Challenges to the Manufacturing, Distribution and Retailing Industries
Is your company facing any of these challenges to your operations?
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Often a properly chosen and implemented software solution that is completely integrated can help a business overcome these threats and expose new opportunities. Sometimes software is the right solution to address these threats, sometimes it is not, and sometimes it’s just part of a broader solution.
