In the competitive environment that is wholesale distribution, the line between making profits and losses is a very thin one indeed. Today’s wholesaler operates under a business climate where margins are slim, the supply chain is unpredictable, and customer demands are always on the increase.
Wholesalers, therefore, have no choice but to adopt a more sophisticated ERP system. There may be many systems available in the marketplace, but the best is without doubt Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Here is how it is surpassing all competitors.
1. Effective Stock Control and Warehousing
In distribution, stock is money in the shelves. Poor stock control will lead to the death of the company. Business Central allows for extensive and detailed control over the stock, which is much more than mere counting.
It has sophisticated warehousing functions, such as bin control, pick/put-away operations, and guided pick/ship. Also it allows for various unit-of-measure conversions, and this means that no matter whether you purchase at pallets or sell at units, everything will tally up. It also uses smart forecasting to predict future demand from past sales. This helps minimize dead stock and avoid stockouts, which may lead to strained client relations.
2. The Strength of the Microsoft Ecosystem
The second very convincing advantage that makes BC the market leader is its easy integration with familiar applications used by company employees. There are many ERP systems out there, which seem to be alien to employees who need a lot of time to learn how to use it.
Business Central resembles familiar Office applications like Outlook and Excel. Users can see business information right in their email or manipulate financial information in Excel and automatically publish the data back into the ERP system. Integration with Power BI provides opportunities for creating impressive, up-to-date dashboards showing sales performance.
3. Flexibility and Scalability in the Cloud
Traditional legacy ERP applications tend to be both costly to own and tough to upgrade. Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) application. What this means is that the distributor will have the luxury to access all the information regardless of his location whether it be in the warehouse, meeting clients on-site, or even working remotely.
Another important characteristic of a good software is scalability. When an organization is growing, either through additional warehouse facilities or geographical expansions, the software must have the capacity to grow with the business, without incurring any hardware upgrades or costs.
4. Smooth Integration into the Supply Chain
A contemporary distributor is one link among many in a complex chain. One of the key advantages of Business Central is its seamless integration. It comes with powerful APIs, which make the system seamlessly connect with eCommerce platforms (such as Shopify or Magento), CRM tools, and leading carriers (like UPS and FedEx).
Such automation helps cut out any manual entry. As soon as an order is placed by a customer, it goes straight into the ERP system, inventory allocation happens, the shipping label is printed out, and the customer is notified without any involvement of a person who enters all this manually.
Conclusion
Wholesale distribution is all about efficiency, and Business Central is on top of the pack due to its ability to offer specific functions in an easy-to-use Microsoft cloud environment.
If distributors want to improve their business by enhancing efficiency and empowering their employees, then Business Central will be more than an ERP; it will be the way forward.
