The Ultimate Salesforce Data Cleanup Checklist for Manufacturing Teams

Let’s be honest, data cleanup isn’t glamorous work. But in manufacturing, it’s the foundation that makes everything else possible. Clean, organized data in your Salesforce instance delivers five critical outcomes that executives will notice:

• Executive Trust comes when leadership can rely on dashboards that match reality, not question every number in quarterly reviews.
• System Performance improves dramatically when teams aren’t waiting 45 seconds for a simple report to load.
• Integration Success becomes achievable when ERP, MES, and SCM systems can actually talk to each other without constant error messages.
• Future AI Readiness starts with quality data; while you shouldn’t wait for perfect data before implementing AI, having clean foundational data makes automation more effective when you’re ready.
• Operational Excellence emerges when everyone works from the same unified view, enabling predictive maintenance and supply chain optimization that actually works.

If you’re managing a messy, siloed manufacturing Salesforce, you’re not alone. This tactical checklist provides the step-by-step roadmap to clean up your system into the operational backbone your business needs.

Quick System Health Check

Red Flags Your Org Needs Immediate Cleanup:

• [ ] Reports take longer than 30 seconds to load
• [ ] Users find duplicate customer records regularly
• [ ] Integration errors occur weekly or more between Salesforce and ERP/MES/SCM systems
• [ ] Executives question CRM data accuracy in meetings
• [ ] Custom fields exist that nobody can explain
• [ ] Page layouts contain 20+ fields users ignore
• [ ] Inconsistent formats for addresses, part numbers, or product codes
• [ ] Missing critical manufacturing data (supplier codes, production specs, industry classifications)

If you checked 3+ boxes, this cleanup is business-critical.

Step 1: Audit and Eliminate Duplicate Records

Manufacturing creates a perfect storm for duplicate records. Complex organizational hierarchies with parent companies, subsidiaries, and multiple plant locations make it nearly impossible to keep things clean manually. Distributors appear as both Accounts and Partners. Legacy ERP data conflicts with Salesforce records. When you add multi-source integrations from ERP, MES, and SCM systems, duplicates multiply like weeds.

Action Items:

• [ ] Run automated health assessments using Salesforce Duplicate Management and third-party tools to detect duplicates, outdated info, and inconsistent formats
• [ ] Map integrated systems (ERP, MES, SCM, IoT) to identify inconsistencies from external sources
• [ ] Export backup data before merging (compliance requirement)
• [ ] Prioritize high-revenue accounts: Focus on top 20% by annual revenue first
• [ ] Use bulk merge tools for efficient duplicate elimination while preserving data completeness

Step 2: Right-Size Your User Licenses

Complex sales cycles, field service requirements, and role-based access needs in manufacturing mean that getting licenses right is critical for both cost control and operational efficiency. Organizations often pay for hundreds of unused licenses while field service reps struggle with inappropriate access levels.

Action Items:

• [ ] Run user login reports for past 90 days
• [ ] Deactivate inactive users after HR confirmation
• [ ] Reassign critical records: opportunities, quotes, service cases, key accounts
• [ ] Review license types: Right-size based on actual usage
• [ ] Optimize for manufacturing roles: Field service reps may not need full Sales Cloud licenses

Step 3: Clean Up Custom Fields and Page Layouts

Multiple implementations create archaeological layers of unused fields that accumulate over time. Organizations end up with engineering specification fields from previous product lines, legacy integration fields from old ERP systems, and one-off reporting fields that nobody remembers requesting. The result is digital hoarding at scale, where page layouts become cluttered with fields that serve no current business purpose.

Action Items:

• [ ] Use “Where is this used?” analysis in Setup
• [ ] Archive unused fields (manufacturing audit requirements)
• [ ] Consolidate duplicate fields serving same purpose
• [ ] Simplify page layouts to match actual sales processes
• [ ] Remove defunct automation

Step 4: Standardize Data Formats and Validation

Multiple data sources create format anarchy across the organization. Addresses appear in five different styles, job titles range from abbreviated “VP” to verbose “Vice President of Sales and Marketing,” and product codes follow completely different naming conventions depending on which system created them.

Manufacturing requires harmonized data from ERP, MES, and SCM systems to fit a common model for product specifications, supplier records, and production data. This isn’t just about making reports look pretty; it’s about enabling automation that actually works.

