June 2, 2026 Rewiring Revenue for the Uptime Era

How can manufacturers maintain predictable growth as revenue becomes more complex?

By Steve Harding, SVP (EMEA & APAC)

Pressure for manufacturers is intensifying as they face rising energy and raw material costs, some up by as much as 20%, squeezing already thin margins. Amid geopolitical uncertainty and global market disruption, manufacturers are under even more stress to forecast revenue accurately, maintain predictability, and scale growth in a consistent way.

Manufacturers are also navigating a shift in how revenue is generated. As more equipment is bundled with software, monitoring, and long-term service agreements, revenue is now tied to ongoing uptime and performance, rather than tied to a single transaction. This extends both the timing and realization of revenue, making it more dependent on consistent execution across the entire customer lifecycle.

These changes raise the stakes for revenue orchestration. Accurate forecasting, clear visibility, and consistent execution are critical to maintaining competitiveness and sustaining growth in a more complex environment.

Addressing complexity across revenue

As revenue becomes tied to uptime and performance, the sales process becomes more complex. Buying cycles involve more stakeholders, including operations, IT, finance, and procurement. Each group brings its own requirements, which increases the time and coordination needed to reach decisions.

Revenue accountability also extends across multiple teams. Sales initiates the opportunity, but delivery, service, and customer success contribute to the overall outcome. This creates dependencies across functions that were previously more independent.

Many manufacturers rely on separate systems to manage different parts of the revenue process. CRM platforms track pipeline activity, ERP systems manage contracts, and service tools monitor performance. But systems originally architected as systems of record often struggle to operate as systems of orchestration or action.

The challenge is not a lack of data. Most organizations already have enormous amounts of it. The challenge is aggregating the right signals, with the right context, in a way that helps teams prioritize actions and proactively manage customer outcomes.

Without alignment across systems and teams, forecasting and execution become increasingly difficult. Data may exist across the organization, but it is not always connected in a way that supports timely decision-making or consistent execution.

Applying industry 5.0 principles to drive scalable growth

Industry 5.0 has introduced real-time data, structured processes, and continuous improvement into the factory environment. These same principles can be applied to revenue operations to improve consistency, visibility, and execution.

The first step is aligning data across the organization. Teams need shared definitions and consistent metrics so that performance can be measured in the same way across functions. This means moving beyond limited CRM visibility and ensuring that activity data reflects how work is being done. In the case of global manufacturer 3M, leadership recognized that existing systems did not provide enough insight into sales activity, which limited their ability to understand performance and guide decision-making.

The second step is standardizing workflows. Revenue should be managed as an end-to-end process that connects sales, service, and customer success. Clear expectations at each stage help teams understand their role and maintain consistency in execution. At 3M, this took the form of establishing structured sales motions and creating a shared language for how work gets done. As teams aligned around common processes, sellers were able to engage customers more consistently and contribute feedback to refine those processes over time.

The third step is establishing regular operating cadences. Routine pipeline reviews, forecast updates, and performance discussions create structure and accountability. These practices help teams identify risks early and take action before those risks affect outcomes. As 3M scaled its inside sales organization from a small team to hundreds of representatives, this level of structure supported faster onboarding and more predictable execution. New hires were able to engage customers effectively within weeks, and teams expanded their reach while maintaining consistency in how they operated.

This approach also improved how the organization managed customer coverage. Teams were able to identify opportunities within existing accounts, focus on the right engagement strategies, and increase conversion through more targeted interactions. As a result, customer reach expanded and sales effectiveness improved, driven by clearer processes and better visibility into activity.

These changes did not alter the company’s overall strategy, but they improved how that strategy was executed across a growing organization. By applying structured processes, consistent data, and clear operating rhythms, 3M was able to manage complexity more effectively and scale its revenue execution with greater confidence.

Operating revenue in the uptime era

The growing connection between products, services, and performance is changing how manufacturers generate and manage revenue. As revenue becomes tied to uptime and outcomes, organizations must have greater coordination across the full customer lifecycle.

This requires a more structured approach to revenue operations. Data must be aligned, workflows must be consistent, and teams must operate with clear accountability. These elements support better visibility and more reliable execution over time.

Manufacturers have already applied precision and discipline to production environments. Applying similar principles to revenue operations will help organizations manage complexity and support long-term growth in the uptime era.

About the Author:
Steve Harding is Senior Vice President of Sales, EMEA, at Salesloft, the leading AI-powered revenue workflow platform. With decades of global sales leadership, he drives growth across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. A former leader at ServiceNow, Salesforce, Gelato, and Pega, Steve is a UK Chartered Accountant and a Board Advisor to Peace One Day.

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