Restaurant supply companies are a part of one of the many sectors that can benefit greatly from an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. By implementing cloud-based ERP software, restaurant suppliers can streamline operations, better serve their clients, reduce costs, and drive growth.
Let’s further examine the benefits restaurant suppliers can experience by investing in an ERP solution. We will also provide some best practices and tips for implementing ERP software.
Benefits of Implementing ERP Software for Restaurant Supply Companies
Restaurant supply companies that implement ERP software can accomplish the following:
Simplify Order Tracking
Manually tracking a high volume of orders is tedious, labor-intensive, and inefficient, and such strategies also leave the door open for costly errors that are bound to impact a company’s reputation and negatively affect clients.
Proper ERP software will make these headaches a thing of the past by providing restaurant supply companies with real-time tracking capabilities. Businesses can monitor all incoming, outbound, and pending orders using an intuitive interface. They can also automate order processing workflows to decrease errors and reduce friction between sales teams and clients.
Improve Inventory Management
Discrepancies between actual inventory and the listed stock in a supplier’s management software can lead to stock-outs or underselling, and if these issues are left unaddressed, the client experience will suffer, and suppliers will face shrinking profit margins.
Cloud-based ERP software provides superior inventory management capabilities so that restaurant supply companies can match their listed inventory with physical stock. Eliminating inventory discrepancies allows suppliers to maintain appropriate safety stock levels and enhance sales volume.
Optimize Deliveries
The restaurant supply chain is one of the most complex in existence. Suppliers source food and beverage products from a wide range of producers, aggregate them, and then distribute select goods to restaurant clients.
If suppliers hope to provide such valuable service in an efficient, dependable manner, they must optimize supply chain visibility, which, historically, has been incredibly difficult, though it doesn’t have to be.
Cloud-based ERP software can provide suppliers with actionable insights into their supply chain that can then be leveraged to optimize deliveries, avoid delays, and provide restaurants with the supplies they need when they need them.
Tips for Selecting an ERP Solution for Your Business
If your restaurant supply company is starting its search for an ERP software solution, we suggest that you:
Do Plenty of Research
While research may seem obvious, many organizations rush through it or focus solely on the ERP software itself. Before you can select an ERP solution for your business, you need to identify what your needs, challenges, and growth goals are first.
Therefore, your research process should begin with a deep dive into your company’s performance data that works to determine what is working and what isn’t. For instance, if you frequently undersell due to high safety stock levels, it is important that you find a solution that offers forecasting and inventory analytics tools.
Once you are aware of the hurdles you are facing, you can shift your attention outwards and create a list of potential ERP solutions.
Get Your Team Involved
Next, mobilize your team and get them involved in the search. Figure out what tools, features, and capabilities would help them complete their daily tasks more effectively. Compile a list of must-haves and like-to-have features so that you can narrow down your list of ERP candidates.
Getting your staff involved in the selection process promotes better employee buy-in once you roll out your ERP solution, and fostering high buy-in and organization-wide support is essential if you want to achieve a strong return on investment.
Select a Solution that Provides Industry-Specific Tools
Virtually every ERP software on the market includes a broad mix of tools and modules, but not all of them will include features specific to the restaurant supply space.
If you want a piece of software that does, strongly consider Acumatica. As a best-in-class ERP solution, Acumatica offers configurable modules and powerful tools that support the efficiency of core business operations. It is also incredibly cost-effective, scalable, and easy to implement, meaning it can meet your needs now and in the future.
For example, Acumatica offers a modern ERP solution for restaurant supply companies to streamline inventory, quickly create orders, and improve customer communications. Key features include:
- Order Guides provide a front end for rapid-order entry and suggested cross-sell and up-sell opportunities
- Automatic Catch Weight calculations track variable units of measure for inventory items
- Route & Trip Management optimizes delivery driver efficiency
- See the data that drives food distribution business in real-time, role-based dashboards
Click here to learn more about Acumatica Cloud ERP for Restaurant Supply.
Connect with a REstaurant Supply ERP Partner
The best way to set the stage for a successful implementation is to connect with an experienced deployment partner like Advanced Solutions and Consulting Co. Our Acumatica ERP software experts can plan your implementation, configure your modules, assist with data migration, and help you get the most out of your solution.
To learn more about Acumatica ERP software and our implementation services, schedule a consultation with Advanced Solutions and Consulting Co. today.
Additional Resources
How Your Business Can Automate Inventory and Order Management