The Top 8 Distribution Software

Acumatica is a provider of cloud-based business software that specializes in Distribution Management. This software assists in automating processes, and minimizing errors in varied areas like inventory tracking, order fulfillment, customer support, and purchasing.

Managing inventory with Acumatica software offers a real-time view of reorder quantities, available inventory, inventory costs, and inventory in transit. The software also allows users to understand their true costs by determining profitability according to business unit, product line, warehouse, or location.

Acumatica’s software also provides capabilities to streamline sales orders, thereby decreasing time and costs by optimizing the procedures for order entry, quoting, and filling. In addition to this, the software enhances purchasing processes through automation and optimization, and helps ensure a consistent supply of materials. Cross-company transactions are automated with the software, simplifying buy-sell transactions within the same tenant. A ‘Matrix Items’ feature facilitates the creation and management of product families for streamlined purchasing and sales experience.

The Distribution Management software by Acumatica incorporates all modules in a real-time, end-to-end cloud ERP system, ensuring a comprehensive solution for businesses.

Fishbowl is widely known as a competent inventory management solution that effectively serves QuickBooks users. The platform is used by businesses around the world, thanks to its reliable inventory tracking, warehouse management, and efficient handling of complex manufacturing processes.

A key feature of Fishbowl is its ability to sync QuickBooks with aspects such as inventory, warehousing, and manufacturing activities. This leads to automated updates on QuickBooks whenever inventory transfers take place, thereby offering valuable information about true landed costs, COGS, and impacts on cash flow.

Fishbowl helps businesses meet necessary regulatory requirements through its customizable workflows, tracking possibilities, assignments, and detailed reports. It allows for the easy setup and management of recall-readiness processes to assist teams in maintaining compliance, reducing errors, and solving challenges.

Fishbowl transforms business operations by providing important insights into core processes, such as facilitating necessary adaptations and optimization across organizational structures. Fishbowl Advanced delivers a range of features including a unified platform for warehousing and manufacturing processes, automated stock counts, efficient purchasing management, custom workflows, swift order management, and automated reporting.

Fishbowl Drive is Fishbowl’s premier cloud-based platform, designed for data security, accessibility, scanning and barcoding, accurate order management, inventory control, workflow traceability, timely notifications, crucial business metric reports, and scalable growth. Businesses using Fishbowl have experienced significant improvements in efficiency and workflow dynamics, full transparency across operations, as well as better cost management and financial control.

Infor CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise is a cloud solution tailored to wholesale distributors seeking growth and customer engagement. This solution, equipped with multi-site, multi-company, multi-currency, and multi-language functionalities, caters to a variety of business needs from warehouse management to financials, multi-channel sales orders, and purchasing.

CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise is embedded with analytics and offers capabilities like workflow and alerting, enterprise search, document management, and extendibility via the Infor ION platform. Additionally, the solution caters to order entry and pricing, supply chain management, and global localizations, offering functionality for distributors in building materials, food, and beverage.

The user interface has been designed with simplicity and efficiency in mind. It can be personalized to meet individual employee needs, ensuring a productive working environment. It integrates with other Infor apps such as Document Management and M3 Demand Planner, allowing for enhanced business capabilities and operation de-siloing.

Modern ERP systems, such as CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise, offer significant benefits including improved user adoption for more user-friendly systems, better business decision-making processes with enterprise analytics, talent attraction and retention through user-friendly technology, creation of value through innovative services, business silo elimination and collaboration increase, improved key performance metrics, and use of emerging technology such as IoT. By utilizing these benefits, distributors are positioned for significant growth, productivity, and operational efficiency.

Microsoft Dynamics Supply Chain Management is a sophisticated and versatile platform powered by Copilot. This highly adaptable software enables businesses to conquer disruptions and increase efficiency in their supply chain processes.

A standout feature of Microsoft Dynamics Supply Chain Management is its optimized demand planning. The platform integrates artificial intelligence for improved forecast accuracy and leverages historical data for robust predictions. Businesses can tailor forecasts using a no-code method, enabling them to plug in their machine learning models seamlessly.

The platform aids in meeting customer demands consistently by integrating intelligent planning and resource management tools. Dynamic planning enables ‘near real-time’ adjustments to unpredictable shifts in demand or supply. Businesses can streamline operations with automation, enjoy minimized carrying costs through accurate forecasts, and maximize their capacity utilization with strategic resource allocation.

Microsoft Dynamics Supply Chain Management provides businesses with a tool to help navigate the complexities and disruptions synonymous with modern supply chain operations.

Oracle’s NetSuite is a comprehensive cloud-based business solution designed for wholesale distributors. It offers a unified platform that reduces IT costs and provides real-time visibility across organizations. NetSuite allows businesses to manage every aspect of their operations from a customizable system accessible from anywhere, helping them to understand their operations in depth.

