Solution and case study
Customers who do not run out, and orders nobody re-keys.
A customer min/max system lets your customers set the stock levels they want to hold, scan items out as they use them, and place a guided order for exactly what brings them back to target. The order flows into Prophet 21 through its standard API and import processes. The customer stops running out, and your team stops typing orders.
Two problems with one cause
Customers who buy consumable products have a simple need: never run out of the items a job depends on. Most manage this by looking at a shelf and guessing. They run out of what they need, overbuy what they do not, and spend time searching a catalog for part numbers they have ordered fifty times.
The distributor has the mirror-image problem. Those orders arrive by phone and email, and someone keys each one in. It takes time, and every keystroke is a chance for an error that becomes a wrong shipment.
Both problems come from the same gap. Nothing connects what the customer used to what the distributor should send. Close that gap and both sides improve at once.
Case study: a multi-state wholesale distributor
The situation. The distributor sold consumable products to customers who could not afford to be without them. Customers wanted a simple way to stay stocked without working through a complicated ordering process.
What I built. Working closely with the distributor, I designed and built a system where each customer sets minimum and maximum levels for the items they want on hand. When someone takes an item, they scan it out using a barcode or QR code. At any point the customer can see what was consumed over a period and what needs to be ordered to return to target. Placing that order is fast and guided.
How it grew. The system later expanded to include access control for storage cabinets, which tightened inventory accuracy further. It was delivered as desktop, web, and mobile applications so each user had the right tool.
The result for customers. They went from not knowing whether they had what a job required to seeing exactly what was on hand. Ordering went from a chore to a few guided steps, with no overbuying and no searching.
The result for the distributor. Orders that once had to be fielded and keyed by hand now flow into the ERP and are processed with minimal human involvement. Productivity went up, and keystroke errors went away. The first deployment came about four to five months after the concept.
The principle behind it
Making it easier for a customer to buy from you is worth more than most marketing. A customer whose stock levels, usage history, and reorder process all live in your system has very little reason to shop around.
Questions
Is this vendor-managed inventory?
It is closely related. In VMI the distributor decides what to replenish. Here the customer sets the levels and the system does the arithmetic. Either model can be built.
How do the orders get into Prophet 21?
Through P21's standard API or import processes, so the orders behave like any other order in your system.
Can customers use their own phones?
Yes. Scanning works with barcodes and QR codes on ordinary devices as well as dedicated scanners.
Request a call back
Do your customers reorder the same items by phone and email?
There is a better way to take those orders.
- One conversation, no obligation. There is no charge and no pitch.
- A plain answer. If it is not feasible, or I am not the right fit, I will say so.
- The first 30 days are guaranteed. If you are not satisfied and I cannot make it right, in your opinion, you get your money back.