Auto-replenishment for dealers
Each dealer gets a minimum and a maximum per item from its forecast sales and your lead time. Every day, where stock has fallen to the minimum, an order up to the maximum is proposed. It is placed, suggested to the dealer, or held for your office.
PLANSScale only
The problem it solves
- Dealers order when the shelf is already empty, and the next delivery is days away.
- Fixed reorder levels set once a year are wrong for every season.
- Salesmen spend their visit writing the same reorder every week.
- Automatic orders that skip credit checks and schemes cause more trouble than they save.
How it works
- In Settings > Dealer Reporting > Auto-replenishment choose how dealers are replenished. Options: Off (the default), Place Orders Automatically, Dealer Confirms on the Portal, or Office Reviews. Set the lead time in days.
- A dealer group can have its own way and lead time.
- Each night the minimum is set to forecast sales a day x (lead time + the norm's lower days). The maximum uses the norm's upper days.
- When stock plus goods on order is at or below the minimum, the job proposes the maximum less both. One proposal a day per dealer.
- Place Orders Automatically: the order is placed as a portal order would be, with schemes and the credit check. Over the limit or overdue, it waits for approval.
- Dealer Confirms on the Portal: the dealer is told and sees a Suggested order card. Fill the Basket opens New Order with the quantities; Not Now dismisses it.
- Office Reviews: the proposal waits in Replenishment Proposals. Change quantities, then Place Order, Send to Dealer or Dismiss.
Everything it does
Minimum and maximum
- Per dealer and item, under Orders > Dealer Minimum / Maximum
- Follows the forecast: the 90-day sales rate adjusted for the season
- Adjusted every night unless Set by Hand is ticked
- Lead time 0 to start with: the minimum and maximum then equal the stock norm
Proposals
- Lines: item, stock now, on order, minimum, maximum, forecast sales a day, runs out on, quantity, price from the dealer's price list
- States: Office Review, Sent to Dealer, Ordered, Dismissed, Replaced
- A proposal not acted on is replaced by the next day's
- An order the dealer places while a proposal is with it settles the proposal
- Propose Orders Now runs the job at once (distribution managers)
- Why Not Placed: the reason when an automatic order could not be confirmed
One figure everywhere
- The Dealer Stock Cover's Suggested Reorder, the portal's Running low card and the salesman app's Suggest show the same quantities
- The proposal goes to the entity that supplies the dealer
- Orders made this way show Came From: Auto-Replenishment
Not done
- Quantities are not rounded to pack sizes; the portal still checks packs when the dealer places the order, automatic orders do not
- The forecast comes from secondary sales or your bills; there is no AI model behind it
Who uses it
Distribution ManagerChooses the replenishment way and lead time, and runs Propose Orders Now.
Office staffReviews proposals, changes quantities and places or sends them.
DealerConfirms the suggested order on the portal, changes it, or says Not Now.
Area ManagerDecides the credit check on automatic orders over the limit.
Where you use it
- Web: Distribution > Orders > Replenishment Proposals and Dealer Minimum / Maximum
- Dealer portal: the Suggested order card on Overview, Fill the Basket, Not Now
- The SmartMy Distribution app: Suggest for a dealer shows its open proposal (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
What you control
Settings
- Replenishment: Off (the default), Place Orders Automatically, Dealer Confirms on the Portal, Office Reviews
- Replenishment Lead Time (Days): 0
- Per dealer group: its own Replenishment and Lead Time
- The stock norm days (7 and 30 to start with), and Set by Hand per item
Approvals
- Dealer order credit: an automatic order over the credit limit or with overdue bills waits for approval
Notifications
- Suggested Order Ready: to the dealer when a proposal reaches it, at once, in the app and by email and push. SMS from Growth and WhatsApp on Scale
- Dealer Order Confirmed and Dealer Order Waiting for Approval: to the dealer for automatic orders
- Each dealer can switch off a channel, such as email; in-app notices always arrive
Questions
Will orders be placed without anyone checking?
Only if you choose Place Orders Automatically. Even then schemes apply and the credit check holds orders over the limit for approval.Can a dealer change the suggested quantities?
Yes. Fill the Basket opens New Order with them filled in; the dealer changes them and places the order.Can some items keep fixed levels?
Yes. Tick Set by Hand on that dealer and item and type the minimum and maximum.Can different dealer groups work differently?
Yes. Each group can have its own replenishment way and lead time; others follow the setting.Which plan has it?
Scale.Related features
DEALER STOCK AND MESSAGESDealer stock ledger, stock cover and suggested reorderEach dealer's stock of your items as a ledger, with its damaged and expired goods. See how many days of sales it holds, and the reorder that brings it back to your norm. One click turns the suggestion into a dealer order.DEALERSDealer orders with credit and overdue checksEvery dealer order is checked when it is confirmed: the dealer's status, its credit limit with open orders, and bills overdue past its credit days. An order that fails waits for an area or distribution manager and is confirmed by itself once approved.DEALERSDealer portal: catalogue, ordering and deliveryEach dealer gets its own web pages. They show a catalogue at its own prices and the credit it has left. They also show every order with its status, deliveries, proof and invoices. It opens on any phone or computer, in the dealer's language.DEALERSSchemes live in the dealer's basketAs a dealer types quantities on the portal's New Order page, the basket shows the free goods and discounts it gets. It also shows how much more of an item reaches the next slab or free lot.LARGE NETWORKSAI suggested orders, shelf photos and stock-out forecastAt the shop, Suggest fills the order with what the shop is due for and what shops like it buy, each with a reason. The AI reads shelf audit photos for your share of the shelf, missing items and competitor prices. Each dealer item gets a run-out date, with the season counted.LARGE NETWORKSThe salesman app, also offlineThe SmartMy Distribution app for Android and iPhone runs the salesman's day: the beat, visits, orders, collections, forms and new retailers. On Scale it keeps working without signal and sends what was done, in order, when the phone is back online.
See your market on it.
Tell us how many dealers and salesmen you have, and how orders and claims reach you today. We will set up your dealers, price lists and beats with you.