Overview
Local distributors run some of the busiest operations in the supply chain, yet most still manage orders, stock and customer credit by hand. Order takers write orders in notebooks, delivery staff carry paper invoices, and the office reconciles it all at the end of the day. The result is errors, slow collections and very little visibility into the business.
Voxen built a platform that replaces the paper with one connected system for the office, the order takers and the delivery staff.
The challenge
- Replacing paper without stopping work. The business could not pause while a new system was introduced.
- One live view for everyone. Office staff, order takers and delivery staff needed to see the same orders and stock in real time.
- Local realities. Customer credit, trade discounts and local tax rules had to be handled properly, not worked around.
- Field-friendly. The field apps had to work on ordinary phones, quickly, on the road.
What Voxen built
A proven ERP foundation.
The platform is built on ERPNext, an established open-source ERP, tailored to how distributors actually work instead of how a generic ERP assumes they do.
Order booking in the field.
Order takers visit shops on their route, see each customer's credit position and applicable discounts, and book orders on their phone. Orders reach the office immediately.
Route planning and delivery.
Orders are grouped into delivery routes. Delivery staff see their stops, mark deliveries complete and record payments collected, so the office knows what was delivered and what was paid the same day.
Stock management.
Every order and delivery updates stock in real time, so the office always knows what is on hand and what needs reordering.
Customer credit and discounts.
Credit limits and outstanding balances are tracked per customer, and trade discounts are applied by rule rather than by memory.
Invoicing with local tax.
Invoices are generated automatically with local tax built in.
Web and mobile from one codebase.
The back office runs as a Next.js web app, and the same app runs on order takers' and delivery staff's phones as a progressive web app, installable from the browser with no app store.
Engineering approach
Building on ERPNext meant accounting, stock and tax rules rest on a mature foundation, and Voxen's work focused on the workflows and interfaces specific to distribution. Sharing one codebase across web and mobile keeps every user on the same version of the system.
Outcome
Every order, delivery, stock movement and payment is captured in one system instead of on paper, giving the distributor accurate records and a live view of the business.
What it makes possible
Reporting, demand forecasting and integration with suppliers' systems can be built on the same data, now that it is captured in one place.