The IFDA, a leading organization in the field of food distribution technology, has published a new whitepaper outlining several emerging technologies that will be key for food distribution companies as they move into the future. One trend they focus in on is the rapidly evolving field of restaurant-facing technologies and ordering, a key cog in any food distribution machine. The IFDA points to improvements in automation and forecasting as key factors that can be leveraged to give companies an edge.
The ordering process can be a time-consuming process, often leading to headaches for customers and distributors alike, especially if the distributor is running on a legacy ERP platform. Having to manually manage and enter every product a restaurant needs can be a headache in and of itself, and many of the busiest restaurants order multiple times a week. Distributors who can make this process easier and more streamlined stand a great chance of gaining market-share.
The easiest way to do this is via automation. A complete ERP solution, such as Prime FoodService built in Acumatica, allows its users to create ‘order guides’ for each of their customers, bringing together items that customer often orders in to one place, where it can be easily and quickly added in to a new order.
Order guides also allow users to add items that a particular customer has not yet purchased, but may be of interest to them, increasing upsell and cross-sell opportunities for the distributor while providing more value for the customer, who does not have to go to multiple vendors for their product. This keeps the vendor top-of-mind with their customer, all with no added manual work.
According to the IFDA another key consideration that will only grow in importance is the ability for distributors’ sales systems to integrate with the POS or other internal systems their clients are using. Acumatica, featuring Prime FoodService fits this bill perfectly. As a complete ERP system it is agile, cloud based, and already features several integrations, with more on the way.
Food distributors who choose a modern ERP solution put themselves in the best position to capitalize on and leverage these key emerging technologies, helping them run more efficiently, save money, and stay top of mind with their customers.