The advantages of SAP Business One in the wholesale industry
The wholesale and distribution sector becomes more complex and competitive every day. Set against this backdrop, businesses must do everything they can to streamline operations and maintain a sustainable profit margin.
SAP Business One is the perfect way to achieve this. At APH we use SAP Business One applications, combined with our own wealth of experience, to help companies operating in the wholesale and distribution industry achieve positive return on investment.
This is delivered in two ways: by optimising processes to reduce unnecessary costs, and by driving growth to generate additional revenues coming into the business.
How does SAP Business One help wholesale and distribution companies to achieve their goals? Here are some of the advantages of using the platform.
Integrated ecommerce
SAP B1 can act as a world-class backend for ecommerce platforms like Amazon and Magento, helping wholesale operators to make the move to online sales and generate previously unimaginable revenues.
Having an internet presence can help your business to reach a wider audience, and B2B ecommerce is as effective as B2C, with the potential to drive even greater order sizes.
An efficient, functioning ecommerce site allows new customers to submit orders and enquiries around the clock, so you never face the risk of missing out on business due to being unavailable to take a phone call.
Efficient supply chain management
As supply chains become increasingly complex, the challenges of efficient supply chain management grow exponentially – but a platform like SAP B1 can keep track of all the required variables at once.
This helps to ensure that stock is reordered ahead of time, to maintain availability, while also making sure it is delivered to the right place at the moment it is needed.
In many cases, this allows firms to move towards a ‘just in time’ model, reducing the levels of stock held at any one time and so reducing storage costs.
Optimised stock holding
Continuing from the above, we have developed solutions specifically for the wholesale and distribution sector which incorporate sales and purchasing processes.
This extends the principle of effective supply chain management even further, improving your organisation’s ability to plan and forecast.
As a result, SAP B1 enables better Material Resource Planning (MRP) based on real-time measurements of supply and demand, so that you can avoid overstocking, while still meeting customer demand.
Better forecasting
Forecasting is a crucial part of using past and present data to run your business better, and SAP B1 has forecasting built in.
This can be particularly useful in companies where demand (and supply, if relevant) is subject to seasonal variations, using past sales cycles to generate accurate forecasts for the time of year.
Risks and losses are reduced as a result, the business operation runs more efficiently, and you ensure that you gain the best possible advantage from economies of scale, especially in the run-up to busy periods of the year.
To find out more about how APH and SAP Business One can support your wholesale and distribution business in generating increased sales, cutting costs, improving efficiency and generally achieving a positive ROI, please contact our team today and we will be happy to help.
