|
“At Disruptive Technology we are constantly introducing new ideas, and we are taking them to market better, & faster than the competition. We rely on DISTRiX to manage our supply chain and we are delighted with the visibility and control it provides us. It certainly helps us to be innovative.”
Tim Dabbs, Disruptive Technology
|
|
White Papers > Are you ready for Christmas 2007?
Most businesses will have a single focus of this Christmas rather than something that happens in 13 months time. However if you are facing the challenges listed below perhaps we can tempt you to read on and see how modern businesses are already coping with the issues and how you might improve your company profits. Do these ring a bell?
- Your sales from the web, or telephone, or in store are increasing but your supply chain cannot keep pace?
- Customers are not happy that you are not keeping your delivery promises
- You are not able to meet your customers after-sales service level requirements
- You are a small but growing business that needs a cost-effective distribution system that allows you to achieve your potential
If you are in the situation as described above; i.e. you have said “yes” to more than one of the issues, then the answer is to implement modular business systems that will provide the critical link from the order to fulfilment and systems that give you visibility throughout your supply chain and systems that will enable you to control and manage your after-sales service.
Modular Approach – Eating the elephant a piece at a time
Most business back-office solution implementations are big bang but they don’t have to be. It means you can take a step (or in the elephant context a bite) at a time – if your challenge is serving your customer, it is sensible to sort that element first before before tackling distribution. Critical though is that you can move forward at your own pace, dictated by your sales cycles and customer demand. When selecting such a solution it will also need to be scalable to your growing needs.
You need to give yourself a competitive edge; the modular approach will allow you to quickly target specific areas. So if our example is to focus on your sales activities a modular approach will allow you to increase your point of sale versatility; giving you more routes to market, having more information at your finger tips and managing your customer’s accounts more efficiently. You might then wish to move on to inventory and stock control, then distribution and then your field staff.
Mobile Computing – Total visibility to meet customer demand
A key element to changing your business in 2007 will be to extend your visibility out to your distribution activities or to your field staff or indeed your mobile sales staff. The driver for this will undoubtedly be your customer. We are all customers to someone and we have become more demanding. We are no longer loyal, if one supplier doesn’t have the item we go elsewhere; the next shop is only a click away. Everyone has a story complaining about home delivery service levels, how much time are you prepared to spend waiting for an engineer? If you want to compete in these markets it will be essential to extend your control right out to the customers’ front door and probably beyond.
The answer is mobile computing; no longer bleeding edge it is now a cost-effective solution for businesses large and small. You will achieve a return on your investment within the year and the sorts of activities that they can be used for include:
- Proof of delivery, with electronic signatures and full details available on line to your staff
- Mobile job / task management; assignment, status reporting and completion
- Inventory management; extend your warehouse to your service vans and reduce your running costs
- Van sales, mobile sales and queue busters
Summary
If Christmas 2006 hasn’t met your expectations then 2007 is undoubtedly the time to introduce a new modular approach into your business with one of the key modules being mobile computing. They will undoubtedly give you a competitive edge.
If you would like advice on this then please contact the author Chris Wright, Director at High Wycombe based DISTRiX either on chris.wright@distrix.com or by phone on 01494 470496
|
|
