Are You Risking Version Lock?

Integrating Direct Store Delivery (DSD) data and processes with your ERP is essential for any business that plans to grow and scale. However, not every DSD/ERP integration is created equally. When choosing a new DSD solution, it’s important to avoid the ultimate pitfall of poorly integrated systems, and that is something called ‘Version Lock’. Version […]

B2B Mobile Survey Says

When I was a kid one of the game shows I enjoyed was Family Feud. In the show, the two feuding families would brainstorm the answers to silly trivia questions, and host Richard Dawson would reveal the answers by calling to the big board with the words “Survey Says!”. Mobile Surveys for B2B Leveraging B2B […]

Route and Van Sales Basics

Defining Route and Van Sales Understanding route and van sales basics is pretty…basic. Route sale drivers are simply sales reps who captain a mobile warehouse. The goal is to visit as many customers as they can during the course of a day, selling products directly off the truck to B2B customers.  You see them zipping […]

Reasons for Obtaining Proof of Delivery

For B2B manufacturers and wholesalers there are several reasons for obtaining proof of delivery. Consumer Pressure (aka Amazon) Obtaining proof of delivery is something you naturally expect when using FedEx or UPS, but it’s still not a given for mid-sized B2B wholesalers and manufacturers. Increasingly however, B2B companies who do their own delivery are feeling […]

Overview of the B2B Delivery Process

For most manufacturers or wholesalers reliant on their own fleet of vehicles to get products in the hands of B2B customers, the processes break down something like this. Pre-delivery process Orders are accumulated Delivery routes are established Inventory is picked Trucks are loaded Driver checks out of the warehouse Delivery execution Route is confirmed (or […]

The face of customer service

For fast moving consumer packaged goods companies, Route Sale drivers are literally the face of customer service. Route Sale drivers (who may also be referred to as Van Sale Drivers, or Direct Store Delivery (DSD) drivers) are traveling sales reps making regularly scheduled visits to their customers, making sales right off the truck. The tools […]

How to automate truck loading

Eliminating the bottlenecks at the loading dock is just one of the ways you can benefit by automating truck loading with your ERP system.  This is especially important in Delivery Distribution operations. Start with the basics Essential to effective truck loading for Delivery Distribution is the planning that is done prior to picking. Assignment of Orders […]

Delivery, Meet ERP

*Ding-dong* *Ding dong* A smiling delivery person is at the door asking for a signature. In a matter of moments I’ve confirmed that I received my package with an easy swirl of my finger on their smart phone. A couple of taps later and the driver nods goodbye, on their way to the next stop. […]

Does your ERP software really deliver?

One thing that continues to surprise me is how few ERP software systems handle delivery management. I’m not talking about small parcel shipping, like UPS or FedEx, and I’m not talking about LTL or full truck load carrier systems – most ERPs have marketplace offerings with multiple good choices for that.  What I’m referring to […]

4 Major Mobile ERP Opportunities

A Big Technology Gap That Needs Filling When people ask me what xkzero Mobile Commerce does, I tell them that we fill a gap in technology for wholesalers who use their own vehicles as a primary means of delivery – or sales – directly to their b2b customers. It’s really quite that simple. A Chance […]