Distributors are the one who gets many benefits from the ERP systems. Enterprise Resource Planning systems streamlines sales, inventory, warehouse, production, finance, supply chain management, and customer relationship. Distribution companies benefit from the ERPs by operating their data from a single database. As a result, employees work more productively towards the core objective. However, ERPs aren’t about only increasing efficiency but providing solutions to a host of problems that distributors face which are:
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Inventory Management
Inventory management is one of the most important parts of a business. If you end up with low stock or excess items in your inventory then it will be a huge loss as excess will lead to wastage and short of supply will drive your customers away. Distribution companies always depend on their customers to maintain average sales. However, the sales can get affected due to many reasons such as economic conditions and supply chain management. ERP software can solve these problems with just a single integrated warehouse management system. Acumatica ERP software comes with a WMS that streamlines inventory management, receive, and order fulfillment. Additionally, the integration of barcode scanners can help boost efficiency while reducing costs.
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Import and Export of Goods
Most of the businesses are moving to imported products which are expensive. Businesses that operate domestically have a simple supply chain management and lower shipping costs but overseas production and importing goods has a complex logistics. It is difficult to reduce costs without clear visibility to shipments, inventory, manufacturing process, and finance. Fortunately, the Acumatica ERP system offers full visibility to all the data from anywhere at any time. With automatic revenue recognition and sub-account support, the ERP can simplify complex supply chain management.
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Data Error
If you use multiple systems to store and access data then the risk of human error and redundancy is higher. This will lead to inefficiency in the distribution business. Furthermore, data re-entry is a time-consuming process that will affect your revenue generation processes. An ERP stores data in one place and can be accessed through a web browser. Thus, the information can be updated in no time which will reduce the possibility of data errors.
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Performance Analysis
Analyzing the performance of all the departments including sales is one of the important parts of a distribution business. But if the data is not collected properly and stored in different locations then the analysis can be a challenging task. ERP systems provide the visualization of the sales activities related to sales per period, best salesperson, top customers, and many others. This will help you to identify the market requirements of your product.
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Gathering Information from the Field
As a distribution business, you need to gather information from their salespeople based on their on-field observations. Your salespeople can collect valuable feedback from the customers through surveys. This information will help you to know about your competitor’s moves, new sales promotions, new merchandise activities, and many others. ERP systems allow your salespeople to input the data thus collected, at one place which can be accessed by the other departments as well.
If you fail to fix the aforementioned problems then you will struggle to keep up with a rapidly increasing market. You might lose your retail customers as they always look for better distributors. However, with an Acumatica ERP application, you will not have to face any issues and your productivity and efficiency will be enhanced.