictive AI.
As two standout technologies in the digital era, understanding which AI tool is right for your business is crucial. We’ll compare both technologies, discuss their applications, limitations and benefits and also share some real-life examples.
Are you looking to boost engagement with your Instagram audience? Are you searching for a solution to send pre-defined template messages in bulk to your audience?
If the answer is yes to both questions, have you ever thought about using a broadcast feature?
