Wholesale distribution is an established, complex and dynamic business where distributors must balance a number of competitive challenges to meet the ever-fluctuating customer demands. To stay ahead of the competition, it is critical to implement tools that integrate business systems and provide visibility across the full scope of distribution business.

Continually adjusting margins to account for higher supplier costs and reduced selling prices, growing and managing diverse and complex product inventories, and accounting for fluctuation and variation within the global supply chain are just some of the challenges distributors face.

Global wholesale distribution competitors are aware of this and are responding to these challenges that represent opportunities to gain market share and increase revenue.

Cloud ERP allows businesses to determine real-time profitability by warehouse, product line, location, or business unit, while reducing costs across the entire supply and distribution chain. The right tools can empower collaboration through information-sharing, as well as enable smart, fast decision-making to gain the edge in this competitive environment.

Although distributors have established processes in place for inventory control, sales order fulfilment and purchasing, true business leaders will know the importance of questioning the status quo in order to meet the competitive challenges from other distributors.

One Channel CEO Bernard Ford says distributors need to respond to competitive challenges. “Market leaders are saying goodbye to manual processes by investing in automation. Today’s customer-connected digital era requires top-performing wholesale distributors to invest in technology. They are using automation to provide integrated workflows and collaboration to all parties in the supply chain."

The cost to implement highly flexible and fully-functional software has been sufficiently reduced over the last decade, especially with the introduction of Cloud ERP. Businesses can now choose to purchase or pay a monthly subscription fee for wholesale distribution software modules, and they also have the option to invest in onsite hardware and infrastructure, or choose a SaaS option supported in the cloud.

Cloud ERP provides a business with more flexible business process transformation, it helps small and medium businesses unlock their business potential.

Cloud ERP has tools for managing the complexities of distribution such as purchasing, ordering, tracking inventory, filling orders, and delivering customer support. Acumatica offers distribution software that is integrated with its core financial modules to deliver real-time measurements of profitability by warehouse, product line, location, and business unit.

"Reduce order times and minimise costs by optimising the way you quote, accept, enter, and fill orders. Set rules to manage complexities such as multiple warehouses, returns, credit limits, drop shipments, and more. More importantly, minimise purchasing costs and ensure a steady supply of materials by optimising and automating your purchasing process," he explains.

Integration with CRM ensures that the entire organisation, from sales to support, has visibility into distribution processes.

"Cloud ERP allows you to manage sales orders, track inventory, fill orders, improve purchasing, and provide customer support from anywhere. It can be deployed on-premises or hosted at a datacentre so you can control where sensitive data is stored," he concludes.

For more information contact One Channel at info@onechannel.com  or visit www.onechannel.co.za