The International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA), the premiere trade association for the food service industry, has released a whitepaper that serves as an “Emerging Technology Primer for Foodservice Distributors” outlining several challenges facing food distribution companies in these uncertain times, as well as recommendations for excelling. A key consideration in all aspects of their report is having a complete, modern ERP system, such as Acumatica, which features Prime FoodService Software.
A key aspect of a complete ERP solution is its ability to provide advanced data analytics. Advanced data analytics is a set of tools that uses real time information to study trends and predict outcomes for your business. According to the IFDA whitepaper advance data analytics can have wide-reaching impacts including sales, purchasing, finance, delivery, and logistics.
Real-time advanced data analytics allows companies to get immediate, up to date data at any time, eliminating the need to wait for fresh data to make a decision. This immediacy allows companies to instantly react to changes or challenges that would otherwise negatively impact their operations, such as short shipments, in order to avoid any disruptions for their clients. Data analytics also helps enhance the route optimization process, allowing for greater efficiency for route planning and execution.
Prime FoodService through Acumatica fills these needs via its dashboards. These customizable dashboards offer drill-down capability, providing a world of detail, allowing users to see trends in sales, as well as operational data. These dashboards are role-based, allowing each category of user to have the exact access they need to complete their job effectively.
Dashboards and data analytics also offer the ability to forecast future needs, cutting problems off at the pass, before they appear. Prime’s dashboards offer the ability to see if customers stop ordering items they historically order, allowing users to reach out proactively to attempt to retain that piece of business. This sort of forecasting can also be used to ensure quality of life stays high for employees, lowering the risk of losing valued team members.
IFDA expects the number of uses for advanced data analytics to continue to increase in the coming years, meaning it is vital for food distribution companies to make the switch to a complete ERP solution sooner rather than later. By choosing a platform such as Acumatica with Prime FoodService software, food distributors are setting themselves up for long-term success.
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