Optimize your distribution business with automated truck loading
Bottlenecks are one of the most common logistical pain points experienced by businesses across the globe. Enter automated truck loading, which can be achieved through a tightly integrated Direct Store Distribution (DSD) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution. Today’s DSD and ERP solutions are highly sophisticated and offer organizations of any size the flexibility and cost-effectiveness necessary to serve customers more effectively and boost profit margins. It’s all about finding the right solution to digitally transform your distribution business processes.
Find the products you need for the next day
First, you need to know whether you’ll be loading your existing orders in Sales Order ahead of time or loading a combination of your products according to an estimate. Your ideal setup might lie somewhere in the middle – a hybrid solution where you combine the delivery of existing orders with any additional products that might be required the following day based on your reps’ experience.
Figure out how you’ll choose products
Each organization knows what works for them. From wave picking to order-by-order or truck-by-truck, there are many ways to go about this, but you need to find the right fit for your operational model. It’s crucial here to take the time to figure out which approach works best for your distribution business.
Identify a clear cutoff
Today’s market is more impatient than ever. That means your delivery speed isn’t just important – it’s business-critical. It’s not enough to only identify a cutoff point from one day to the next, you also need to have a plan in place for any orders that come in late for same-day or next-day delivery. It pays to be prepared.
Optimize your routes and loads
Your route reps probably leave your warehouses with a pre-planned route and a generally consistent product load from one day to the next. Your delivery reps, however, will have far more varied day-to-day routes, making it far more important that your dispatch team nails down expected delivery slots for each visit, accurate route visualization, and ensures a balanced load across your fleet.
Tighten your inventory control
Inventory accountability is vital if you’re to keep costs down and maintain accuracy across your warehouses. You’ll need to keep track of everything from lot numbers, product quantities, transfers from one driver to another, returns and exchanges, and so on and so forth. Control your quantities and you’ll find it immeasurably easier to control your costs and widen that profit margin.
A robust ERP and DSD solution is the key to success
Orbis DSD Route Accounting & Planning enhances standard Acumatica Distribution Edition functionality to process sales orders, shipments, and related fiscal documents in a more streamlined and efficient manner. Orders can be automatically split by storage classification (such as ambient, chilled and frozen temperature regimes) and shipments are auto sorted and grouped for the dispatcher to create one or more loads which are assigned to one or more specific delivery vehicles. Pick lists can be generated by load and wave picking, individual picking and picking by weight are all supported picking methods. Orbis DSD continuously assists the dispatcher by providing warnings where assigned vehicles are overloaded or loaded with the incorrect SKUs, and it facilitates the bulk printing of delivery documents and related fiscal documents. Contact us today and learn how we can help you optimize delivery, increase sales, and strengthen brand loyalty for your DSD business.
