Last night at 5:00 PM yesterday I went to my local grocery store to buy dinner for my family. Imagine my surprise when I walked in the front door only to be greeted by this:
I started my afternoon hosting a Supply Chain webinar for hundreds of Microsoft/Vox customers on a Microsoft Teams call. I covered learning how to transform your supply chains, react to unplanned and unprecedented changes, and how to digitally optimize your operations. Understandably it was quite a shocking moment to be faced with the very problem we now have a solution to!
If you find yourself in a wholesales distribution industry you now need a modern automated ERP system. This is beneficial to your business in that an ERP system can easily integrate your existing accounting software and Office 365. This integration will help increase visibility, eliminate supply chain shortages, increase accuracy in reporting, and automated workflows to save your company time.
A Wide Range of Integration Options
In such an uncertain time a wholesale distributor now more than ever needs to connect their current Office Productivity software (Office 365) with their current Microsoft ERP Business Central Software in order to better streamline their operations.
Clear Visibility into your Supply Chain Management
Knowing what and how many of a certain product is in route a store or warehouse and when it will be on hand allows a retailer to sell their merchandise with much more confidence. Supply chain visibility also helps a retailer know when a shipment is still in another continent or being held in customs. This level of product awareness can prevent the embarrassment of scheduling a sale when the product is currently unavailable.
Improved Inventory Management
With an efficient cloud-based ERP solution, you can create a seamless process throughout your supply chain, from pre-production to delivery. This allows you to set up multiple ship-to addresses, work with sales prices and sales line discounts connected with specific campaigns, and the ability to promise accurate order shipment and delivery dates to customers based on an item’s current and future availability. Thus, allowing you to get your product out the door as quickly as possible by gathering information to form a single, comprehensive production schedule.
Accurate Reporting
Wholesale distribution management software can benefit its users through a more accurate reporting system. While increased visibility is helpful for decision making, it also is extremely useful for centralizing your data into precise and timely reports both internally and externally. Respond more quickly to complex data reporting requests and make complying with industry reporting standards a breeze.
Automated Workflows
ERP allows you to automate the scheduling of a variety of tasks and workflows. With a wholesale distribution management system, you can easily automate purchasing decisions and purchase order approvals, this helps distributors grow their businesses, without any added hassle. Saves lots of time, reduces errors
But now that disruptions are affecting every step of this supply chain, there’s no quick-fix solution. The coronavirus outbreak sent the global supply chain into an unprecedented slowdown at the start of 2020, as the virus made its way through China, Europe, and then the US.
If you would like to learn more about how Microsoft and VOX ISM can solve your Supply Chain issues please feel free to download our exclusive webinar.