Mid-market companies with annual revenues of $250 million or less face the same issues as larger firms, but lack the same resources for costly, high-end, integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) suites. To compete with larger distributors, mid-market players should look for solutions that leverage their existing ERP infrastructures and augment them with enterprise-class functionality, integrating the back office with the warehouse.

The size, cost and complexity of mammoth ERP applications were once prohibitive barriers, so mid-sized companies carved out their markets without their help. But over time, these solutions have become better, cheaper, less complex and more feature-rich than ever before.

Mid-market companies can—and should—take advantage of the investments and lessons of their larger competitors by leveraging integrated electronic data interchange (EDI) and advanced supply chain execution capabilities with their existing ERP systems.

Fulfillment is the cornerstone of customer retention and growth. Having stock in the right quantity at the right time has a significant impact on the bottom line. Inventory, once a mid-market company's biggest question, is no longer an unknown. Typically, not having automated processes and real-time inventory updates meant not having accurate inventory levels. And the expanding global economy adds new dimensions and complexity to mid-sized business operations. As more inventory is imported, whether as raw materials or finished goods, keeping track of it becomes even more onerous and cumbersome.

By leveraging the right supply chain execution system, paired with EDI capabilities on the customer side, mid-sized companies can expect substantial improvements in workflow optimization. Best-of-breed solutions provide tangible benefits, including increased productivity, elevated inventory accuracy and faster warehouse operations. Mid-market organizations can offer a broad base of products without investing in excess inventory and still have enough on hand to fulfill orders and deliver on promises.

This transforms inventory from a cost center into a revenue center by increasing turnover and speeding returns on the Warehouse Management System (WMS) investment. Best-of-breed WMS applications reduce inventory, increase revenue growth through reduced-order cycle times, improve workforce efficiency and create highly satisfied customers.

Compliance is another problem area for mid-sized companies—chargebacks cost distributors time and money. Mid-market organizations should look to best-of-breed logistics solutions for the workflows required to manage compliance. A reduction in chargebacks leads to increased efficiency and revenue—and adds directly to the bottom line.

Just as ERP is no longer limited to giant companies, the cost of fully integrated EDI solutions has fallen and the cost of EDI transactions is no longer prohibitive. Ideal EDI solutions are on the market, scaleable from a small, single warehouse environment to more complex, multi-warehouse operations.

The market is cluttered with the noise of countless ERP solutions. A mid-sized company needs to cut through the confusion, not through existing systems. Instead, it should seek established, proven providers to integrate their products with the distributor's existing systems, offering a packaged or bundled solution. This not only streamlines the process, but delivers a level of confidence no other arrangement could provide.