The document, titled “A Data-Based Approach to Surviving and Thriving in Today’s HD Parts Distribution Market,” details four strategies that heavy-duty distributors can apply to the business obstacles posed by rising inflation, supply chain disruptions, and general market volatility. The strategies, all driven by features and enhancements to the AutoPower distribution management system (DMS), address a range of familiar challenges made more acute by current market conditions:
- Strategy 1: Transforming routine business data into a powerful growth engine: detailing how AutoPowerBI Business Analytics Services can enable organizations to transition to data-based operations and decision making by leveraging mountains of routine data--to better anticipate customer needs, detect competitor encroachment, improve inventory management, and much more.
- Strategy 2: Enhancing control over pricing: Applying AutoPower’s integrated Price Management Module to keep prices ahead of accelerating inflation and elongated supply cycles to protect profit margins.
- Strategy 3: Turning technology from a burden to a competitive advantage: explaining how AutoPower’s Infrastructure As A Service (IAAS) model provides fully managed and always-cutting-edge computer and network systems, applications and security to enable distributors to compete effectively without capital investment or in-house IT expertise.
- Strategy 4: Empowering customers to improve cash flow: how the integration of BillFire’s powerful VALET click-to-pay option provides an easy transition to the convenience of digital A/R — to streamline accounting processes, improve collections and reduce costs for distributors and their customers.
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AutoPower President Mike Mallory says distributors are often unaware of the ways that key features and capabilities of a DMS platform they use every day can be sharply focused to solve the problems that keep them awake at night.
“For instance, with advanced price management, users can adjust pricing to keep pace with rising costs and assure that up-to-date pricing is automatically reflected in promotions, quotes, work orders and contracts — to maintain or even enhance profit margins,” he says. “By tracking sales trends in real time, they can become more competitive by improving everything from inventory management to proactive customer service.”
Mallory adds AutoPower’s data-centric architecture includes the Active Real-time Intelligence Alerts (ARIA) suite that provides dozens of automatic notifications ranging low inventory alerts, to credit-hold alerts for at-risk customer orders, to flagging specific vehicles and drivers that fall short of permit requirements, DOT certification and PM milestones.
“Ultimately, these four timely strategies can give HD distributors greater business agility at a time when they need it most,” he says.
AutoPower says the Executive White Paper can be downloaded HERE.
