Implementing a cloud ERP system allows you to transform how your distribution operations perform, from taking advantage of data exchanged in real-time to cutting costs on your IT overhead. Enterprise Resource Planning software occupies a critical spot in any supply chain management technology stack, whether you are a manufacturer or distributor, and only by leveraging a modern solution will you be able to streamline your processes and ensure that you get the most out of your investment in a business management system.
Here are the top advantages that cloud ERP provides for distribution:
The Advantages of Cloud ERP for Distribution
Cloud-based software is a key component of digital transformation, enabling businesses across the world to collaborate in real-time, integrate multiple applications more easily through standardized APIs, react to emerging cyber threats more quickly, and more much, much more. For financial and operational management systems, web-based connectivity allows users – given the right security permissions – to capture a 360-degree view of critical activities and data without having to run around between different locations or systems. Migrating from legacy on-premise architecture to the cloud helps you convert your ERP from a siloed database to the foundation for an interconnected IT ecosystem.
All of the above is invaluable for businesses with distribution channels, who often have to manage complex supply chains that can include many different stakeholders. From partners and regulators to all types of end customers, your enterprise accounting software needs to be able to both provide traceability throughout each channel and communicate with each additional system downstream. Cloud-hosted solutions make it much easier to achieve both as a distributor and position your business for success in an increasingly digitized world.
Here are five ways that cloud ERP helps you meet these demands and streamline your operations from end to end:
1. Improving Supply and Distribution Chain Resilience
Data has been called the new oil for years, and while the debate still rages on how precisely true this is, there is no doubt that information is becoming ever more valuable. For distribution, this takes the form of various analytics tools that allow you to keep track of inventory levels, historical demand and other data points that let you forecast for the future. Having these insights at your fingertips means being able to better align with market trends and keeping up more closely with changing customer demand, avoiding both stockouts and overstocking.
Additionally, cloud ERP systems can enhance your resilience by providing real-time visibility into all of the connected parts of your supply chain, empowering you to respond to disruptions more quickly and as they appear. Leveraging this improved transparency and agility allows you make data-driven decisions and apply them faster than with an aging legacy solution that would keep your team siloed.
2. Optimizing for Third-Party Software Integration
Modern financial and business management applications are designed to connect with third-party software more seamlessly via cloud-based APIs and standardized architecture. Whether it is your CRM (customer relationship management), HR and payroll, WMS (warehouse management system), ecommerce, sales tax or any other solution your rely on to automate your critical processes, a true cloud ERP will enable you to integrate the databases of many of these disparate systems to create one unified source of truth.
The ability to unite data silos is invaluable for distribution operations, where various internal and external stakeholders have vital information and activities running through any mix of apps that your accounting, inventory and shipping systems will need to communicate with. Whether it is contact details from your CRM for your sales or marketing departments, your partner’s EDI documentation requirements or any other number of use cases where data will need to be exchanged, your ERP can become a bottleneck or a driver of success. Implementing a cloud-based solution makes it much easier to ensure the latter, creating a central hub for your distributed data flows.
3. End-to-End Traceability for Regulatory Compliance
Traceability is key for any distribution chain that includes regulated products and materials, and it has become increasingly important across multiple industries as consumer demands for transparency grow. Electronic reporting compliance has already been around since before digital transformation was even a defined concept, yet with the proliferation of cloud-connected tools and endpoints there is a greater expectation that businesses will be able to keep track of their own supply chain and maintain records throughout.
Some legacy on-premise ERP solutions come with lot and serial tracking as well as other auditing capabilities, yet these by themselves are not enough to stay on top of modern traceability requirements. You must ensure consistent access to data captured within your value chain, so that if you do need to run a traceback from one end to the other, you will be able to capture the full picture of the product lifecycle if and when you need to. Only by migrating to the cloud will you be able to gain this level of real-time visibility.
4. Real-time Cloud Security for Your ERP Data
Cybersecurity has been a hot topic regarding cloud-hosted applications and data since SaaS (Software as a Service) systems first started making headway in the corporate world. Traditional thinking once held that holding data in an analog, siloed on-premise solution inherently made it safer, but years of major bugs and cyber breaches involving legacy software has significantly challenged this assumption. In contrast, ERP vendors with applications “born in the cloud” have completely restructured the approach to security for web-based apps and often deploying market-leading cyber defense strategies for safeguarding their remote servers.
This is incredibly important for distribution businesses that would otherwise have to make significant investments securing every hardpoint in their infrastructure. While the onus for local cybersecurity and data privacy remains with the user, modern cloud ERP systems typically are hardened on the hosted server side of the house against direct threats, whether external, internal or from a natural disaster such as flooding or fire outbreaks. These extra layers of redundancy and protection also ensure that your data is safe in the event of a disaster closer to home that could take down your local network, meaning that you will be able to recover your files even if you on-site hardware experiences downtime.
5. Streamlining Customer Experience with Automation
The success of your distribution business ultimately hinges on your ability to serve your customers and their needs, which extends into their experience with your brand and services. Technology plays a huge role in how this looks for end consumers, especially if their only interaction with your business is through a website or ecommerce portal. Between the data silos, lack of integration with connected apps and old-fashioned manual entry requirements, a legacy on-premise ERP will hamper your ability to optimize your UX (user experience) while a cloud solution will help you transform your customer journey.
By delivering real-time access to data and ensuring that it can be synced seamlessly between your financial and business management software and the rest of your integrated tech stack, your cloud-based system gives you more opportunities to completely automate the customer-facing experience. With streamlined processes, no roadblocks preventing your connected applications from sharing information and a reduction in the chances of human errors slipping through, you will be able to better guarantee client satisfaction.
See the 5 Top Things to Look for in Cloud ERP for Distribution
To learn more about the benefits of cloud ERP for distribution and what you need to know to select the right solution, check out comprehensive guide, The Five Most Common Missing Items in a Cloud Distribution ERP Software Buyer’s Checklist. This checklist will help you identify critical factors for cloud ERP evaluations, ensuring you narrow down your search to the system that best benefits your business.
Download the Buyer’s Checklist here, and see how the right cloud ERP will help you meet the demands of your top stakeholders for your distribution business.