Campfire Interactive Reviews

We use Campfire Interactive for financial management, sales management, revenue management, and cycle plan management.

When we launched Campfire Interactive, we incorporated three different systems that were not talking to each other, and therefore from a finance planning standpoint and from a current programs and PO management standpoint, we were able to integrate three disconnected and separate systems. It has helped on that aspect.

The loading of SNP volumes, the connection of those volumes to existing part numbers and prices to help us understand revenue in the near term, has helped significantly.

Campfire Interactive’s ability to manage data through business processes and workflows for your organization is good. However, Campfire Interactive’s ability to provide flexibility and configurability in managing data based on our organizational needs is not good. 

I appreciate that Campfire Interactive has deep integration with SAP, which helps a lot. We have the ability to connect the SNP download into Campfire Interactive, which then talks to SAP, cascades down to our manufacturing environments for demand planning from actual forecasts or actual volume forecasts, and that works very nicely. 

I am disappointed with Campfire Interactive on an overall basis. Currently, the application itself is not serving the needs of the global sales organization in the way that I need.

The areas of improvement for Campfire Interactive are in cycle plan management, forward model and backlog planning, user interface and usability, records management, price bump chart flexibility, and creation and facilitation of reports management. 

I see a specific need for further iterative development and upgrading in Campfire Interactive regarding the connectivity from SNP/IHS. SNP just acquired IHS, and the normalization of the importation of SNP records, or unique IDs. Aligning that across multiple vehicles and multiple powertrain opportunities would reduce the amount of input and time from salespeople and reduce database management time. This would allow us to increase the amount of analysis time. Currently, it requires intensive data management, and it doesn't help me accomplish what I need for forward model and cycle planning. I can complete in Excel in an hour what might take me six hours in Campfire Interactive.

It's super easy to scale, but it's not useful when you scale it because the system interface is poor.

I have been using Campfire Interactive for almost two years as an actual customer.

I would rate the stability of Campfire Interactive as a six out of ten.

The scalability of the system is a ten out of ten. It's highly scalable, but the more scalability you add, the less useful it is, given the problems of the user interface.

We have 385 users working with this solution.

I would rate the technical support for Campfire Interactive a nine out of ten. They are very engaged.

Positive

I have experience working with other solutions. I have looked into other solutions such as Salesforce, aPriori, Facton, and Siemens. Campfire Interactive isn't better or worse than any of its competitors. Individually, each has advantages and disadvantages.

The initial deployment of Campfire Interactive was rather easy. Internally, we had our challenges, but with Campfire, the working relationship was quite positive. It took us months.

Campfire Interactive requires significant maintenance on our end, and I chair the steering committee between our two companies. The maintenance required for Campfire Interactive is complex; it is not simple. The process is complex and takes a lot of effort and time.

The ROI is in terms of the things that we successfully integrated, and for the systems we were able to eliminate. Our objective was not to reduce headcount. Our goal was to increase efficiency and allow the people we have to focus on more analytics and in-depth analysis, which we were able to achieve.
From that perspective, where we had once stated that we needed six additional heads, we were able to find six labor equivalents or six individuals’ worth of incremental efficiency through the implementation of Campfire Interactive.

It's fairly priced.

We don't use the material index management or the integrated business intelligence reporting features in Campfire Interactive, and I wish we did, only insofar as that may change my judgment. The way that we use Campfire Interactive is not for forecasting; we use IHS volumes and therefore, we don't actually use Campfire Interactive for the development of a forecast on the current year. 

I had a peer call me up last month and asked me if I would recommend Campfire Interactive, and I said I would not. 

I would rate Campfire Interactive overall as a six out of ten. There's a rough gem here that could be really great, but in its current form and its current way of operating, it's driving my global team quite mad.

Campfire Interactive is used for revenue forecasting for our powertrain division. Campfire Interactive is utilized for all of our plants to analyze revenue projections for the entire group and also to keep track of targets and other opportunities.

Excellent customer service is one of the best features Campfire Interactive offers. The team is always available to diagnose any issues, respond, and they respond quickly.

The forecasting tools in Campfire Interactive allow us to do something that has never been done before at Magna, specifically in the powertrain division, which is to have a forecast that we could use from the beginning to the end of the year. In the past, we have had one-time input, and then that was it. This has been a very good experience from the powertrain side.

Campfire Interactive has positively impacted our organization by allowing us to visualize and see in real-time our revenue projection by customer or group, which was something that has never been done in the past on a periodic basis.

The accuracy of forecast since using Campfire Interactive is a really big positive. In the past, different divisions were using different volumes, which made it impossible to reconcile. Now everybody is using one set of numbers, and this has helped us improve our revenue forecasting projections by 50%.

One area where Campfire Interactive can improve is their reporting tool, as I believe that area is very weak at the moment.

I would rate it an eight because improving the reporting functionality and also the user interface could get a higher score from me.

Campfire Interactive has been used for just over eight years.

Campfire Interactive is stable.

