COVID-19 is redefining what it takes to be successful in the distribution industry. And distributors should focus on updating their capabilities to accommodate the new normal, rather than waiting it out and hoping the industry will return to its prior state.
This is especially important in terms of demand planning. Demand continues to be volatile, and the needs of both customers and suppliers are difficult to ascertain from one day to another.
With states reopening, demand planning teams must focus on fulfilling demand as it grows without stressing working capital needs. To enable them to do this, distributors must:
We discussed these five critical actions in a recent article for MDM, where we outline how to apply these actions to recover – and distill the signal from the noise.