Challenges to the Manufacturing, Distribution and Retailing Industries

Challenges to the Manufacturing, Distribution and Retailing Industries

Is your company facing any of these challenges to your operations?

Manufacturing

• Outsourcing production overseas to lower operating cost.
• Starting to bypass the distributors selling directly to the Retail industry.
• Opening outlet stores to they sell excess inventory.

Distribution

• Bring components from overseas becoming semi-manufacturers selling to the Retail industry.
• Selling on the web B2B and B2C serving their clients and the Retail industry.
• Opening outlet stores where they sell excess inventory.

Retail

• Buying directly from the manufacturer in the USA bypassing the distributor to lower cost of goods.
• Buying directly from overseas vendors bypassing both the manufacturer and the distributor.
• Selling on the web B2B and B2C serving their clients and the Retail industry.

Warehouse

• Wrong shipment carried duplicate freight, can become excess inventory, and affect customer satisfaction.
• Misplaced inventory might not be sold and can become excess inventory.
• Excess inventory carried additional cost and can affect the line of credit.

Ecommerce

• The web can be a double edged sword: it can increase sales or result in business disruptions.
• Not having automated warehouse will result in incorrect shipments and excess inventory.
• Not having modern back office system can result in buying the wrong products resulting in excess inventory.

Searching for Software

• Very often the search is left to the IT department who does not have the complete business overview resulting in choosing the wrong software.
• All demos look very good since they are given by professionals who were trained to give them.
• Just because software looks good does not mean it is appropriate for the end user.

Buying Software

• Search committee of heads of department and computer department should be established.
• Business requirements’ list should be put together and addressed at the demo.
• Before buying the software visit vendor reference accounts and meet the CEO, CFO, and Computer Manager.

Next Steps:

Often a properly chosen and implemented software solution that is completely integrated can help a business overcome these threats and expose new opportunities.  That being said, sometimes software is the right solution to address these threats, sometimes it is not, and sometimes it's just part of a broader solution. 

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