Top 8 Features Every Distribution ERP System Should Have

What is Distribution ERP Software?
Let’s first understand what an ERP is, its Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP can be availed as a subscription based software that acts as a one stop solution for all your business operations. It integrates all areas of business operations like accounting, sales, inventory under one roof. ERPs can be generic or industry specific. It can automate routine tasks like order processing, invoicing, updating stock levels across warehouses, etc.

Distribution ERP Software offers you everything that a generic ERP does, only it provides you with more. Its specifically designed for distributors and wholesalers who have to maintain a supply chain balance in accordance to the customer orders while taking care of shipment and logistics at the same time. Such industry specific ERP system will help you in diligent planning of all your operations in a single system.  

There are several comprehensive tools in distribution ERP to manage the different operations required to fulfil customer orders and below listed are just some of the prominent ones.  

1. Order Management

   1. Fulfilling customer orders accurately and on time is the bread and butter for any distributor. Whether you are supplying to established giants or to small retail stores, managing orders is the most crucial aspect for this industry. Order management in ERP ensures the completion of entire order lifecycle, from recording a new customer order to fulfilling the order delivery.

   2. It helps to collect order across all channels, be it website, apps or social media platforms and integrate them all into a single system for reviewing. It also registers and records all customer data from their order preferences, contact details to shipping details and creates detailed customer profiles.

      
      

2. Logistics and Distribution Management

   1. No order can be fulfilled without the right logistics and shipping management. ERP not only helps to streamline the transportation logistics but also improves shipping speed and accuracy. Whether you are a distributor that distributes stock to customers themselves or a drop-shipper that needs the products to be shipped directly from the supplier to the customer, distribution ERP system has got you covered.  

   
   

3. Inventory Management

   1. Distributors often face over stocked or under stocked shelves which ultimately affects their order management and financial management in the business. Distribution ERP helps you manage and control inventory which forms the backbone of the distribution business. It helps you to track stock levels, record returns, track transfers, stock replenishments and stock reservations. It also offers features like automating re-order triggers when inventory goes below minimum stock value.

   2. In fact, integrating inventory management with warehouse management helps to oversee and manage all stock activity.

      
      

4. Warehouse Management

   1. Warehouse management goes beyond tracking which warehouse has what stock type and stock level. Even minute things like which warehouse is closest for order fulfillment or to receive stock from suppliers, matter to ensure efficiency in  business operations. Recording what stock and how much of it is available at which rack and shelf, utilising floor space at optimum level, having access to accurate inventory data and its location, form an integral part of warehouse management. Distribution ERP makes sure that the orders are correctly picked, packed and shipped from their designated warehouses.

      
      

5. Supplier Management

   1. It’s imperative to have the right kind of suppliers in order to fulfil the demand surges in customer orders. Distribution ERP helps distributors to analyse different suppliers, their product quality, their rate parity, the shipping time and cost to ensure optimum supplier management.

   2. Overlooking procurement costs and predicting supply-demand cycle enables a distributor to achieve maximum profits in a hassle free manner while maintaining positive supplier relationships.

      
      

6. Financial Management

   1. Do you know how profitable a particular customer or supplier is? Or how much costs are you bearing in terms of freight overheads, storage, commissions, etc? Is your income offsetting your expenses profitably? With distribution ERP, you will be able to manage sales, royalties, commissions, current stock value and everything that impacts your firm’s profit. From analysing the accounts payable, accounts receivables, general ledger to managing taxes, you can supervise and compile financial information across all departments under one system. It even helps to review accurate budget for procurement of stock and assets.

      
      

7. Cloud Based Service

   1. In this digital world, distribution ERP offers you the liberty to manage business operations from anywhere in the world, at any time and on any device, as long as you have an internet connection. It provides complete cloud based hosting and a centralised database where you can access up to date information regarding all your business functions. This not only integrates information across all departments but also provides consistent real time updates to its users. Since the software it cloud based, its offers added advantage of data security and compliance.

      
      

8. Data Analytics and Reporting

   1. Running a business means generating a lot of data based on daily operations. Just storing this data on cloud isn’t enough, it won’t do any good if we can’t interpret it. That’s where distribution ERP comes to our rescue.

   2. One of the most important analysis for a distributor is forecasting demand and planning supply of products accordingly. It helps to convert data into strategic insights that drive guided actions. It helps to identify peak sales seasons or downtime and guides us to manage inventory. It also helps us to identify issues before they negatively impact our business. With such actionable insights, distributors can supervise profitability analysis, cut costs and ensure long term revenue gains.

   
   

Conclusion

Such distribution ERP software is invaluable to running a business for any distributor. Reformiqo help the distributors the power to zoom out of daily tasks and look at the operations from an eagle’s point of view, gaining keen insights to improve business efficiency. It empowers distributors to automate mundane tasks, reduce human error and drive actions that ultimately lead to business growth.