Industrial distribution ERP software selection: shortlist & scorecard

Distribution ERP is won and lost on pricing, rebates, and EDI. Use a defensible scorecard to rank vendors on WMS, landed cost, chargebacks, counter sales—and turn demos into apples‑to‑apples proof.

Why “industrial distribution ERP” is its own category

Distributors don’t buy ERP the way manufacturers do. Routes, branches, counter sales, and vendor programs bend every process—order‑to‑cash, procure‑to‑pay, inventory, and financials. From our recent distribution engagements, here’s what consistently separates success from regret:

• Complex pricing at scale - Customer/item/branch price matrices, temporary promos, and frequent price updates (often 50+ price tiers) with full auditability and margin protection.

• Rebates, chargebacks, and vendor programs - Core profitability lives here: administrative tools to accrue, reconcile, and analyze program performance by line, vendor, and period. (We bake this as a weighted category in the scorecard—more below.)

• EDI that covers the real world - ASNs, 850/855/856/810 flows with major retailers and grocers, plus DEX support for direct‑store‑delivery where required.

• Warehouse execution and mobility - RF scanning, handheld pick/pack/ship, license plating, cycle counting, catch‑weight where relevant, and branch transfer control that actually honors availability. (Drivers and merchandisers need mobile workflows that work offline and sync reliably.)

• Route planning & DSD - Reps who replenish shelves build orders on‑site; routing needs to line up with WMS and inventory allocation—not live in spreadsheets.

• Landed cost and import logistics - Container/PO consolidation, duty/freight allocation, and cost updates back to margin analytics.

• IT Security and audit posture - Cloud vendor SLAs, upgrade cadence, and hyper‑care expectations must be explicit in your SOW. We formalize these in the RFP and evaluation model.

Reality check: Many distributors begin on QuickBooks + inventory/point‑of‑sale add‑ons, stitched together with EDI providers and routing apps. Growth exposes the limits—pricing accuracy, freshness/rotation, and reconciliation pain across warehouses and vehicles—so the next platform must unify what’s been living in spreadsheets.

A shortlist that reflects your model (not the market hype)

You’ll see articles on the “best ERP for distribution,” but there is no universal best. There are right‑fit ERPs for your mix of:

• Industrial/wholesale distribution with branch transfers, counter sales/POS, project quotes, and service.

• DSD and route sales with store‑level VMI, DEX, handheld invoicing, and merchandising.

• Import/stocking distributors with containerized purchasing and landed‑cost precision.

Platforms that are often competitive in these scenarios include configurable suites (Acumatica Distribution, Epicor, Infor CloudSuite Distribution, Microsoft Dynamics 365, NetSuite, Sage X3) and, where DSD dominates, purpose‑built route/handheld ecosystems paired to an ERP core. The key is to define requirements first, then invite both general‑purpose ERPs and any DSD/route solutions to compete on the same scripted use‑cases.

We’ll show you how to do that with a weighted scorecard and demo scripts so the “best ERP for distribution” becomes the best‑fit for your routes, pricing, and vendor programs—backed by numbers, not slideware.

How we score vendors (and keep demos honest)

Our distribution scorecard is a pragmatic, vendor‑neutral model built from dozens of selections. Vendors self‑assess to the RFP using a simple response key we enforce across projects:

1 = out‑of‑box · 2 = light config/script · 3 = native ISV/extension · 4 = heavy custom · U = unknown now.

