Information Technology

In a market where customer service is increasingly the primary differentiator, it is essential to commit to customer SLAs. The solution is to do this without tying up vast amounts of money in inventory, keeping a high stock turn and avoiding the costliest of pitfalls, the obsolescence trap. This is true not just of distributors but also of value add organisations all along the supply chain.

Challenges

• Superior customer management - quality tools are crucial in order to have forward visibility of business plans, close management of open quotations and all customer contact.
• Accurate forecasting - effectively using the forecasts from customers and / or product managers, together with past usage and consolidated for suppliers to plan procurement.
• In-the-field tracking of loans, exchanges, returns, DOAs.
• Comprehensive carrier integration - providing door-to-door visibility of deliveries.
• Effective supplier communications - easy exchange of information with your suppliers to inform of alterations to demand, anticipate supply problems and provide accurate sell-through information and handle stock rotation.
• Pricing management - IT distributors need to keep tight control of price protection deals and all forms of price support, including ship & debit agreements and volume rebates.

Industry-specific functionality

• Margin management - consolidated purchasing using Sales Forecasting, Purchase History, Purchase Requirements Planning and Order Book Analysis.
• Batch traceability - including serial number tracking.
• Stock optimisation - stock system optimised for high throughputs plus multi-warehouse shared stock handling.
• Sophisticated online trading platform - reducing the cost of customer service.
• Purchase requirements forecasting - ensuring the customer gets what they need when they need it through suggested purchase order production.
• Returns material administration - warranty handling, scrapping of goods.
• Landed costs monitoring - effective cost management.
• Sophisticated. yet simple to use, order processing facilities - managing alternatives, kits and BOMs, accessories, back-to-back and direct shipments and a comprehensive range of customer pricing mechanisms.
• Powerful management information - including KPIs and exception reporting.