Profiting through Technology

A couple of tidbits ran across the desk today that shows the industry continues to seek ways to streamline processes to improve profitability. With manufacturers, distributors and contractors seeking to improve their productivity, technology will take the place of many repetitive activities. And in a number of instances, the integration of a technological solution can also either support revenue generation and/or improving profitability through improved cash flow.

• Datalliance just announced a new service called Datalliance SPR (okay, we won’t give them kudos for marketing creativity!).  SPR stands for Special Pricing Reconciliation. According to the press release, Datalliance SPR allows “manufacturers and distributors utilize a common system that automatically performs all the proper payback calculations using information provided by both parties.”
• Under full disclosure, Datalliance commissioned Allen Ray Associates to conduct a State of the SPA market earlier this year, however, ARA was not involved in the development or marketing of Datalliance SPR.
• TradeService’s December newsletter highlighted its 2009 accomplishments.  Of particular interest was
• Their Supplier Xchange program is gaining traction with over 1,000 contractor / distributor connections and 2800+ distributor locations participating in the strategy.  Perhaps e-quotation is a growth trend?
• They now have about 1.25 million products that are attributed / have graphics in their database
• and they added a bunch of new customers (manufacturers, distributors and contractors).

While distributors may be reticent to invest in a new ERP system due to economic (and maybe cash flow) concerns, the above shows that there are opportunities to inexpensively use technology to generate improved profitability (through cost-savings, improved cash flow and/or revenue generation).

Have you heard, seen or are using some of these tools? How are they working for you?