As we start the new year, our ONE.Source community is officially beginning our year-round curriculum for 2018. Each month, we will focus on a central topic (or two) and explore all perspectives (customer, partner, SAP, and our SME) via webcasts, blogs, videos, discussions, and more.
Optimising and reducing the cost of operations tends to be a major focus area in businesses that buy and sell products, whether your enterprise is large or small.
With the continuing challenges around maintaining margins — constantly under pressure from increased competition in your traditional channels, as well as new entrants into the market — the word in the industry is that automation of these logistics processes is a key area of focus for wholesale and distribution based businesses.
Better Logistics to Better Run Your Business
There is no shortage of opportunities to strengthen your operations in the supply chain and logistics area, and the good news is that there is a lot that you can do with the standard functionality in SAP Business One.
A few that come to mind include:
- Increasing inventory velocity
- Implementing lean logistics / supply chain management
- Improving supplier performance
- Compressing cycle times
- Maximizing inventory yield
- Measuring and utilizing meaningful metrics
- Segmenting the supply chain
- Employing broader supply chain technology solutions
We will try to cover as many of these as we can in the interactive webcast I will facilitate early in the month. But to help prioritize the topics that are most pressing for you, I encourage you to ask your questions (or request topics) in advance of the session (link below). Even if you cannot attend live, I will build those topics into the agenda of the webcast.
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Similarly, Idit Saguey has a webcast on Jan. 25 to provide logistics insights from SAP, and you can request topics in advance for that session, as well. This is a unique opportunity for SAP Business One customers with a direct channel to SAP and a chance to influence what is covered on the webcast.
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If you're new to SAP Business One, or just eager to get started on this topic, I have already covered some logistics topics in two video series: our Basic Training video series from last fall, as well as a series of product overview videos recorded during my tenure with SAP.
Solutions to Enhance Your Logistics Processes
Depending on the specific needs of your business, there are also partner solutions that can extend and enhance the core functionality or address a unique requirement. Here at ONE.Source, we like to call them complementary solutions, and we will showcase a few options as part of our monthly curriculum.
Whether it's the traditional Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) area, more complex requirements around Container Management and Import Documentation Management, or even simple barcoding requirements, there are a number of solutions that can address one or more of these functional requirements.
As part of our Logistics month webcast series, we have sessions from Produmex and WiSys, two partners offering their supply chain and logistics expertise packaged into software that extends the SAP Business One functional footprint and helps you get even more value from your investment.
- Tuesday, Jan. 23: The Amazon Factor: Are You Ready for Business and Digital Disruption? (Produmex)
- Tuesday, Jan. 30: Using SAP Business One with WiSys WMS – Business Process Improvements as You "Buy It, Make It, and Ship It"
ONE.Source for a Month of Logistics Insights
This blog is only the beginning of a very busy January and our inaugural Logistics month for ONE.Source. In addition to the four webcasts highlighted above, we will offer blogs and videos on specific processes, functionality, or best practices. Visit our ONE.Source community forum to follow all the activity, ask a question, participate in a community discussion, or search through all our content on logistics and other topics.
But the easiest way to participate is to register for any or all of the sessions in our logistics month webcast series. These sessions are recorded and available on demand immediately following the session, in case they do not fit within your schedule.
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We are also hoping to add a customer story or two to our webcast slate before all is said and done. We have one in the works and will share more soon.
If you have a story to tell or a best practice to share, please contact my ASUG colleague Danny Pancratz to set up a session; customers who present are eligible for a complimentary ASUG membership and full access to our ONE.Source content for 2018.
With that, we wish you a happy new year from ONE.Source and ASUG, and we hope you will join us for an exciting month of living the logistics life.