Top Challenges for Distribution Companies and Business Solutions
Read Time: 4 mins
Published On: August 28, 2019
Distribution companies face their own unique set of challenges that aren’t often found in other industries. It can be difficult for them to remain efficient and competitive when having to balance inventory, forecasting, and logistics processes, all while worrying about sales, customer service, and much more. Many of them have relied on distribution management solutions to help them with these challenges, but legacy systems have become out-dated and unable to keep up with the ever-pressing demands put on distribution companies.
Because many distributors are stuck using legacy systems, a number of their operations are still done manually, making them significantly less efficient than they could be with a newer enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. Here we will go over common manual tasks that distributors have to deal with as well as the benefits of an ERP system that can make these tasks easier.
Inventory Management
Problem: Creating spreadsheets and managing disparate databases that can produce inaccurate inventory data and lack currency.
Solution: Real-time inventory tracking that matches demand to stock levels and automatically sends out notifications and replenishes stock when necessary. Provides real-time updates on when products are coming in and moving out.
Reporting and Analytics
Problem: Legacy systems require spreadsheet management and upkeep in order to produce performance reports that can be analyzed for necessary business insights.
Solution: Smart tracking across operations that generates automatic reports and provides easy to understand insights into your company all through an easy-to-use dashboard.
Streamlining and Control
Problem: Data needs to be duplicated across departments due to multiple software usage, resulting in extra costs and possible errors.
Solution: Full integration across departments (purchasing, warehousing, sales, and finance) to allow for better streamlining and control; everyone has access to company data all in one place.
Product Handling
Problem: Manual product handling, palletizing, and depalletizing are slow and error-prone.
Solution: Smart ERP software can adapt to conveyor-type, robotic systems that automatically pick and package products for shipping, resulting in faster order fulfillment.
Employee Empowerment
Problem: Warehouse managers are constantly on the go and may need to wait for information to be sent to them when meeting with customers, wasting valuable time for both parties. The same is true for departments that need access to information but are left waiting for a report from another team.
Solution: Cloud business solutions enable you and your employees to access information from anywhere as long as they have an internet connection. They can get real-time reporting without having to wait for anyone.
Get Started Today
With over 30 years of combined experience, IWI Consulting Group has been assisting a number of companies in different industries in identifying operational inefficiencies and coming up with viable solutions to solve them. Don’t get stuck wasting time and money on manual tasks because you’re using legacy systems to manage your distribution company. Contact IWI Consulting Group so that we can help you choose and implement an ERP solution that uses a cloud system to manage your distribution and streamline your operations for increased efficiency and profits.