Action Items:

• [ ] Standardize critical formats: addresses, part numbers, product codes, supplier identifiers
• [ ] Harmonize multi-source data to fit the common manufacturing data model
• [ ] Convert free-text to picklists for critical manufacturing fields (industry classifications, product types)
• [ ] Create Global Value Sets for shared values (regions, product lines, supplier categories)
• [ ] Implement validation rules to require key manufacturing info (industry, product type, supplier code) before saving

Step 5: Fix Cross-Platform Inconsistencies

Product catalogs fall out of sync between systems, pricing discrepancies break quote generation, and inventory levels update everywhere except where sales reps actually look for them. Customer master data conflicts turn the quote-to-cash process into a nightmare of manual reconciliation and frustrated customers.

Action Items:

• [ ] Audit integration architecture: Document all data flows between Salesforce, ERP, MES, SCM, and IoT systems
• [ ] Ensure consistent field naming and structures across all integrated platforms
• [ ] Implement cross-platform validation to detect and correct inconsistencies automatically
• [ ] Validate critical syncs: pricing, inventory, customer data, product specifications
• [ ] Set up monitoring dashboards for integration health and error alerts

Step 6: Rebuild Manufacturing Dashboards

Manufacturing KPIs differ dramatically from typical SaaS metrics. Quote-to-order conversion rates, sales cycle length by deal complexity, forecast accuracy versus production planning requirements, and customer project milestone tracking require specialized reporting approaches.

Action Items:

• [ ] Audit existing reports: Remove unused dashboards
• [ ] Interview stakeholders: What decisions need CRM data?
• [ ] Rebuild with clean data and manufacturing-specific metrics
• [ ] Create role-specific views: Sales vs. operations needs
• [ ] Set up automated reporting for business reviews

Step 7: Create Sustainable Data Governance

Regulatory requirements in aerospace, automotive, and medical devices create unique challenges that go beyond typical CRM cleanup projects. Warranty obligations and rebid situations require historical data retention strategies, while manufacturing teams need clear data ownership structures across production, sales, operations, and quality functions to maintain compliance and operational effectiveness.

Action Items:

• [ ] Define data stewardship roles by function (production, sales, operations, quality)
• [ ] Create retention policies balancing performance, compliance, and operational needs
• [ ] Schedule automated cleanups: Set daily, weekly, or monthly cycles for deduplication and validation
• [ ] Document data governance policies for creation, amendment, retention, and disposal
• [ ] Implement AI-powered monitoring to identify patterns in manufacturing data errors and prioritize fixes

Automation Focus:

• Daily: Duplicate detection and format validation
• Weekly: Integration health checks and cross-platform consistency
• Monthly: Comprehensive data quality scorecards and stewardship reviews
• Quarterly: Full system health assessment and policy updates 

Of course, governance only works if users adopt and follow the rules. Our blog on CRM Adoption in Manufacturing  explains how culture, training, and leadership play a critical role alongside cleanup.

Summary 

Focus cleanup efforts on records tied to production, supply chain, inventory, and customer specifications. These drive the greatest business impact and create momentum for broader adoption.

Regularly consolidate data from multi-source integrations to maintain the unified operational view that enables predictive maintenance and supply chain optimization. This isn’t a one-time project – it’s an ongoing operational requirement.

When Expert Help Makes Sense

Some situations require professional help, and recognizing them early can save months of frustration:

• Multiple failed internal cleanup attempts signal that the problem is more complex than it appears on the surface
• Complex integration requirements that exceed team expertise shouldn’t be learning experiments with production data
• Executive pressure combined with limited internal resources creates impossible timelines that external expertise can help meet
• Future AI initiatives will benefit from data quality standards that most teams haven’t built before, though this shouldn’t delay your current CRM optimization efforts

Talk to a Senior Consultant About Your Salesforce Setup 

Get a tailored assessment of your current system and uncover the highest-impact cleanup opportunities. Our senior-led team will show you how to turn Salesforce into a reliable, scalable platform your manufacturing business can trust. Start the conversation.

Additional Resources

• Change Management Best Practices – Ensure adoption success
• Salesforce Implementation Services – Professional setup and rescue