Distribution ERP Software

Distribution ERP software is a term that describes software modules designed to be run on an integrated enterprise resource planning business solution and intended to control back office business functions related to shipping, warehousing, retail contract management and other tasks relevant to distribution. Distribution ERP software applications were among the earliest back office management systems available for use with ERP systems. They began to appear on the business technology market during the late 1980s and early 1990s when manufacturing and distribution firms were first giving voice to a demand for business system integration.

Prior to the arrival of ERP systems and modern distribution ERP software modules, most of these firms were running their separate departments and separate business functions on individual software platforms. Each platform could adequately handle a defined set of functions, but separate business teams could not allow their systems to intersect, and employees from separate departments could not share access to databases that were often relevant to overlapping tasks. With the implementation of new integrated ERP solutions, diverse teams could unify their software functions onto a single integrated system run from a central server architecture that was typically owned and maintained by the company. Employees could use this server system to control standardized functions and they could also use it to house databases that could be accessed by any authorized user and updated in real time. Distribution ERP software modules were just one form of application that these systems could support. Other applications were designed to manage functions like accounting, human resource management, payroll and customer relationship management.

Even though these early ERP systems were expensive, complex and sometimes unreliable, they still revolutionized shop floor efficiency and business productivity for the companies that were large enough to implement them. Among firms with high technology budgets and high tolerance for risk, they became an indispensible business tool, providing high returns on upfront investments and ongoing costs associated with system maintenance. But integrated business solutions remained out of reach for smaller firms for many years.

It wasn’t until the market landscape underwent a dramatic shift soon after the arrival of the new millennium that distribution ERP software and other modules became accessible to smaller businesses and startups. Once demand for new ERP infrastructures reached a peak during the late 1990s, interest at the high budget level began to cool. At that point, developers and providers recognized that they would need to shift their focus to smaller business markets in order to stay competitive. They began an ongoing effort to scale and customize distribution ERP software and other product offerings to meet the needs of smaller business clients. These applications are now becoming increasingly affordable while expanding in capabilities.