I believe there is a lot of scalability in Campfire Interactive. From our perspective, we only use one part of the modules they offer, so I cannot really comment on how beneficial the other modules would be, but I am pretty sure that they would be as effective as the OMS F.

Excellent customer service is one of the best features Campfire Interactive offers. The team is always available to diagnose any issues, respond, and they respond quickly.

Customer support for Campfire Interactive is excellent. There are times when we do not get an answer immediately or we are unaware of where our issue is at, but I think they have improved immensely on that portion.

Positive

Excel was previously used, and the reason we switched is that everybody was using different volume sets, which caused impossible reconciliations to be done.

Integration with Campfire Interactive has been very easy, after meeting some specifics to export and import into our main forecasting system. Ease of use is high because the system is pretty intuitive, so we are very pleased.

Positive results were seen immediately after implementing Campfire Interactive.

I did work with Campfire Interactive's in-house implementation team, and I was the main person in the implementation phase. My experience with them was very positive, even though there were some chaotic times. We found a way to manage and overcome any obstacles, and as mentioned earlier, the customer service and their willingness to get things done correctly was very impressive.

The implementation took about one year, as it was a very complex implementation that took a lot of effort, and I was very impressed.

There has been a return on investment because we have seen fewer mistakes, fewer errors, and more accurate information, which leads to better decision making.

My experience with Campfire Interactive regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing was very positive. I was not very much involved in that, but there were no issues, and it was done quickly and to both parties' mutual agreement.

Several other options were evaluated before choosing Campfire Interactive, which I will not name.

Processes and the accuracy of those processes are very important because without them, it would not work for a big company like Magna or any company. I would highly recommend the Opportunity Management and Sales Forecasting, OMS F, module from Campfire Interactive to a colleague at another organization evaluating project management or opportunity software solutions because the system is a lifesaver if you are trying to create important information used by sales or other functionalities in the organization, and also to keep track of any outstanding quotes and opportunities you may have. This is a huge benefit. Campfire Interactive should definitely be chosen, as they will work with you, and you will be happy. I would rate this review an eight overall.

I started using it in 2011 when we purchased the Opportunity Management and Sales Forecasting module for forecast purposes, specifically for sales forecasts. We purchased it at a regional level in North America and then, in 2015, expanded it to all of our regions, including Europe and China.

We all speak the same language now. We talk about PLM programs, opportunity IDs, and RFQ IDs and use these as our touchpoints instead of everyone using their own jargon and comments. This is more uniform, and everyone knows exactly what they are referring to when using these terms.

On the Opportunity Management side, there is a database source where we can bring in a third-party vendor, which we use in two of our forecasts. We have not integrated anything else. We just enter the information manually.

Campfire Interactive gives us a good starting point for forecasting. It is as accurate as the data that is provided there. Overall, we base a lot of our decisions on the forecast and review it on a quarterly basis to make sure that it stays as accurate as possible based on our own business intelligence.

Campfire Interactive has saved us time because the data that we are collecting is the same. We used to spend extra time clarifying questions, but now, all the attributes are there for the information we need. From a time perspective, there have been savings, but I do not know about the cost savings.

We were able to see its benefits after some time as an organization. People are resistant to change, but we definitely saw the value at the regional level and wanted to replicate that at the global level. It took a little bit of time, but there was definitely value in it.

I like the visibility of global opportunities. Prior to using Campfire Interactive, we would conduct Excel-based reporting and sales meetings with everyone bringing their information. Now, we can check it daily, look at the reports daily, and see what is coming into the system and what needs to be managed. Our Requests for Quotes in the BP process are wonderful. We have global meetings related to this every week to prioritize the business and opportunities coming in. All of that is helping us daily to manage our business better.

Because we use a multitude of modules, some of the interactions from one module to the other are not as seamless or fluid. I would like to see some more fluidness from one module to the other.

We started with a module from the product offering in, I believe, the early 2000s, probably 2007, and then added additional modules over time.

We have had minimal issues. It is stable.

Certain modules are better than others.

We have a crisis-type customer support number, but we do not use that too often. We have their customer success team that we meet with regularly to make sure that everything is flowing the way it needs to. It is for just touch-point questions and answers.

Overall, their support is good to excellent, but if the issue is a little more complex, it can take a little longer. I would rate them a nine out of ten. They are responsive. They cannot sometimes give us the result we want, but they are responsive.

Positive

We did use another solution. 

I have used Campfire-like software at a previous company. I have found Campfire Interactive to be comparable and even better because of the fact that it is global and easy to use.

It is user-friendly. They do most of the maintenance. We provide feedback, but they maintain.

To those who are evaluating project management or opportunity software solutions, I would say that the Opportunity Management and Sale Forecasting (OMSF) module is a value add. The data is consistent. It is in a format that is easy to manage, and the visibility is worthy.

The best thing is to look at every module and see how they are interconnected so that when you are putting data in, it satisfies not just the one that you are working on but also the other modules going forward. 

It is very user-friendly, although certain modules are more user-friendly than others. The more you use, the better you get. I was a heavy user, so I learned rather quickly. We have some users who are only in and out of the software on a weekly basis, and they tend to need a little bit of a refresher on where to go, but overall, it is easy to use.