The platform is specifically designed for the wholesale industry and has been implemented successfully by multiple businesses across a range of different sectors. Key features of NetSuite include optimization of the supply chain through dedicated portals, modern sales experiences that exceed customer expectations, and advanced financial and account tracking that helps businesses monitor key metrics and automate transaction flow.

NetSuite’s capabilities extend to inventory management, enabling cost-effective usage and inventory organization across multiple locations. This helps businesses to deliver products according to customer expectations, while optimizing cash flow. NetSuite’s strong customer relationship management functionality offers real-time customer data which aids sales and customer service teams in delivering a consistent customer experience.

NetSuite also offers a built-in eCommerce feature that enables businesses to provide engaging online experiences to customers. This seamless integration with back-office systems allows for automatic content adjustment for different devices, increasing conversions and customer satisfaction rates. Other features focus on enhancing warehouse and fulfillment processes to reduce cycle times and shipping costs. Finally, NetSuite offers built-in workflows for managing various business tasks including commerce, inventory, financials, marketing, sales, orders, sourcing, and warehouse. It’s highly customizable through the SuiteCloud platform which scales with business growth.

Epicor’s Prophet 21 is a comprehensive ERP tool designed specifically for distributors. Prophet 21 is a flexible, cloud-based solution that provides a range of industry-specific functionalities that enable businesses to modernize and mobilize operations end-to-end, from inventory to logistics.

Key features of Prophet 21 include data-driven inventory management essentials, which empowers businesses to optimize their warehouse through accurate inventory data and forecasting tools. This reduces excessive inventory, preserving investment and enabling centralized inventory with its regional center inventory management capabilities. The solution also enhances customer satisfaction by ensuring the right products are available at the right time.

To enhance accuracy and control over warehouse processes, Prophet 21 incorporates a Warehouse Management System (WMS) coupled with barcoding and wireless technology. This optimizes common tasks such as receiving, cross-docking, put away, adjustments, picking, cycle counting, and inventory operations. Additionally, Prophet 21’s real-time general ledger offers up-to-the-minute financial statements to facilitate smart and proactive business decisions.

Prophet 21 provides an Order Management System that captures crucial order data which directly feeds into the user’s system, minimizing manual processing errors and leveraging customer satisfaction. The solution also encompasses an integrated purchasing system, simplifying the management of vendor contracts as well as tracking orders and deliveries. Epicor Report Studio, a feature within Prophet 21, allows users to generate operational reports and dashboards, providing insights that enable informed decision-making.

In terms of Accounts Payable (AP) processes, Prophet 21 ensures users can track and pay bills on time, facilitating good vendor relationships. The tool is also designed to reduce closing times for quicker access to business performance data, thus expediting decision-making processes. Some other features include dynamic purchasing methods, lot billing, lot traceability and Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI).

Sage 100 is a comprehensive software solution that streamlines manufacturing and distribution processes, offering businesses the chance to increase efficiency and profitability. It does this by optimizing operational tasks, facilitating rapid response to market fluctuations, providing valuable insights for decision making, and fostering customer satisfaction leading to repeat businesses.

Key features of the Sage 100 distribution and manufacturing solution include inventory management, kitting, loT and serial tracking, as well as forecasting and replenishment. These tools work together to help businesses manage, track, and replenish their inventory effortlessly.

In addition to basic features like general ledger, accounts payable, and bank reconciliation, Sage 100 offers advanced functionality for more complex businesses, including purchase orders, sales orders, and inventory management. At the top end is the Sage 100 Complete solution, designed for comprehensive business management.

Sage 100 is an efficient tool to manage end-to-end warehouse operations, from purchasing to stocking, sales, and even merchandise returns. Detailed insights into day-to-day operations enable informed decision-making for continued success. Through Sage 100, businesses can manage every aspect of the distribution cycle, improving customer retention by ensuring on-time delivery of needed products.

Delivering industry-leading best practices and constant innovation, SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition is a dynamic and robust cloud ERP solution. It offers preconfigured processes ready for immediate deployment, allowing businesses to adapt their models and redefine their operations on-the-go. The platform supports unlimited growth, enabling businesses to expand their customer base, enter new markets, and introduce new products without increasing complexity.

The solution features automatic updates fully managed by SAP, reducing the need for extensive IT resources and minimizing business disruption. Cutting-edge AI, machine learning, RPA, and analytics are routinely integrated to improve business operations. Security, compliance, and scalability are all inherent, with back-up and disaster recovery, system maintenance, and data protection maintained by SAP.

SAP S4/HANA Cloud is a proven cloud ERP that brings industry-standard best practices, rapid value delivery through quick setup, an intuitive role-based interface, and a guided implementation process.

Beyond its core functions, the ERP offers extensive extensibility. SAP S/4HANA provides ready-to-go APIs with supporting tools and documentation to facilitate seamless integration with partners or in-house built applications. Whether you’re looking for industry best practices, quick value delivery, or continual updates, SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition covers it all, bringing innovation, security, and scalability under one solution.