Anyone who wants to succeed in the wholesale industry despite increasing competitive pressure must be one thing above all else: faster than the competition. State-of-the-art AI can make a decisive contribution to this, but only if it is implemented with a clear goal and tailored precisely to the requirements of the industry. Software and consulting specialist BE-terna has developed scenarios for this purpose that can be used to comprehensively accelerate the processing of incoming sales orders, for example. The basis for this is provided by the specific functions of the dedicated wholesale solution ‘BE-terna Wholesale’, based on powerful Microsoft technology.

Investing time more effectively

"Increasing digitalisation has permanently changed the competitive landscape: Wholesalers no longer compete only with each other, but increasingly also with the big internet giants, whose online marketplaces often offer wholesale goods at the click of a button,‘ emphasises Matthias Breitenstein, Industry Lead Fashion & Commerce at BE-terna. ’It is therefore important to process customer enquiries and orders as quickly as possible and to comprehensively automate the underlying processes. As a result, this not only increases customer satisfaction and loyalty, but also relieves employees of time-consuming manual processes. Time that would clearly be better invested in what continues to set traditional wholesale apart from its online competition: expert advice."

AI that understands customers

BE-terna now provides increased support to wholesalers in the planning and implementation of AI projects. For example, in the use of artificial intelligence to analyse non-standardised customer enquiries such as orders by email and convert them into structured information, which can then be used to immediately generate a sales order. If desired, this can first be submitted to a responsible employee for review and approval or, alternatively, confirmed directly to the customer. In this way, orders can be processed with the highest possible efficiency – even independently of peaks in demand, for which the solution automatically scales appropriately.

The AI is trained on the individual data pool

The text content is read out using a preconfigured Azure component that converts the message content into a structured file, which in turn can be read by the ERP system. The AI is trained for each customer application on the company's individual data pool. Depending on the complexity, this requires several weeks to several months of training time.

Taking product variants into account

In order for the corresponding AI component to work as effectively as possible in practice, a corresponding knowledge base is required, which the AI can draw on to identify the desired products. BE-terna creates this knowledge base with its ERP solution ‘BE-terna Wholesale’, which is tailored precisely to the wholesale trade. This is based on the comprehensive standard of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations, but extends it with tailor-made functions and add-ons that are specifically tailored to the conditions and requirements of wholesale. BE-terna Wholesale covers all relevant wholesale business processes – from purchasing and warehousing to logistics and financial accounting – in a centralised system.

Interpreting contexts correctly

This includes comprehensive support for variants, which allows the solution to accommodate the wide variety of products in wholesale portfolios. Mapping these in the system enables the AI to determine not only the desired item, but also the correct variant based on the text-based query – a process that is characterised by significantly higher technical complexity. For example, a text-based order might read: ‘Please send the same screw as last time, only one size larger.’ Here, the AI must not only determine the correct item from the previous order, but also the different variants in which the item is available. Based on this knowledge, it is then necessary to correctly interpret the context and identify which variant offers the next larger length to the item ordered so far.

Tailor-made industry processes

In addition to mapping variants, BE-terna Wholesale supports wholesalers with numerous other specific industry functions. These include granular order and availability planning. The BE-terna solution also allows planned goods receipts to be included in order allocation. This means that current stocks do not have to be blocked for future deliveries, even though new stocks will be received by that time. Taking availability into account significantly improves the efficiency of goods management. With its granular mapping of customer hierarchies and price structures, BE-terna Wholesale enables flexible and structured price management, from country-specific prices to customer-specific discounts. When mapping block orders, suitable quotas can be reserved in advance for regular customers with recurring orders. Real-time transport transparency is achieved thanks to the ‘Carrier Connect’ module, which directly integrates tracking with a wide range of shipping service providers. This gives wholesalers transparency at all times about where goods are located and enables them to provide customers with immediate information when they enquire. The solution also offers efficient calculation options. The ‘Landed Cost’ module allows the total cost of an item to be calculated across all surcharges and freight rates. Transport times can also be included. Other services include support for drop shipping. In cases where a supplier delivers the goods directly to the customer rather than to the wholesaler, BE-terna Wholesale enables automatic document linking. A purchase order is then generated from the sales order, including the transfer of the correct parameters such as the destination address. Finally, flexible QM functions for goods receipt are made possible with the quality management module. Thanks to this module, incoming goods can be efficiently checked according to individual requirements, from AQL to random sampling procedures. Product group-specific setups are also possible, for example when certain items need to be checked in an individual manner.

Support from industry experts

BE-terna supports wholesalers not only on a technical level with tailor-made industry functions. With more than three decades of experience in the wholesale context, the software and consulting specialist combines specific know-how with comprehensive project experience. BE-terna supports wholesalers at all stages of their ERP project – from planning and tailor-made implementation of the solution to the realisation of state-of-the-art AI scenarios in order to best meet the requirements of modern wholesale.

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