DISTRIBUTION ERP: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Drive your Digital Transformation Strategy with ERP

As we have discussed in several previous blogs, the distribution industry has drastically transformed. In this increasingly competitive environment, it’s more important than ever for distributors to evolve and adapt – or get left behind. Understanding customer needs is no longer good enough, organizations must have the flexibility to adjust daily business processes in order to build customer loyalty.

Survival of the fittest is an appropriate saying here. Today’s empowered customer base can purchase goods across channels, and can demand personalization, flexible pricing, and very little delay. To meet these challenges, distributors must find ways to maximize their supply chains to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

At its core, digital transformation involves using advances in application integration technology, cloud computing, data analytics and “edge computing” IoT devices to transform the relationship with customers, employees, and partners. It enables organizations to venture into new business models and competitive strategies.

Digital transformation creates an opportunity for distributors to us Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to build a new kind of relationship with customers. With the right tools set in place, organizations can track an order from receipt through delivery in real time.

Driving technology to take an organization to new levels of efficiency and competitiveness isn’t always easy. But, with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, distributors can implement a variety of digitally transformative processes and practices. These include:

• Maintaining a real-time view of your customer’s activities across all your operations. This is made possible by integrating field service operations software with back-office systems.
• Tracking customer engagement from first contact through opportunity creation, price quoting order processing, scheduling of installation and follow up field services—connecting mobile devices with ERP and accounting software as well as with data analytics and reporting tools.
• Using data visualization to spot issues in field service quality—and react in real time with route optimization.
• Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) for predictive maintenance that optimizes field service and keeps customers happy.
• Discovering the optimal marketing processes to identify and convert the best prospects into high-grossing accounts—by analyzing account performance data with marketing campaigns.
• Increasing back-office productivity by automating workflows and becoming more efficient at document management, e.g., for contracts and sales orders.
• Integrating with partner firms for better supply chain management and customer service.

ERP solutions give organizations control over their supply chain and logistics activities, including warehouse management, inventory management, and order management. A digitally transformative business will use these activities to improve customer satisfaction, reduce order times, and control costs across the entire supply and distribution chain.

The ACC Software Solutions team has a great deal of experience in the distribution vertical, equipping clients with industry-specific tools that ensure a smooth process, top-notch security, and consistent reliability. Contact an ACC team member to begin your journey to a digitally transformative organization!