SAP Distribution Blog

"In these unusual times, why are some companies trying to do things the old way? 

In 2020 most companies had no experience on what to do during a pandemic,  so most followed traditional responses to tough times:

• Cut back,
• Slash costs and
• "Hunker down" until the crisis passes.

In the hospitality and travel industries, those were probably the most prudent strategies. however, the hospitality companies that paired cutbacks with increases in cleaning protocols and creative marketing faired better than those that did not. 

We all know the pandemic has changed the way we work. Many offices have been closed for over six months, and companies have had to adapt and change.  It is reasonable to expect we will not just return to the “old ways” of doing things. To the contrary, most experts believe that the pandemic has accelerated the pace of digital transformation which has helped to streamline processes to promote cost savings at a time when companies need it the most.

E-commerce is not new, and most distributors have some form of online presence.  Emerging evidence points to a significant shift, as customers scale back their shopping in stores and instead go online. In China, online shopping has increased 15 to 20 percentage points, and e-commerce in Italy has increased 81 percent compared with the last week of February.  US consumers have largely followed the same pattern.

The impact of COVID-19 on the domestic, regional and your local economy are still not clear, but we do know that e-commerce is one of the beneficiaries of a shift in purchasing behavior caused by sheltering in place.   Our customers have reported everything from complete shutdown when a warehouse person tested positive, to shift working to keep up with demand and social spacing.  We have also heard numerous reports of major customers shutting down and smaller e-commerce vendors increasing order size.

Will all this result in a new normal?  A better question may be can you afford not to react?  The statistics quoted above and other pertinent information can be found in a McKinsey Digital white paper provided for us through SAP.  'Building an e-commerce business: Lessons on moving fast' is a great source of common sense and insight from a 1000 brick and mortar European retail chain that was able to react quickly. 

In my role as leader of a Cloud ERP provider, I have the luxury and pleasure of research and learning from industry analysts such as Gartner, SMB Group and IDC along with leading publishers like Microsoft, SAP, Sage and Citrix. I listen to these companies and temper them with the experience of hundreds of customers to form opinions on products and services that will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our clients.

SAP has been a leader in distribution management software, and they have maintained their leadership by staying ahead of trends to meet customer needs.  The 2019 SAP SMB Innovation Summit held in Orlando June 18-20 was focused on how SAP customers are already using big data, coupled with artificial intelligence to create the Intelligent Enterprise.  

Every year the America's SAP User Group (ASUG) surveys users of SAP Business One to learn how the community uses the software, where they get their information and how they are looking to improve their business.   The 2019 State of the Business One Community report recently came out with its key findings. 

Time is a non-replenishable commodity and I think everyone reading this blog would say that their time is extremely valuable.   If you don't find this article interesting, it will be a waste of time! 

In almost every industry there is a value to time. 

• How much time does it take to fill an order?
• Do you waste time looking for information, or reconciling differences between systems
• How long does it take to create a quote, or enter a hand created or faxed in order?

So is there an intrinsic value to time?

There are numerous reasons to say the answer is yes!   There are economic theories used to value activities without time.  A recent story on public radio asked people what they would need to be paid not to engage in free activities.  Studies have valued Facebook at $48-50 per month because that was the median value of how much people would take to not login to the social media site.  Surprisingly, and not so surprisingly, indoor plumbing and the toilet are the most valued commodity we don't directly pay for!

For SAP Distribution.com we look at our service as a valuable commodity.  We add value in obvious and not so obvious ways.

SAP Sapphire is the annual end user extravaganza featuring SAP products, the America's SAP User Group (ASUG) and partner products for customer organizations looking to maximize their investments in SAP.  SAP also holds a one day Global Partner Summit in advance of the meeting to preview content and explain their strategy to its ecosystem.   

When people think of SAP they typically think huge software for huge companies with huge budgets, and they would not be wrong!  However, SAP has grown and evolved into one of the leading cloud software companies and has developed products specifically designed for smaller businesses.  SAP takes all of the learning from the Fortune 500, where SAP dominates, and right sizes with software that is less complex and costly.