Advantages of Using a Distribution Management System

Advantages of Using a Distribution Management System 

Every product goes through a lifecycle from its manufacture stage to its final destination, the product passes through various stages. After the product is ready, it reaches the consumer through a system of wholesalers and retailers.

Distribution Management deals with that stage in the supply chain, which is concerned with the distribution of the manufactured goods. It includes packaging, inventory, storage, warehouses and transport facility for the manufactured goods.

The whole process ensures that there are no errors with the type of product which needs to be delivered and also that there is no confusion regarding the time and quantity to be delivered. All this process requires excellent communication, proper monitoring of transactions made and the prices.

Listed below are some reasons why it is important for the necessity of a ‘Distribution Management’

Keep things systematic and organized

If there was no such concept, then every store would receive goods directly from every manufacturer. There would be complete chaos since trucks with large shipments of goods would reach the retail outlet and the store would lack the space to accommodate all the stuff.

With a proper system in place, the wholesaler or the retailer stocks the items in the warehouse and the store takes the required amounts of different brands. 

Convenience for customers

A Distribution management system ensures that shopping becomes convenient for consumers. If every company were to have its own store then customers would have to go to different stores to pick up products wasting a lot of time and energy.

A proper system of distributing goods by different brand manufacturers and goods manufacturers ascertains that all varieties of items are available in one store and the customer gets the advantage of choosing from products of many different brands.

Bulk Breaking

The customer does not have to bother himself about the huge quantity of goods manufactured. That is the job of either the wholesaler or the retailer to store these goods to make them available in small numbers or quantities for the customer by bulk breaking.

Reseller Initiatives

This system makes sure that resellers do what manufacturers cannot do for the product. They often persuade the customers to buy the products boosting the sale. Various promotional offers are made to lure the consumers. Different finance schemes are offered to reduce the burden of heavy payment and make payment easier for customers.

Resellers also use an enticing display for selling the products in their store thus sales go up. Resellers also provide feedback regarding the product to the manufacturers. This also helps the manufacturer in making product improvements as per the feedback given. This has always been used in business nevertheless, now a fully automated system has made distribution work even easier at all levels.

A group of applications known as the Distribution Management System (DMS) takes care of controlling ,monitoring the complete distribution network including ordering, delivering, inventory, payment and service management. Businesses enjoy many advantages because of the use of this system. It is definitely more functional catering to the specificity of demands of the distribution companies.

All distributors require a DMS which is compatible with the needs of the industry. For instance, the food industry distributors require the code date on each product to ascertain shelf life. For the apparel industry, the DMS would focus on size, style, color so an automated system makes all this easier.

All information and data concerning clients, business partners, stocks and supplies as well as suppliers can be easily stored, accessed and analyzed. Better business analysis can be made by developing reports and charts with the information.

Customer satisfaction is ensured with a customer relationship management feature which is incorporated in the DMS. The amount of workforce required gets thus reduced since management becomes easy this saves time and money thus operation costs go down to a great degree. There are no communication gaffes. The processing time goes down and administration cost is effectively reduced. The return on investment increases as productivity goes up thus sales improve and services become better.

The journey of a product ends only once it reaches the home of the consumer. A product cannot reach us without an efficient distribution management system.

Pic courtesy: www.pixabay.com