We then run scripted demos and convert what you see into what you can measure. A typical weight set for industrial distribution looks like this:

Category (example items)	Why it matters	Suggested weight
Pricing & Rebates (matrix pricing, promos, rebates/chargebacks, approval workflows)	Your gross margin engine; inaccuracies compound across branches and lines.	18–22%
EDI & DEX (retail flows, ASNs, DEX for DSD, chargeback handling)	Retail compliance and deduction control; route cashflow integrity.	12–15%
WMS & Mobility (RF pick/pack/ship, license plates, cycle count, handheld sales)	Error‑proof fulfillment; labor and shrink control; offline resilience.	12–15%
Landed Cost & Imports (freight/duty allocation, cost rollups)	True margin by item/vendor/container.	8–12%
Branch Ops & Counter Sales (branch transfers, POS, will‑call, cash drawer)	Service speed and inventory visibility across the network.	8–10%
Reporting & Analytics (real‑time dashboards, margin drill‑downs)	Decisions in time to matter.	8–10%
Implementation & Partner Fit (methodology, hyper‑care, PRICEFW clarity)	Determines project risk, not just software capability.	12–15%
Total Cost of Ownership (licenses, ISVs, integration, upgrades)	Five‑year affordability you can defend at the board.	8–10%

We publish these weights with your team, adjust them to your economics, and lock them before demos. Vendors get the same script and the same data set; we tabulate their “1/2/3/4/U” responses and demo evidence into a single heatmap your steering committee can trust. (Our RFP packages and PRICEFW lists formalize the interface, report, enhancement, and conversion scope, so you’re not surprised later.)

Timelines that keep momentum without rushing quality - A standard cadence—from requirements through vendor selection and contracts—runs 10–16 weeks, with clear milestones and vendor prep windows. We publish dates up front so your SMEs can participate without burnout.

Snapshots from the field (sanitized)

• National industrial distributor, multi‑branch - We weighted pricing/rebates, EDI/chargebacks, and WMS highest. Scorecards exposed two “demo darlings” that required heavy customization for rebate accruals; they dropped out when the model made the risk visible. The finalist combined robust matrix pricing with native EDI packs and a strong RF warehouse—winning on total cost after rebates were modeled correctly. (Artifacts: weighted scorecards, board‑ready summary, and contract guardrails.)

• DSD distributor (multi‑region) - 2,500 stores, ~800 SKUs, 100 employees, QuickBooks for financials, inventory/point‑of‑sale tooling for field reps, and route planning in a separate app. Demos had to prove store‑level VMI, handheld selling, DEX support, and promotions/price‑tier control—plus clean integrations to payroll and expenses. The scorecard kept the focus on DSD realities (route + WMS + EDI) versus generic distribution checklists.

• Made‑to‑order manufacturer with a dealer network - Though not a pure distributor, their dealer portal, multi‑location inventory, and routing requirements mirrored branch distribution. Our RFP formalized training, hyper‑care, and North‑America‑based staffing, and vendors answered into the same scoring rubric—clarifying fit and risk before contracts.

What you’ll get when we lead your distribution ERP selection

1. Requirements, fast—without the jargon - We interview your SMEs, challenge “spreadsheet habits,” and document what the next platform must do (and not do).

2. A vendor‑neutral RFP with real dates - Long‑list outreach, Q&A windows, and a response format vendors can’t game.

3. Shortlist + scripted demos - Same scenarios, your data, timed runs—so showmanship doesn’t outrank substance.

4. Weighted scorecard & heatmap - A single model that blends RFP claims (1/2/3/4/U), demo proof, services estimates, ISVs, and five‑year TCO. Steering‑committee ready.

5. Contract guardrails - PRICEFW inventories, partner SOW clarity, hyper‑care staffing, SLAs—so “Phase 2” surprises don’t eat your ROI.

   
   

Ready to build a defensible shortlist?

If you run industrial distribution or DSD/route sales and need an ERP for distribution, we’ll bring the scorecards, demo scripts, and RFP package that keep vendors honest and your team aligned.

• Ask us for the anonymized distribution scorecard template (with suggested weights for pricing/rebates, EDI/DEX, WMS, landed cost, and counter sales).

• Or start with a 1–2 week discovery: we’ll benchmark your current tools (QuickBooks, EDI, routing, handhelds), publish a gap list, and propose a selection plan and dates your SMEs can live with.

Bottom line - There’s no single “best ERP for distribution.” There is a best‑fit platform for your routes, branches, vendor programs, and customers—and a straightforward, numbers‑first way to find it.