I do not use all the modules on a daily basis. Based on the modules I use, it is an eight out of ten.

I'm responsible for different tasks at Campfire Interactive. From one side, I'm a business manager, so I use it to create new business opportunities for the company. On the other side, I'm a Campfire Interactive administrator too, so I'm involved in actual mappings, month-end processes, and everything that is done regarding the upload from IHS in data. All those administrative tasks, and I also add someone new coming in, and I normally have a one or two-hour training so that the people understand how Campfire Interactive works, and that's more or less the tasks I'm involved in. We have role access management, where specific individuals are only able to view certain aspects of the solution. Having designated access rights is great and quite important because we have control over what some people can do or cannot do to avoid any mistakes or failures. Sometimes that happens, and it has happened in our case. For example, we used to have one of the features available for everyone, and then we realized that sometimes with that feature, we made other users make mistakes because they didn't know how to use it, and it wasn't really needed. So we took that opportunity away from the people.

We work with IHS with S&P Global; we upload data from there, and then we have the opportunity to manage different rates or any other changes. It's quite good. One thing that I see, for example, now we are working with medium-heavy trucks and also with light vehicles, and we're just starting to get data from IHS for the medium-heavy trucks. We've seen that we need to have separate forecasts for all those things. I believe there should be some points of improvement there to manage everything together. Many times we reach out to the Campfire Interactive team for support, and we may find out that there are things we didn't even think would work, and Campfire Interactive knows how to do it.

The opportunity management and sales forecasting module is quite useful. Sometimes I think the fields are a little bit repetitive to fill in. We are working with the Campfire Interactive team to improve that. It's not wrong at Campfire Interactive because I know this can be improved or changed or managed. Having that option is really interesting because we can personalize the different features and different fields. It's really good how it works because it has the price tab, the volume tab for us to manage different volumes and the take rates. It's a way to have everything in one place. It gives us the opportunity to track the different statuses that each opportunity goes through. This is something we need to do; we need to make reports to understand the business, to understand trends, and it's a very powerful tool for that. Maybe 40 people work with Campfire Interactive.

I don't have too much experience with different tools. In fact, the only similar tool I used in previous positions was Excel, but I think Campfire is much better. We have all the IHS information, we get to combine it with other information coming from our finance, for example, all the sales and the actual sales that we have; we can include them in Campfire Interactive and see everything together, and make the reporting quite useful too. Creating opportunities and things are very useful, but that's something that many people work with in an Excel file. The most important feature from Campfire Interactive is its ability to work together with other different applications that we use in our company, and I think that's one of the best features it has. The opportunity management and sales forecasting module is quite useful. It gives us the opportunity to track the different statuses that each opportunity goes through. This is something we need to do; we need to make reports to understand the business, to understand trends, and it's a very powerful tool for that.

It could be a little bit more user-friendly. I know that there is a version that is more user-friendly than the one we are using, but for different circumstances, we haven't moved to the new version yet. That's something I'm eager to see soon. We sometimes face trouble with space because there is a lot of information saved there, and the system sometimes gets stuck, but I don't think it's a problem from Campfire Interactive itself. It's more about all the applications that are feeding information into Campfire Interactive. Optimizing that would be very useful. For the rest of the things, I've seen the team working closely with us every time we need or request help to make changes or to do things differently, and I really enjoy working with them.

I have been using the solution for around five years.

I would rate the stability as an eight; it's not perfect, but it's good enough.

Managing data through business processes and workflows is 100% required. We really need the stability to have trustful data and information, tracking whatever we need to track for stability is essential for us, especially because we have Campfire Interactive connected with other applications we use in the company.

I would rate the technical support a nine. Sometimes we want to get answers immediately, but we understand that it's not always possible. I must say that sometimes we need technical support even on weekends, and we get the help we requested. That's really something I appreciate.

I don't know how Campfire Interactive changed the way my organization functions because I've only been working with it for five years, and I think we have had Campfire Interactive for much more than five years. At the moment that there was a change from the previous status to the starting of Campfire Interactive use, I was not involved. I know many people who had worked before with Excel files, and Campfire Interactive is more accurate, safer, and has the ability to bring everything together. I think it's a nice improvement, but I haven't experienced that because I started this job with Campfire Interactive.

I cannot answer that because I don't know how much we paid for those licenses. That's managed by the purchasing department.

I don't know any other vendor.

Once you get to know it, it's more or less easy, but I would prefer something friendlier for people who are new to Campfire Interactive. I've been working with it for some years, and I understand it, but for people coming new to the company needing training in Campfire Interactive, sometimes they see there are so many things, and it's not so friendly to use. There are aspects that can be repetitive when filling in those things every time. I would recommend Campfire Interactive to other users, especially if they are working with Excel. I would recommend moving to the Campfire Interactive application because it's much safer, better for tracking, and better for reporting everything from the application. I don't think Excel has the same stability that an application system like Campfire Interactive can have. Overall, I would rate Campfire Interactive an eight out of ten.