Industrial distributors have an absolute need to provide timely customer service, fulfill orders accurately and carry the right mix of inventory. If you can’t do this, your customers will go elsewhere. One of the key components to being more competitive is information technology. Not just choosing any technology—choosing the right information technology for your business.
Here are five secrets to supercharge your industrial distribution when adopting new technology to run your business more efficiently and maximize profits.
- Implement software designed for your business. Does the solution address the requirements of your industry and your customers? It’s critical to select solutions that are developed for your industry. Instead of spending time and money on customizations, you should select a software solution that’s built around your industry’s best practices and supported by a team that has relevant industry expertise. The software should support all the relevant processes you’ll need to carry out on a daily basis and provide the right functionality to make your business more successful.
- Utilize the power of data. You need to leverage analytics to stay ahead of the competition and operate as efficiently as possible. Operational data can provide real insights and help you measure success in all areas of your business such as sales, inventory, warehousing, transportation and more, so that you can evaluate and manage your supply chain better.
- Source scalable solutions. Industrial distribution companies eventually reach a point in their evolution where they outgrow their off-the-shelf, generic software. Workarounds no longer work, and manual processes have limited your ability to grow. It’s important to invest in business software that’s designed to grow with you and support your changing needs. Your business technology should be a long-term investment, not a short-term fix
- Ensure system integration. In today’s fast-moving omnichannel environment, you need to safeguard that all your systems are integrated. Having an end-to-end technology approach enables you to handle the complexities of multifaceted fulfillment demands like never before. This is critical as your organization increasingly strives to simplify its operations while meeting the volatile demands of your customers.
- Plan to be flexible and configurable. Flexibility is key. As your customers’ needs evolve, your ability to serve them should too. With flexible, configurable, easy-to-use software, you can adapt and respond to your customers needs faster and create a better experience for them.
If you have the right information technology solution in place, you’ll be able to reduce administrative costs and maintain customer loyalty with the ability to manage the complete lifecycle of the customer order.