Blog

Supply chain business intelligence: optimizing operational efficiency

trene.walter@phocassoftware.com (Katrina Walter) — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 23:14:31 GMT

Food and nearly everything else that is bought and sold must travel from where it is produced to the buyer. Transportation costs are rising sharply. Oil prices have surged by approximately 45% and gas by 55% since late February, a direct consequence of the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Distributors and their supply chain managers have been up against inflation and rising prices since the pandemic and and to cope with continuing shocks like the Middle East crisis most have had to change their supply chain processes to manage a more volatile marketplace. Business intelligence (BI) helps distributors understand risk exposure and make confident decisions when the range of possible futures runs from bad to considerably worse.

Flexible inventory management helps manage supply chain disruption

trene.walter@phocassoftware.com (Katrina Walter) — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 18:37:40 GMT

In 2026, wholesale distributors continue to operate in an environment shaped by ongoing supply chain disruptions and demand fluctuations. The complexity of managing inventory levels has intensified as businesses cope with the economic fall out of the Middle East crisis. Margin pressure is an ongoing issue while trying to meet customer demand across traditional channels and ecommerce.

Turn and Earn Indexes & how they helps distributors manage inventory

trene.walter@phocassoftware.com (Katrina Walter) — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 21:13:46 GMT

Wholesale distributors rely heavily on data to guide inventory management across thousands of SKUs and complex supply chain operations. With variables like gross margin, cost of goods sold (COGS) and inventory turnover, professionals working across a distribution business need to determine what’s relevant to them as well as how they work together.

Inventory forecasting - the secret to cost-effective stock management

trene.walter@phocassoftware.com (Katrina Walter) — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 07:58:17 GMT

Inventory management is a tight-rope balancing act. Ordering too much leaves you with excess stock tying up capital and warehouse space. Ordering too little puts you at risk of running out of stock, leading to stockouts, missed sales and frustrated customers. Inaccurate inventory forecasting means storage fees, excess inventory, waste from unsold goods and operational inefficiencies that eat into profits.

Days in inventory (DIO) formula and why it's useful

marketing@phocassoftware.com (Phocas Software) — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 07:54:48 GMT

Inventory days formula is equivalent to the average number of days each item or SKU (stock keeping unit) is in the warehouse.

What is dead stock and how to track and control it

trene.walter@phocassoftware.com (Katrina Walter) — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 07:51:06 GMT

A CFO of a wholesaler recently described dead stock as piles of cash in the corner of a warehouse that she can’t access. And, in many ways, she’s not wrong. Dead stock is unsold products in storage or returned from retailers. It reduces the cash flow you need to buy revenue-generating stock and takes up valuable warehouse space that profitable products could use. Dead stock inventory also increases carrying costs, tying up resources in excess inventory that no longer matches customer demand.

Inventory shrinkage or should we say the margin loss you didn’t realize you were losing

trene.walter@phocassoftware.com (Katrina Walter) — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 06:34:11 GMT

Inventory shrinkage is one of the most persistent and underestimated challenges for retailers. It erodes profitability and disrupts operations.

Demand planning best practices & benchmarks for wholesale distributors

trene.walter@phocassoftware.com (Katrina Walter) — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 06:33:06 GMT

Recent findings from the Phocas Wholesale Distribution Inventory Survey reveal an interesting trend in that demand planning is a key performance differentiator. The results show that 11% of distributors rate their demand planning as very accurate with the rest of the respondents reporting somewhat accurate to poorly accurate demand planning. The accuracy gap also highlights how having the right data and systems to carry out demand planning is a huge time saver and delivers benefits such as reducing inventory costs, improving service levels and securing better terms with suppliers.

Why wholesale distributors are measuring GMROI to improve inventory profitability

trene.walter@phocassoftware.com (Katrina Walter) — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 03:36:03 GMT

Wholesale distributors are under constant pressure to balance inventory investment and maintain healthy profitability. Rising costs and tighter margins across many product categories mean distributors must pay closer attention to how their inventory value contributes to profit.

how to develop supplier relationship management programs

trene.walter@phocassoftware.com (Katrina Walter) — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 07:42:40 GMT

Manufacturers, distributors and retailers rely heavily on their suppliers to deliver quality products on time and at the right price. Strong supplier relationship management (SRM) is essential for these industries because it enables you and your suppliers to map out the supply chain, achieve economies of scale and offer customers an extensive choice of products.