DISTRIBUTION

Industries

Distribution

Distribution lives on two numbers: what is actually on the shelf and what the line really earns. We make both continuously true across warehouses, vans and channels.

Sector focus
Stock accuracy, route discipline and margin visible at SKU and customer level.
Services most used here
Odoo ERP · Oracle NetSuite · Integrations

What we find

The four problems we are usually called in about

Recognisable? Each one has a root cause in process or data design rather than in software capability.

01

Stock is right on paper, wrong on the shelf

Adjustments are posted to close the gap instead of finding it, and every stock-take resets an argument rather than settling it.

02

Channels drift apart

Wholesale, retail and online each hold their own price and availability, so oversell and manual correction become routine.

03

True margin is unknown

Freight, discount, damage and credit cost sit outside the line, so the fastest-moving SKU may be the least profitable.

04

Van sales are reconstructed after the fact

Loading, delivery, returns and cash collection are reconciled at the depot the next day, if at all.

How we fix it

What we actually configure for distribution

Not a capability list — the five specific design decisions that make the difference in this sector.

  • Bin, batch and expiry-aware warehouse configuration with cycle-count discipline
  • One pricing and availability engine behind every channel
  • Landed cost and net-margin reporting at SKU, customer and route level
  • Mobile van-sales and delivery capture with signature and cash reconciliation
  • Credit control with exposure limits enforced at order entry

Typical shift

Inventory accuracy

85%99%+

Oversell incidents

WeeklyException-only

Margin visibility

Company levelSKU and customer

Indicative of engagements in this sector. Your baseline is measured during Discover, so the target is yours rather than an average.

Case study

One inventory engine behind three sales channels

Wholesale, retail and e-commerce moved onto one Odoo inventory and pricing engine, with integration contracts, batch and expiry control, and margin reported at SKU and customer level.

0Oversell incidents post go-live
14daysWorking capital released
3→1Channels on one stock engine
We had eleven versions of our item master across three companies. Techlyst rebuilt it as one governed standard and then made sure it stayed that way. Stock accuracy went from an argument to a number.
Chief Operating Officer · National FMCG distributor

FAQ

Distribution, specifically

Yes — catalogue, price, stock, order and fulfilment sync with Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento or a marketplace, including the reservation logic that prevents overselling during a refresh window.

Below roughly 15,000 lines a day, a well-configured ERP warehouse module with scanning usually wins on total cost. Above that, or with complex wave picking, a dedicated WMS earns its integration.

FEFO allocation, shelf-life rules at receipt and dispatch, and an ageing dashboard with automated action thresholds so near-expiry stock is a decision rather than a write-off.

Next step

Talk to the lead who covers distribution

Forty-five minutes, no deck. Bring one process that frustrates you and we will tell you how we would approach it.

WhatsApp