ERP companies are integral to the success of electrical distributors as they control, or impact (in no particular order) order processing, inventory, pricing, supply chain issues (EDI, VMI, SPAs), delivery (and routing), accounting / finance, purchasing, credit, invoicing, collections, customer […]
If you are worried about Amazon Supply, you probably already know something that you’ve been unwilling to admit openly. ….that is your product data base stinks. That is to say, you probably don’t have good images, UPC codes or even […]
Late last week came news that Bob Gaylord, former president of IDEA, was leaving the organization to pursue “other interests” (which, as an aside, is a nice euphemism!). Bob was a nice guy and contributed much time and energy to […]
On July 28th, Reuters posted an article that, according to sources, CVC (a private equity firm) has emerged as the front runner to buy Epicor from Apax Partner, LLP. for $3 billion. The article emphasized that the deal is not finalized […]
Usage of the fax machine began to peak in the late 1980s and continued into the early 2000s, with email becoming prevalent in 1993. Now, why mention this? Consider about 35+ years ago. Fax machines were not too prevalent. Contractors, […]
Much is made of distributors needing commerce enabled websites … and it is true and is becoming a customer expectation. While ERP companies say they can support distributors in this endeavor, few distributors speak well of their ERP companies providing […]
Amazon Supply can represent different threats to different types of distributors. It could depend on where you are located and what type of vertical you are in. If you sell into the large projects market, you may not feel threatened, […]
Amazon has been frequently in the news over the past week or so with its introduction of a music streaming service, a planned entry to sell “services” a la Angie’s List and Home Advisor, is introducing a smartphone offering and probably […]
What you did some years ago. If you went to your favorite fishing hole in your business, it could be your Product Data and the way you priced product. Some are old enough to remember that when they set up […]
Internet is Impersonal With so many people growing up with astounding computer skills, a number of distributors are wondering how to utilize these skills in future business plans. Most distributors got ‘Pushed” into an ERP computer systems because they thought […]
