Using White Cup BI Distributor Analytics

This case study focuses on a 70-year-old distributor of equipment and supplies for landscaping services and using White Cup BI distributor analytics to grow their business. During their first few decades in operation, they primarily focused on distribution in their local area. Today, the company serves hundreds of customers in the Ohio Valley region.

The Need for Fast Answers

This distributor is a longtime user of Epicor Prophet 21 for running day-to-day operations. While that ERP software enables the company to manage their business carefully, there are several critical answers that the ERP system doesn’t directly provide—answers that are essential to their success: inventory and sales. Their ERP system (and most any ERP system) will undoubtedly tell you if an item is not selling or if an item is selling a lot. The ERP won’t tell you if carrying and selling a given product is profitable and benefits your revenue.

Getting it Right

“Getting the inventory quantities right has always been a bugaboo for us. Now, we know how much profit an item is (or isn’t) making for us. And we can get the answer quickly—so we can actually use it,” said a company spokesperson. “Having quick access to this kind of data was too important to pass up.” They add that the flexibility and freedom to group items by category or location reveal specific strengths and weaknesses otherwise invisible to their team.

After implementing the new solution, the company saw significant benefits immediately. With access to deep, item-by-item inventory analysis, the company could better decide what to store, in what quantities, and where. More specifically, it was much faster and easier to identify specific instances of too much or too little stock.

Visibility of Custom History

Visibility across the customer base has been one of the most significant advantages to implementing White Cup BI—both from the business’s side and the customer’s end. Knowing what customers are buying, in what volumes, and when buying patterns change is essential.

Their sales reps can log into White Cup BI directly on their tablets and see how things are going across their entire customer base. That visibility of customer history makes it easier to focus on building relationships and being proactive in addressing potential red flags. It’s not only about getting information faster; it fundamentally changes how the customer can see, interact, and establish confidence with their distributor.

The company predicts additional gains in the future. “We’re just getting started with White Cup BI, and there are many areas beyond inventory and sales where we expect to take advantage of faster, better information. It’s all fairly intuitive, so we’re confident we’ll be able to achieve a lot.”