Top Ten Problems Solved by SAP Business One in Wholesale
Problem #6: Lack of Real-time Visibility
This is the sixth in our series of blogs highlighting ten problems commonly found in wholesale distribution. In our last blog, we examined issues associated with poor systems integration. In this article, we highlight the importance of real-time visibility in wholesale.
The problem
Visibility in wholesale is important for two reasons: cost and competitive advantage. If you are basing decisions on information that is out of date, it is likely that your costs will be higher. Higher costs lead to lower profits, thus limiting your scope for competitive pricing and other promotions.
An example.
Ensuring you have the right level of goods in warehouse is a difficult balance to make. On the one hand you need sufficient stock to meet customer demand. On the other, you need no more than is necessary. After all, unsold stock earns no money.
Poor visibility makes it difficult to balance supply and demand. Stockouts lead to lost revenue, and your competitors are only one click away. To overcome this problem, wholesalers may overstock items. This increases storage costs and ties up working capital.
Competitors with real-time visibility can operate more efficiently and respond faster to customer needs.
How SAP Business One improves visibility in wholesale operations
SAP Business One delivers an integrated view of your business. Data is not held in inaccessible silos. And because it is integrated, information is updated in real-time. There are no information lags in the system. So, for instance, if you need to know the availability of a particular stock item, you can be confident that the information is accurate and up to date.
SAP Business One helps in other ways too. Automation improves the accuracy of information that drives decision-making. For example, mobile warehouse solutions such as handheld scanners capture inventory movements as they happen. This results in:
- Faster goods receipt
- More accurate picking
- Better stock accuracy
- Reduced errors due to manual data entry
Another way that LAKE and SAP Business One can help your business is by making information more relevant and more accessible. Role-based dashboards present complex data in an easily understandable format, using visualisations such as graphs, gauges and charts. Role-based dashboards are, as the name implies, tailored to the specific needs of different roles within your business. This improves the relevance of the information being presented.
Learn more
These are just some of the ways that SAP Business One could help your wholesale distribution business. To learn more, take a look at the other blogs in this series. Alternatively, download a copy of our SAP Business One Beginners Guide – Wholesale.
In the next blog in this series, we highlight ways in which SAP Business One can enhance customer experience.
By Edward Bentley