Industry

Distribution & wholesale

A distribution business runs on stock sitting in one or more godowns and on parties who buy now and pay later. The counter stays busy: orders come in by phone and WhatsApp, someone checks if the item is in stock and in which godown, and then decides whether to dispatch to a party who may still have money outstanding. The same item can carry two names in two godowns, and the rate changes by party and by quantity.

What we build: Godown stock and party credit

The phone rings and a party wants two hundred meters of a pipe and a set of fittings. The counter person has to know three things at once: whether the stock is in the main godown or the branch, what rate this party gets, and whether this party has cleared the old bills. Today that means checking a stock register, a rate diary, and the party ledger in Tally. By the time all three are checked, the next call is already waiting.

The trouble is that stock and credit sit apart. The dispatch is decided at the counter, but the outstanding is usually known only at month end when accounts sits down with the ledger. So goods go out to a party who is already stretched, and the owner learns about it weeks later. In the same godown, a slow item ties up money that could have gone into a fast mover that keeps running out.

A custom ERP built around this business puts both sides on one screen. Godown-wise stock on one side, party-wise credit on the other. When the counter person picks the party and the item, the screen shows free stock in each godown, the party’s own rate, and the outstanding with a flag if it crosses the limit. The GST bill, the dispatch, and the ledger update together, so accounts is not re-entering the same entry a second time.

Every distributor prices in their own slabs, names their godowns their own way, and sets credit terms party by party. A custom build follows your slabs, your godowns, and your party terms, and it goes live in weeks. The software is built around the way the counter already works.

The usual
challenges.

Stock across godowns does not match the register. You think a pipe is in the main godown, but it is in the branch, or it was already promised to another order.
There is no single view of what a party owes. The dispatch is decided at the counter before anyone checks how much that party is already carrying as outstanding.
Party and quantity rates live in someone's head or a diary. Different parties get different slabs, so billing mistakes and rate arguments keep coming up.
Slow items and fast movers are hidden in the same pile. Dead stock blocks cash and space while fast movers run out with no warning.
Payment follow-up is done from memory. Nobody knows which parties have crossed their days or their credit limit until the money is already stuck.
Returns and short supply get adjusted informally. Damaged pipes, wrong fittings, and part deliveries are settled by word, and the ledger drifts away from the real stock.

What we'd
suggest.

Put godown-wise stock and party-wise credit on one screen, so the person at the counter sees both before agreeing to a dispatch.
Keep a credit limit and payment terms against each party, and flag an order the moment it would push that party past the limit or past due days.
Hold the party rate and quantity slabs in the system, so the bill picks the right price on its own instead of relying on memory.
Track stock by godown and by batch, and show what is committed to open orders against what is free to sell.
Show outstanding as a list sorted oldest first, so follow-up starts before the money gets old.
Log every return and short supply against the original bill, so the party ledger and the stock both stay correct.

What a KPI dashboard should show.

The numbers a distribution & wholesale owner should be able to see every morning.

Outstanding by party

Shows who owes what and how old it is, so follow-up is aimed at the right parties.

Parties over credit limit

Shows which parties are being served past what was agreed, before more goods go out.

Average days to get paid

Shows how long money stays stuck between dispatch and payment.

Stock value by godown

Shows how much cash is sitting in each location right now.

Non-moving stock

Shows items that have not moved and are blocking cash and space.

Fast movers below reorder level

Shows what is about to run out, so you buy before you lose the sale.

Sales by party and item

Shows which parties and which items bring in most of your sales.

Return and short-supply rate

Shows how often deliveries go wrong, so you can find the cause.